Who Broke Lincoln's Thumb? (2 page)

Both men gawked at KC.

“You're that kid?” Stub asked. “The First Daughter?”

KC nodded. “I'm KC Corcoran,” she said with a big smile. “And if you let me
climb up there, I'll tell the president how helpful you were.”

“Okay, miss, I guess it'll be all right,” Ralphie said. He climbed up onto the platform and stood next to Lincoln's feet.

Stub lifted the black ladder off the floor and handed it up. Ralphie leaned the ladder against Lincoln's right knee.

“Okay, come on up, miss, but be careful,” Ralphie said, looking down at KC.

Stub held the lower ladder for her, and KC scampered up with her camera strap around her wrist. Then she climbed up the black ladder. At the top, her nose was only inches from Lincoln's left hand.

“What do you see?” Marshall asked.

“It looks like the thumb broke off,” KC said.

“KC, what do you mean? We
know
the
thumb broke off,” Marshall said.

“I mean, I don't think it was cut off, like with a saw or something,” KC said. “Hey, there's a red mark here, right near where it broke!”

“What kind of red mark?” Marshall asked.

KC looked closely at the strange red mark on the white marble. She gently touched it with her finger. “I can't tell what it is,” she said. “Just red.”

KC snapped a picture. “Okay, I'm coming down!” she called over her shoulder.

A minute later, she was standing next to Marshall.

“Thanks a lot,” she told Stub and Ralphie.

“Can I have my picture back?” Ralphie asked.

“Oh, can I keep it for now?” KC asked. “I'm sure the president will want to see it. He might send you a thank-you note.”

“Okay!” Ralphie said with a big smile.

KC and Marshall raced toward the White House.

Twenty minutes later, they rushed through the private entrance. Out of breath, they hurried down the corridor to the president's living quarters. A tall marine guard stood at attention next to the door.

“Hi, Arnold,” the kids said.

The marine looked down at them. “Hi, guys. What's up?”

Marshall said, “Lincoln's thumb is—”

“Nine inches long!” KC interrupted. She gave Marshall a look.

Arnold smiled at KC. “How do you
happen to know that?” he asked.

“I'm studying the Lincoln Memorial,” she said. “Are my mom and the president in?”

Arnold nodded and opened the door for the kids.

They hurried inside and ran toward the library, where the president liked to relax.

“Why'd you stop me?” Marshall asked KC. “The missing thumb is huge news! If I don't tell someone, I'll bust open!”

“I know, but the president should hear about it first,” KC said as they stepped into the library.

“Hear about what?” the president asked.

President Zachary Thornton was sitting on a sofa next to KC's mom, Lois. They were both practically buried in lists for
the big celebration that night.

George, the president's cat, was lying in the middle of the mess of papers.

“Okay, Marsh, now you can tell him,” KC said.

“We were at the Lincoln Memorial!” Marshall blurted out. “And guess what happened!”

“We won't have to guess if you tell us,” KC's mom said, smiling at her daughter's best friend.

“One of Lincoln's thumbs is missing!” Marshall nearly shouted.

The president and First Lady stared at the two kids.

“His thumb …,” the president said.

“Is missing?” his wife added.

“Honest, Mom,” KC said. “We went to take pictures for my report on Daniel
Chester French. When we got there, Lincoln's left thumb was gone!”

The president blinked. “Just … gone? Like, broken off?” he asked.

KC nodded. “There's just a short stump now,” she said.

The four stared at each other. Finally, the president jumped from the sofa and hurried out of the room. George the cat meowed and hopped down to the floor.

“Sit, kids,” KC's mom said. She made room on the sofa. “This isn't a joke, is it?” she asked. “You're not just teasing, are you?”

“Cross my heart!” Marshall said.

“I even took a picture,” KC said. She pulled her camera from her pack. She clicked a button, and the image of Lincoln's left hand with its missing thumb
showed up in the small screen.

“Oh my,” KC's mom breathed. The picture clearly showed that Lincoln's left hand had no thumb.

KC's mom held the camera closer. “What's that little red mark?” she asked.

“I don't know,” KC said. “I looked at it, but—”

“The Park Service is on the case,” the president said as he hurried back into the room. “A couple of park rangers were cleaning the statue this morning. Maybe they saw what happened.”

“We already talked to them!” Marshall said. “They said the thumb was there earlier this morning.”

“They let me climb up on their ladders,” KC said. “They gave me this.” She produced the picture of Stub on the black
ladder next to Lincoln's knee.

“KC took this one,” Lois said. She passed the camera to the president.

The president sat and studied both pictures. In the Polaroid snapshot, Lincoln had both thumbs. In KC's digital picture, there was just a broken stub where the left thumb should have been.

The president set the camera on the coffee table and placed the snapshot next to it. “Perfect,” he muttered, glancing at the tall clock standing in the corner. “At five o'clock, hundreds of people will be gathered on the Memorial's steps to admire Daniel Chester French's most famous statue.”

President Thornton turned pale. “And I'll have to tell them all that someone broke off Lincoln's thumb!”

“Maybe Marsh and I can find the thumb,” KC suggested. “We have over five hours.”

“That's a nice idea, honey,” KC's mom said. “But how? Where would you look?”

“There were a lot of people near the Memorial when we got there,” KC said. “Maybe one of them noticed something.”

“But we don't even know when the thumb was taken,” the president said.

“Yes, we do!” Marshall said. He flipped over the photograph KC had gotten from Ralphie. On the back was the date and the time the photo was taken. “See, this was
taken at 10:07 this morning and the thumb was still there.”

KC grabbed her camera and found her digital picture. “Look, there's the time!” she said, pointing at the corner of the image. “I snapped this one at 10:37!”

The president sat up. “So the thumb vanished in the half hour between 10:07 and 10:37!”

KC leaped off the sofa. “Come on! Maybe we can find people who were at the Memorial during that time!” she said.

The president stood up, too. “I'll talk to the FBI!” he said, rushing from the room.

“I'll call the National Park Service!” Lois said, reaching for the telephone.

Marshall rubbed his stomach. “I'll have a sandwich,” he said.

“We don't get lunch until Lincoln gets
his thumb back!” KC said, dragging Marshall from his seat.

By the time KC and Marshall reached the Lincoln Memorial again, the wide lawn in front was crowded. People were sunbathing and eating snacks on the steps and near the Reflecting Pool.

Hot dog and ice cream vendors were doing a brisk business. One man was selling balloons with Lincoln's face on them.

“Look,” Marshall said.

KC peered through the columns. She could see a man up on a ladder examining Lincoln's left hand. Down below, Ralphie and Stub were talking with a man and woman in business suits. Two official-looking black cars were parked nearby.

Yellow crime-scene tape was tied to
two of the columns, keeping people away from the Lincoln statue.

“There were some kids with a kite here before,” Marshall said, “but I don't see them now.”

Suddenly a Frisbee zipped past KC's face. A man leaped up, plucked the Frisbee out of the air, and whipped it back to his friend.

“I remember those guys!” KC said. “Let's go talk to them.”

As KC and Marshall walked over to the Frisbee throwers, one of them missed a catch. The wind took the Frisbee up into a tree, where it got stuck in the branches.

“Good one, Max,” the taller guy said.

“I can get it, Joker,” Max replied.

Joker and Max walked over to the tree. Joker bent over, and Max climbed onto his
shoulders to grab the Frisbee out of the branches. Then he jumped to the ground as nimble as a monkey.

“Hi,” KC said to the man called Max. “Could I ask you something?”

“Sure, what's up, kid?” Max said. He had muscular arms and wore a baggy George Washington University sweatshirt.

“Did you hear about Lincoln's thumb?” KC asked.

Max grinned at her, spinning the red Frisbee on one finger. “What is this, a joke?” he asked. “Okay, I give up. What about Lincoln's thumb?”

“It's not a joke,” Marshall said.

“Sounds like one to me,” Joker said. He was much taller than Max and wore his hair in a bright yellow buzz cut.

KC explained about the missing
thumb. “We wondered if you noticed anyone sneaking around the statue.”

Joker grinned. “I guess old Abe won't be thumbing rides anymore,” he cracked.

“Seriously, we didn't even look at the Memorial,” Max said. “We were focused on our game.”

Max held out the red Frisbee. Someone had printed the initials J.K. in black marker.

“Come on, roomie, let's split,” Max said to his tall friend. “I have to study for my French test.”

The two men started walking away toward the street. KC and Marshall wandered back toward the Lincoln Memorial.

“What should we do now?” Marshall asked as they sat on the warm steps.

“Do you think a Frisbee could knock
off a marble thumb?” KC asked.

Marshall looked at KC. “You think those two guys did it?” he asked.

KC nodded. “Their Frisbee was doing about fifty miles an hour,” she said. “And it's red. That mark I saw on Lincoln's hand could have been red plastic!”

“Maybe,” Marshall said. “But if their Frisbee broke the thumb, why would they still be hanging around? Wouldn't they take off?”

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” KC said.

KC noticed a woman sitting a few feet away, reading a book. But then she put it down and took a bottle of nail polish from her pocket. The woman began painting one of her long nails.

KC stared. The polish was bright red.

KC scooted a little closer. She tipped
her head so she could read the book's title. It said TEN WAYS TO GET RICH FAST.

“Excuse me,” KC said to the woman. “Did you hear about Lincoln's thumb?”

The woman smiled. Her bright red lips matched the nail polish. A name tag on her blouse said FIONA ROBB. “I sure did!” she said. “I work in the bookstore here inside the Memorial. Some tourists were talking about it. Some joker probably stole the thing as a souvenir.”

Fiona blew on her fingernail, being careful not to touch the wet polish. Then she put away her polish, grabbed her book, and stood up. “Gotta get back to work,” she said, and zipped up the steps.

When she was gone, KC grabbed Marshall by the arm. “What if the mark I saw is red nail polish?” KC asked with her
eyes dancing. “Fiona could have stolen Lincoln's thumb!”

Marshall looked at her. “Why would she do that?” he asked.

“She was reading a book about how to get rich,” KC said. “She could be planning to sell the thumb!”

“Who would buy it?” Marshall asked.

“Are you kidding?” KC said. “Lincoln's thumb is valuable!”

“How would she climb up to get it?” Marshall asked.

“On the ladders, like I did,” KC said.

Marshall shook his head. “Ralphie and Stub would never let her,” he said.