Who in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Read online

  Contents

  * * *

  Half Title Page

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Frontispiece

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  About the Foreword Author

  Connect with HMH on Social Media

  Copyright © 2019 by HMH IP Company Unlimited Company.

  Carmen Sandiego and associated logos and design are trademarks of HMH IP Company Unlimited Company.

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [email protected] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

  hmhbooks.com

  Cover illustration © 2019 by HMH IP Company Unlimited Company

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Tinker, Rebecca, adapter. | Capizzi, Duane, screenwriter.

  Title: Who in the world is Carmen Sandiego? / adaptation by Rebecca Tinker ; based on the teleplay by Duane Capizzi ; with a foreword by Gina Rodriguez.

  Description: Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2019] | Series: Carmen Sandiego Identifiers: LCCN 2018020063 | ISBN 9781328495297 (paper over board) Subjects: | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Media Tie-In. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Law & Crime.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.T57 Wh 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020063

  eISBN 978-1-328-53072-1

  v1.1218

  Foreword

  By Gina Rodriguez

  Carmen Sandiego was always a hero to me. That may sound odd, since for so long there was little we really knew about her other than that she was a master thief. And I certainly didn’t want to be a thief.

  My sisters and I grew up with Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? We chased her across the globe through a computer game and a TV game show. It’s true, we didn’t really know who she was or why she was doing the things she did. But here’s what I did know: Carmen Sandiego was traveling—​she was getting out in the world, seeing all kinds of places and exploring different cultures. I idolized those things about her. The rest of Carmen’s story was a mystery, but I could fill that in with my imagination. I wanted to see the world and be a sponge of knowledge, soaking it all up, just like Carmen Sandiego.

  But now we don’t have to imagine a story for Carmen anymore. After all those years of asking “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?,” it’s time to turn our attention to an even more important question: Who in the world is Carmen Sandiego? What is her backstory? Where does she come from? Why does she steal? And how did she get to be so good at it?

  At her core, Carmen is a strong, humble, and brave woman who is trying to heal the pain of her past, and in doing so, she is helping so many around her. I don’t think anyone sets out to be a hero or a role model. I don’t think that’s how you become those things. But when you set out to follow your dreams—​when you set goals and go after them with hard work and persistence and faith and integrity—​then you start creating a path that others will want to follow because of the light that you shine. If you set out to be the best version of yourself, there’s no way you can go wrong. And that’s what Carmen does. It takes some trial and error. Of course, there are bumps along the way. But Carmen shows us that if you allow failure and rejection to exist, and know that they are an inevitable part of life, they will only make you stronger on your journey to success.

  As the voice of Carmen, I have the opportunity to portray the type of fearless and empowered woman that I want to be. Carmen stands up for what she believes in. She gives opportunity to those who have none, and that’s why she is a role model to me. That is what I want to do with my life: create opportunity where I see there is none, sharing my blessings and giving my blessings away so that I can create room for more and give more to others.

  I feel so lucky to be a part of the Carmen Sandiego world. When I was approached for this role, I actually started crying! I just couldn’t believe that I was getting to do the voice of Carmen Sandiego. I knew that one of my childhood idols, Rita Moreno, had been the voice of Carmen in a previous iteration, and this felt like the passing of the torch. I had never done a project that my family was familiar with before, and it was so much fun to be able to tell them that I would be the next Carmen. Finally, everybody knew this character that I was taking on, and they couldn’t believe I was being blessed with this honor. I know how vital it was when I was younger to see myself represented on screen. I hope that Carmen Sandiego can be a reflection of courage and strength and feminism today the way I imagined her to be when I was a kid. When you follow your dreams, you give others the allowance to follow theirs. I have been working so hard to prepare myself and to create a foundation of self-love and self-care so that I can go out and accomplish my dreams and be fearless in doing so. Just like Carmen.

  Gina Rodriguez, born and raised in Chicago, currently lives in Los Angeles and is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Gina can be seen playing the title role on the CW series Jane the Virgin, for which she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy in 2015. Her voice can be heard as Carmen Sandiego in the Netflix animated series. In addition to acting, Rodriguez is a leader in supporting inclusion and the empowerment of women. This passion led her to create her production company, I Can and I Will Productions, with a mission to create art that tells stories from the traditionally unseen and unheard. She also established the We Will Foundation with her family, which is designed to focus on arts education and scholarship funding for the less fortunate, with the aim of championing and lifting up young women and men.

  Chapter 1

  The sun was about to set in the historic city of Poitiers, France. The medieval cathedrals were aglow with the golden light of dusk as residents made their way home across cobblestone streets.

  Yet there was one Poitiers resident who had no intention of going home that night.

  In a sleek black car parked in the city square, Inspector Chase Devineaux clenched the steering wheel, his knuckles turning a pale shade of white.

  For the past two days, ever since the infamous globetrotting thief known as Carmen Sandiego was rumored to have arrived in his city, the French Interpol officer had dedicated every waking moment to organizing her capture. Everyone was after Carmen Sandiego, and she had managed to dodge agencies and officers all over the world. Chase had not slept; he had barely eaten—​for he knew that this could be his only chance to make an arrest. Finally, the super thief was in his jurisdiction, and he would not let this opportunity go to waste. I will catch her if it is the last thing I do, Chase thought.

  He turned to Julia Argent, sitting in the passenger seat next to him. She was studiously scrolling through data on her tablet. Julia was a newly recruited Interpol officer with sleek black hair that she kept very short and round glasses that magnified her already large brown eyes. She was half Chinese and half British, and she had a knack for things like languages and history. But what she was really good at was solving problems using logic. Chase had already come to realize in ju
st a few days of working with her that what Julia lacked in experience, she made up for in intellect. And he would never admit it, but that intimidated him.

  Julia adjusted her glasses and looked closely at her screen as she scrolled through a series of blurred images. The images all showed the same woman in different exotic locations across the globe. In one, she was leaving a bank in Hong Kong. In another, she was boarding a train in Norway. In every photograph, the mysterious woman wore the same vibrant red trench coat and matching fedora tilted at a perfect angle on her head. But her face was always covered, as though she knew the exact moment to look away and keep her features hidden.

  “In the last few weeks alone, this Carmen Sandiego has stolen millions from a Swiss bank, a high-end art gallery in Cairo, and a Shanghai amusement park!” Chase exclaimed as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel even more.

  Julia nodded, her eyes still on the data in front of her. “We’ve yet to find any pattern. Don’t you find it strange, sir, that she seems to announce her crimes by making public appearances beforehand? Like the café sighting here in Poitiers earlier today?”

  Chase grumbled under his breath. Those same questions had been bothering him for weeks now. Why would a thief draw attention to herself by leaving clues and wearing such bold colors? Was stealing just a game to Carmen Sandiego? Catch me if you can!

  He brushed away the thought with a wave of his hand. “It does not matter,” he said firmly. “She is in my city now, Ms. Argent, and I will be the one to capture her!”

  Julia’s attention was suddenly drawn toward the sight of a red blur as a figure darted across the street in front of their car. Julia’s breath caught in her chest. Could it be?

  Chase Devineaux continued, not seeing the red figure directly ahead of him. “You are new to the force, so you are to sit back, watch me work, and learn how to catch a thief!”

  Julia bolted upright and hurriedly pointed in the direction of the woman. “Sir! She’s right there!”

  Annoyed at the interruption, Chase slowly turned to follow the direction of Julia’s finger with a frustrated sigh. New officers are too excitable these days, he thought.

  Then Chase caught sight of a red fedora across the street. His eyes went wide. It was the woman in red!

  “La Femme Rouge!” Chase shouted. Carmen Sandiego fired a grapnel overhead and was gracefully pulled skyward toward the rooftops. She had been right in front of him—​and now she was getting away!

  * * *

  On an orange-tiled rooftop, Carmen Sandiego looked across the Poitiers skyline and stopped to take in the incredible view. In the distance, she could see the towers of Cathédrale Saint-Pierre lit up by the sun’s dimming rays. Her long brown hair fell in waves from under her red fedora. She tilted the hat up and away from her eyes and sighed deeply at the sight.

  She never tired of the magnificent sights to be found in new and exciting places around the world. Even now, when she knew time was of the essence, she couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate how beautiful France was.

  “You might want to save the sightseeing for after the job,” came the voice of a young teenage boy in her ear.

  Carmen touched the earring that doubled as a communication device and smiled wryly. “Glad you could join me, Player.”

  “I wouldn’t miss a night out with you for the world, Red,” he responded.

  Player was Carmen Sandiego’s confidante and, one could say, her very best friend, even though they had never actually met face-to-face. Player also had incredible computer-hacking abilities that far surpassed his years. Carmen realized that she had come to rely on the computer whiz while she was out in the field.

  “The next stop on your sightseeing tour of Poitiers should be . . . fifty yards dead ahead,” Player instructed.

  Carmen darted forward across the rooftops, her boots clicking like castanets across the tiles. The steep angles of the roofs posed no difficulty for her as she jumped from one building to another.

  Soon enough, she reached her destination. It was a French chateau penthouse. Hanging vines grew along the sides of the building, reaching down to a balcony where Carmen spied a set of large glass doors. But I’m not going in through the door, she thought with a slight smile.

  With one smooth motion, Carmen made a final leap to the penthouse roof and scanned the area until she found what she was looking for—​a skylight window. Kneeling down, Carmen examined a security-alarm box connected to the side of it. If she tried to open the window without disabling the alarm first, every police officer in France would be after her in an instant.

  Without missing a beat, Carmen took out a tube of lipstick from her coat pocket and twisted the bottom. But Carmen was not one for doing her makeup on the job. She was much more interested in the high-tech port that extended from the lipstick tube. She slid it into the side of the alarm box with a click. “Cosmetic and electric,” Carmen said with a smile. “Do you think you can open this for me, Player?”

  “Matching frequencies . . . decrypting the security codes . . .” he mumbled. Carmen could hear Player typing rapidly from where he lived in Ontario, Canada. While she had never seen his computer-hacking station, she had no doubt he had multiple monitors and all the latest in high-tech computer technology. “And you’re in! Alarm system disabled.”

  The light on the security box changed from red to green, and Carmen slid the skylight window open. Too easy, she thought. It was always more fun when she was able to put her skills to the test.

  “It could be a trap,” Player cautioned.

  “Let’s find out.”

  Carmen pulled her grappling hook out of her trench coat. Gadgets of all shapes and sizes lined the inside of her fashionable red coat, always within arm’s reach.

  She secured the grappling hook to the edge of the skylight and began lowering herself into the chateau.

  Carmen soon found herself in a thief’s paradise. She was surrounded by ornate suits of armor, priceless tapestries, and delicate porcelain vases lining the mantels. She reached the floor, and as she stepped down—​

  Click!

  Suddenly, a hidden panel opened in the wall, and out fired a fleet of crossbow bolts. The sharp metal arrows were coming straight at her, deadly and fast. There was no time to lose! Carmen grabbed a shield from a nearby suit of armor and raised it to protect herself. With dull thuds, the arrows buried themselves in the shield.

  Carmen winced at the sight of the medieval shield now peppered with arrows. With a twinge of guilt for damaging a priceless antique, she set the shield aside and made her way through the chateau.

  Perhaps other people would have been on edge after being shot at with arrows, but for Carmen Sandiego, it was just another Tuesday.

  Carmen looked around the vast living area, and her eyes settled on a bookshelf that reached all the way from the floor to the ceiling. “Isn’t this where the vault should be?” Carmen asked as she began running her hand along the shelves.

  “According to the blueprints, yes,” Player agreed. Carmen rapped her hand on the shelf, and a hollow echo sounded back. She quickly scanned the wall, knowing that the door had to be there somewhere. Carmen reached up and pulled down on a bronze candlestick that was attached to the wall. Bingo! She grinned as the bookshelf swung open to reveal a huge metal door.

  The vault door was securely locked with an electronic keypad, so Carmen pulled another gadget from the inside of her coat. This one was her own small yet sleek keypad. With the press of a button, numbers began to flash on the keypad’s screen, one after another, as it searched for the combination that would open the vault. After a moment, a sequence of numbers locked in place on the screen. Open sesame, thought Carmen as the vault door swung open. She stepped inside.

  The vault was a massive, cave-like room. Glittering jewels and ancient antiques lined the walls. They must have been worth a small fortune. The real prize, however, rested in the middle of the room on a glass pedestal. Carmen walked toward it, her excit
ement rising.

  Directly in front of her was a blue gemstone the size of a football. It was known to collectors and archaeologists as the famed Eye of Vishnu. It was an incredible sight to behold, and it was one that Carmen had seen once before, a long time ago.

  But Carmen had no time to reminisce about the past. She quickly approached the Eye of Vishnu, reaching out to take it from the pedestal. Just then, something in the corner of the room caught her eye.

  She gasped—​It couldn’t be!

  “Red? What’s wrong?”

  Carmen swallowed, trying to process what she was seeing. “I’m staring at something I thought I’d never, ever set eyes on again,” she told Player, her voice raw with emotion.

  “Is what you’re staring at more valuable than the Eye of Vishnu? You know, the gemstone that’s as big as my head?” Player asked, confused about what could have possibly distracted Carmen from her mission.

  Before Carmen could answer Player’s question, there was a loud pounding at the penthouse door.

  “Interpol! Open this door!”

  Carmen whirled around. A smile played at the corner of her mouth. Now, this was just the sort of challenge she liked.

  * * *

  Inspector Chase Devineaux knew his window of opportunity for catching Carmen Sandiego was small. “Open up! This is Interpol!” he yelled again, and slammed his whole body into the door, breaking it open.

  He ran into the vault just in time to see the red-coated Carmen Sandiego swinging a black satchel over her shoulder, a round object stored inside it. Chase’s cheeks reddened with anger. “Stop! Thief!”

  He lunged at her, but Carmen had pulled a medieval tapestry down from the wall and was now waving it like a Spanish matador facing a bull. She skillfully tossed the fabric wall hanging around him, and Chase found himself in complete darkness. He struggled to pull it off. Finally, Chase threw the tapestry aside, sputtering.

  “Inspector Chase Devineaux, huh?” Carmen Sandiego asked with a wry smile.