Pinky Bloom and the Case of the Missing Kiddush Cup
Text copyright © 2018 by Judy Press
Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
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Main body text set in Bembo Std regular 12.5/17.
Typeface provided by Monotype Typography.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Press, Judy, 1944– author.
Title: The case of the missing kiddush cup / by Judy Press.
Description: Minneapolis : Kar-Ben Publishing, [2018] | Series: Pinky Bloom | Summary: While investigating suspicious happenings at her friend’s parents’ Chinese restaurant, Brooklyn’s greatest detective, fourth grader Penina “Pinky” Bloom, solves the mystery of recently stolen artifacts from the Jewish Museum.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017041123 (print) | LCCN 2017013151 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541500174 (eb pdf) | ISBN 9781541500167 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Restaurants—Fiction. | Sabotage—Fiction. | Stealing—Fiction. | Jews—United States—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.P921927 (print) | LCC PZ7.P921927 Cas 2018 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017041123
Manufactured in the United States of America
1-43649-33466-12/15/2017
9781541530584 mobi
9781541530591 ePub
9781541530607 ePub
For my mother, Esther Abraham
—J.P.
Chapter One
On Sunday morning, I, Penina “Pinky” Bloom, Brooklyn’s greatest kid detective, was lying in bed thinking of ways to get rid of my little brother.
I could have slept late, but someone set my alarm clock to go off at 7:00 a.m.
Avi had been in my room last night, so he was the prime suspect! He’s officially the most annoying and sneaky second grader I’ve ever met.
I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I got dressed and went to the kitchen. My cat, D.J., was prowling around on the counter. He’s named for Derek Jeter, the greatest Yankee ever to play shortstop. I’m in the fourth grade at Ohav Shalom Day School and play catcher on the girls’ softball team. Last year our team went to the playoffs and almost beat B’nai Israel’s girls’ team in the first round.
I was in the middle of pouring myself a glass of orange juice with one hand and petting D.J. with the other when I heard a knock on the front door.
Mom, Dad, and Avi were still asleep, so I ran to see who was there.
“Who is it?” I whispered, standing on tiptoes and squinting through the peephole.
“Open up, Pinky. It’s me, Lucy.” Lucy Chang, my best friend, lives two floors below me.
I slipped off the chain and opened the door. “Lucy, what are you doing up so early?”
“My mom and dad are arguing, so I thought I’d see if you were awake.”
Lucy’s parents own the Lotus Blossom Kosher Chinese Restaurant. It opened just a few weeks ago. I wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Chang were fighting about something related to the restaurant, but I figured it would be rude to ask. So I just led Lucy to the kitchen and found the box of cookies my mother had hidden in the back of a cabinet. “Let’s have breakfast,” I said, handing Lucy a cookie.
Lucy and I sat down at the kitchen table. “There’s trouble in the restaurant,” she told me. “The chef says he hears weird noises, and the smoke alarm goes off for no reason.”
I shoved a cookie in my mouth. “Maybe the place is haunted,” I said with my mouth full. “Brooklyn has lots of ghosts.”
“But there’s more, Pinky! The fortune cookies have really bad fortunes, and customers are so mad they’ve started eating at the Happy Hunan Restaurant instead.”
“What are your parents going to do?” I asked.
“My dad said he might have to sell the restaurant, and then we’d move to a faraway place, like Queens.”
That news was worse than when the dentist told my mom I needed braces. I took a swig of juice. “What do your parents think is going on?”
“My dad thinks someone gave the restaurant the evil eye. Pinky, you’re Brooklyn’s greatest kid detective. You’ve got to help us.”
Evil eyes are a little out of my league, but Lucy is my best friend, and she lets me borrow her pink hoodie with the sparkles on the back.
I shoved another cookie in my mouth. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll take the case!”
Chapter Two
I grabbed a pencil and a notebook. Across the top of the page I wrote CASE #2, THE SUSPECTS.
Case #1 was when I found my cousin Rachel’s retainer. Her dog had buried it in their backyard.
“Lucy, let’s start with the people who work in the restaurant,” I said, using my best detective voice.
“Well, there’s Mrs. Wong. Her job is to greet the customers.”
I wrote down Mrs. Wong’s name. “Who else?”
“Mr. Wong. He’s married to Mrs. Wong. He’s the chef, and he uses a giant cleaver to chop food.”
I made a note next to Mr. Wong’s name: Caution: May be armed and dangerous!
“Anyone else work in the restaurant?”
“My dad just hired a new waiter because the old one got spooked and quit. His name is Joe.”
Before I had a chance to ask Lucy any more questions, my mom and Avi walked into the kitchen.
Avi pointed to Lucy. “It’s too early for company,” he whined. “Why is she here?”
He was right about it being too early. But if it weren’t for him, I’d still be asleep.
I glared at my brother. “Avi, you set my alarm clock wrong last night, and don’t say you didn’t.”
“It wasn’t me!” he protested. “Mom, tell her!”
“Settle down, you two,” said Mom. “And good morning, Lucy. Can I get you anything?” She eyed the open box of cookies in front of me.
“Sorry to surprise you like this, Mrs. Bloom,” said Lucy. “Avi’s not wrong about it being pretty early to have visitors.”
“That’s all right,” Mom assured her. “In fact, speaking of visitors, I have some good news. Grandma Phyllis called last night to say she’s coming to stay with us for a couple of days.”
This didn’t totally qualify as good news, in my opinion. I love Grandma Phyllis, but she’s a neat freak. The last time she was here she made me take my dirty clothes out from under my bed and put them in the hamper.
“Why’s she coming?” I asked, grabbing another cookie before Mom could put the box away.
“There’s an exhibit at the Jewish Museum that she wants to see.” My class had gone to the museum on a field trip earlier this year. My favorite part was the store where they sold mezuzahs made from Legos.
“What’s the exhibit?” I asked.
“It’s a collection of ancient Jewish artifacts, including a gold Kiddush cup from Rome.”
An old Kiddush cup didn’t sound all that exciting to me. We use Great-Grandma Bloom’s Kiddush cup on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. She brought it with her from the old country. Maybe she didn’t know you could buy a new one right here i
n Brooklyn?
Suddenly I had a worrying thought. “Where’s Grandma Phyllis sleeping?”
“She can sleep in Avi’s room,” Mom said. “And he’ll move into your room.”
Sharing my room with Avi is worse than eating brussels sprouts. I groaned. My day had started out bad and had just gotten worse. If I was going to concentrate on solving Lucy’s case, I would need to find a way to keep my brother from distracting me!
Chapter Three
Every Sunday night we eat dinner out. Today I picked the Lotus Blossom Kosher Chinese Restaurant, so I could see for myself what was going on.
“Ah, Bloom family. Party of four,” Mrs. Wong said when we arrived at the restaurant. “Welcome to everyone. Just a few minutes, please.”
I looked around the entryway. On the walls were pictures of China and Israel. I’ve never been to Israel, but my dad’s cousin Elia lives there, and Dad says one day we’ll go visit her.
Along one wall was a table with a computer and phone where Mrs. Wong took orders, and in the corner of the room was a fish tank sitting on a long table.
Avi made a beeline for the fish tank. “Wow,” he said, with his nose pressed up against the glass. “Look at that . . .”
Mrs. Wong rushed over to Avi. “This is for you,” she said, handing him a tiny paper umbrella. “See, it opens and closes. More fun than a fish tank.”
“Table’s ready,” Mrs. Wong said. “Come with me.”
We followed her into the dining room, where we had our choice of tables since most of them were empty. Lucy had been right when she said business was bad.
Mrs. Wong handed us our menus. “Your waiter will be here soon,” she said. “His name is Joe.”
Avi sat down at the table. He grabbed his chopsticks and put them under his upper lip.
“Arf, arf,” he barked, flapping his hands like a seal.
Mom and Dad laughed, but I pretended Avi was some random kid who’d sat down next to us by mistake.
Suddenly the waiter appeared. “You guys ready to order?” he growled.
I looked up at Joe the Waiter. He had shifty eyes and hair slicked back with so much grease you could fry a latke on his head.
I went first. “I’ll have the moo goo gai pan,” I said proudly. Those are the only Cantonese words I know, but Lucy promised she’d teach me a few more.
Joe the Waiter took out a pen and pad of paper. “Moo goo gai, what?” he said, shaking his head. “How do you spell that?”
I handed him my menu so he could see what I had ordered. Then it was Avi’s turn. “I want fried rice,” he said. “And I can even spell it backwards—d-e-i-r-f e-c-i-r.”
When our dinner finally arrived, Joe the Waiter put my food in front of Avi and mixed up my parents’ orders.
I pulled out my notebook. Next to Joe the Waiter’s name I wrote, Something’s not kosher.
Chapter Four
After we finished eating, I got up from the table and announced, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Avi jumped up out of his seat. “I’m going too,” he said.
I was planning on doing some snooping and didn’t want my brother tagging along. “Go by yourself, Avi,” I hissed at him as we both moved away from the table.
“Pinky, I know you’re being a detective, but I can be your helper.”
“I don’t need your help,” I insisted. “We’ll meet back at the table.”
Avi sighed and headed to the restroom while I took a quick detour to the restaurant’s kitchen.
I stuck my head in the doorway. “Excuse me,” I called out. “Can you please tell me where the girls’ bathroom is?”
A guy in a white chef’s coat was busy attacking a carrot with his cleaver.
“Can’t you see this is the kitchen?” he yelled, holding the cleaver midair. “The bathroom’s down the hall.” Chef Wong reminded me of a knife thrower in the circus, and I was hoping he wouldn’t use me as part of his act.
A gigantic frying pan was on the stove. It could easily have doubled as a flying saucer.
Along another wall was an oversize refrigerator, and next to that was a door that I guessed led to the alleyway behind the restaurant.
Chef Wong was getting tired of my visit. “Get lost, kid,” he said. “Or I’ll turn you into chop suey!”
I dashed out of the kitchen and made a brief stop at the restroom before heading back to our table.
Joe the Waiter was clearing off our dishes. “Do you want to take these home?” he asked Avi, eyeing the pile of leftover vegetables sitting on his plate.
Before Avi could protest, my mom told Joe to put everything in a takeout container. “He’ll eat them later,” she said. “It’s a shame to waste food.”
Joe the Waiter dropped a pile of cellophane-wrapped fortune cookies in the middle of our table. Avi reached over and grabbed his first.
“Fast-food alert. You’re a few fries short of a happy meal,” he read out loud. “Hey, that’s not true!”
Dad put on his glasses. “Mine says, Shut your trap. Your teeth are brighter than you are.”
Next, Mom read her fortune. “Take more naps. Your beauty sleep is not working. Wow. Good thing we ate already, or I would’ve lost my appetite from reading this.”
I was beginning to see why the restaurant was losing so many customers.
“Wait, I have to read mine,” I said. “Boo-hoo! A face like yours makes a ghost scream.”
Avi laughed hysterically, but I didn’t think it was so funny.
“Whoever made these fortunes must have flunked out of fortune cookie school,” said Avi.
And then graduated from villain school, I thought. These fortunes were too terrible to be an accident. Someone must’ve written them like this on purpose to sabotage the restaurant. But who would do that?
I stuffed the little white papers with the fortunes into my pocket.
They were crime scene evidence, and I didn’t want to leave them behind!
Chapter Five
Mrs. Wong rushed over to our table when she saw us getting ready to leave.
“Family’s not happy?” she asked, looking around at our long faces. “Was the food not good tonight?”
“It wasn’t the food,” my dad offered. “It was the fortunes in the fortune cookies. They were a little hard to swallow!”
“Sorry, Mr. Bloom. Many customers complain. Bad fortunes are bad for business.”
“What about the fortune cookie company?” Dad asked. “Did you say something to them?”
“The company said no guarantees on fortunes, only cookies.”
As we got up and headed toward the door, I saw that Avi had left his takeout container on the table. I grabbed it and took it with me.
We walked through the restaurant and were almost to the front door when my mom paused.
“Look, that’s Mr. Federman!” she said, pointing to a man sitting at a table by himself. “He’s the head of special exhibitions at the Jewish Museum.”
I looked over at Mr. Federman and suddenly saw something small and furry scurry across the floor.
“Look, a mouse!” I yelled. “It ran under Mr. Federman’s table.”
Avi immediately dropped down on his hands and knees. He crawled toward the table just as Joe the Waiter walked by carrying a tray of food.
The tray went flying as he tripped over Avi, and a pile of Double Happiness landed in Mr. Federman’s lap.
I put Avi’s takeout container down on the table and was about to grab hold of him when an alarm went off.
Chef Wong ran out of the kitchen waving his arms and yelling something about the smoke detector.
“Leave the restaurant, now,” Mrs. Wong shouted. “I have to call the fire department.”
Two takeout containers were on Mr. Federman’s table. I figured one was his leftover dinner, and the other was Avi’s.
I grabbed Avi’s container and followed my family out the door. We were halfway down the street when we heard the roar of fire engines.
/> Lucy’s dad might be right. It certainly seemed as if someone had given the Lotus Blossom Kosher Chinese Restaurant the evil eye!
Chapter Six
When we got home, Avi told me to put his leftover food in the back of the refrigerator, so Mom wouldn’t find it. Then he got ready to move into my room, since Grandma Phyllis would be here later tonight.
Avi showed up at my door holding a bobblehead doll from a Yankees baseball game, a book about sharks, and his dead bug collection.
“Yuck, why is your room all pink?” he said, looking around.
“Take all that stuff back to your own room,” I told him sternly.
Just then Mom stuck her head in the doorway. “How are you two getting along?” she chimed.
“I don’t want Avi in my room. And besides, his feet smell.”
“It’s only for a few days, Pinky. I’m sure you two will survive.”
I was about to tell her she was wrong when the doorbell rang. Avi and I both raced through the living room to answer it.
Dad was talking on his phone but lowered it long enough to say, “Slow down, you two. Whoever’s there can wait a minute.”
Avi got to the door first. He left the chain on and opened it a crack.
“Let me in,” Lucy said. “Your sister and I have important business to discuss.”
Avi released the chain and opened the door. Then Lucy and I dashed down the hall to my room.
“Pinky, what happened when you went to the restaurant?” she asked.
I reached inside my pocket and pulled out the slips of paper from the fortune cookies. “Here, take a look at these. I kept them as evidence.”
“Wow, it’s no wonder customers aren’t coming back,” Lucy said after she finished reading our fortunes.
“We have to find out who’s baking the cookies,” I said. “Then we’ll know who’s writing the fortunes.”
“That’s easy, Pinky! It’s the Rezam Fortune Cookie Company. I saw their name on a box in the restaurant’s kitchen.”