“Oh, no!” Grandma said. “My phone has run away again. I just can’t seem to keep track of it.”

Carl jumped up. “I’ll find it for you, Grandma.”

Grandma smiled. “Thanks. You can be my detective.”

Carl looked around. “I need some clues. Where did you talk on the phone today?”

Grandma frowned, thinking. “Oh, dear. Mrs. Brown called this morning while I was making strawberry jam.”

“Maybe your phone is in the kitchen,” Carl said. “I’ll do a search.”

He looked in the oven and found a flour sifter.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for that!” Grandma exclaimed.
Carl peered over the sink. He found a wooden spoon on the windowsill.

“That’s my favorite mixing spoon! I thought I’d lost it,” Grandma laughed.

Carl looked on the table and found Grandpa’s favorite coffee mug and a plate of cookies. He ate a cookie for extra energy.

“There’s no sign of your phone in the kitchen,” Carl reported. “Did you talk to anyone else?”

Grandma scratched her chin. “Let me see .... Aunt Mabel phoned while I was weeding the garden after breakfast.”

Carl opened the back door. “I’ll search the yard. Maybe your phone is out there.”

He hunted around the birdbath and found Grandma’s garden gloves. He searched under the swing and found two packets of carrot seeds. He looked between the bushes and found a shiny red marble. “Oh, that’s mine,” he said, and put it in his pocket.

“There’s no phone in sight out here,” Carl announced. He handed Grandma the gardening gloves and flower seeds.

“I must have dropped these when I answered the phone,” she said.

“Did you talk to anyone else this morning?” Carl asked.

“I remember ... just before lunch, Mrs. Jones called while I was washing the sheets,” Grandma said.

“The basement!” Carl said, then skipped down the steps.

Carl explored the inside of the dryer and found one purple-and-red sock. He looked behind the door and found Grandpa’s old brown fishing hat. He looked by the furnace and discovered Grandma's cat, Pepper, snuggled up with three kittens.

“Oh!” he said. “So that’s where you went.”

Carl walked upstairs to make his report, thinking hard. “I found a sock,” he said, “and some kittens, but I didn’t see a phone down there. Can you remember the very last time you used it?”

“Kittens?” said Grandma. “Oh, my. Well, your mother called me from her cell phone right after I finished cleaning out the garage. I was sitting here by the window.”

Carl jumped up. “Wait a minute! I’ve got an idea.”

He ran to get his backpack. He pulled out his cell phone and pressed a number.

Carl and Grandma waited.

Ring, Ring!

“Oh, my!” Grandma laughed and reached in her apron pocket. “Here it is! You found my runaway telephone, Carl. It was in my pocket all the time.”

“I’m glad it turned up,” Carl said.

“You’re a good detective!” Grandma gave Carl a big hug. “You found my phone, the flour sifter, my favorite spoon, my garden gloves, and the carrot seeds. Grandpa will be so happy that you found his hat and his sock.”

“And don’t forget those kittens,” Carl said.

They sat down at the table and celebrated with milk and cookies.