The Ambrose Deception

by Emily Ecton

  “Yeah, that’s wild all right.” Bondi felt excitement rising in his chest. “Can I see that again?” He took Wilf’s phone and peered closely at the picture on the screen. Wilf really did look like he was standing on nothing, right out over the city. “It’s almost like…” Bondi hesitated. “Like you have the world at your feet.”

  Wilf grinned again. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s it exactly! That’s a really good way to put it!”

  Bondi suppressed a smile. “Yeah, I thought it might be.”

  “You guys ready?” Frank appeared next to Wilf and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

  “Sure, Frank. Good seeing you, Bondi. We’ve got a busy day ahead, though.” Wilf smacked Bondi on the shoulder as he headed back to the car. “See you!”

  Bondi smiled and waved good-bye. He couldn’t stop smiling the whole way back to the car.

  Inez looked at him skeptically. “Well, somebody got in a better mood. Ready for the library?”

  Bondi shook his head. “Change of plans. We’re going to the Skydeck. I’ve solved the second clue.”

  SOLUTIONS TO CLUES

  By: Bondi Johnson

  1. Eli should’ve called this bubbler “Spitty Geese with Fish Huggers”

  SOLUTION: Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park, Chicago, IL

  2. Surrounded by glass, you’ll find the world at your feet.

  SOLUTION: The Skydeck Ledge at the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, Chicago, IL

  3.

  The traffic light was red, so Frank craned his head to look at Wilf sprawled on the backseat of the car.

  “You sure you still want to go to the aquarium?” Frank asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Wilf said, surprised. Why wouldn’t he want to go to the aquarium? “Don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I’m up for it,” Frank said. “But that Bondi kid, it sounds like he’s doing well at the contest. Inez said he’d already solved one of his clues.”

  Wilf’s face clouded. “Oh man, really?” Why did that kid have to be such a brain? He’d hoped to have a couple of days more, at least.

  Frank nodded. “You doing okay with yours? Your clue stuff?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Wilf made a face. “I’m working on it. Sort of,” he added under his breath.

  Frank nodded again. “Sure.”

  “It’s harder than it looks. I’m just, you know…getting background information?” Wilf looked around for the manila envelope. It had slipped onto the floor and was half under the front passenger seat. He picked it up but didn’t open it. “Besides, I think…”

  Frank looked at him expectantly. A car honked at them from behind.

  “Aw, shoot.” Frank slammed his foot on the gas, and the car lurched forward. “So what’ll it be?”

  Wilf chucked the envelope onto the seat next to him. “The aquarium. I’m still working on the solutions. I’ll have it figured out by tomorrow, for sure.”

  Frank gave him a half smile in the rearview mirror. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  TENTATIVE SCHEDULE, WILF SAMSON:

  1. Go to aquarium.

  2. Visit Sears Tower Skydeck Ledge (Willis Tower, whatever).

  3. Watch laser light show at the planetarium.

  4. Go to zoo (both Lincoln Park and Brookfield, if possible).

  5. Ride Ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

  6. Seadog boat ride.

  7. Hot Dog taste-test-a-thon—Fat Johnnie’s vs. Wiener’s Circle vs. Jimmy’s Red Hots vs. Superdawg vs. others to be named later. (until puking commences).

  8. Get psychic reading.

  9. Other activities yet to be determined.

  ALSO: FIGURE OUT CLUES AND SOLUTIONS.

  SOLUTIONS TO CLUES

  By:__________________________

  1.

  2.

  3.

  Liam chewed on the string from his jacket hood. “Okay, so in my head, I know that we need to go into the cemetery. But my feet just don’t want to do it.”

  They’d had the whole back of the bus to themselves, so Melissa had spent the first half of the bus ride telling Liam about the contest, and the second half swearing him to secrecy.

  He’d thought the contest sounded cool on the bus, but now that they were actually there, Liam was having a hard time getting past the whole cemetery thing.

  “You know I can’t leave you alone,” Melissa said, grabbing his sleeve and physically dragging him through the gates. “Besides, it’ll take two seconds. We’ll run in, get the picture, run out.”

  Melissa hoped she sounded convincing. They were getting a photo of Death. It didn’t sound promising no matter how you sliced it.

  Liam made his feet like lead. “Melissa, no. This is a really bad…whoa…” he trailed off, but Melissa didn’t complain. She had stopped, too.

  She’d seen cemeteries before, sure. And to be honest, she’d never been all that impressed. Bunch of gray stones with bushes and fake flowers, pretty much, not to mention the dead people. But then, she’d never been to Graceland Cemetery.

  Stretched out in front of them were rolling grassy hills covered with trees, ancient gravestones, and elaborate monuments big enough to be apartments. Wide paved paths branched out in three directions. The place went on as far as the eye could see.

  Melissa’s heart sank. This place was huge. How were they supposed to find one grave among so many, even if it was a special one?

  Liam nudged her in the ribs. “I bet that’s the office. Think they have a map or something?” He pointed to a small brick building off to the side.

  Melissa sighed in relief. “Maybe give us directions, at least. Because, holy cow.”

  Liam nodded. “You said it. Holy cow.”

  Melissa took a deep breath and pressed the CALL button on the front door of the brick building, fingering the money in her jacket pocket as she waited. She had the ten dollars from the worksheets she’d done over the weekend, but that was all. If there was an admission fee, it was going to be a problem. The door buzzed, and she pushed it open for Liam, putting on her most appealing and innocent face.

  The lady behind the desk didn’t seem grouchy about them being there, and she didn’t ask for money or anything. She was practically twitching, she was so excited to see them. Melissa had barely gotten the words map and Dexter Graves out of her mouth before the lady sprang into action.

  “Dexter Graves? Oh sure, that’s a good one. Now, here you go.” She whipped out a small folded map and marked an X on the page. “You just take Evergreen until you hit Main Avenue—you can’t miss it. Oh, and if you like Lorado Taft, you’ll have to visit Victor Lawson’s grave, although he’s in a ways, on Main before you hit Woodlawn. But it’s a knight statue—you should definitely see that! Oh, and if you like baseball, you’ll have to check out William Hulbert, too. He was the founder of the National League, and his is shaped like a—Well, I’ll let it surprise you, but I think you’ll love it! They’re all right here on the map.”

  Liam looked at the map in shock. “There are streets? With names?”

  Melissa pocketed the map gratefully. “Thanks, that’s terrific. We’ll be sure to find it now.”

  “Just make sure you’re back before we close the gates. Don’t want you getting stuck in here!” the lady chirped.

  “No, ma’am,” Liam said, looking at her in horror.

  “We’ll be back,” Melissa said, pushing Liam ahead of her out the door.

  “It’s so quiet here,” Liam whispered after they’d been walking up the street marked Evergreen for a few minutes. “It’s like we’re not even in the city anymore. I think…I think I saw a coyote.”

  Melissa just nodded. She’d seen it, too. And there didn’t even seem to be anyone else there. Just them. Well, them and the coyote.

  When the road branched, Melissa checked the map and started up Main Avenue. But she’d only taken a few steps when Liam stopped in his tracks.

  “I…I think that’s him. Death, I mean,” he said, pointing off into the dis
tance. Melissa looked up, catching her breath.

  There was no mistaking that statue. Eternal Silence. Death.

  The hooded figure stood alone in the grass, and time and the elements had weathered the statue until it was a deep green color. All except the face. The small area of Death’s face that was shielded by the hood was still deep black.

  Melissa shuddered. “You know, I read that if you look into his face you can see your fate.”

  “Just take the picture. I don’t want to know my fate,” Liam said softly.

  Melissa hesitated, then snapped the photo. She didn’t think she wanted to know her fate, either.

  Melissa pocketed the camera and nudged Liam. “Well, that’s it. See? That barely took any time at all. We can head back now.”

  Liam didn’t answer. They both just stared at the statue. “If you want…” Melissa added, “we’ve still got some time before Gran gets home.”

  Liam looked at the ground. “Maybe we should see that baseball guy’s grave before we go. You know, since we’re already here. I mean, if you want to.”

  Melissa nodded. “And that knight guy. We should at least check that out.”

  Liam grinned. “Come on.”

  They consulted the map and then headed deeper into the cemetery.

  Wilf pushed the piles of accumulated junk to the side to clear a space on his mattress, and then he dumped out the contents of his packet.

  His mom was out at one of her movie nights, leaving Wilf to his own devices. Again. Not that he minded—he was pretty much used to it. His mom wanted him to think she was with Linda, the lady from her pottery class, but Linda smelled like baby powder and cats, and whoever his mom had been going to movies with smelled like Old Spice. He guessed his mom would introduce them at some point. Wilf just hoped it wasn’t Mr. Podrecki from fifth-period science. He smelled like Old Spice, too.

  Wilf sifted through the papers and found the clue envelope. He was pretty sure there’d been an easy clue in there. All he had to do was solve one, and Frank would get off his back and go back to doing the fun stuff. At least for a little while. Heck, Frank should just be relieved that Wilf hadn’t already been eliminated for something or other.

  Wilf pulled out the first clue and smoothed it out. He hoped the crumpling wasn’t a big deal—he hadn’t put it back into the envelope as carefully as he’d thought.

  Wilf peered down at the old-fashioned writing.

  Jeremiah 6:23 plus Psalm 46:9

  That was definitely Bible stuff, so that meant pretty much one thing. Copying onto a piece of paper. This one would be a cinch.

  Wilf found the Bible his grandparents had given him buried on the bottom shelf of his bookcase, and he flipped through it until he found Jeremiah. It was kind of weird that the clue had two passages listed. But whatever, he could write down two quotes as easily as one. At least this wasn’t going to take a lot of legwork.

  Wilf stopped flipping. He’d finally found it. Jeremiah 6:23.

  “They are armed with bow and spear;

  they are cruel and show no mercy.

  They sound like the roaring sea

  as they ride on their horses;

  they come like men in battle formation

  to attack you, Daughter Zion.”

  Wilf blinked. Well, okay, sure. That made absolutely zero sense. But he carefully wrote it down in his notebook and then, after reading it again, turned to the Psalms section and zeroed in on Psalm 46:9.

  He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.

  He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

  he burns the shields with fire.

  Wilf stared at the passage for a long minute and then copied it carefully into his notebook, checking to make sure he’d gotten it exactly right. Wilf bit his lip. Sounded like some kind of before-and-after situation, with all that fighting and then not fighting, but that was the only thing that jumped out at him. There had to be something he was missing, right? This couldn’t be all there was.

  Wilf studied both parts again, and double-checked the clue. Nope, that’s exactly what it said—those two quotes. So that’s what he’d give them. Wilf lay the Bible on the bed and carefully took a photo of each of the passages with the disposable camera. It would’ve been easier to find them online and print them out, but if it was photos they wanted, it was photos they’d get.

  Wilf closed his notebook with satisfaction. Done. At least he had one clue out of the way. Heck, he might even do a little more research before he went to bed. It felt good to be productive.

  SOLUTIONS TO CLUES

  By: WILF SAMSON

  1. Jeremiah 6:23 plus Psalm 46:9

  SOLUTION: JEREMIAH 6:23 AND PSALM 46:9. THEYRE IN THE BIBLE. (ANY BIBLE PROBABLY WORKS, BUT DEFINITELY IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.)

  2.

  3.

  TENTATIVE SCHEDULE, WILF SAMSON: (UPDATED)

  1. Go to aquarium.

  2. Visit Sears Tower Skydeck Ledge (Willis Tower, whatever).

  3. Watch laser light show at the planetarium.

  4. Go to zoo (both Lincoln Park and Brookfield, if possible).

  5. Ride Ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

  6. Seadog boat ride.

  7. Hot Dog taste-test-a-thon—Fat Johnnie’s vs. Wiener’s Circle vs. Jimmy’s Red Hots vs. Superdawg vs. others to be named later (until puking commences).

  8. Get psychic reading.

  ALSO: FIGURE OUT CLUES AND SOLUTIONS

  9. GO SKYDIVING.

  10. TAKE HELICOPTER TOUR.

  11. KAYAK ON CHICAGO RIVER.

  12. PLAY BUBBLE SOCCER (FIRST, FIGURE OUT WHAT EXACTLY BUBBLE SOCCER IS).

  Notes on Car Service Garage Chalkboard:

  2 clues solved! My kid is going to wipe the floor with your kids. _Inez

  My kid is a big-picture guy. A come-from-behind kid. You watch out.—Frank

  My kid rides the bus.—Dimitri

  Bondi: Hey, Mom and Dad, any ideas where I might do a little bird-watching in the city? It’s that scholarship thing. Thanks!

  Mom: Maybe at the Arboretum? Or how about the zoo? They have penguins there.

  Dad: I don’t think they have penguins at the zoo anymore. But try the aquarium—I think there are penguins there.

  Mom: No penguins? And they call themselves a zoo?

  Dad: Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m pretty upset about it myself.

  Mom: I’m going to have to write a letter to our alderman. This no-penguins nonsense should not be allowed to stand.

  Bondi: Pretty sure it’s not penguins, guys.

  Wilf: 3 cheers for me, I solved my first clue! So, hot dog taste test on for tomorrow?

  Frank: Congrats, kid! First dog’s on me.

  Note Slipped Under Bondi’s Door:

  Have to head out for an early meeting tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure you had this—looks like your dad was right. No more penguins at Lincoln Park Zoo. But they have other (lame, non-penguin) birds, and the aquarium has penguins galore. I’ve starred the most likely bird possibilities.

  Have fun with your new pelagic friends!

  Mom

  ANIMAL HOUSES AND EXHIBITS, LINCOLN PARK ZOO

  Regenstein African Journey

  McCormick Bird House

  Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit

  Helen Brach Primate House

  Kovler Lion House

  Kovler Seal Pool

  Nature Boardwalk

  Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo

  Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House

  Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond

  Waterfowl Lagoon

  Regenstein Center for African Apes

  Antelope and Zebra Area

  Farm-in-the-Zoo

  Regenstein Macaque Forest

  Melissa slid Mike Crosby’s completed algebra homework into her book bag as her grandmother settled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the remote.

  Melissa plopped down next to her. “What are we watching?”

&
nbsp; Gran eyed her suspiciously. “You’ve finished your homework? All of it?”

  Melissa nodded. And Mike Crosby’s and Tyler Blake’s and Alissa Grant’s, too, but she wasn’t about to say that. “All done.”

  Gran gave a tiny harrumph and tucked an afghan around her legs. “I’m watching a Chicago Action News Special Report—‘Enoch Ambrose: The Early Years.’ Nothing you’d be interested in, I imagine.” Gran eyed her expectantly.

  Melissa shrugged. “I could watch that. Beats that blooper show Liam’s always watching.”

  Gran stifled a snorty laugh. “Well, okay, then.”

  The Action News I-Team was doing a report about how your mouthwash could kill you. “Should be on after this.” Gran leaned in conspiratorially. “Have to admit, I always did have a tiny little crush on Enoch Ambrose. Such a looker. And what a card! He was a billionaire, you know, and an important man, but such a trickster! He was always doing a little something you’d hear about, pulling a prank on one of those other newspaper or manufacturing tycoons. They’d get so mad! They probably won’t get to that until part two or three, though.” She sighed and looked sadly at the fruit bouncing around in the commercial. “Such a shame. The good ones always die young.”

  Melissa watched as the fruit disappeared and was replaced by a photo of Enoch Ambrose. “How young was he?” she asked doubtfully. Young wasn’t exactly the word she would’ve used to describe the man.

  “Ninety-eight. Such a waste.” Gran sighed again and ate a piece of popcorn.

  “Wow. That young, huh?” Melissa waited, but Gran didn’t bite. So she leaned back and watched Enoch Ambrose in the early days, when people apparently liked to dress their little sons in frilly white dresses and put bows in their chin-length hair. “So he wasn’t born in say, 1910?”

  Gran shot her a look. “Well, congratulations on your math prowess. No, he wasn’t born in 1910, Melissa.”

  “Oh.” Melissa made a face. She didn’t know why she was still obsessing about that impossible 1910 clue. It was obviously a hoax and a big stinking joke, but still, a big part of her wanted to figure it out. As if it could be figured out…