The Hunt for the Missing Spy

by Penny Warner

  “So what letters do each of these animals’ names start with?” Cody asked.

  “Oh,” M.E. said, her face lighting up. Everyone grinned as they finally understood how to crack the code.

  Cody said each letter aloud, then Luke wrote them down. When he was done, he read the message to the group.

  “Matt the Brat thinks he’s James Bond!” M.E. said, rolling her eyes.

  Cody handed the brochure back to her teacher. “We solved the code,” she said, proudly, and told her what it said.

  Code Busters’ Solution found on p. 156.

  Ms. Stad nodded, but she didn’t look pleased. “But I’m afraid it doesn’t tell us where Matthew is. You kids need to get on the bus now. I don’t want to have to worry about you, too.”

  “How about if we look for him?” Cody suggested. “You know the Code Busters are good at solving mysteries. This is a mystery. And besides, we sort of know how Matt thinks.”

  Ms. Stad gave a weak smile at Cody’s suggestion. “That’s very nice of you, kids, but I can’t take the chance that you’ll end up missing, too. Now, please, have your group get on the bus. It looks like the police are here and I need to speak with them.”

  A patrol car had pulled up in front of the museum. Two officers got out of the black and white police car. They would have looked intimidating to most kids, with their official uniforms and all that police gear hanging from their belts. But Cody’s mom was a police officer, so Cody was used to cops.

  While Ms. Stad was distracted, Cody sneaked over to the alcove where she’d seen the stranger lurking earlier. It was empty. Cody wondered if the stranger had something to do with Matt’s disappearance.

  “What if Matt’s causing all this trouble just so he can win the Spy Hunt by himself?” Luke suggested as Cody returned to the group. “After all, he thinks he’s some kind of kid James Bond.”

  “Yeah,” M.E. agreed. “He’d do just about anything to beat the Code Busters at something like this. Except play fair and do the work.”

  “But why would he care so much about beating you?” Mika asked.

  M.E. shrugged. “Who knows? From the minute we formed the Code Busters Club, he’s tried to break into our clubhouse, intercept our secret messages, find our drop zones, and steal our Code Buster notebooks.”

  “Maybe he just wants to be a part of the club,” Mika suggested.

  The four Code Busters stared at Mika, then looked at each other.

  “She could be right,” Cody said, shrugging. “I don’t like Matt, but I do feel sorry for him. He doesn’t have a lot of friends.”

  “That doesn’t mean we’ll let him into the club!” Quinn protested.

  “No,” Mika said slowly, “but maybe you can think of some other ways to include him. I know what how it feels to not be included in things.”

  Cody smiled at Mika and wondered if she still felt like an outsider at Berkeley Cooperative Middle School. “You have a point,” she said. “And maybe if we’re a little nicer to Matt, he won’t bother us so much.”

  “I wish Ms. Stad would let us help her find Matt,” Cody said.

  “Me, too,” said M.E. said.

  “Dude,” Luke said, nodding toward Ms. Stad. The teacher was gesturing wildly as she talked to the police officer. “Look. She’s pretty distracted right now.” Cody saw a twinkle in his eye.

  “Yeah,” Quinn added, “she doesn’t seem all that interested in us at the moment.”

  “What are you thinking?” M.E. asked.

  Luke glanced around to see if anyone was in earshot. He decided not to take the chance of someone overhearing him, so he began to wave his arms around, as if he were stretching, only in an odd way. Cody, Quinn, and M.E. immediately knew what he was doing—sending them a message in Semaphore Code, using his arm positions to form letters.

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 151, 156.

  Chapter 9

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” M.E. whispered. “Ms. Stad wants us to stay here.”

  Mika looked confused. Cody realized she didn’t know semaphore code, so she whispered the translation in her ear. Mika nodded, then said “Shouldn’t we just let the police search for Matt?”

  “We know what he looks like better than the cops,” Quinn said. He glanced around, then leaned over to Cody and whispered, “Uh-oh. Sierra Tango Alpha Delta . . . Charlie Oscar Mike India November Golf . . . Tango Hotel ndia Sierra . . . Whisker Alpha Yankee.”

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 156.

  The others quickly decoded the phonetic alphabet code—all except Mika, who looked bewildered at the odd-sounding language.

  “Tango Hotel India November Kilo . . . Foxtrot Alpha Sierra Tango!” Quinn added, in case their teacher was close enough to overhear him.

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 156.

  Cody nodded. She had an idea. She only hoped Ms. Stad would go for it.

  “Students!” Ms. Stad said as she came up behind Cody. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she didn’t look very happy. “I thought I told you all to get on the bus. What’s the problem?”

  Cody took a deep breath and spoke up. “I know you said to join the rest of the class, Ms. Stadelhofer, but we think we know how to find Matt. He’s been leaving clues like the ones on that brochure, and we think we figured out what they mean. Plus, we have an idea where he may be headed next. Could we please try to find him ourselves?”

  “Absolutely not!” Ms. Stad said. “Now—”

  Cody cut her off. “Of course, we’d want our chaperone, Mrs. Takeda, to come with us. I know she’ll make sure we’re safe.” Cody sent Mrs. Takeda a look. Mika’s mom smiled back.

  Ms. Stad bit her lip. Cody could tell her teacher was thinking over her suggestion. Ms. Stad knew the four Code Busters Club members were smart. In the past, they’d uncovered the answers to several tough puzzles and, in the process, had helped save an elderly man, uncovered stolen diamonds, found hidden treasure, and stopped a museum thief. Cody also knew their teacher wouldn’t just let them go running around the Washington Mall by themselves, no matter how smart they were.

  Guessing that Ms. Stad was on the verge of agreeing to the plan, Cody added, “And if we get into any trouble—which we won’t—Mrs. Takeda can help us, or call you.”

  Mrs. Takeda stepped forward. “I’d be happy to go with them,” she told the teacher. “These kids do seem to have a knack for solving puzzles. They were in the lead during the Spy Hunt. I think they just might be able to find your missing student.”

  The Code Busters smiled at Mrs. Takeda. Mika beamed with pride.

  “All right, all right!” Ms. Stad said. She suddenly looked tired and Cody felt sorry for her. It must be awful to lose a student you’re responsible for, she thought. That made it all the more important that the Code Busters find Matt the Brat.

  “But I want you to check in every fifteen minutes and let me know where you are and what you’ve found, understand?” Ms. Stad ordered.

  “Yes, ma’am!” they all said. Mrs. Takeda nodded.

  “Don’t make me regret this,” Ms. Stad added, giving them a stern look.

  “We won’t, we promise,” M.E. said. She was clearly excited to be a part of the hunt for the rogue spy.

  “So what’s your plan?” Ms. Stad asked.

  “We think Matt’s trying to finish the Spy Hunt on his own and then claim he’s the winner, so we’re going to do the same thing,” Cody said. “But first we’ll need the list of all the waypoints.”

  Ms. Stad reached into her vest pocket. She blinked several times as she rooted around with her hand. She tried the other pocket. Then she searched the pockets of her slacks.

  “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed. “The master list of waypoints is gone!”

  Cody glanced at the others. She slowly finger-spelled four letters:

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 151, 156.

  Quinn, Luke, and M.E. nodde
d. Somehow, their troublesome classmate had stolen the list from Ms. Stad’s pocket. No wonder he knew where to go so quickly. He didn’t have to figure out any of the clues or coordinates. And that was why he’d always been a step ahead of the Code Busters.

  Cody thought for a moment, then asked, “Ms. Stadelhofer, do you have a list of the clues? Or even the coordinates?”

  Ms. Stad shook her head. “My whole master list is gone. I’m afraid you’ll have to go to each waypoint from the beginning to solve the clues and get the coordinates before you can move on to the next one. That’s going to take time.” Ms. Stad’s face clouded over with worry. “I’m not so sure this is a good idea after all.”

  “No problem,” Cody said, trying to cheer up her teacher. “We can do it, right, guys?” She glanced at the others. They nodded, although M.E. suddenly didn’t look so sure. “Come on. We’d better get going.” Before something bad happens to Matt and he ends up lost forever!

  Ms. Stad turned to Mika’s mom. “Mrs. Takeda, you have the envelopes with the clues. Would you please give them to the group?”

  Mrs. Takeda reached into her purse and withdrew a handful of unopened envelopes.

  “Now, if they don’t find Matthew within an hour,” Ms. Stad continued, “then I want the students back here—safe and sound.” She turned to the kids. “Please listen to Mrs. Takeda. If she thinks there’s a problem, you are to return to the Spy Museum immediately. No arguments, understand?”

  This time it was the Code Busters’ turn to solemnly nod.

  * * * * *

  “Here you go, students,” Mrs. Takeda said, handing them the last three envelopes. They were numbered 3, 4, and 5. Cody took them, kept the one numbered 3, and put the other two in her backpack. She ripped open the envelope and gave the coordinates to Mika, who translated the Japanese numbers for Quinn. Then Quinn and M.E. went right to work with the GPS device to locate the next waypoint.

  Meanwhile, Cody and Luke worked on the code. Cody thought it would be easy to decipher, since it was in LEET code. The message looked sort of like it was made up of letters of the alphabet, but the letters were created out of numbers and keyboard symbols. It still took them a few minutes to figure out what the message said, since some of the words were unfamiliar to the girls.

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 156.

  “That was harder than I thought it would be,” Cody complained. “I only recognize a couple of the words, like stegosaurus and triceratops. What do you think it means?”

  “We’ll have to wait for Quinn and M.E. to give us the waypoint,” said Luke, “but I’m guessing we’re going to the National Museum of Natural History.”

  “Why there?” Cody asked.

  “That’s where the dinosaurs hang out,” Luke answered.

  Quinn and M.E. soon confirmed the waypoint, pinpointing the museum on the GPS, then locating it on their cell phone map.

  “Let’s go!” Luke said.

  Using the Metro again, the kids headed back to the mall, with Mrs. Takeda trailing behind. The National Museum of Natural History was only a short walk from the Metro stop, so they ran, with Mrs. Takeda doing her best to keep up with them on her high heels. Everyone was out of breath by the time they reached the large cement building topped with a giant dome and flanked by columns. According to the Internet, the museum, which housed dinosaur bones, was one of the most popular sites in Washington, D.C. Luke had been looking forward to seeing them, but he’d have to wait to view the reassembled fossils until Matt was safe.

  “I wish we could go inside,” Luke said as they searched the area for the next coded sign. “There’s supposed to be like fifty different dinosaurs there—Allosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus. I have a whole collection of dinosaur models I made out of kits. They were like putting puzzles together.”

  “We’ll come back. Don’t worry,” Cody said. “But right now, we’ve got to find the next clue.”

  While Mrs. Takeda sat down on a nearby bench and slipped off her high heels, the kids searched the front of the building.

  Cody suddenly thought she saw someone in a trench coat and baseball cap. She was about to alert the others when she realized the guy’s hat wasn’t black—it was dark blue. She glanced at his shoes. They were white. Mistaken identity, Cody told herself. She was letting this hunt go to her head.

  Moments later, Luke called, “I found it!”

  The group rushed over to the far side of the museum doors, where Luke stood staring at the cryptic sign, written in the phonetic alphabet code, used by NASA.

  Hotel Echo Romeo Echo

  Yankee Oscar Uniform Lima Lima

  Foxtrot India November Delta:

  Romeo Oscar Charlie Kilo

  Mike Oscar Delta Uniform Lima Echo

  Sierra Papa India Romeo India Tango

  Papa India Oscar November Echo Echo Romeo

  Foxtrot Romeo India Echo November Delta Sierra Hotel India Papa

  Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 156.

  Cody was puzzled by the clue and the code.

  “What’s it supposed to mean?” M.E. asked.

  Quinn smiled mysteriously. “A rock, a module, a Spirit, a Pioneer, and Friendship. I know what the words mean.”

  “Really? What?” M.E. asked.

  “Well, think about it,” Quinn said. “What do they all have in common? If you add the word moon to rock and you get moon rock. Module? How about lunar module? The Spirit of St. Louis—Charles Lindberg’s airplane. The Pioneer was a space probe. And there was a spacecraft called the Mercury Friendship.”

  “They all have to do with space!” M.E. cried. “That’s the next waypoint.”

  “The Air and Space Museum, to be specific,” said Quinn.

  “Great job!” Cody said to Quinn. No wonder Quinn had cracked the code. He had set up a scale model of the planets in his bedroom, and had painted glow-in-the-dark constellations on his ceiling.

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Quinn said.

  They waved to Mrs. Takeda to follow them. Cody looked back to make sure she was coming and saw their chaperone slip on her shoes and rise from the bench. Then the Code Busters and Mika checked their map to see where the Air and Space museum was. Seconds later, Cody and the others heard a scream.

  They turned around to see Mrs. Takeda lying next to the bench. Her right foot was twisted at an odd angle. Cody noticed the heel of one shoe had broken off and was stuck in a crack in the concrete.

  “Mom!” Mika yelled. She ran back to her mother and knelt down. The kids followed her and huddled around their chaperone. “Mrs. Takeda, are you all right?” Cody asked.

  Mrs. Takeda moaned and shook her head.

  “I . . . think I’ve broken my ankle,” she said, pain evident in her face. “I don’t think I can walk!”

  Mika’s face clouded over. “Tasukete!”

  Cody didn’t need to speak Japanese to know what Mika meant.

  Help!

  Chapter 10

  “Oh no!” M.E. cried. “Now what do we do?”

  “We get Mrs. Takeda help,” Cody said, taking charge. She pulled out her cell phone and called the number Ms. Stad had given the students in case of an emergency.

  Her teacher answered immediately. “Hello?” she said, sounding anxious.

  “Hi Ms. Stad. It’s Cody.”

  “Did you find Matt?” Ms. Stad asked.

  “Not exactly,” Cody said. “I’m calling about Mrs. Takeda. She fell and hurt her ankle.”

  Cody heard a gasp at the other end of the line. “Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know. She can’t walk and she’s in a lot of pain.”

  “All right, where are you?”

  Cody told her that Mrs. Takeda had caught her heel in a crack on the steps at the National Museum of Natural History and had fallen. She glanced over at the chaperone and saw Mika holding her mother’s hand.

  “What should we do?” Cody asked her teacher.

  “I’ll
call for an ambulance,” Ms. Stad said. “You kids just stay put. I’ll send Mr. Littlefield to escort you back here.”

  “But we haven’t found Matt yet,” Cody protested.

  “We’ll just have to leave that to the police now,” Ms. Stad replied, her voice firm. “I want you students safe and accounted for. I should never have let you go. Now, here’s Mr. Littlefield’s cell phone number, just in case you need it.”

  After Ms. Stad gave her the chaperone’s number, Cody hung up, then told the others what Ms. Stad had said. The kids sat down glumly on the steps next to Mrs. Takeda to keep her company while they waited for the ambulance and Mr. Littlefield.

  “Great,” Quinn mumbled, hanging his head. “We didn’t find Matt and we didn’t get to finish the hunt.”

  “I’m so sorry, kids,” Mrs. Takeda said. She looked like she was in serious pain, and Cody wished she could do something for her.

  “It’s not your fault,” Cody reassured her.

  “No,” Quinn said, “It’s Matt the Brat’s fault for causing all this trouble.”

  The kids grew silent, discouraged because the hunt was over and they hadn’t completed their real mission—finding Matt. Several tourists stopped to see if they could help the injured Mrs. Takeda, but the kids explained that emergency medical techs were on the way. It wasn’t long before an ambulance drove up, lights flashing. Two uniformed EMTs jumped out and rushed over to Mrs. Takeda.

  The kids watched as the female EMT gently examined Mrs. Takeda’s ankle, then asked her to move her foot, which made Mrs. Takeda wince.

  “She may have a broken ankle,” the woman said when she was finished. The two EMTs gently lifted Mrs. Takeda onto a waiting gurney. “We’re going to take her to Washington Hospital.” She looked around. “Is there another adult coming for you kids?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn said. “Our teacher is sending someone. We’ll be all right until he gets here.”

  The EMT frowned. “I don’t like leaving you here alone, but we’ve got to get her to the hospital. Stay here, stick together, and wait. Don’t go wandering off.”