“Yeah!” Eric said. “And you’ll see. We’ll solve this mystery.”
“I’m going to speak with the custodian, Mrs. Adams,” Dr. Prell said. “She’s very observant. Maybe she noticed something.”
Dr. Prell walked toward the school entrance.
“I hope we can find those dimes,” Cam whispered to Eric. “But right now I don’t remember any clues.”
“Well,” Mr. Day said to Cam, “let’s start looking.”
“But where?” Cam asked, and shook her head. “I think whoever took the money was smart. He put bricks in the box so it would be heavy. He didn’t want you to know the money was missing until you opened the box. And smart people find great hiding places.”
“I think I know where to look,” Mr. Day said. “Let’s look in the gym.”
Chapter Four
Cam and Eric followed Mr. Day into the building.
“The gym is real close to the display case,” Mr. Day said. “And that’s where I left the box of dimes.”
“I don’t think it’s here,” Eric said when they entered the gym. “This is just a big empty room. There’s no place to hide anything.”
“Come with me,” Mr. Day said.
He took them to the locker room.
Mr. Day said, “I think they’re in one of the lockers.”
Eric began to quickly open one locker after another. The metal doors clanged and squeaked as they swung open.
Cam held her hands to her ears.
Eric was done opening the front row of lockers.
“There’s nothing in any of these,” Eric said.
“I didn’t mean those lockers,” Mr. Day said. “I meant these.”
By his desk were three lockers with padlocks.
“But I can’t open those,” Eric said. “They’re locked.”
“This first one is mine,” Mr. Day said. “I keep my papers and lunch in here. But these two are mysteries to me. Locks have been on them since I came here.”
“The dimes can’t be in those,” Eric said, pointing to the two other lockers. “The dimes were just stolen, and you said those have been locked for years.”
Mr. Day pointed to his head and said, “You’re not thinking like a criminal.” He smiled. “Let’s say this lock belongs to someone in this building. He has a key to it. He stole the dimes, unlocked the locker, put the coins in, and locked it again. Then, every day, he’ll sneak back in here and take out a few rolls of dimes.”
“That’s some plan,” Cam said.
“Oh, sure,” Mr. Day said. “Those coins were on display for a long time. Every few days, I put in more rolls of dimes. The thief probably passed by the case all the time. He doesn’t have a key to the display case, so he was just waiting for me to unlock it and take the money out.”
Eric said, “We just have to hide here and watch those two lockers. When someone takes out the money, we’ll be here to catch him.”
Mr. Day shook his head and said, “No.”
“We could get a video camera,” Eric said. “It could tape everyone who comes in here.”
“No,” Mr. Day said again, and shook his head. “I’ll just open the lockers.”
Mr. Day took a large ring of keys from his desk drawer.
Cam asked, “How many keys do you have?”
“A lot, maybe one hundred,” Mr. Day said. “Whenever I find a key in the gym or outside, I save it. Someone might come looking for it. I put it on this ring. With all these keys, I’m sure I can open those locks.”
Mr. Day tried to push a key into one of the padlocks. It didn’t fit. He tried another key. That one also didn’t fit. Cam and Eric sat on a bench and watched Mr. Day try one key after another. But none of the keys fit.
“Don’t worry,” Eric said, “Cam will click and remember something that will help us find the money.”
“Not yet. Don’t do any of that clicking stuff,” Mr. Day said. “I want to solve this mystery. I just have to borrow something from Mrs. Adams.”
Mr. Day left the locker room.
Eric said, “I don’t think the money is in the lockers.”
“I agree,” Cam said. “And I don’t think the money is still in the school. A thief would not want to come back here after everyone knows the money was stolen.”
Eric laughed. “What would anyone do with all those dimes?”
“He’ll change them at a bank.”
Mr. Day walked back into the locker room. He was holding a pair of clippers with long handles. Dr. Prell was with him.
“Now we’ll find those dimes,” he said.
“Maybe,” Dr. Prell said. “Or maybe we’ll find what someone left here a long time ago.”
Chapter Five
“Whose locks are these?” Dr. Prell asked.
“The first one, the one near my desk, is mine,” Mr. Day answered. “The other two locks were here when I came to this school. I don’t know whose they are.”
Dr. Prell said, “Break them open.”
Mr. Day held the clippers by the ends of the long handles. The blades were set to cut the lock.
Snap!
The lock was cut open.
Dr. Prell took off the broken lock. She opened the locker and took out an open box of crackers. She shook a few crackers onto Mr. Day’s desk.
“Yuck!” Mr. Day said. “They’re moldy.”
“That’s all that was in there, a box of moldy crackers,” Dr. Prell said. “Break open the other locker.”
Mr. Day cut the second lock. There were just papers in that locker.
“I’ll open the third locker,” Mr. Day said.
He was about to snip the lock.
“Wait!” Eric told him. “Don’t you have a key to your own lock?”
“Yes, I do.”
He opened the lock. Dr. Prell looked in the locker. “There are lots of papers in here,” she said. “It’s a mess.”
“But there are no dimes,” Mr. Day told her. “We still don’t know where the money is. I was wrong. The thief did not hide the money here. I’ll take these clippers back to Mrs. Adams.”
Dr. Prell took a cell phone from her pocket and said, “I’ll call the police.” She pressed a few buttons on her cell phone and held it close to her ear. “Hello. I’m reporting a robbery.” Dr. Prell told the police officer about the stolen dimes.
Mr. Day returned to the locker room.
“The police will be here soon,” Dr. Prell told him.
“Jennifer and Eric,” she said, “please go to your class. And don’t talk about the missing dimes. Everyone worked so hard to raise all that money. They don’t have to know it was stolen. If we don’t find it, I’ll find another way to pay for the skylights.”
“Don’t worry,” Eric told her. “I’m sure Cam can click and find a clue and solve the mystery.”
Cam closed her eyes. She said, “Click!”
“Please,” Dr. Prell said, “you don’t need to click. Now it’s up to the police.”
“I’m looking at the wooden box and all the dimes,” Cam said with her eyes closed. “There were lots of dimes.”
“I don’t need a photographic memory to know that,” Mr. Day said.
Cam said, “Click!” again. Then she said, “The thief left the wood box.”
“I know that, too,” Mr. Day said.
“Please,” Dr. Prell told Cam and Eric, “go to your class.”
“Let’s go,” Eric told Cam.
Cam’s eyes were still closed.
Eric took Cam’s hand and walked with her out of the gym.
As they walked, Cam said, “Click!” She said it again and again.
“Do you see anything?” Eric asked. “Did you find a clue?”
“No,” Cam said, and shook her head. “I still don’t know how someone took all those dimes out of here. If I solve that mystery, I’ll find the thief.”
Cam’s eyes were still closed. Eric led her into their classroom.
“Where were you?” Ms. Benson asked.
&nb
sp; Eric whispered to her. He told her about the missing money.
“That’s terrible,” she said.
“We didn’t find the dimes,” Eric whispered, “so Dr. Prell called the police.”
“I hope they find the money,” Ms. Benson whispered back. “Now Jennifer, please open your eyes.”
Cam opened her eyes.
The classroom lights were off. The shades were up. Sun was shining through the windows.
Cam and Eric went to their seats.
Ms. Benson went on with the lesson.
“Why should we plant trees?”
A few of Cam’s classmates raised their hands.
“Look!” Beth called out before anyone could answer Ms. Benson’s question. “The police are here.”
Beth pointed outside. A police car had stopped by the front of the school.
Danny held out his hands and said, “Oh, please don’t arrest me! I’m innocent.”
Chapter Six
“I arrest Danny in the name of the law,” Beth said. “I arrest you for telling bad jokes.”
“Me?!” Danny said. He pretended to be surprised. “I tell great jokes. Like what did the big sunflower say to the little sunflower?”
“Flowers don’t talk,” Beth said. “And if they did, and they weren’t talking to me, I wouldn’t listen. That’s just being nosy!”
“Look,” Amy said, and pointed outside. “Two police officers got out of the car. They’re coming into school.”
Beth said, “I’ll bet Cam knows why they’re here.”
“Let’s get back to our lesson,” Ms. Benson said. “Jennifer, can you tell the class why it’s good to plant trees?”
“Trees are good for recycling,” Cam answered. “They take in carbon dioxide and recycle it as oxygen. We need oxygen to breathe.”
Eric raised his hand.
“The roots are good for the ground,” he said. “Roots hold on to dirt and keep it from washing away in the rain.”
Danny called out, “Eric knows about dirt, but he doesn’t know what the big sunflower said to the little one. It said, ‘Hi there, bud!’”
Beth said, “That’s not even funny.”
“Why should we try to burn less fossil fuel?” Ms. Benson asked.
Beth raised her hand. “Coal and oil are fossil fuels,” she answered. “We only have a certain amount of them. If we use too much, we might use them all up. And when they burn, they put bad gasses in the air.”
Cam slid down in her seat so Ms. Benson wouldn’t see her. Then she closed her eyes and whispered, “Click!”
“Did you remember something?” Eric whispered. “Did you remember a clue?”
Cam shook her head. She whispered, “Not yet, but I’m sure I’m missing something. I just don’t know what.”
“What about solar and wind power?” Ms. Benson asked.
Hector raised his hand.
“Every day that the sun shines we have more solar energy,” Hector answered. “Every time the wind blows we have wind power. They don’t get used up and they don’t burn.”
“Very good,” Ms. Benson said. “Now, I have a special project for each of us. I want us all not only to go to a green school, I want us to live in green homes. I want each of you to make at least three changes in your homes, three things to help save our environment. By next Friday I want a detailed report on the changes you made.”
“Hey,” Danny said, “I’m hungry.”
“I’ll put a fluorescent bulb in my lamp,” Eric said. “That will save energy.”
“I’m running out of energy,” Danny said. “I need people fuel. I need to eat.”
Cam whispered, “I forgot all about lunch. The school lunch is sloppy Joes. That’s chopped meat and sauce on hero rolls. Lots of hero rolls.”
“So what?”
Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click!”
“Did you remember something?” Eric asked.
“Click!” Cam said again.
“Please,” Ms. Benson told the class, “line up for lunch.”
“Let’s go,” Eric said to Cam.
Her eyes were still closed. Cam had brought her lunch from home. Eric took it from Cam’s cubby. With his other hand he led Cam to the back of the line.
“Follow me,” Ms. Benson told the class.
The children walked quietly in a double line out of the room. Cam and Eric were at the very back of the line. Cam opened her eyes just as they were walking past the main office.
Cam told Eric, “I remembered something that might solve the mystery.”
“What mystery?” Beth asked. “Is something wrong? Was something broken or stolen? Is that why the police are here?”
Eric said, “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”
“About what?” Danny asked.
“If I told you that,” Eric said, “I would be talking about it.”
Ms. Benson stopped the class. They were by the entrance to the cafeteria.
“Let’s go,” Cam said. “I have to talk with Mrs. Apple, the cafeteria lady. I have to ask her something.”
“What?” Eric asked. “What do you have to ask Mrs. Apple?”
“Tell me, too,” Danny said.
Cam said, “I have to ask her if she can make me a sandwich. If she can’t make a sandwich, I might have solved the mystery.”
“Tell me!” Danny shouted. “What mystery?”
Cam didn’t answer. She left the line and hurried past the other children in her class and Ms. Benson. She was about to go into the cafeteria when Ms. Benson called to her.
Chapter Seven
“Jennifer, come back here,” Ms. Benson said. “We’ll all go in together.”
Cam stopped. She turned and told Ms. Benson, “But I’m not going in for lunch. I have to ask Mrs. Apple a question. It’s about—” Cam paused, then said quietly, “You know what it’s about.”
“Oh, yes. Go ahead.”
“I want to go, too,” Eric said.
“Go ahead,” Ms. Benson told Eric.
“Hey, what about me?” Danny asked. “I’m the one who is really hungry.”
“Get back on line,” Ms. Benson told Danny. “You’ll go in with everyone else.”
“Sure,” Danny complained, “by the time I get to eat, my sloppy Joe won’t even be sloppy anymore. Joe’s shirt will be tucked in and his hair will be combed. He’ll be neat Joe!”
Cam and Eric hurried past the children waiting on line to get their lunches. They walked into the kitchen.
“Mrs. Apple, can I get a cheese sandwich?” Cam asked an old woman.
Mrs. Apple wore a white apron and white gloves. Her hair was in a net. She held a bread knife and was cutting a hero roll in half.
Mrs. Apple said, “Today’s lunch is sloppy Joes. I can’t stop and make you a special sandwich.”
“You can’t because you’re busy,” Cam asked, “or you can’t because all you have are hero rolls?”
Mrs. Apple put down the roll she had just cut.
“Well,” she said, “I can’t for both reasons. This morning the baker brought me hero rolls. He didn’t bring me regular sandwich bread.”
“That’s just what I thought,” Cam said. “Let’s go,” she told Eric. “We have to speak to Dr. Prell.”
Cam quickly left the kitchen. Eric followed her.
“I don’t get it,” Eric said. “You brought your lunch from home. Why do you want a cheese sandwich?”
Cam and Eric hurried to Ms. Benson.
“We need to see Dr. Prell,” Cam told her teacher. Then Cam leaned close and whispered, “You know what it’s about.”
“Go ahead,” Ms. Benson said.
“She’s probably in her office,” Cam said. “She’s probably there telling the police all about the stolen dimes.”
They hurried to the main office.
“We need to see Dr. Prell,” Cam told Mrs. Wayne, the principal’s secretary.
“Why?” Mrs. Wayne asked. “Was there a fight? Is someone hurt?
Is someone sick?”
“No,” Cam told her. “It’s about the dimes.”
“Oh,” Mrs. Wayne said. She looked to be sure no one else was listening. Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Do you know all those dimes were stolen? Right now Dr. Prell is telling two nice police officers what happened.”
“Are they in her office?” Cam asked.
Mrs. Wayne shook her head and said, “They’re not here. They went to the gym to see Mr. Day.”
“Let’s go,” Cam said.
“Why?” Eric asked. “What’s going on?”
“I remembered something I saw when we came to school this morning,” Cam told him. “I think I might know who stole the dimes.”
“What did you remember?”
“Let’s go to the gym,” Cam said. “I’ll tell you everything on the way.”
“And please,” Eric said as he followed Cam. “Tell me why you wanted a sandwich?”
Cam laughed.
“I don’t want another cheese sandwich. My dad already made me one. I just wanted to know if Mrs. Apple had sandwich bread.”
“Why?” Eric asked. “Hero rolls are better.”
Cam said, “When we came to school this morning, the man delivering the milk pushed an empty cart past us. He had brought in all the milk and was going back to his truck.”
“You think he stole the money?”
“No,” Cam said. “Do you remember what the man from the bakery had on his cart?”
Eric shook his head. He didn’t remember.
“There were only a few loaves of bread on his cart.”
Cam and Eric walked past the empty display case just outside the gym.
“Why didn’t he bring in the loaves of bread with the hero rolls?” Cam asked. “And if he delivered bread, why couldn’t Mrs. Apple make me a sandwich?”
“Maybe she was busy,” Eric said. “Maybe she didn’t have cheese.”
“No,” Cam said as they entered the gym. “She said she didn’t have sandwich bread.”
Two police officers were in the gym, a tall woman and a not-so-tall man with a short beard. They were talking with Dr. Prell and Mr. Day.
The Green School Mystery Page 2
