by Penny Warner
The kids nodded.
The male EMT pushed the gurney into the back of the ambulance. Mika stepped over to him and asked, “Can I come with her? She’s my mother.”
“Of course,” the man said.
Mika looked at the Code Busters. “Will you guys be okay?”
“Sure,” Cody said, speaking for the group. “You need to be with your mom. I’ll tell Ms. Stad you’ve gone with her to the hospital. Thanks for all your help.”
“Sorry we didn’t find Matt,” Mika said. Then she climbed into the back of the ambulance to join her mother. Moments later they drove off.
The Code Busters sat down on the steps again. Cody texted Ms. Stad that Mika had gone with her mother to the hospital. Quinn sighed loudly. “Well, I guess we just have to wait until Mr. Littlefield gets here, then go back to the Spy Museum and get on the bus.”
They waited in silence for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, a strange movement caught Cody’s eye. She thought she saw someone duck behind one of the marble columns that flanked the Natural History Museum’s entrance. Leaning over to see better, she spotted the toe of a black shoe just peeking out.
Why would someone be hiding behind that column?
Cody froze. Her breath caught in her chest.
Was it the stranger who’d been following them? Had he caught up to them? If so, they could be in real trouble.
Slowly she turned to the others and made the sign for the number seven, followed by the number eleven. She kept her hand low so only the Code Busters could see her hand. Luke sat up and looked around. Quinn frowned. M.E.’s eyes widened.
“Where did you see him?” Luke whispered, his eyes darting around the area.
Cody signed the number three, then tapped her wrist, indicating “Three o’clock” on a clock face.
The kids looked to the side of Cody. Just at that moment, the figure peered out from behind the column. He wore a black baseball cap, khaki trench coat, black shoes, and was holding a newspaper over his face.
The newspaper had a hole in the middle of it.
Cody was right. It was the stranger who had been following the Code Busters!
“I see him!” Luke whispered, excited.
“You were right!” Quinn said. “We are being followed!”
“Should we call the police?” M.E. asked, scooting closer to Cody. She looked terrified.
Before Cody could answer, the stranger threw down the newspaper, turned around, and fled.
“Dude, he’s getting away!” Luke said, bolting up.
“We need to follow him and find out who he is and what he’s up to,” Quinn said, rising to his feet.
M.E. shook her head. “We’re supposed to stay here! That’s what Ms. Stad said. If we leave, we’ll really get in trouble.”
Cody knew they had to think fast or they’d lose the opportunity to catch this guy. But M.E. was right. They’d be in big trouble for leaving without a chaperone.
And what if the stranger turned out to be dangerous?
“E Pluribus Unum!” Luke called out.
The others looked at him as if he were crazy.
“What?” M.E. said.
“E Pluribus Unum,” Luke repeated. “Remember what it means?”
“Out of many, one,” M.E. answered. “So?”
“Listen, if we stick together as one, there’s safety—and strength—in numbers,” Luke explained. “I say we go after him.”
“But the chaperone . . .” M.E. whimpered.
Cody kept an eye on the stranger while the others decided what to do. As the guy was about to turn a corner, she said, “Luke, M.E., Quinn—watch him. I’ll text Mr. Littlefield and let him know where we’re going.”
“Write it in LEET code,” Quinn suggested as the two boys began heading in the direction of the stranger. “Just in case there are any spies hanging around. You never know.”
“But will he understand it?” Cody asked.
“Oh yeah. He’s a computer engineer.”
Quickly, she text Mr. Littlefield a coded message.
Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 156
“Hurry!” M.E. called back to Cody as she followed the boys.
When Cody was done, she ran to catch up with the others. She was nearly out of breath when she reached them. “Did you lose him? Where did he go?”
“In there,” Luke said, pointing to the entrance of the National Sculpture Garden. It was located next door to the Natural History Museum.
“Come on!” Quinn said. “Let’s go after him!”
Chapter 11
As the kids reached the entrance to the Sculpture Garden, they paused to look around for any sign of the guy in the trench coat. There were lots of tourists walking around in the area, but the stranger seemed to have vanished.
“We’ve lost him!” M.E. cried out.
“Dude, he could be anywhere!” Luke exclaimed.
“Now what?” Quinn asked, crinkling up his nose.
Cody’s eyes lingered on one of the sculptures near a fountain. It looked like a giant rabbit sitting on top of a rock. The rabbit’s head was on his fist, as if he were thinking.
She thought she’d seen someone duck behind it.
“I think I spotted him,” Cody whispered to the others.
“Where?” Quinn asked, searching the area.
“See that rabbit-looking thing on that big rock?”
“Yeah,” Quinn said, squinting at it.
“Don’t stare at it!” Cody warned. “Act casual. I think he might be hiding behind it.”
“Should we call the police?” M.E. asked.
“Not yet,” Cody answered. “We need to get a good look at him first. Then we’ll call them.”
“What about Matt?” Quinn asked. “We still have to try to find him.”
“We will, as soon as we check this guy out,” Cody said. “And after we call the police, we’ll head for the next waypoint—the Air and Space Museum—and see if Matt’s there.”
The others nodded. Quinn got out his cell phone, ready to call 911, while Luke looked around for someone in charge, like a security guard or a docent. M.E. trailed behind the group as they headed for the rabbit sculpture.
“Act normal,” Cody reminded the Code Busters. They began pointing out the other sculptures nearby—a giant spider, a running stick man, a bunch of stacked chairs.
But as soon as they got close to the rabbit statue, the stranger in the trench coat shot out from behind it and started running through the grounds.
“There he goes!” Quinn said.
“After him!” Luke yelled. “Don’t let him get away!”
The boys took off running. The girls were right behind them. The stranger led them through the winding pathways, past a bunch of weird pieces of art: red arches, an old-fashioned eraser, a robot. Cody wondered what the Code Busters would do with the guy if they actually caught him, but she figured she’d worry about that if and when they did.
“He’s heading out of the garden!” Luke called, pointing to the figure dashing for the exit.
“Now where’s he going?” M.E. asked, panting from all the running.
“I don’t know,” Luke answered, “but we can’t lose him now. We’re right behind him.”
As soon as they got to the street, the man seemed to vanish into the crowd. The Code Busters stood on the corner, checking all directions, hoping to catch sight of the stranger again.
“Great. We lost him,” Quinn said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “We’ll never get this guy, even though he keeps showing up everywhere we go. What does he want?”
Cody shrugged. “We might as well go to the next waypoint and see if we can find Matt.”
Cody checked her phone for a return text from Mr. Littlefield, but there was nothing. The Code Busters headed for the Air and Space Museum, hoping they’d find Matt when they got there—or at least another clue as to where he might be. By the time they reached the super modern-looking bu
ilding, Cody felt discouraged. There was no sign of Matt or the stranger who’d been following them.
“I wish we could go inside,” Quinn said, looking up at the needle sculpture in the front of the building.
“Ms. Stad said we’re going there tomorrow,” Cody answered.
M.E. shook her head. “That’s if we find Matt. If we don’t, the whole trip will be ruined. We’ll probably have to go home.”
“Dude, we’ll find him,” Luke said. “Come on, let’s see where the clue is. We’re running out of time.”
While the others searched for the yellow sign with the clue, Cody texted Mr. Littlefield to let him know where they were. She thought it was odd that he hadn’t responded yet. Hadn’t he figured out her code? Maybe he was just too busy to respond.
Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 152, 157.
She waited for a moment, but got no reply. Cody thought about texting Ms. Stad, but she didn’t want to upset her teacher. She saw Luke waving at her frantically. It looked like he had found the next message. Cody ran up to meet the others.
“What does it say?” she asked, hoping they had already deciphered the code.
“See for yourself,” Luke said, pointing to the list of words on the sign. The message was written in Washington Code. Quinn got out his Code Busters notebook and together the kids translated the symbols into letters and words.
Code Busters’ Key and Solution found on pp. 149, 157.
Cody read the completed message aloud, then frowned. “What’s it supposed to mean?”
“Good question,” M.E. said, shrugging.
Although Cody knew what the words themselves meant, she wasn’t sure why these three words were grouped together. She got out her cell phone and keyed in each word to find its definition. Maybe that would offer a clue.
“The first word means being loyal or faithful,” Cody told the others. “The next word means having courage. And the last word means being moral and ethical, like doing the right thing.”
“That’s supposed to be the clue?” M.E. said, shaking her head. “I still don’t get it. And without the waypoint coordinates, how are we going to find the next place?”
“Wait a minute,” Luke said. “Maybe the clue isn’t the words, but what’s in the words.”
“You mean like a hidden code within a code?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah, like, the is could be dots and the ts could be dashes for Morse code,” Luke said. “Like i i t i t i t could be dot dot dash dot dash dot dash.”
They tried several combinations on paper using Morse code, trying to make letters and words out of dots and dashes, but nothing worked. Luke shrugged. “It still makes no sense.”
“Maybe it’s simpler than that,” Cody suggested. “Look how the first letters in each of the words is a little larger than the others.”
“Like they’re capitalized?” M.E. asked.
“Maybe,” Cody said. She studied the words and letters a few more seconds. Suddenly the answer jumped out at her. “I’ve got it! Look at the first letters of each word!”
“Dude!” Luke said. “It’s so obvious now!”
“Let me check the address,” Quinn said. He used his cell phone to find the information. “It’s 935 Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s pretty close to the Spy Museum,” he said, checking his map app.
“Well, if we don’t find Matt there, we’ll have run out of waypoints. Game over,” M.E. said.
“Then we just have to make sure we do find him!” Cody answered.
Chapter 12
As they neared the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building, Cody hoped they’d get a chance to go inside sometime. She remembered reading about the place. It sounded like a whole city rather than just an office building. Inside, there was supposed to be a car repair shop, a basketball court, a cafeteria, a roof garden, a cryptographic vault, a photo lab, an exercise room, a firing range, a medical clinic, and even a morgue. The morgue sounded kind of creepy. There were also supposed to be glass windows so people could see the FBI agents actually working. How cool would that be?
The building was massive, made out of concrete, with lots of opaque windows. Cody thought it looked more like a prison than a federal agency. She wondered what it would be like to be a special agent and work there. It would be fun hunting criminals, spying on bad guys, and doing all that forensic work like she’d seen on that CSI show her mom sometimes watched.
The Code Busters began exploring the front of the building, searching for the next coded sign. The corner entrance looked more like a movie theater, but with an American flag where the name of the movie would normally be. Not spotting anything there, they headed down the right side of the building and searched some more. Again, they found nothing.
“You guys!” said M.E. “I just thought of something. Remember when we were trying on disguises in the Spy Museum store?” The others nodded.
“I saw Matt trying on a bunch of different things. He kept looking at me, and I thought that was strange.”
“Can you remember what he bought?” Cody asked.
“I think he got sunglasses—the kind where you can see behind you. And he was looking at fake mustaches, but I don’t know if he got them or not.
Cody frowned. “Wait a minute. The guy who’s been following us had sunglasses and a mustache.”
“Exactly,” said M.E. “I think the stranger is Matt.”
The Code Busters stared at each other. Was that possible?
“But he also had on a baseball hat and a khaki coat, so it couldn’t have been Matt,” said Quinn.
“Why not?” Luke asked. “Maybe he brought along the hat and coat in his backpack.”
“Because he wears those dirty white athletic shoes without laces every day,” said Cody. “The stranger I saw following us had on black shoes.”
“Maybe he went to a shoe store and bought black shoes,” M.E. suggested.
Quinn shook his head. “I don’t think so. Too expensive,” Quinn said. “And where would he even buy shoes around here?”
Cody had a thought and pulled out the mysterious pen she’d found in the alcove. She opened it up and withdrew the note. “Look at this.” She unrolled the small piece of paper, revealing the coded message, which was written in black ink.
“Yeah?” Quinn said. “What about it?”
“It’s written with a black marker!” she said, excited.
“So?” M.E. shrugged.
“So, do you remember Matt’s fingers?” Cody asked.
“Dude, there were black marks on them . . .” Luke said slowly.
“ . . . which he probably got . . .” Quinn continued.
“ . . . when he used a black marker . . .” M.E. added.
“ . . . to color his white shoes!” Cody finished.
“Matt really has gone rogue,” said Quinn. “We have to find him!”
“He has to be around here somewhere,” said Cody.
“Let’s try the other side of the building,” Luke said, leading the group back to the front entrance. When they turned the corner, Luke pointed. “Dude, I see it!” As he ran toward the sign, Cody saw someone kneeling nearby.
It was a big kid with messy brown hair, wearing a white T-shirt and baggy jeans. A black Oakland Raiders backpack lay next to him.
Cody recognized him instantly. “Oh my gosh, it’s Matt!” she called to the others and ran to catch up with Luke.
Matt the Brat was holding a black marker in his hand. He looked up to see Luke standing over him. He pushed himself up, tried to grab his backpack and missed, then started to run without it. But Luke was too fast and grabbed him by the arm. “Oh, no, you don’t!” he said to Matt.
“Let go of me!” Matt jerked his arm loose.
But it was too late for him to run. The Code Busters had circled him. He was trapped.
“Matt! Where have you been?” Cody cried. “Ms. Stad is crazy-worried about you!”
“Yeah, you’re in deep doo-doo, Jeffreys,” Quinn said.
“You’ll probably be expelled!” M.E. added.
“I don’t care!” Matt said. He threw the black marker on the ground and punched his fist in the air. “I won the game! I beat all of you Code Losers and I get to meet a real Special Agent from the FBI!”
“So that’s why you did all this?” Cody asked. “Just so you could win the game? What about your teammates?”
“Losers, just like you guys,” he said. “I’m the best. I’m the winner!”
Matt leaned down and picked up the black marker and his backpack that still lay on the ground near the sign. As he stuffed the marker inside, Cody glanced at the sign and saw a message written in Morse code. At least, it looked like Morse code. But it was obvious to Cody that Matt had used the marker to add a bunch more dots so the message wouldn’t make sense. He had made sure the Code Busters wouldn’t win that visit with an FBI special agent.
Matt tried to zip up his backpack, but the zipper seemed to be stuck on something. He stuffed his hand inside and swished it around, trying to clear the opening. When he pulled his hand out, a piece of khaki-colored cloth stuck out.
“Look in his backpack!” Cody cried out.
Matt jerked his backpack to his chest in an attempt to keep it away from the others.
“Hey, what’s in there, Jeffreys?” Quinn asked.
Luke yanked the backpack out of Matt’s hands.
“Give me that!” Matt yelled, but Luke turned away and quickly unzipped the pack. He dumped the contents on the sidewalk. Out fell a khaki trench coat, a black baseball cap, a pair of rearview sunglasses, a fake mustache, and some folded up newspaper. Plus, there were a bunch of clues he taken from Ms. Stad.
The stranger had been Matt all along. The Code Busters stared at him in disbelief.
Matt grabbed up the items from the ground and shoved them back into his pack.
“Seriously?” Cody finally said. “You’re the one who’s been following us everywhere!”
“That’s why you were always lurking nearby when we got there,” Quinn said. “You knew where we’d be because you had all the clues and coordinates you stole from Ms. Stad.”
