Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Sammy tells Marissa about the robbery she witnessed. Gina goes by Madame Nashira when she’s working as an astrologer. The girls have seen her shop, House of Astrology, before, but they’ve never gone inside because it’s next to a pool hall and a bar. Gina recognizes Sammy from the hotel, and Sammy introduces herself to the woman.

Maynard’s Market is out of the girls’ favorite ice cream, so they order Double Dynamos from Oscar, a vendor who is blind and hard of hearing. The girls spot Mikey leaving Maynard’s Market with an armful of candy bars. Marissa is shocked and disappointed in her brother because he claimed to be sick and stayed home from school. She throws away his candy bars. Marissa tries to reassure Sammy about her suspension, which reminds her that she should hurry home. She hopes that Grams will understand why she punched Heather once she explains the situation. When Sammy enters the apartment building through the fire escape, Mrs. Graybill is waiting for her.

Crowing triumphantly, Mrs. Graybill seizes Sammy’s arm and declares, “This building is government-subsidized for senior citizens—not entire families!” (48). The elderly woman found the gum that Sammy used to keep the door to the fire escape from locking. Sammy feigns innocence and claims that she’s only there to help her grandmother throw out some garbage. Mrs. Graybill drags Sammy to Grams’s apartment, and Grams hauls the woman inside when she accuses her of breaking the law. Mrs. Graybill searches in vain for any evidence that a child is living in the apartment and then storms off.

After their irate neighbor leaves, Grams asks Sammy about the suspension. Sammy is relieved that her grandmother pretended to be her mother when Mr. Caan called. Grams listens patiently as Sammy explains the whole situation and tells her that she’s a good friend for standing up for Marissa. To allay Mrs. Graybill’s suspicions, Grams suggests that Sammy leave the apartment for a bit. She decides to visit Hudson Graham, an elderly man with a vast collection of books and brightly colored cowboy boots, even though her grandmother would prefer that she went to see a friend her own age.

On her way out of the apartment, Sammy uses masking tape to keep the door to the fire escape from locking. She goes to Graham’s home, and she is disquieted to see that his new renter, Bill Eckert, is the man with the ball cap whom she bumped into at the mall. Graham reads a newspaper article about “the sixth burglary in this vicinity in the past two and a half weeks” (56). The thief escaped, but he was spotted when the homeowners returned early from a dance recital. Sammy realizes that the burglar must know the family.

Sammy decides to tell Graham about the robbery she witnessed at the Heavenly Hotel, but she’s interrupted by the appearance of his dachshund, Rommel. The dog finds a purse that belongs to Graham’s neighbor, Mrs. Keltner, in Graham’s backyard. The wallet is missing, and Graham theorizes that someone standing in the alley could have tossed the purse into his yard. The Keltners are away visiting family, and Graham calls the police. Fearing another encounter with Officer Borsch, Sammy hurries home before the police arrive.

When Sammy reaches the apartment, an irate Mrs. Graybill is deep in discussion with her grandmother. Someone put a note under Mrs. Graybill’s door that says, “If you talk, you’ll be sorry” (61). She’s convinced that Sammy wrote it and threatens to call the police. Sammy realizes that the message is from the burglar and intended for her. Grams tries to calm down Mrs. Graybill, but as soon as she and Sammy are in the apartment, she snaps, “First you get suspended for fistfighting, now you’re writing threatening letters…Samantha, I’m beginning to feel like I don’t even know you!” (62). Before the girl can explain, Marissa calls to say that the police are looking for Sammy at her house.

Marissa panics and tells the police that Sammy is in the shower. Her parents aren’t home, and she tells Mikey to stay in his room if he wants his fib about being sick to remain a secret. Sammy gives Grams a hug and promises to return home soon and explain everything. Sammy runs all the way to Marissa’s house and uses a garden hose to soak her hair so that she’ll look like she just got out of the shower. To her chagrin, Officer Borsch and his partner are the officers waiting in the McKenzes’ pristine living room. Mikey peeks at the officers, and Marissa waves him away, “pulling faces like a blowfish and slapping at air” (66). Distracted by the siblings, Sammy barely glances at photographs of the suspects before saying that they aren’t the man she saw at the hotel. Sammy tells the officers that Mikey is her brother, and Marissa hauls him out of the room before he can reveal her deception. The police mention the recovery of the stolen purse, ask Sammy to contact them if she remembers anything else, and leave.

Sammy makes a deal with Mikey. If he doesn’t tell anyone about the police’s visit to his house, then she won’t tell anyone about him ditching school and spending his allowance on candy. Sammy explains to Marissa why the police were looking for her at the McKenzes’ house. Then, Sammy talks about Gina and Heather with her friend rather than hurrying home to her worried grandmother. Grams calls, and she’s so angry that she shouts at Sammy for the first time ever. When Grams tells Sammy to spend the night at Marissa’s, the extent of her grandmother’s anger begins to sink in. She tries to call her back, but Grams doesn’t answer the phone. Devastated, Sammy locks herself in the bathroom and cries.