Amanda Lester, Detective Box Set

by Paula Berinstein

  “Let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” said Amanda. The chain of events was hard to follow. Stories were always like that until you figured out the flow. “Mr. Wiffle watches Crocodile and finds out about the bee thefts. Then he goes to one of the farms on Crocodile’s list and finds a coin. He also sees the excavation so he knows it’s important, although maybe he gets it evaluated and that’s how he knows. Hm, that implies that the coin is valuable. I can see why he’d put it in the lockbox but I’m not sure why he’d stick the box in a haystack.”

  “Do you think Crocodile found out about the lockbox and Mr. Wiffle put it there to protect it?” said Fern.

  “Wait a minute,” said Simon. “You don’t suppose Crocodile found out about the letters and was blackmailing Mr. Wiffle, do you? Or Mavis? What would Blixus do if he found out about them? Do you think he already knows?”

  “We have lots of questions to answer,” said Thrillkill. “For now, Miss Lester, you may cross the key off your list. Excellent work. Mr. Bramble, do not breathe a word of this to David Wiffle, you got that?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Gordon. Amanda didn’t think he would talk. The boys didn’t seem to be sharing confidences anymore.

  “That goes for all of you, of course,” said Thrillkill. “Now, the police are looking into the murder of the farmer and we should know something soon. I will text you when I hear. You may go. Except for you, Miss Halpin.” He indicated Fern. “I want to know about these leprechaun coins.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said the kids, and left Thrillkill’s office to reconnoiter, except for Fern, who stayed to talk to the headmaster, and Gordon, who went off to look for more rainbows.

  When Amanda, Simon, and Ivy had ensconced themselves in the dining room with steaming cups of tea, Clive came running in all aflutter. He was as pale as a zombie.

  “Something terrible has happened,” he said, looking from one to the other. “My acoustic levitator is gone!”

  “You didn’t leave it somewhere?” said Ivy.

  “Are you kidding?” said Clive. “I’d never do that. It’s too valuable.”

  “It’s not the maids again?” said Amanda. The maids had turned out to be responsible for the Bible having been misplaced. That was the last thing they needed to happen again.

  “Why would they take it?” said Clive. He was absolutely despondent. “They’ve seen it a thousand times and never touched it.”

  “Someone stole it then,” said Simon, slurping. The tea dribbled onto his shirt. He rubbed the spot as if that would make it go away.

  “You don’t think David—” said Ivy.

  “That’s exactly what I think,” said Clive.

  “Oh dear,” said Ivy. “This isn’t good. He’s such a mess. What could he be planning?”

  “We need to find him and ask him,” said Amanda, blowing on her tea. She didn’t want to end up like Simon.

  “If he took it, he isn’t going to admit it,” said Clive.

  “Then we’ll force him,” said Simon.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Clive. “We need to go to Thrillkill.”

  Suddenly Gordon ran into the room and said, “Too late. David’s gone. He’s run away.”

  24

  All Eyes on David Wiffle

  The dining room had suddenly become the scene of astonishing announcements. First Clive had run in and delivered the shocking news that his levitator was gone, and then Gordon had topped him, all within the space of three minutes. What was next?

  “How do you know David’s run away?” Simon said.

  “He left a note,” said Gordon. “In his room.”

  David wasn’t the type to bluff. Whatever his faults, making empty threats wasn’t among them. If he’d left a note, he’d actually followed through.

  “He can’t have been gone long,” said Amanda. “Surely Thrillkill can find him and bring him back.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Gordon. “He’s completely disappeared.”

  “When was the last time anyone saw him?” said Ivy.

  “Can’t say,” said Gordon. “I haven’t seen him all day. Have you?”

  The kids shook their heads.

  “What does the note say?” said Amanda.

  He pulled out his phone. He’d taken a picture of the missive. “‘My dad was a great detective. You’re trying to ruin his memory. I’ll bet you planted that stuff there. Don’t say those things about him. And don’t try to find me.’”

  “What in the world?” said Fern, who had joined them after her talk with Thrillkill.

  “How could he have found out so fast?” said Amanda. They’d only just delivered the letters to Thrillkill. Surely the headmaster hadn’t told David already. Perhaps the boy had overheard. People were always overhearing things at Legatum. Of course that was how she uncovered a lot of important secrets, so she couldn’t exactly complain.

  “Found out what?” said Clive. “Oh no! He’s taken my acoustic levitator wherever he’s gone. This is not good.”

  “Where would David go?” said Amanda. “Home?”

  “To Cornwall?” said Clive. “I could ask my parents to spy on his house.” Clive lived in Cornwall too.

  Simon shook his head. “I don’t think he’d go there.”

  “Why not?” said Clive.

  “Too obvious. He doesn’t want to be found.”

  “Good point,” said Ivy.

  “I’ve got a terrible feeling,” said Amanda. Everyone looked at her. “If he knows about the letters, he may have gone after Mavis.” David was just dumb enough to do something like that. Act first, think later.

  “I have a worse thought,” said Ivy. She wrinkled her forehead. “He might not need to find her. If Blixus knows about Mavis and Wink, he might want to take his anger out on David. He’ll find him.”

  “Wouldn’t he have done that already?” said Amanda. Blixus had had ample chance to take his wrath out on David at the quarry. He hadn’t done so.

  “Yes, he would,” said Simon, “which is why I don’t think he knows about Mavis and Wink. Or at least he didn’t. He’s never shown any interest in David. Of course he might now.”

  “Why?” said Amanda. “Just because we found out—” How could Blixus possibly have heard what had just occurred in Thrillkill’s office? Oh, right. Simon meant that David heard and he’d tell Blixus. What an awful thought.

  “I have news,” said Holmes, entering the room. He seemed to be in a good mood. “Professor Thrillkill wants me to tell you that the farmer in Penrith died after Crocodile was murdered. What does that mean?”

  “Well, that settles that,” said Simon. “Then who did kill him?”

  “A zombie?” said Clive.

  “It’s possible,” said Simon. “We don’t know who or what these zombies represent. Remember that graffiti we saw in the tunnel—the one that said ‘wretch society’? What if the zombies belong to this society or whatever it is? If they’re a gang or some kind of crime syndicate, they might want the same things Blixus does.”

  “Like valuable coins,” said Ivy.

  “And secret hiding places,” said Amanda.

  “What are you people talking about?” said Holmes.

  “It’s a long story,” said Simon. “We’ll fill you in later.”

  “Do you think the zombies got my cousin Jeffrey?” said Amanda. Now she really was sounding ridiculous. Whenever they did find out who these strange people were, they were all going to be embarrassed. Zombies indeed.

  “What zombies?” said Holmes, losing his patience.

  “Why would Wink get involved with Mavis?” said Ivy suddenly.

  “Wink Wiffle was involved with Mavis Moriarty?” said Holmes.

  “She’s hot,” said Simon.

  “Yeah, but she’s evil,” said Gordon.

  “Was he hot?” said Ivy. Everyone stopped talking. The idea of David’s father being attractive didn’t seem to have occurred to them. Mavis must have seen something in him, though. Amanda
wondered what it was.

  “Wink hot?” said Simon.

  “Don’t ask me,” said Ivy.

  “Nah,” said Gordon. “He looked a lot like David.”

  Was David nice looking? Amanda had never thought about it. His personality was so terrible that she wouldn’t have noticed even if he had been.

  “It does seem unlikely, doesn’t it?” she said. “I mean the two of them being involved. I thought Wink was supposed to be a good guy.”

  “You don’t think she had something on him, do you?” said Clive.

  “I think that woman is capable of anything,” said Holmes.

  “But what about Wink?” said Gordon. “You’re right. Everything we know about him says that he was a hero.”

  “Everything David knows about him, you mean,” said Simon.

  “Welllll,” said Gordon. “I suppose.”

  “I think we’ve done all we can do on this stuff for now,” said Amanda. “We don’t know where to look for David. We don’t know where to look for Blixus, or Editta, or Mavis, or—”

  Suddenly Ivy froze. “Ssh,” she said. Amanda was glad her friend had interrupted her. She was just about to say “Nick,” and that would not have been good, especially with Holmes there. Ivy held up her hand, listened for a moment, then leaned forward and said in a very low voice, “Big trouble. I can hear Professor Snaffle talking out in the hall. Someone’s got into the secrets trove.”

  The news that the secrets trove had been breached almost failed to move the kids, who were so overwhelmed with the school’s other problems that they could barely process it. They sat in stunned silence for at least a minute and then Amanda said, “David.”

  “You think David did this?” said Holmes.

  “It had to be him,” she said. “He finds out about his dad and Mavis and freaks out again but this time he goes after the secrets trove rather than the Bible, and runs off. It’s obvious.”

  “I think we should find out more before we jump to conclusions,” said Ivy. “We don’t even know what happened.”

  “I don’t care,” said Amanda. “I still think it was David.”

  “You’re not being fair to him,” said Gordon.

  “Oh really?” said Amanda. “Explain how we should trust him at this point.” She’d bent over backwards to give David the benefit of the doubt, but just because he was grieving didn’t mean he was innocent. Besides, she’d had just about enough of him.

  Gordon sat there for a moment with his chin in his hands and then said, “I can’t.”

  “Told ya,” said Amanda unkindly.

  “He is kind of insane,” said Ivy. “But we really should find out what happened.”

  “Fine,” said Amanda. “If you want to go into the trove, I’ll go with you.” She was sure she’d find strands of pale red hair in there.

  “All right,” said Ivy. “I’m game. For what it’s worth, though, I don’t think David did it.”

  “Why?” said Amanda.

  “He follows rules,” said Ivy.

  “Not anymore,” said Amanda.

  “That’s his personality,” said Gordon. “The Bible was an exception.”

  Suddenly there was a loud crash. It seemed to have come from outside. There were no windows in the dining room so the kids got up and ran into the Holmes House common room next door. Outside the shining plate glass windows in the summer evening light, a riot of rainbows was making a huge crackling sound and blinking on and off.

  “It’s him,” said Holmes. “This has got to stop, and it’s got to stop now.”

  25

  Stinky Locks

  If the trove had truly been breached, it wasn’t just the detectives’ secrets that were at risk, it was the entire school. Once you were inside the Legatum gates, you could go pretty much anywhere. The detectives believed in securing the perimeter but letting the students roam the grounds. Such freedom was conducive to learning.

  Amanda, Ivy, and Nigel entered the basements through the door near the dining room and made their way to the tunnels. Apparently the décor gremlins had been hard at work underneath the school because the property department, as Amanda liked to think of it, had been rearranged. Now instead of laying out furniture and other items as entire rooms, the gremlins had grouped everything according to function: furniture for sitting on was all together, such as couches, Queen Anne chairs, and kitchen stools. Likewise all wall fixtures, including paintings, candelabras, and safes for valuables had been collected in rooms dedicated to them. Amanda thought this a more sensible arrangement than the previous scheme and mentally applauded Alexei and Noel for the improvement.

  The last time they’d been in the trove they’d found exposed drawers, but that was because of the earthquake and its aftershocks. Now thousands of drawers were open all over the place, not just in areas that had been damaged. The girls and Nigel walked from one clearing to another, through this tunnel and that, and found breaches everywhere.

  “Funny,” said Amanda. “The locks look untouched. What would a breached lock look like?”

  “Not like anything if the person opened them the way I did,” said Ivy.

  “So how are these locks different from any other lock?” said Amanda.

  “Good question,” said Ivy. “You’d think the teachers would have used a more sophisticated technology. Let’s check one of the ones I opened last term.”

  “Where were those?” said Amanda.

  “I think they were in the section the teachers call the Bridge of Sighs,” said Ivy. “I can’t imagine why they call it that. There’s no water in here.”

  “Who can fathom the mind of a Legatum detective?” said Amanda. “I think I know where that is. You go past Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, then around the Bodlean, and turn left at Portia’s Porch.”

  “It should be Portia’s Pooch,” Ivy giggled.

  “Hear that Nigel?” said Amanda. “How’s my favorite pooch?” She bent down and tousled the hair on the dog’s back. He swung his head around in pleasure, then sneezed.

  The girls made their way to the familiar spot. As they were wending their way Ivy said, “Do you smell something?”

  “Don’t think so,” said Amanda. “Like what?”

  Nigel sneezed again. “It’s kind of sickening,” said Ivy. “It’s bothering Nigel. I can’t say I like it either.”

  Amanda stopped and sniffed. “I can’t smell it. What do you suppose it is?”

  “Something the earthquake released?”

  It was possible. The earthquake had created the crystals they’d found the previous term, thrown up dust, liberated spores and gases from their hiding places, and more. They’d probably feel the effects for years.

  “I hope it isn’t dangerous,” said Amanda. “Amphora would be running out of here screaming by now. She’d think it was radon. By the way, speaking of dangerous, what do you make of this Mavis and Wink thing?”

  “I was certainly surprised,” said Ivy.

  “I think we all were.” And bothered. The idea of Wink and Mavis together was mindboggling. Amanda still couldn’t get her head around it. “Ivy, I want to ask you something, and please don’t criticize me.” Ever since they’d discovered the letters, she’d been worrying. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to know.

  “All right. Not a problem.”

  “Do you see a parallel between Wink and Mavis and me and Nick?”

  “What?” said Ivy. “You can’t be serious.”

  “A couple made up of a criminal and a detective.”

  “Oh, I see what you mean,” said Ivy. “I suppose it’s not unheard of.”

  “What do you mean it’s not unheard of?” said Amanda. She didn’t know if that meant she was unexceptional or a curiosity. Most likely it meant she had extremely poor judgment. “Isn’t it terrible?”

  “It depends,” said Ivy. “Emotions are complicated.”

  “But wouldn’t it compromise the detective?”

  “You’d think so,” said Ivy. “It migh
t compromise the criminal though.”

  “Cause them to go straight, you mean?” said Amanda. If such a thing ever happened it must be extremely rare. It certainly hadn’t done that for Mavis. Wouldn’t that be something, though—Blixus Moriarty’s wife going straight. She’d love to see that. Although what that would do to Nick—

  “Perhaps,” said Ivy. “Or maybe they’d both quit and just live their lives some other way.”

  Amanda couldn’t believe her ears. The thought of her and Nick riding off into the sunset was laughable. “You don’t think Wink was planning to quit the detectives, do you?”

  “I have no idea,” said Ivy. “I wonder what David would have made of that. No, actually I don’t. I know exactly what he’d think. He’d go bananas.”

  “Do you think Wink was doing just that and David found out?” said Amanda. “Maybe that’s why he went so crazy and destroyed the Bible.”

  “I think we need more information,” said Ivy. “For all we know, Wink was once a criminal.”

  “No,” said Amanda. “Never.” Thrillkill would never have let David into the school if that were the case. Even more to the point, he never would have hung around with Wink.

  “Stranger things have happened,” said Ivy.

  “I’m dying to know what happened at that cave,” said Amanda.

  “Me too,” said Ivy. “I have a feeling we’ll find out someday.” She stopped and felt the walls of the tunnel. “Here. This is where I got into the drawers.”

  “Here’s a closed one,” said Amanda, reaching out and testing a compartment. “Good and tight. Want to try this one?”

  “Sure,” said Ivy.

  Amanda guided her friend to the compartment in question and watched as Ivy extracted a lock-picking kit and inserted a pick into the lock on the right. She manipulated the pick, listening carefully, until she had opened it. The whole thing took about thirty seconds.

  “That’s amazing,” said Amanda. She couldn’t imagine what Ivy had done but it was certainly effective. Her friend was developing quite the expertise. She’d helped Amanda get past the electronic lock at the sugar factory just by listening to the noises the keypad made. Between her and Eustace, they could probably break into anything. “Where did you get the picks?”