“A top-shelf test of courage, friendship, and ingenuity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Florian Bates—the only kid on the FBI Director’s speed dial and several international criminals’ most wanted lists—must clear the name of a friend being framed for a crime he didn’t commit in this hilarious third novel in the Framed! series. When Florian and Margaret’s FBI supervisor, Marcus Rivers, is accused of a crime, it’s up to the mystery solving duo to jump into action and clear his name. After all, Marcus is more than their boss—he’s family. The case involves one of Marcus’s first investigations for the FBI and a Russian spy ring. But the spy they’re chasing learns what they’re up to and turns the tables. Now, Marcus is implicated in a variety of crimes, including theft, corruption, and espionage. For Florian and Margaret, it just got personal. They’re going to catch the spy and clear Marcus’s name…even if they have to break into (and out of) the Library of Congress to do it. "The pleasures of watching the young sherlocks once again deduce rings around the grown-ups (using a technique they call TOAST, for "Theory of All Small Things") are just as rich in this trilogy closer as they were in Volume 1. A top-shelf test of courage, friendship, and ingenuity." ― Kirkus Reviews, Starred review James Ponti is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. Find out more at JamesPonti.com. Trapped! 1. Geek Mythology YOU CAN’T JUDGE A BOOK by its cover. My name’s Florian Bates, and if you looked at me, you’d see a twelve-year-old boy and think, Seventh grader. And while that wouldn’t be wrong, it wouldn’t begin to tell you the whole story. For example, it wouldn’t tell you that, in addition to doing homework and mowing the lawn, my list of chores typically includes solving cases as a consulting detective with the FBI’s Special Projects Team. And if you looked at the copy of Albert Einstein’s Relativity that was checked out from the Tenley-Friendship branch of the DC Public Library nine days ago, you’d think, Science book. (Okay, first you might look at the picture of Einstein on the cover and wonder how he got his hair to look that way, but then you’d think, Science book.) However, you’d never guess that the book triggered an international incident involving a Russian spy ring, the theft of national treasures, a European crime syndicate, and a joint task force of the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency. And finally, if you looked at our plan to break into the Library of Congress, evade its state-of-the-art security system, and somehow find the single piece of information necessary to solve our case, you’d think my best friend—Margaret—and I were absolutely bonkers. Okay, so sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The plan was totally nuts. To be honest, it wasn’t so much a plan as it was a list of nearly impossible objectives with no idea how to accomplish them. We knew it was bad. We just couldn’t come up with anything better. We had to unmask a spy who’d spent decades as a deep-cover agent stealing US government secrets. But more important, we had to help Marcus. Marcus Rivers was in charge of the Special Projects Team. But he wasn’t just our boss; he was family. He was also an amazing agent who never once hesitated to risk his life and his career to protect us. It was our turn to return the favor. At some point during the case, we slipped up and the spy used our mistake to make it look like Marcus was guilty of theft, corruption, and espionage. Marcus who’d spent his entire career fighting criminals was now accused of being one. Desperate times called for desperate measures. “You’re the mastermind,” I said to Margaret as we approached the library. “What are we going to do?” “Get inside, find the evidence, and prove Marcus is innocent,” she said. I gave her a sideways glance. “You have any specific details about how we should do those things?” She shrugged. “I figured we’d just make it up as we went along.” Like I said, absolutely bonkers. OBJECTIVE 1: Crash the “It’s All About the Books” Gala at the Library of Congress First, we had to get inside the library by crashing a gala reception in the Grea