The Talking T. Rex (5 page)

CHAPTER 8

Dink set the flashlight on the floor and tied one end of the rope to the folding steps. Josh formed a loop in the other end, big enough for Ruth Rose to step in. He stood on the table and handed her the loop.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dink asked.

“It’ll be easy” Ruth Rose said. “I climb down the rope ladder from my cousin’s tree house all the time.”

“We’ll hold the rope till you’re ready to go down,” Josh said. He added,
“Be careful of those teeth!”

“Okay, give me a minute.” Ruth Rose’s face disappeared. Some of the slack rope went with her. “All right!” she yelled. “Just lower me real slow.”

The boys felt the rope tighten with Ruth Rose’s weight. They let the rope slip slowly through their fingers. Dink felt the friction making his palms burn.

Then the rope went totally slack.

“Is she down?” Josh asked.

They both heard someone banging on the door in Tyrone’s side. “I’ll be right back!” Ruth Rose yelled.

Dink and Josh sat and leaned against a curved wall. Ruth Rose’s flashlight was growing dim, so Dink shut it off.

“Wish this place had an air conditioner,” Josh said after a minute. He wiped sweat off his face with his T-shirt.

“Why not wish for a full refrigerator while you’re at it,” Dink said.

Josh grinned. “Or a microwave and a pizza. But I’d settle for a big fan.”

The boys sat in the dark. Dink felt sweat trickling into his eyes.

“I’m cooking,” Josh moaned.

“Don’t be such a baby” Dink said. “Imagine what it would be like inside a
real
Tyrannosaurus!”

Josh giggled in the dark. “Did dinosaurs eat kids?” he asked.

“No, Josh, because humans didn’t live then,” Dink said. “Besides, if a T. rex got one taste of you, he’d spit you out.”

Josh poked Dink in the ribs.

Dink poked him back.

Just as Josh put a wrestling hold around Dink’s neck, they heard something thump outside.

Josh gulped. “Do you suppose it’s Dean, coming to get the money?”

Dink crawled to the door and put his ear against it. The door opened, and
Dink nearly fell on top of Jud. Behind Jud stood Officer Fallon and Ruth Rose.

“You sure get yourself in some pickles,” Officer Fallon said, shining his flashlight in Dink’s eyes. “Good thing I found Jud at the fireworks.”

Jud lowered the steps so Dink and Josh could climb down to the ground.

“Thanks,” Josh said. “We were melting in there!”

“I don’t suppose you found the money,” Jud said. “Ruth Rose told us what you were up to.”

Dink shook his head. “Sorry,” he said.

“I’m afraid that whoever took that duffel bag disappeared with it,” Officer Fallon said.

Jud nodded. “It must have happened last night after we went to bed,” he said. “I just don’t see how.”

Officer Fallon shined his light at the
ground. “It rained last night, so even if the crook left footprints, they’d have washed away.”

Footprints,
Dink thought. “I saw wet footprints in that garden shed,” he said. Dink pointed through the darkness toward the rose garden. “I went in to get the wheelbarrow for Mr. Pocket.”

“That means someone went in there after it rained,” Ruth Rose said. “And that was in the middle of the night!”

“Maybe the footprints were left by our thief,” Officer Fallon said. He put a hand on Dink’s shoulder. “Show me.”

Dink led the way across the dark lawn. “There it is,” he said when they reached the small garden shed.

“You folks please stay out here,” Officer Fallon told Josh, Ruth Rose, and Jud. His flashlight beam found the screwdriver. He removed it and opened the door. He played the light over the floor. Dried muddy footprints led from
the door to the back of the shed.

“Hold this for me,” Officer Fallon said, handing his flashlight to Dink. “Stand by the door so I have light.”

Officer Fallon stepped inside and kneeled to examine the footprints. Then he walked through the shed, checking inside, under, and behind anything large enough to hide a person.

At the back of the shed, he moved the wheelbarrow. He poked at the stack of burlap sacks with a toe. Then he peeled off several of the bags and set them on the floor.

Dink saw him bend over and pull something from under the remaining bags.

“Jud, would you come in here?” Officer Fallon yelled.

Jud stuck his head in the door.

“Is this what you’ve been looking for?”

Officer Fallon was holding a dark
brown duffel bag. It was fat, as if stuffed with something. A long zipper ran along one side.

Jud beamed. “You found it!” he said.

Officer Fallon carried the bag out of the shed and set it on the ground. Under the flashlight beam, he pulled open the zipper. Nearly filling the bag were thousands of dollar bills bound in rubber bands.

Officer Fallon looked up at Jud. “Is this your money?” he asked.

Jud nodded. “I hope it’s all there.”

“What’s that?” Dink asked. He
pointed to something pale green that was stuck to the side of the canvas duffel.

“It’s a Band-Aid,” Ruth Rose said.

“Don’t touch,” Officer Fallon cautioned. He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. Using the point of his pen, he knocked the Band-Aid into the baggie, then sealed it.

“I wonder who this came from,” Officer Fallon said. He held his light on the plastic bag.

“Scoop put on a Band-Aid like that one yesterday,” Ruth Rose said. “He burned his finger on his car radiator.”

“I saw one on Dean’s finger, too,” Josh said.

“We all use them,” Jud said. He reached into a pocket of his jeans and pulled out a green Band-Aid.

Officer Fallon held Jud’s flat Band-Aid next to the used one in his baggie. The two Band-Aids were the same.

CHAPTER 9

“All three of you fellas wear these Band-Aids?” Officer Fallon asked Jud.

Jud nodded. “Working on Tyrone, we were always nicking our fingers,” he said. “So I bought a box of Band-Aids, and we all keep a few in our pocket.”

Officer Fallon glanced at the duffel bag. “Who handled that bag last?”

“I’m the only one who ever put the money in the bag,” Jud said. “I must’ve been wearing a Band-Aid, and it slipped off my finger when I stuck the bag in the compartment.”

“Or the Band-Aid could have fallen off the thief’s finger when he stole the bag,” Officer Fallon said. “Whoever it was.” He gave Jud a close look.

Jud thought for a moment before he spoke. “I know it looks like one of us stole the money,” he said. “But
I
sure didn’t take it, and I can’t believe Dean or Scoop would, either!”

“Could the robber be someone else?” Dink asked.

“But who?” Officer Fallon said. “Jud, you told me only you and Dean have keys to your dinosaur.”

“That’s right,” Jud said. “But Dean is my best friend!”

Officer Fallon slipped the baggie and his pen into a pocket. “Between Scoop Raker and Dean Whitefeather, who had more opportunity to get at that duffel bag?” he asked Jud.

Jud looked at his feet. “Dean, I
guess,” he mumbled. “He slept next to Tyrone last night.”

Officer Fallon put his hand on Jud’s shoulder. “I want you to wait in my office while I get Dean,” he said. “Do you think he’s still at the fireworks?”

“I guess,” Jud said.

“Meanwhile, I’ll put this money in our safe,” Officer Fallon went on. “I’ll see you at the station in a few minutes.”

Looking embarrassed, Jud turned and headed toward Main Street. In a few seconds, he had disappeared in the darkness.

Officer Fallon looked at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “Your parents might be missing you by now,” he said. “I’ll take you back, okay?”

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose followed Officer Fallon to his cruiser and climbed into the backseat. Officer Fallon drove them to Main Street.

Colorful fireworks were still lighting
the skies over the town swimming pool. Officer Fallon parked between the tennis courts and the baseball field.

The kids watched him walk toward the baseball field fence; then they went to find their parents.

“There you are!” Dink’s mother said. “We thought you’d been abducted by aliens!” Looking at his watch, Dink realized they’d been gone nearly half an hour.

The kids sat where they could watch Officer Fallon. He walked over to Dean, and the two men stood talking for a minute. Then Officer Fallon led Dean to his cruiser. The car pulled onto Main Street and disappeared.

“I can’t believe Jud’s friend robbed him,” Ruth Rose said.

Josh lay back on the grass. “I wonder what will happen to Tyrone now,” he said.

“I guess Jud and Scoop will hire
someone to take Dean’s place,” Dink said.

“Where is Scoop?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Wasn’t he by the fence with Dean?” Dink asked.

“No,” Josh said. “Only Dean was there. Maybe Scoop went back to the hotel. He said he didn’t get much sleep last night because of the storm.”

Dink remembered the storm raging outside his window last night. He thought about Dean waking up in the rain and dashing for the truck. In his mind, he saw those muddy footprints on the shed floor. And that morning, Scoop’s wet sneakers hanging from his car antenna.

“Guys, I think everyone’s wrong about Dean!” Dink said suddenly. “I think Scoop stole the money, and I think
he
hid it in the garden shed!”

“But he didn’t have a key,” Josh said.

“I think Scoop knew that Dean wouldn’t sleep outside once it started to
rain. Dean moved into the truck cab to stay dry, and that’s when Scoop got inside Tyrone.”

“How? Scoop didn’t have a key” Josh said again.

“Somehow, Scoop must have taken Jud’s key while Jud was asleep,” Dink said. “Scoop stole the duffel bag, hid it in the shed, then ran back to the hotel. He must have planned to return to the shed later to get the money.”

Suddenly Ruth Rose gasped. “Maybe that’s where Scoop is now!” she said. “He could sneak away, like we did!”

“Come on!” Dink said. The kids zipped past the Mystic Greenhouse, cut behind the Book Nook, and raced toward the rose garden. Out of breath, they crouched behind some rosebushes ten yards from the shed. A light flickered through the open door.

“Someone’s inside!” Josh hissed.

The three kids crept close enough to
see inside the shed. They saw a dark-haired figure kneeling in front of the stack of burlap bags. When the man stood up, they knew it was Scoop Raker.

“What should we do?” Ruth Rose whispered.

“The screwdriver is there,” Josh said. “I’m gonna lock him in!”

“No!” Dink said. “Let’s go get Officer Fallon!”

Josh shook his head. “Not enough time! When Scoop doesn’t find the money, he’ll take off!” He started to crawl through the rosebushes toward the shed. “Ouch!” he yelled.

“What happened?” whispered Ruth Rose.

“Darn thorns!” Josh whispered back.

Suddenly Scoop burst out of the shed. He turned his flashlight beam on Josh. Before anyone else could react, Scoop had grabbed Josh by the arm.

“Okay, kid, what did you do with the money?” he demanded.

“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Ruth Rose cried as she and Dink sprinted to Josh’s side.

“Yes, leave him alone,” a deeper voice said. Officer Fallon and Dean stepped out from behind the shed.