Portia's not-so-secret admirer

A couple weeks ago, as I was digging through Portia's backpack, I found this.

I don't know why I cared who sent this card, but I just wanted to know. Since it was signed Collin, I asked Portia who Collin was. She shrugged and told me she had no idea. I asked Bianca when she returned home from school. She didn't know either. "Does he ride the bus?" Not that they knew of. This couldn't be someone in Portia's class, though, because the writing and the drawing hints of an older kid. Maybe third or fourth grade?

So I decided to hire a private investigator. Bianca is obsessed with the TV show Psyche, so I gave her a job that she could use the skills she learned while watching rerun after rerun. Find out who this Collin is. And I'll pay her.

The next day, Bianca texted me from the bus. I know who Collin is. He plays the violin in orchestra. He has glasses (as the pictures he drew of himself above clearly shows). But my next question was, "How would he know Portia?" We still didn't have that one figured out. But Tuesdays are Activity Days, and I'm the leader of the 8 and 9-yr-old girls who were coming over that day. When they were at my house, I asked them. "Do you have a Collin in your class?" One of the girls said, Yes and he's Portia's third-grade buddy. Portia then buried her head in her hands. "Does he play the violin?" I asked. They all agreed that he did. So, mystery solved. Not bad for Bianca's first stint as a PI. And Portia assures me that Collin doesn't like her "like that"; they're just friends and anyway she doesn't want to talk about it. Thank goodness for backpacks or I'd never know anything that goes on with my kids!