by Nancy Krulik
Frank the guard stared at me. “Who are you talking to?” he asked.
I looked around. There was no one there except me, Elizabeth, and the fish.
“I swear I heard someone say ‘I love you,’” I said.
Frank wagged his finger at me. “You’re a troublemaker,” he told me.
Elizabeth laughed and pointed to two white fish near the front of the tank. They looked like they were kissing. “Those are guorami fish,” she said. “They’re also called kissing fish.”
Frank scratched his head. “Crazy kid,” he muttered as he walked into the next room.
Talk about embarrassing. The fish had been speaking to each other. I was the only person who had heard them, which was why Frank thought I was nuts. Not that I blamed him. I would have thought I was nuts, too, if I didn’t know what had happened.
Frank gave me a nasty look. “I’m going to the office to report the missing shark tooth,” he told me. “But you’d better not go far, kid. I’m keeping my eye on you. You might not have that tooth in your backpack. But I bet you stashed it somewhere.”
“You don’t have any proof of that,” Elizabeth said.
“No, but I have a hunch,” Frank answered her. “I’ve been at this a long time, and my hunches are usually right.”
Not this time, I thought. But I didn’t say that out loud. Frank the guard was too scary.
“I know every inch of this place,” Frank continued. “I’m going to find out where you hid that tooth. Mark my words.”
Everyone in the aquarium thought I was some sort of crook. It was a really rotten feeling. This party was turning out to be even worse than I’d expected.
“I knew I should have worn my Astros shirt,” I grumbled under my breath.
“What?” Elizabeth asked me.
“Never mind,” I told her. “We don’t have time to talk. We have a new mystery on our hands. We have to find out who stole that tooth — and fast!”
My partner nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing,” she said.
Chapter 5
“Okay, let me get out my detective notebook,” Elizabeth said. She reached into her backpack and handed me a candy cane–striped felt hat. “Hold this,” she said.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
Elizabeth shrugged. “In case it gets cold,” she said. “I always like to be prepared.” She handed me two plastic bags.
“Let me guess,” I said. “In case you suddenly get asked to be a dog walker and you have to scoop poop.”
“Plastic bags are actually good for a lot of things,” Elizabeth said. “I could use one if I wanted to bring home an extra piece of birthday cake.”
I guess that made a lot more sense, seeing as how we were at a birthday party. Still, I wasn’t going to start carrying plastic bags in my backpack. I was the kind of kid who would just eat that extra slice of cake right there at the party.
“Okay, here we go,” Elizabeth said. She opened the notebook to a fresh page.
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SHARK TOOTH
Elizabeth and I were now officially on the case!
But before we could get started, Teddy walked over to us. “What are you guys up to?” he asked.
“We’re solving a mystery,” I told him. “We’re detectives.”
Teddy gave us a funny look. “You’re kidding, right?”
“We never joke about mysteries,” Elizabeth told him. “They’re serious business.”
“And this one is really serious,” I said. “That security guard thinks I stole the megalodon shark tooth. And my parents might sort of believe him.”
“Well, did you?” Teddy asked me.
“No way!” I declared. I was angry he’d even asked me that.
“I wouldn’t bother wasting a whole day trying to figure out who did,” Teddy told us. “It could have been anyone.”
“But the aquarium will want it back,” Elizabeth said. “And we can help.”
“They can buy another one,” Teddy told her. “They have plenty of money. People donate to the aquarium all the time.”
“But I don’t want people going around thinking that I stole the shark tooth,” I said. “So we have to find out who did.”
Teddy shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m going out to watch the sea lion show. You can come if you want.”
I would have loved to see the sea lion show. But this mystery was too important.
“Maybe we can catch a show later,” I told him.
“Okay,” Teddy said. “But I hope you’ll still be able to swim with the sharks.”
“We will,” Elizabeth assured him. “We’ll solve this one fast. We’re very good at detective work.”
I was glad Elizabeth was so confident. I sure wasn’t. We had a case, but we didn’t have any clues. Or any suspects.
“Okay, let’s get started,” Elizabeth said as Teddy walked away. “What do we know so far?”
“Not much,” I said. “Except the fossilized tooth disappeared. And I didn’t take it.”
Elizabeth wrote that down. “That’s not much,” she admitted. “Luckily, we have a lot of possible witnesses.”
“We do?” I asked her excitedly. “Who?”
Elizabeth smiled and pointed to the giant fish tanks on the wall. “Right there,” she said. “Those fish all have eyes. They must have seen something.”
I knew what that meant. She wanted me to interrogate some fish. Interrogate is one of the detective words Elizabeth taught me. It means to ask a witness some questions.
I looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the hall. This was the perfect time to talk to some fish. I walked over to the saltwater Indian Ocean tank and stuck my face up to the glass so I didn’t have to talk too loudly. I didn’t want anyone to hear me asking a fish questions. Then I tapped on the glass to get the attention of one or two passing fish.
“Get outta here!” one of the fish shouted at me.
I looked toward the bottom of the tank. There was a fat fish with an angry frown on his face.
“I just want to ask you a question,” I told the grumpy fish.
“Would you like it if I came to your house and stuck my face in your window?” he demanded.
I probably wouldn’t like that one bit.
“You two-legged air breathers are always banging on our windows and making weird faces at us,” the fish continued. “It’s annoying!”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I won’t bang again, I promise.”
“Okay,” the grumpy fish said. He began to swim away.
“No! Don’t go!” I pleaded. “I need to know something. Did you see anyone steal that big shark tooth?”
The fish rolled his eyes. At least I thought he did. It’s hard to tell with a fish. “You air breathers are obsessed with sharks,” he said. “Grouper fish are interesting, too.”
“I’m sure you are,” I said. “But I need to know about that shark tooth.”
“Okay,” the grouper said. “I didn’t see anyone take anything.”
“Did any of you see someone steal the tooth?” I asked some other fish swimming by.
“Not me,” a flathead fish said.
“Me neither,” a moray eel said. “But there was one air breather here after all the other little air breathers left.”
“Oh yeah,” the grouper said. “The one with the spots and the red scales near the eyes.”
Huh? A person with spots and scales? Talk about fishy clues. I’d never seen anyone like that.
Or had I?
Chapter 6
“What do you mean, you think I stole the shark tooth?” Elizabeth demanded a few seconds later.
“I didn’t say it,” I told her. “That grouper fish did. He specifically said red scales. Usually scales are those plate things fish and reptiles have all over them. I know people don’t have scales. But they do have hair. So the grouper could have meant red hair — which you have.”
Elizabeth touched one of her wormy red curls. “That’s true
,” she said. “But —”
“He also said spots,” I said, interrupting her. “Spots could mean freckles, which you also definitely have.”
“But I couldn’t have done it, Jack,” Elizabeth told me.
“Why not?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m a detective, not a crook,” Elizabeth said. “And for another, I haven’t left your side for one second. You would have seen me.”
I frowned. She was right on both counts — as usual. I should have known. Elizabeth is never wrong.
“It wasn’t me,” Elizabeth insisted.
I nodded. I knew that now. But that meant we were back to having absolutely no suspects. Unless …
There was someone else with red hair and freckles at the party. “Maybe he meant Alfred,” I told her.
Elizabeth looked so mad, I thought she was going to growl at me. “My little brother?” Her eyes bulged. “You’re accusing sweet little Alfred of stealing?”
“I … um … I’m not accusing him of anything,” I said. “But I think we have to talk to him. You know, find out if he saw anything, since he was still down here when the rest of the kids were in the elevator.”
“Well, I guess when you put it that way …” she said slowly.
“Let’s go to the turtle pond,” I said.
A few minutes later, Elizabeth, Alfred, and I were standing to the side of the turtle pond, away from all the other kids. I didn’t want to embarrass him. I just wanted him to give back the shark tooth — if he was the one who had it.
Alfred had to be the thief. Who else in the aquarium would have red scales by his eyes?
“Alfred, we have to ask you something,” Elizabeth said. She sounded a lot nicer than she usually did when we were interrogating suspects. But Alfred was her brother, so I guess that was understandable. “Now, I know you didn’t, but, well, we just have to ask if —”
“Did you steal the shark tooth?” I interrupted.
Alfred looked at me. “Why would I do that?” he asked me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But someone said they saw you in the room where the tooth was before it disappeared. No one else was there but you.”
“If no one else was there, how did anyone see me?” Alfred asked.
Man, the kid was smart. But I wasn’t about to tell him about my special power.
“That doesn’t matter,” I said. “The question is, did you take the tooth?”
“I was only alone in that room because everyone else took the elevator,” Alfred said. “But I would never touch a tooth. They scare me.”
“Shark teeth scare you?” I asked. I wasn’t surprised. Shark teeth were pretty sharp.
“All teeth scare me,” Alfred said.
Now that surprised me. “What’s so scary about teeth?”
“I don’t know,” Alfred said. “But I don’t like them. Especially when they’re loose or have fallen out. I can’t even look at teeth that don’t have a mouth around them.”
“That’s true,” Elizabeth agreed. “When Alfred lost his first tooth, he put it under my mother’s pillow for the tooth fairy to find. He had nightmares trying to sleep with it in his bed.”
“I’m scared of sharks, too,” Alfred said. “I don’t even like getting bitten by mosquitoes.”
“Mosquitoes don’t bite, they sting,” I corrected him. “Well, I don’t like them,” Alfred said. “And since I’m really scared of sharks and teeth —”
“— there’s no way you would steal a shark tooth,” I finished his sentence for him.
“Can I go back and look at the turtles?” Alfred asked Elizabeth. “I like when they stick their heads into their shells. I think they’re hiding because we scare them.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Elizabeth told him. As he raced off, she turned and gave me one of her know-it-all smiles. “See? I told you he didn’t do it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all that stuff about him being scared of teeth before?” I asked her.
“Because you would have thought I was covering for my brother,” Elizabeth told me.
She was right. That’s exactly what I would have thought. Still, she didn’t have to seem so happy. We still had a missing tooth and no suspects.
Just then, Frank the guard walked past us. He pointed to his eyes. Then he pointed to me.
Oh brother. I knew what that meant. There actually was a suspect in this crime. And that suspect was me.
“Elizabeth, we’ve gotta solve this case,” I told her. “And fast.”
Chapter 7
“We have to get some clues,” Elizabeth said with a frown.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I replied.
“You could interview more fish,” she suggested.
“Fish aren’t exactly great at conversation,” I told her. “They hate when people bug them through the glass.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said. “There are other sea creatures at the aquarium.”
“But there’s nothing but fish in the room where the shark tooth was,” I said. “And if they didn’t see anyone stealing the tooth —”
“Maybe some other animal noticed something suspicious,” Elizabeth interrupted me. “Like someone carrying the tooth, or sneaking around somewhere they shouldn’t be. The criminals in mystery books always have some weird behavior that tips off the detectives. You want to talk to some turtles?”
I shook my head. “There are too many people around here. Besides, you heard what Alfred said. They just tuck in their heads when they see something scary. A thief is plenty scary. If one went by, all they would have seen would have been the insides of their shells.”
“You have a point,” Elizabeth agreed. “Let’s wander around. We’ll find other animals to talk to.”
Unfortunately, everywhere we looked there were aquarium workers. There were members of the cleanup crew by the starfish, and two scientists staring at the moon jellyfish.
“I’m going to be a suspect forever,” I groaned.
“Be patient,” Elizabeth said. “We’ll find a quiet place for you to start interrogating the animals.”
We turned and headed down an empty hallway. A blast of freezing cold air hit us hard.
“Hi, you guys,” Teddy said, as he walked out into the hallway from a room that must have felt like a refrigerator. “What are you up to?”
“Still trying to figure out who stole that tooth,” I said.
“So did you find out?” Teddy asked us.
“Not yet,” Elizabeth said. “But we’re working on it.”
“You should just forget about it,” Teddy said
“We can’t,” I told him. “We’re already on the case.”
“You didn’t see anyone unusual around here today, did you?” Elizabeth asked Teddy.
Teddy shrugged. “Nope. Just aquarium workers — and you guys.”
I frowned. That made it sound like Teddy suspected me, too.
“What’s in there?” Elizabeth asked, pointing toward the cold room.
“Emperor penguins,” Teddy said. “I brought them some fish. The more chores I do, the more money I earn toward my bike.”
“I guess fish is what penguins eat in Antarctica,” Elizabeth said.
“Yep,” Teddy said. “The aquarium tries to make their environment as much like their real home as possible. That’s why it’s so cold in there. I’m going to feed the sea lions next,” Teddy said. “You want to help me?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “We have to interrogate possible witnesses,” she said. “But we’ll definitely see you in the shark tank.”
Teddy shrugged and ran his hand over his Mohawk. “Whatever,” he said.
As Teddy walked off, Elizabeth grabbed me by the hand. “Come on. Teddy left the door to the penguin environment open. You have to go talk to them.”
“No way,” I replied. “That room is as cold as Antarctica.”
“You have to, Jack,” Elizabeth said. “We have to talk to everyone who may have seen or heard somethin
g. You never know — maybe the crook hid in the penguin room after the theft.”
She was right, and I knew it. So into the cold we went.
“How do those birds stand this?” I grumbled. “It’s freezing.”
“They have dense feathers that work like a blanket,” Elizabeth explained “And sometimes they huddle together to keep warm.” She gave me a goofy smile and twirled her wormy red curls around her finger. “We could huddle,” she suggested. Then she took the candy cane–striped felt hat out of her backpack and put it on her head. Once again the Brainiac was prepared for anything!
But I didn’t have a hat. And I wasn’t huddling with her. No way. So the sooner I got out of there, the better. I hurried over to a group of penguins munching on fish.
A penguin looked up from his meal. “Excuse me,” he said in a snobby English accent. “Do you have a reservation for dinner?”
I looked at him. “What?”
“This is a very exclusive dinner party,” the penguin explained. “Don’t you see we are all dressed in tuxedos?”
Their feathers did look like tuxedos. No wonder he sounded so snobby.
“Actually, I’m a detective,” I explained. “I need to ask you a few questions.”
“I can’t believe you’re talking to him, Stanley,” another snobby penguin said. “He’s N-O-K.”
“N-O-K?” I asked.
“Not our kind,” the penguin said.
“Oh. You mean not a penguin,” I said. “It’s okay. I can understand everything you’re saying.”
“He meant you’re not classy like us,” Stanley explained. “That pink T-shirt isn’t formal.”
Darn T-shirt! It was causing me nothing but trouble.
“I just want to know if anything unusual happened around here today.” I tried faking an English accent. It wasn’t great, but Stanley did answer me.
“Well, our meal server was late, which is unacceptable,” Stanley said. “And the girl who usually observes us in the evenings was here in the morning instead.”
“Someone observes you?” I asked.
“A girl with no manners,” Stanley said. “She stares, which is very rude!”
