The Case of the Library Monster (10 page)

And if I’m right about that, then I can also guess why Maya took the key out of the case:

Because she was hiding Felix, Freckles, and Fluffy in the furnace room.

But there are still a lot of things I don’t know:

Why did Maya hide a blue-tongued skink in the furnace room?

What about Felix and Freckles? What are they? Are they blue-tongued skinks, too?

Where are Felix and Freckles?

How did Fluffy get from the furnace room to the library?

What about the mice? Jazzy heard Maya talking about mice. And Bob, the Reptile Guy is missing some mice. Where are the mice?

Why didn’t Maya tell anyone Fluffy belongs to her?

And here is the thing I’m wondering about most:

Did I solve the Case of the Library Monster or not?

Later on, Mrs. Warner comes into the office. She knocks on Mom’s door. “Look what somebody left on my desk,” she says, holding up a piece of paper with typed words on it.

Mom looks up from her computer. “A note? What does it say?”

Mrs. Warner reads, “Dear Mrs. Warner. Thank you for finding Fluffy. If you go in the girls’ bathroom by Mrs. Nixon’s room, you’ll find Fluffy’s friends, Felix and Freckles. I got them from a friend who moved away. I thought my mom would let me keep them, but she said they couldn’t be in the house. So I found a new place to keep them. A SECRET place. But then they all escaped. I found Felix and Freckles right away, but I didn’t know where Fluffy was until Buddy found him. I don’t think the secret place is a good place for lizards. Can you please keep them in the library? Then everyone can enjoy them. Signed, Anonymous.”

“Hmm,” Mom says.

“I went into that bathroom,” Mrs. Warner says. “There was another aquarium with two lizards in it and a box with some baby mice for food. Remember Bob, the Reptile Guy was missing a box of baby mice?”

Mom leans back in her chair and frowns. “I wonder if the person who left the note also took Bob’s mice.”

Ah. I bet Maya took the mice so she could feed the skink and the lizards.

“Probably,” Mrs. Warner says. “We should call Bob and tell him.”

“Yes,” Mom agrees. “Do you have any idea who could have left the note? Any idea at all?”

“The note is typed.” Mrs. Warner hands the paper to Mom. “I don’t think we’ll ever know who left it.”

I know who left it: Maya did.

“I don’t mind keeping the lizards and the skink in the library, if it’s okay with you?” Mrs. Warner says.

“It’s fine with me,” Mom says. “I just wish I knew who wrote this note. And I wish I knew what ‘secret place’ they were talking about.”

I know where the secret place is: the furnace room.

I also know what Felix and Freckles are, and I know why Maya and Alex kept them hidden in the furnace room: because she wasn’t allowed to keep them at home.

“I have a feeling we’re never going to find answers to those questions,” Mrs. Warner says.

“Probably not,” Mom says.

Probably not, I agree. Because no one ever listens to the dog.

I think it’s safe to say that I’ve solved the Case of the Library Monster now.

I wonder if there’s anything else hidden in the furnace room? I wouldn’t be surprised if there was ... But that will have to be a case for another day.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 2011 by Dori Hillestad Butler

Illustrations copyright © 2011 Dan Crisp

Cover illustration copyright © 2011 Jeremy Tugeau

978-1-4532-1951-5

This 2011 edition distributed by Open Road Integrated Media