A to Z Mysteries: The School Skeleton (5 page)

CHAPTER 8

“I think he’s trying to tell us that this key unlocks wherever Mr. Bones is hidden,” Ruth Rose continued.

“But where?” Josh asked. “The key could go to a lock in California.”

“The skeleton is probably still in the school,” Dink said. “How could anyone carry it out of the building in broad daylight?”

“But how could anyone hide it inside the school in broad daylight, either?” Ruth Rose asked. “Somebody
would have been bound to notice.”

“Unless Miss Shotsky did it,” Josh said. “She carries Mr. Bones to classes all the time.”

Dink shook his head. “Trust me, she was surprised when she saw the skeleton was missing.”

“And that wasn’t her footprint,” Ruth Rose said.

The kids stared at the drawing and the key.

“Why give us the key?” asked Josh. He had a chocolate mustache. “Does this guy want to get caught?”

“It’s almost like he wants us to find Mr. Bones,” Ruth Rose said.

“Well, at least no other kid has found the skeleton yet,” Dink said. “We can still win aquarium tickets for our class.”

Ruth Rose picked up the key and held it close to her eyes. “That’s
strange. This key looks brand-new,” she said.

“How can you tell?” Dink asked.

“There are no scratches on it,” Ruth Rose said. “And it’s very shiny.” She dug her house key out of her pocket. “See, my key has a lot of tiny marks from where it rubs against the inside of the door lock. But Josh’s key looks like it was just made.”

“So how do we find out what it opens?” Josh asked, slurping the last of his hot chocolate.

“We could ask Mr. Neater,” Dink suggested. “He has keys to everything in the building.”

“Wait, could he have put the key in Josh’s locker?” Ruth Rose asked.

“That would mean he took the skeleton,” Dink said. “But his shoes are way too big, remember?”

“Unless he faked the footprints,” Josh said, “like those kids who made the bear tracks.”

Dink wrapped the key in the skeleton drawing and handed it to Josh. “Let’s show him this tomorrow,” he said. “And don’t lose it. The key is our best clue!”

A few snowflakes fell as Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose hurried into the school building the next morning.

“Whoever heard of snow on the first of April,” Josh muttered. He was wearing a green hat pulled down over his ears.

Mr. Neater had a small office in the school basement. The kids found him there, sitting on a stool in front of a workbench. He was trying to unjam a stapler.

“Good morning, Mr. Neater,” Dink said.

The white-haired man turned and smiled. “Hey, kids. What brings you down here? Playing hooky?”

Josh pulled the wrapped key from his pocket. He removed the drawing and showed the key to Mr. Neater. “Have you ever seen a key like this?” he asked.

Mr. Neater held the key under the light over his workbench. He examined both sides before he shook his head. “Nope, don’t think so. But I can tell you it’s a copy. This key was made from
another, probably in some hardware store.”

“You were right!” Josh marveled. “How come you’re so smart, Ruth Rose?”

Ruth Rose just smiled.

Mr. Neater unclipped the key ring from his belt and plunked it down on the workbench. He fanned the keys and compared a few with the one Josh had given him. “See, an original key has the name of the company that makes it. Like this one is a Yale key.”

He tapped Josh’s key. “But yours has no name—it was copied from another key. Where’d you get it?” he asked, handing the key back to Josh.

“It was in my locker with …”

Just then a fifth grader came clomping down the basement stairs. He was taller than Dink and had dark brown
hair and dark, mischievous eyes.

“Well, hi, Cory,” Mr. Neater said. “What’s up?”

“I found this in my locker and wondered if you could tell me what it goes to,” Cory said. He handed Mr. Neater a shiny key.

Everyone stared at Cory’s key.

“Did you find a drawing of a skeleton with the key?” Ruth Rose asked.

Cory nodded. “Yup, all twisted around the key.”

“And was there a footprint outside your locker?” Dink asked. “In powder?”

Cory looked suspiciously at Dink. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Because there was one near my locker, too,” Josh said. “And I found a key in my locker, with this wrapped around it.” He showed Cory his picture.

Cory dug into his pocket and drew out a twisted paper. Both boys laid the
drawings flat on Mr. Neater’s bench. The pictures—like the keys—were identical.

“Say, do you suppose this has anything to do with Miss Shotsky’s skeleton disappearing?” Mr. Neater asked.

“Sure it does,” Cory said. He pointed to the number “2.” “The kids in my class figured it out easy. The key and the picture mean ‘key to the skeleton.’ We’re gonna find the skeleton and get free tickets to the new aquarium!”

More footsteps clunked down the basement stairs. This time it was two second-grade girls. They were holding hands and looked embarrassed to see four older kids there.

“Susan and Jane, right?” Mr. Neater said, smiling at the two little kids.

The girls nodded. Susan nudged
Jane, who opened her hand. “Miss Crumpet wanted to know if you know what this key fits,” she said shyly.

The key was the same as the two that Cory and Josh held.

“Bet you found this key in your locker, right?” Mr. Neater said.

Jane nodded. “And a silly picture of a skeleton with a ‘2’ on his head!”

CHAPTER 9

Green Lawn Elementary didn’t have a cafeteria. All the kids brought their lunches from home.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose took their bags outside and sat on the swings in the sun. A lot of other kids came out to eat, too.

“Tuna fish,” Josh said, smelling his sandwich. “What’ve you guys got?”

Ruth Rose peeked inside her plastic bag. “Baloney and cheese,” she said.

Dink’s sandwich turned out to be
egg salad. “Who wants to trade?” he asked.

“I’ll take the egg,” Ruth Rose said.

“I want the baloney and cheese,” Josh said.

“Good,” Dink said. “I wanted the tuna.”

The kids swapped sandwiches and began eating.

“A kid from each class in the school found a key and a drawing,” Dink said after he’d swallowed his first bite.

“So there are six keys and six drawings and six footprints,” Josh said around a mouthful of sandwich.

Ruth Rose shook her head. “Now every class is trying to find Miss Shotsky’s skeleton before anyone else does.” She sighed. “That’s about a hundred kids!”

Two small boys walked past, looking for a place to eat their lunches. One of
the boys carried a drawing of a skeleton.

“Even the little kindergartners!” Josh wailed, kicking some sand. “It’s not fair.”

“I just thought of something,” Ruth Rose said. “There’s a door that connects Mr. Dillon’s office to the nurse’s office. He could have snuck in when Miss Shotsky wasn’t there and taken the skeleton.”

“It would take him only a couple of minutes,” Josh said.

“Guys, I thought we already decided the snatcher couldn’t be Mr. Dillon,” Dink said. “He wasn’t wearing sneakers.”

“But he could easily have taken Mrs. Waters’s powder,” Ruth Rose reminded him. “The powder, the door to the nurse’s office … everything else points to Mr. Dillon.”

“But why would the school principal steal the school skeleton?” Dink asked. “He’s the one offering the reward for finding Mr. Bones!”

Josh balled up his lunch bag. “Let’s go see Mrs. Waters again. Maybe she’s remembered where she saw that zigzag sneaker sole.”

The kids hurried into the school and headed for the principal’s office.

“Let’s leave our lunch stuff,” Dink said, stopping at his locker. They opened their locker doors and put their lunch bags inside.

They found Mrs. Waters sitting at her desk with a cup of tea in front of her.

She looked up when the kids walked in. “This school has gone wacky,” she said. “First Miss Shotsky’s skeleton disappears. Then I start losing things. I’ve been searching for my closet key for two days! Whatever will be next!”

“You’re missing a key?” Josh asked, already digging in his pocket.

“Yes. I haven’t been able to put my purse and coat in the closet,” Mrs. Waters said.

Josh found the skeleton drawing wrapped around the key. He removed the paper and put the key on Mrs. Waters’s desk. “Is this it?”

Mrs. Waters picked up the key and examined it. “No, this isn’t the one I lost.”

“Could it be a copy of your key?” Dink asked.

“I suppose.” Mrs. Waters looked at Dink. “Why would anyone take my key and make a copy? Where did you find it, Josh?”

“In my locker,” he said. “Along with this.” He showed Mrs. Waters the picture of the skeleton.

“A key and a skeleton?” she said. “What does it mean?”

“We think the key leads to the skeleton,” Ruth Rose said. “So it might be in your closet!”

“My closet! Who would do such a thing?”

Mrs. Waters stood up and marched over to her coat closet. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose followed her.

Mrs. Waters inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The door slowly swung open.

Hanging from Mrs. Waters’s coat hook was the school skeleton. Mr. Bones had a big grin on his face.

“IT’S MR. BONES!” Ruth Rose screamed.