One night Harvey (Harvey's Marvelous Monkey Mystery, 1987, etc.) and his cousin Nora see a prowler with a shotgun hanging out in Harvey's yard. They watch, mystified, as the thin stranger in black lifts his gun and shoots at a branch outside Harvey's window. The branch falls into Harvey's room, and with it an adorable raccoon and a plate for printing counterfeit $20 bills. The next morning neighbors come by to find out what the shots were: Mrs. Motley, a nice if nosy woman from next door, and the nurse who recently moved into the area with an old woman she cares for. The raccoon runs out of the house with the plate. They catch him and bring him back. That night the prowler returns, this time with an accomplice. Harvey and Nora hear noises from the attic and go up to investigate. The two prowlers catch them, but Harvey and Nora escape and Harvey solves the mystery: The old woman and her nurse, who only leave their house at night, are actually Wally Warble and his accomplice, Kookie Smith, counterfeiters. Unfortunately, by the time the police come, Wally and Kookie are long gone. Another amusing little book from Clifford. (Fiction. 7- 10)
