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Arthur Accused! (book)
| This article is about the book. You may be looking for the episode. |
| Arthur Accused! (book) | |
 | |
| Author | *Marc Brown (cover credit)
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| Illustrator | Marc Brown |
| Publication date | May 1, 1998 |
| Published by | Little, Brown and Company |
| ISBN | 0316115568 |
| Publication order | |
| Preceded by Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest |
Followed by Locked in the Library! |
Arthur Accused! is a chapter book based on the Arthur episode "Arthur Accused!."
Plot[edit]
Arthur is raising money to help the fire station buy a new puppy. Binky donates a quarter, then Buster comes in wearing a detective uniform and asks Arthur if he wants to go to the arcade. Arthur says yes, but he decides to give the quarters to Mrs. MacGrady first.
Mrs. MacGrady is on the phone, and Arthur tries to get her attention. However, she doesn't seem to notice him. Arthur accidentally knocks over a bag of flour and gets some on the quarters. Mrs. MacGrady is still talking on the phone, so Arthur puts the quarters down and decides to catch up with Buster.
Buster notices flour on Arthur's shirt, and Arthur explains that it must be from the bag he knocked over. At the arcade, Arthur and Buster play lots of games. Arthur gets a high score on the pinball machine.
The next day, at school, Mr. Haney tells Arthur that he should give the quarters to Mrs. MacGrady. Arthur says that he already did, but Mrs. Tingley says that she didn't get any. Buster suggests that there's a mystery, then he talks about Arthur getting the high score are tells Mr. Haney about how much money it took him. Mr. Haney suspects that Arthur stole the quarters, and gives him a week of detention. Buster then decides that he'll prove Arthur's innocence.
Buster first decides to interrogate Mrs. MacGrady. She says that she didn't see Arthur, but Mr. Morris came in to clean up her brownie mix when the mixer stopped. He interrogates Mr. Morris, but he doesn't have any clues, except that Mrs. MacGrady is pretty tidy and he usually doesn't have to clean up after her. Buster then interrogates D.W., who tells him that his hat looks silly and that Arthur wouldn't steal money and bring it in plain sight.
At home, Buster is disappointed that he can't find any more clues. The Brain, Francine, and Muffy all call him on the phone. Buster's mom tells him to go to bed, and that he needs sleep because he's "not a robot." Buster then excitedly calls Arthur and tells him that the quarters were stolen by robots, although Arthur thinks that's ridiculous.
As the class boards the bus to go to the picnic, Buster feels disappointed for being a bad detective. Buster says that he "just can't think straight anymore." The Brain responds that he knows how Buster feels, and when he's "working on a tough math problem," it feels like his brain is "overflowing with data." The word "overflowing" gives Buster an idea, and he rushes into Mrs. MacGrady's room to show that she accidentally mixed the quarters in with the brownies.
Arthur gets out of detention, and thanks Buster for being the best detective he knows. Buster corrects Arthur, saying that he's the only detective he knows. Mrs. MacGrady then has another mystery: finding out what caused the sudden disappearance of the plate of cookies. Buster brushes some crumbs off his shirt and says that she'll have to solve that one on her own, implying that Buster ate the cookies.
