A to Z Mysteries: The Bald Bandit

Dink slipped the plastic fangs into his mouth. He made a scary face at his best friend, Josh Pinto.

“Do I look like a vampire?” It was hard to talk without spitting, so Dink took the fangs out again.

Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan, but nobody called him
Donald. Except his mom, when she was upset. Then she called him by all three names.

Josh grinned. “No. You look like a skinny third-grader wearing false teeth.”

“Wait till I put on the rest of my costume.” Dink said. “Then I’ll look like a vampire.”

“Maybe you will.” Josh was tearing a green bedsheet into long strips. “And maybe you won’t.”

Dink’s guinea pig, Loretta, crawled among the green strips. Every now and then she let out a curious squeak.

“How will you be able to walk if you’re wrapped up in all those strips?” Dink asked Josh.

Josh kept tearing. “Swamp monsters don’t walk,” he said in a slithery voice. “They
gliiiide.”

“Okay, so how will you be able to
gliiiide
wrapped up in all those strips?”

The doorbell rang. When Dink opened the door, his next-door neighbor, Ruth Rose, was standing on the steps.

“Hi, Ruth Rose. Why are you wearing a wig? Halloween isn’t until tomorrow.”

Ruth Rose was dressed in her usual bright clothes—a pink shirt, pink pants, and pink sneakers. But on her head she wore a shiny black wig. She also had on thick fake eyebrows.

Ruth Rose wiggled the fake eyebrows up and down. “Guess who I am!”

Josh stared at Ruth Rose. “A hairy princess?”

“No.”

“Groucho Marx?”

She shook her head.

“Tell us, Ruth Rose,” Dink said.

Ruth Rose pretended to strum a
guitar. “I’m Elvis!” she cried.

“That was my next guess,” Josh said.

Ruth Rose looked at his mound of green strips. “What are you supposed to be?”

Josh wrapped a strip around his face. He made a swamp monster face at Ruth Rose.

“Guess,” he said.

Ruth Rose smiled sweetly “You’re a green sheet torn into strips.”

The doorbell rang again.

This time Dink saw a tall man standing on the doorstep. He was dressed in a suit and tie. He had dark curly hair, a droopy mustache, and a dimpled chin.

“Hi, there. My name is Detective Reddy. I was hired by the Green Lawn Savings Bank to find someone. Did you hear about the robbery?”

Josh and Ruth Rose came to the
door and stood behind Dink.

Dink nodded. “I heard about it on TV.”

“Are you looking for the robber?” Josh asked.

Detective Reddy shook his head. “Right now I’m looking for someone who saw him. When the thief ran out of the bank, he took off his mask. Some kid was walking by with a video camera. He got the thief on tape. The bank hired me to find the kid so I can get the video.”

“What does the kid look like?” Ruth Rose asked.

Detective Reddy stared at her Elvis wig. “Someone in the bank said he has red hair and he’s tall and skinny.”

“Sounds like you, Josh,” said Dink. He laughed and pointed at Josh’s red hair.

“It wasn’t me, honest!” Josh said. “I
don’t even have a video camera.”

“No, the kid was a lot older than you,” said the detective. “Probably in high school.” He patted his mustache. “Do you guys know anyone like that?”

“No,” Dink said. “But we do know Green Lawn pretty well. Maybe we can help you find him.”

The detective looked at the three friends.

“Tell you what,” he said. “Check the high school tomorrow. If you find the kid who filmed the robber, get the video. There’ll be a nice reward if you hand it over.”

“How much?” Josh asked.

“How about one hundred dollars for each of you?”

“A HUNDRED BUCKS?” screamed Ruth Rose.

Dink, Josh, and Detective Reddy covered their ears.

“Ouch!” said Detective Reddy. “That’s quite a set of lungs you’ve got there.”

“How can we get in touch with you if we find the kid?” Dink asked.

The detective pulled out a small pad and a pencil. He wrote something and ripped off the page.

“Here’s my phone number. Call me if you get that video.”

Dink closed the door behind Detective Reddy. He grinned at Josh and Ruth Rose. “A hundred bucks each! We’re rich!”

“Here’s the plan,” Dink said.

It was almost three o’clock the next afternoon. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were headed for the high school, a few blocks away from Green Lawn Elementary.

“Josh, you cover the back door. Ruth Rose, your station is the bike rack. But keep an eye on the parking lot, too.”

“How can I watch the bike rack
and
the parking lot?” asked Ruth Rose.

“Watch one with each eye,” Josh said, grinning.

“What’s your station?” Ruth Rose asked Dink.

“I’ll be watching the front door. If anyone sees a skinny redhead, stop him and yell.”

Ruth Rose laughed. “Stop him and yell? He’ll think we’re crazy and run away.”

“She’s right,” Josh said.

Dink scratched his thick blond hair. “Hmm. Okay, don’t yell. Just get his name and tell him he may have won some money.”

They cut through the park next to the high school.