The bake sale was tomorrow. Anthony had baked twelve perfect blueberry muffins to sell. He and his classmates were determined to raise the money they needed for their spring camping trip. Anthony put his muffins in a container and shut off the kitchen light. He went upstairs to bed and slept soundly until morning. 

When Anthony went to the kitchen for breakfast, he saw the muffin container sitting empty on the counter. Where were the muffins?  “Mom!” he called. “Dad!” 

Anthony’s mom was as surprised as he was to see the muffins missing.  His dad was surprised too, when he eventually came downstairs. “Sorry I’m late, kiddo,” he said. “I didn’t sleep too well last night.” 

“I’ll say you didn’t,” said Anthony’s mom. “You were talking in your sleep all night long.”

Anthony’s parents helped him search the house, but they had no luck finding the muffins. How could twelve muffins just disappear?

They looked for clues in the kitchen. Anthony saw some flour spilled on the floor. In the flour were paw prints. Dog paws! 
When Anthony ran to his dog, Meatball was sleeping soundly. There was no sign that he had eaten twelve muffins. “He ate his breakfast as usual,” said Anthony’s mom. “I can’t imagine him being able to eat breakfast if he’d polished off all the muffins.” 

Hmm. Maybe Meatball had just walked through some flour that Anthony had spilled. He was kind of a messy baker. It looked like Meatball was innocent. 

Anthony felt discouraged. He’d been excited to contribute to the bake sale. He was sure his muffins would have made good money for the camping trip. “Let’s take a break for breakfast,” Anthony’s mom suggested. 

“None for me, thanks,” said Anthony’s dad. “I’m not hungry.”

Not hungry? Anthony’s dad was never not hungry. Suddenly Anthony remembered what his mom had said about Meatball. The dog wouldn’t have been able to eat his breakfast if he’d eaten twelve muffins in the middle of the night.

The clues were coming together. Anthony’s dad was tired. He was not hungry. But he would never have eaten his muffins on purpose. He was just as excited about the camping trip as Anthony was.

Suddenly Anthony realized what had happened. “Dad!” he shouted. “If you sleep talk, maybe you sleep walk too!” 

“Aha! And sleep eat as well!” added Anthony’s mom. 

“Oh dear,” said Anthony’s dad. “I don’t remember doing it, but it seems all signs point to me.” He tied on his apron. “Looks like we have some more muffins to bake,” he said. And he and Anthony got to work.