Rumors were as much a part of =BearCountry School as walls and windows,
bells and buzzers, homework and report cards. There were rumors about
=Too-Tall maybe getting suspended for his latest prank. There were
rumors about a longer school day. There were rumors about anything.
The latest rumor was about a new teacher coming to the school.
"What's the new teacher's name," =BrotherBear called to =CousinFreddy?
They were playing catch after school on the school's baseball field.
=Brother crouched at home plate. His catcher's mitt was ready.
=Freddy would up for the next pitch.
Whack. =Freddy's fastball landed in =Brother's mitt.


The very next day, before lunch, Teacher =Bob told the cubs that a new
daily social studies class was about to begin. He also said that =SisterBear
and =LizzyBruin would be joining them from Teacher =Jane's class.
The buzzing of cub voices stopped the moment the new teacher entered
the room. Mr =Dweebish went straight to the blackboard and wrote his name
on it. There were a few giggles. "I told you he'd be a dweeb," whispered
=Too-TallGrizzly to =Skuzz just loud enough for everyone to hear.
More giggles could be heard.
Mr =Dweebish pretended not to notice.
Under his name on the blackboard, he wrote, "Foundations of Democracy."
Then he turned to the class. "What are foundations," he asked in
a loud, clear voice? He wore thick glasses. Behind them his eyes were
bright and interested.


The next day at lunch, =Brother, =Sister, =Freddy, and =Lizzy were talking about
their new teacher. They had just finished their second class in Foundations
of Democracy.
"I like Mr =Dweebish," said =Brother. "He isn't boring like the other social
studies teachers."
"Yeah," said =Sister. "And he lets us discuss."
"I really like the way he goes after =Too-Tall," said =Freddy.
"As compared to the way you went after =Too-Tall yesterday," teased =Brother?
"Cool it," said =Freddy. "I just lost my temper for a minute.
"Well, you better not let it happen again," said =Brother. "I don't think
=Too-Tall is too happy with the way we've been laughing at him in Mr
=Dweebish's class. I have a sneaky feeling that =Too-Tall is just waiting
for a chance to get back at us."


The next day, =Brother, =Freddy, =Lizzy, and =Barry sat at their
regular lunchroom table.
=Barry was still upset about his loss.
"Were there any other valuable cards in the group that was stolen," asked =Brother?
"Some okay ones, but =Koufax and =Grizzwell were my biggies," said =Barry.
Just then =SisterBear came racing through those very same lunchroom double doors
that =Barry had burst through. She hurried over to the table where =Brother,
=Freddy, =Lizzy, and =Barry were sitting.
"There you are," said =Lizzy. "We were just wondering what happened to you.
Well, what happened to you?"
=Sister was breathing hard and almost ready to cry. She looked just the way =Barry
had looked the day before.


The next morning, Mr =Dweebish started Foundations of Democracy class by asking
the cubs what they thought of the locker thefts.
"Rotten. Terrible. Awful," they answered.
"I understand that Mr =Honeycomb has set up hall patrols," said Mr =Dweebish.
"Is that a good idea?"
=BabsBruno raised her hand. "Sure it's a good idea," she said. "But it's not enough."
"How would you handle this problem, =Babs," asked Mr =Dweebish?
"I'd bring in my dad and Officer =Marguerite. And I'd have them search every cub and
locker in the school. And that would be the end of it."
"Yes," said Mr =Dweebish, "that might well be the end of it. But wouldn't it also be
the end of privacy in =BearCountry School?"



The hall patrols didn't seem to be doing much good. More lockers were robbed over the
next few days. No one had a clue as to who was doing it or how it was being done.
All kinds of things were stolen. A special comb with gold trim was stolen from =LizzyBruin's
locker. An arrowhead was taken from =GilGrizzwold's locker. And more baseball cards were stolen.
The school's vice principal, Mr =Grizzmeyer, had a theory about the locker thefts.
He was =Too-Tall's baseball coach and knew all about how much =Too-Tall loved baseball cards.
So he believed that =Too-Tall, or one of his gang, was stealing the cards. And he figured
that =Too-Tall was stealing other things so that people would think someone else was the
thief. Mr =Grizzmeyer decided it was time to talk to =Too-Tall and the gang about the thefts.


"Hey," said =CousinFreddy to =Brother and =SisterBear as they walked home from school that afternoon.
"Did you hear what happened when Mr =H and Mr =G grilled =Too-Tall and the gang today?"
"What," asked =Brother?
"=Too-Tall told them he was innocent until proven guilty and that they didn't have any
evidence. And they let him go!" =Freddy couldn't help laughing. "Is that great or what?"
Everyone laughed along. When the laughter died down, =Brother said, "It's funny. But it's not
funny too. Mr =G is right. =Too-Tall is stealing baseball cards. And he's trying to make it
look like somebody else is doing it by stealing other stuff too."


The =BearDetectives did their best following the gang whenever it split up. But their best didn't
seem to be good enough. Two days later, there was another school locker theft. The =BearDetectives met
at afternoon recess to talk about it.
"That could mean that =Vinnie is the thief," said =Sister. "He's the one we haven't followed yet."
"Right," said =Brother. "After school I'll take =Vinnie instead of =Too-Tall if the gang splits up."
But that afternoon the gang didn't split up. From school they headed straight into some nearby woods.
The =BearDetectives had no trouble keeping up with them. That was because =Too-Tall was carrying
something. He was carrying a heavy box that slowed the gang down.


Nothing in the world is worse than chasing after evidence and finding only garbage. It's
especially bad when the garbage winds up all over your feet with the criminals laughing at you.
It was pretty clear what had happened. =Too-Tall and the gang had seen the cubs back at the
=BurgerBear. Maybe =Freddy's binoculars glinting in the sun had given them away. Or maybe
=Too-Tall had figured it out as soon as they walked into =Biff's pharmacy. But it really didn't
matter. What did matter was that the idea of shadowing the locker thieves hadn't worked. It
was a bust. A complete bust.


Squire =Grizzly was a bank president. So naturally he hated robbers more than anything.
He was more than happy to help the =BearDetectives with their scheme. Early the next morning,
the Squire sent one of his security men to =BearCountrySchool to rig up a red paint bomb in
=Brother's locker.
As the =BearDetectives made their way down the hall to class that morning, they passed the locker.
It looked just like all the others. There was no sign that a trap had been set. Quickly, the
cubs spread the work that =Brother's =BabeBruin card was in the locker and that =Too-Tall was
afraid of =Brother.


The =BearDetectives has trouble paying attention in class that morning. They couldn't get their
minds off the red-handed thief. Who was it? Whoever it was surely wouldn't come to school today.
But all the cubs in Teacher =Bob's class were there! Was it someone from outside class? Maybe even
someone from outside school?
Finally, it was time for Foundations of Democracy. Teacher =Bob looked at his watch and asked
for the cubs' attention. "I have an important announcement, class," he said.
"There will be no Foundations of Democracy class today. This is a free period.