A to Z Mysteries: The School Skeleton (2 page)

CHAPTER 2

“Sorry I gave you a paper cut,” Josh told Dink at morning recess. The cool March wind made Dink’s eyes water. Gray clouds blew across the sky and a few mounds of snow still hadn’t melted.

“No problem,” Dink said. A soccer ball rolled against his feet, and Dink kicked it toward a bunch of kids.

“Does it still hurt?” Ruth Rose asked. Her hat and scarf matched the rest of her yellow outfit.

“Nope,” Dink said. Then he remembered
what had happened in Miss Shotsky’s office. “But guess what? Mr. Bones has disappeared!”

“The skeleton?” Josh said.

Dink nodded. “I noticed it was missing when I got my Band-Aid,” he said. “Miss Shotsky didn’t even know it was gone.”

“I wonder if someone stole it,” Ruth Rose said. She unwrapped the chocolate Dink had given her.

“Why would anyone steal a skeleton?” Josh said, eyeing the candy in Ruth Rose’s hand. “Share?” he asked.

Ruth Rose broke the candy in half and passed a chunk to Josh.

Dink shrugged. “The last time Miss Shotsky saw it was around seven-thirty this morning,” he said.

Just then they heard a whistle blow. Everyone lined up and entered the building.

Mrs. Eagle was waiting inside the door. “We’re going to the gym for a few minutes,” she told her class. “Mr. Dillon has an announcement to make.”

Led by their teachers, the third, fourth, and fifth graders trooped into the gym. The kindergarteners and first and second graders were already sitting in rows on the floor. Mr. Dillon was standing under the basketball hoop.

When the bigger kids were also seated, Mr. Dillon smiled. “Good morning, kids!” he said. “I have some sad news to report,” he went on. “Earlier today, the school skeleton disappeared out of the nurse’s office.”

Everyone started to talk. A fifth-grade boy with a deep voice said, “Who’d steal a skeleton? A zombie?” His buddies laughed, and his teacher gave him a look.

“If anyone has any information about the missing skeleton,” Mr. Dillon went on, “please raise your hand.”

No one raised a hand.

“Well, it seems we have a genuine mystery on our hands,” Mr. Dillon said. He smiled at the hundred kids who sat watching him. “And I need your help solving it. So I’ve decided to offer a reward. The classroom that finds Mr. Bones will get free tickets to the new aquarium in Hartford.”

“Ooh!” a lot of kids cried.

Ruth Rose turned to Dink and Josh. “I’ve been asking my parents to take me,” she said.

“Me too,” Dink said. “They’ve got a baby beluga whale!”

“Now you’re excused,” Mr. Dillon said. “Have a nice day, and best of luck solving the case of the missing skeleton!”

The kids stood up, gathered around their teachers, and left the gym. All around him Dink heard kids talking about the missing school skeleton. He heard one little boy whisper, “Maybe it came alive and walked away!”

“Maybe if we figured out why anyone would want a skeleton,” Dink said, “we could figure out who took it.”

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose thought about this as they followed Mrs. Eagle back to their classroom.

They passed Mr. Neater, cleaning a window. He smiled and waved.

“Maybe
he
took it,” Josh whispered. “That key ring probably has keys to all the rooms in the school.”

“Josh, why would Mr. Neater want a skeleton?” Ruth Rose asked.

“She’s right,” Dink said. “You might as well accuse Miss Aria, the music teacher, or Mr. Love, the art teacher.”

“Well, someone took it,” Josh said.

Ruth Rose was shaking her head. “But why does it have to be an adult?” she asked. “Maybe the fifth graders stole Mr. Bones. Remember when they took that papier-mâché whale from the first-grade room and hung it from the flagpole?”

“Yeah, that was
so
cool,” Josh said.

Back in their room, Mrs. Eagle told the kids to take out their writing journals. “Since we have only a little time left before lunch, why don’t we spend it writing a story?” she said.

“What about?” Bobby asked.

Mrs. Eagle smiled slyly. “About a vanishing school skeleton!” she said.

CHAPTER 3

“What did you call your story?” Josh asked Dink at their lockers. It was three o’clock, and everyone was going home.

Dink grinned as he put on his jacket. “It’s called ‘Josh Stole the School Skeleton and Should Go to Jail Forever,’” Dink said.

“Ha-ha,” Josh said.

“Mine’s called ‘The Skeleton’s Curse,’” Ruth Rose said. “Mr. Bones puts a curse on all boys with red hair.”

“You guys are a riot,” Josh said as the
kids walked toward the exit. Miss Shotsky poked her head out of her office and called to Dink, “How’s that finger?”

“Fine, thanks,” Dink said, wiggling it at her.

“Well, come on in and let me give you a couple of Band-Aids to take home.”

“What a baby,” Josh whispered as the three kids piled into Miss Shotsky’s office.

“He’s just jealous of your Batman Band-Aid,” Ruth Rose said.

“Yeah, right,” Josh said. “Batman is out. Spider-Man rules the school!”

The kids followed Miss Shotsky into the back room. While Dink got more Band-Aids, Josh and Ruth Rose examined the corner where Mr. Bones usually hung.

“Look, there’s a footprint in the dust!” Ruth Rose said.

Miss Shotsky and Dink walked over to look.

“It looks like a sneaker,” Dink said. “See the zigzag tread?”

“It’s the left foot,” Josh pointed out.

“An adult’s size,” Ruth Rose said.

“Maybe the thief made this footprint when he lifted Mr. Bones off the hook,” Dink said.

“Could be—it sure isn’t
my
footprint,” Miss Shotsky said, holding her left foot up. Her white nurse’s shoe was shorter, and the tread on the bottom was different.

“Were any teachers in here this morning?” Ruth Rose asked Miss Shotsky.

“Not that I know of,” the nurse answered. “After I got here, I went to the teachers’ lounge to make coffee. I came back at eight o’clock, but I didn’t even look at Mr. Bones.”

“So whoever took Mr. Bones had to do it between seven-thirty and eight, right?” asked Josh.

Miss Shotsky shook her head. “Nope. I was in and out of here all
morning, visiting the first- and second-grade rooms. Anyone could have taken Mr. Bones any time before ten o’clock, when Dink came in with his paper cut.”

Just then there was a soft knock on the examining room door. “Excuse me, but could I sweep this room now?” someone said.

It was Mr. Neater with his broom.

“Hi, Tom, come on in,” Miss Shotsky said.

“Could I make a drawing of this footprint before you sweep?” Josh asked Mr. Neater.

“Sure, I’ll start in the front office,” Mr. Neater said.

“And we should measure it,” Ruth Rose said.

Miss Shotsky gave Josh a paper and pencil. She handed Ruth Rose a ruler.

Josh made a quick sketch of the print.

“Be sure to get that zigzag pattern,”
Dink said, peering over Josh’s shoulder.

Ruth Rose measured the footprint. “It’s exactly eleven inches long,” she said. Josh wrote
ELEVEN INCHES
next to the drawing.

“So all we have to do is find out who wears this kind of shoe,” Josh said, “and we find Mr. Bones and win the tickets to the aquarium.”

“But a lot of the teachers wear sneakers,” Ruth Rose said. “How do we find the right one?”

“I know who we can ask,” Dink said. “Mrs. Waters. All the teachers walk past her desk to get their mail. Maybe she notices the shoes they wear.”

“Let’s hurry before she goes home,” Ruth Rose said.

Miss Shotsky opened a small door next to her filing cabinet. “Here’s a shortcut to the principal’s office,” she said.

Sure enough, when the kids walked through the door, there was Mrs. Waters at her desk. She was staring into her open purse.

“Hi, kids,” she said, closing her purse and putting it in a drawer. “Still here?”

“We’re trying to find the skeleton,” Ruth Rose said.

“We found a footprint on the floor where Mr. Bones hangs,” Dink said. “It’s a sneaker.”

“We think the guy who stole the skeleton made the print,” Josh said. “If we find him, our room wins the tickets!”

“Just one footprint? Maybe you should be looking for a one-legged thief,” Mrs. Waters said with a twinkle in her eye.

Josh giggled and placed his drawing on her desk. “Do you know anyone who wears this kind of sneaker?” he asked.

Just then the small door opened again. Miss Shotsky peeked in, wearing her red scarf.

“Good night, all,” Miss Shotsky said. “Happy skeleton hunting, kids.”

“Good night, Claire,” said Mrs. Waters.

The door closed.

Mrs. Waters studied Josh’s drawing, then shook her head. “I usually notice what the teachers are wearing,” she said. “But I never see the bottoms of their feet.”

She traced the zigzag tread with her finger. “Although this pattern does seem familiar. I feel sure I’ve seen it somewhere.”

She smiled. “Knowing me, I’ll think of it halfway home.”

Mrs. Waters glanced at the clock and stood up. “Time for me to leave,” she said, heading toward her coat
closet. But when she tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge.

Mrs. Waters walked back to her desk and pulled her purse and a sweater from a drawer. “First I lose my powder,” she said. “Now I think I’m losing my head!”

Just then Mr. Dillon appeared in the doorway to his office. “Hey, kids. Still here?”

Dink told Mr. Dillon about the footprint in Miss Shotsky’s examining room. Josh showed him his drawing.

“We think the thief was wearing sneakers like this,” Ruth Rose said.

“Well, that leaves me out,” Mr. Dillon said. He raised one foot and showed the kids the smooth sole of his shiny tassel loafer.

“Me too,” Mrs. Waters said. She pointed a small high-heeled shoe at them. “That footprint is twice as big as my feet!”