Super Puzzletastic Mysteries
Page 31
“What are you doing?” Besserer demanded.
“Getting the Stanley Cup,” I said. “Darius is supposed to carry it in the parade.”
The anticipation was palpable as Darius unlocked the trailer and pulled up the back to reveal . . . nothing except for some empty instrument cases. This is when it dawned on me that the cameraman was rolling. If I was wrong, this was going to make for some very bad television.
“Florian?” Margaret said with concern. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “It’s in the glockenspiel case.”
“Unbelievable,” said Besserer. “You’ve already looked in there. Face it. I didn’t steal the cup.”
I smiled broadly. “Then how’d you know it was stolen?”
“What do you mean?” he asked perplexed. “You guys gave me the third degree earlier. You know, when you checked in the box and saw that it was empty.”
“You see, that’s your first problem,” I said. “None of us ever said that it was stolen. It didn’t dawn on me until after we’d left. You never asked us why we were looking around. That’s because you already knew it was missing.”
“Well, maybe you never spelled it out,” he said, backtracking. “But it was obvious what was going on. I’m not a stupid guy.”
“You’re not a stupid guy,” I said. “But you did make one stupid mistake.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment as he scrambled through his memory to figure out what he’d done wrong.
“What was that?” he finally asked.
“You gave us the key to the trailer while the instruments were still inside. Yet, now the band is playing them. That means you have a second key. You lied when you told us there was only one.”
“He’s right,” said Darius. “The drums were in here. All the instruments were.”
Besserer slumped. He knew he was beaten.
“I realized it when I heard everyone chanting, ‘Rock the red,’” I said. “That could only happen if you’d gotten the instruments. The part I didn’t understand was why hadn’t you just taken them out before you gave us the key.”
“The bass drums!” said Margaret solving it.
“Yes,” I said. “It was because of the bass drums.”
“The heads had been taken off because you showed them to us,” said Margaret. “And the drums were stacked on top of each other like a big column.”
“And without the heads,” I said. “It was hollow and a perfect place to hide the cup. But you couldn’t take the instruments out without revealing that. So you had to wait until we left and then use the other key to unlock the trailer and move it to the glockenspiel case.”
Margaret climbed up into the trailer and opened the case to reveal the trophy hidden inside.
“I don’t believe it!” gasped Juliette.
“The biscuit is in the basket!” exclaimed Darius.
Besserer confessed to everything. His plan was to alert the media so the story became public. After keeping the trophy for a few days, he was going to use his memorabilia connections to make it look like he’d recovered it, so that he could return it to the team. He thought it would make him a hero. Instead, it got him arrested.
The parade went off as planned, with one slight alteration. Two of Deke’s Geeks joined Darius and the Stanley Cup in the convertible. I’m sure the people lining the street wondered what Margaret and I were doing with him. But we didn’t care. We were having the time of our lives.
About the Authors
CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books for kids include Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, The Island of Dr. Libris, and Welcome to Wonderland #1: Home Sweet Motel. He is also the coauthor of numerous fun and funny page-turners with James Patterson, including I Funny, House of Robots, Treasure Hunters, Jacky Ha-Ha, and Word of Mouse.
STEVE HOCKENSMITH says he’s extremely bad at puzzles and riddles, but fortunately for him he’s not too shabby when it comes to writing. He’s the author of more than a dozen novels, including the science-themed mystery Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab and its five sequels. (One of those sequels, Nick and Tesla’s Secret Agent Gadget Battle, was a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award.) You can learn more about him and his books at www.stevehockensmith.com.
STUART GIBBS is the New York Times bestselling author of the Spy School, FunJungle, and Moon Base Alpha series, and he has been nominated for an Edgar Award twice. His newest book is Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation, and he is currently writing the screenplay for the Spy School movie for Disney.
SHEELA CHARI is the author of Finding Mighty, a Junior Library Guild Selection and Children’s Choice Award Finalist; and Vanished, an APALA Children’s Literature Honor Book, Edgar finalist for best juvenile mystery, and Al’s Book Club Pick on the Today show. She is currently working on a novelized series called The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, based on the Peabody Award–winning mystery podcast by the same name created by Gen-Z Media. Sheela has degrees from Stanford University, Boston University, and New York University, where she received an MFA in fiction. She teaches fiction writing at Mercy College, and lives with her family in New York.
FLEUR BRADLEY has loved puzzles and mysteries ever since she first discovered Agatha Christie novels. Fleur is the author of many short mysteries and mysteries for kids, including Midnight at the Barclay Hotel and the Double Vision trilogy. Originally from the Netherlands, she now lives in Colorado with her husband, two daughters, and entirely too many cats.
LAUREN MAGAZINER grew up in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and is a proud graduate of Hamilton College. She currently lives in Philadelphia. She is the author of humorous middle grade books: the Case Closed series (Mystery in the Mansion and Stolen from the Studio), Wizardmatch, the Pilfer Academy series, and The Only Thing Worse Than Witches. She has also written Haunting at the Hotel for the puzzle-packed and interactive “pick your path” Case Closed series.
USA Today–bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author GIGI PANDIAN is the child of cultural anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India. She spent her childhood being dragged around the world on their research trips, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery series, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. Gigi’s debut novel, Artifact, was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a Best Debut Novel by Suspense Magazine, and her later fiction has received the Agatha, Lefty, Rose, and Derringer Awards.
LAMAR GILES is a published author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. His recent books include his debut middle grade fantasy, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, and his fourth YA thriller, Spin. He is a two-time Edgar Award finalist for his young adult thrillers Fake ID and Endangered. His third YA thriller, Overturned, received a glowing New York Times review, and was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book. He contributed to the YA anthology Three Sides of a Heart, is the editor of the forthcoming We Need Diverse Books YA short story anthology Fresh Ink and is a contributor to the forthcoming YA anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, and to a forthcoming We Need Diverse Books middle grade anthology.
KATE MILFORD is the New York Times–bestselling author of Greenglass House (winner of the Edgar Award for juvenile literature, long-listed for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and a nominee for the Andre Norton Award and the Agatha Award for Children’s/YA) as well as its sequel, Ghosts of Greenglass House, and five other books set in the same world: The Boneshaker, The Broken Lands, The Left-Handed Fate, the crowdfunded companion book The Kairos Mechanism, and her newest release, Bluecrowne. Kate grew up in Riva, Maryland, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, two children, and their dog.
LAURA BRENNAN’s eclectic writing career includes television, film, theater, web series, fiction, and news. She has taught pitching workshops at several MFA
programs and universities, including UCLA, USC, Boston University, National University, and Stephens College. A graduate of Yale University, she has won awards for journalism, television writing, and fiction. Her short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, including the upcoming Malice Domestic anthology Murder Most Edible. Her podcast, Destination Mystery (DestinationMystery.com), features interviews with mystery writers and combines her love of books with her background in journalism. Her children’s book, Nana Speaks Nanese, tackles the confusing changes brought on by dementia in a reassuring and straightforward way. She has also written a second children’s book, Papillon. Contact her at Laura@LauraBrennanWrites.com.
LARA CASSIDY is a high-stakes litigation attorney and author of “The Red Envelope,” a middle grade mystery story. Her lifelong love of mysteries took root when she met Nancy Drew with a flashlight past her childhood bedtime. Lara juggles practicing law for big businesses and writing mysteries for children and adults. Her stories feature bright women unraveling perplexing riddles, finding missing people, and quashing corporate greed. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and middle grade daughter, who edits over her mom’s shoulder. Follow Lara on Twitter @ladcassidy.
FRED REXROAD’s life has been an eclectic array of locations and interests. He’s lived in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, Midwest, South, Europe, and on a boat. He’s printed cigar boxes, owned a magic store, flown airplanes, built an ultralight, did financial and statistical analysis, photographed oil spills and shifting sandbars from a helicopter, taught at Wright State University, solved logistics problems for the US Air Force, trained NATO personnel, wandered unarmed in war zones, did top secret analysis for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and found time to write stories. He lives with his wife, Susan, in Vienna, Virginia.
BRYAN PATRICK AVERY discovered his love of books at an early age, when he received his first Bobbsey Twins’ Mystery. His short mysteries, poems, and essays have been published in the Buffalo Soldier Newspaper, The Case Online, The National Examiner, and other publications. He relishes the opportunity to create stories for children. In addition to writing, he also enjoys the art of magic, and is a life member of the Society of American Magicians and a charter member of the International Association of Black Magical Artists. Bryan lives in Northern California with his family.
EILEEN RENDAHL is the national bestselling and award-winning author of the Messenger series and four Chick Lit novels. Her alter ego, Eileen Carr, writes romantic suspense. She writes cozy mysteries as Kristi Abbott and Lillian Bell. Born in Dayton, Ohio, she moved when she was four and only remembers that she was born across the street from a Baskin-Robbins. Eileen remembers anything that has to do with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or champagne. She started writing for the worst reason (she thought it would be easy!) and has since spent years working on her craft, earning an MFA in creative writing at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She now teaches creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She has had many jobs and lived in many cities and feels unbelievably lucky to be where she is now and to be doing what she’s doing.
MO WALSH wrote her first mystery story, “The Clue in the Picture Frame,” for a fourth grade spelling assignment. After years working for newspapers and advertising agencies, she returned to writing mysteries for magazines and short story anthologies. She also writes silly poems called doggerel verse, and two of her favorite words are prestidigitation and serendipity. She grew up in St. Louis and now lives in Boston with her husband, near their three grown-up sons. Visit her online at www.mowalshwriter.com.
ALANE FERGUSON has written more than thirty books and is currently completing her most intense and autobiographical book yet, Dragonfly Eyes, the first in her latest paranormal trilogy. A recipient of the Edgar Award as well as the Belgium’s Children’s Choice Award for her young adult novel Show Me the Evidence, she also received a Edgar nomination for her young adult novel The Christopher Killer, the first in the Forensic Mystery series. Alane won the Children’s Crown Classic Award for Cricket and the Crackerbox Kid, the American Booksellers Association’s “Pick of the List” for her picture book entitled That New Pet!, and has been on numerous ALA Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Readers and Young Adults’ Choice lists.
PETER LERANGIS is the author of far too many books. Nine of them have been New York Times bestsellers, to his parents’ relief. After writing the Seven Wonders series and several 39 Clues books, he promises his next work will not contain a number in the title. His friendship with R. L. Stine was forged over a dinner with Vladimir Putin, who kept his shirt on. Ever since, he has been very careful about emails. Peter is now locked away working on a new series called Throwback, and he would deeply appreciate if you sent chocolate.
Edgar-nominated author-illustrator BRUCE HALE is passionate about inspiring reluctant readers to open books (and read them). He has written over forty seriously funny books for children, including the award-winning Chet Gecko Mysteries, Snoring Beauty (one of Oprah’s Kids’ Reading List picks), and the Clark the Shark books, one of which ended up in a McDonald’s Happy Meal (not the way you think). An actor and Fulbright Scholar in Storytelling, Bruce is in demand as a speaker, having presented internationally at conferences, universities, and schools.
TYLER WHITESIDES was born in Washington state. He developed a love of books from a very young age, and with that came a desire to write his own stories. Tyler attended Utah State University, where he received a bachelors in music. While there, he got a part-time job at a middle school as a night custodian, and wandering the halls sparked the ideas that eventually led to the Janitors series, published by Shadow Mountain Publishing. During the course of the series, Tyler had the opportunity to visit many states, presenting at more than 600 schools across the country. He lives in Northern Utah with his wife, Connie, and their son.
JAMES PONTI is the Edgar Award–winning author of the City Spies, Framed!, and Dead City book series. He’s written and produced television shows for Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, PBS, and NBC Sports. He lives in Maitland, Florida, with his family, and his favorite guilty pleasure is going to the movies on a weekday afternoon. His Twitter handle is @JamesPonti and you can visit him online at www.JamesPonti.com.
About the Editor
Author photo by Elena Seibert
CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is the New York Times bestselling author of the Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series, the Welcome to Wonderland series, the award-winning Haunted Mystery series, and The Island of Dr. Libris. He is also the coauthor (with James Patterson) of the number one bestsellers I Funny, House of Robots, Treasure Hunters, Jacky Ha-Ha, Word of Mouse, Pottymouth and Stoopid, and many others.
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Copyright
SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES
Copyright © 2020 by Mystery Writers of America, Inc.
Introduction copyright © 2020 by Chris Grabenstein
“Snow Devils: A Riley Mack Story” copyright © 2020 by Chris Grabenstein
“Possum-Man and Janet” copyright © 2020 by Steve Hockensmith
“Monkey Business: A FunJungle Mystery” copyright © 2020 by Stuart Gibbs
“The Fifty-Seventh Cat” copyright © 2020 by Sheela Chari
“The Perfect Alibi” copyright © 2020 by Fleur Bradley
“Three Brothers, Two Sisters, and One Cup of Poison” copyright © 2020 by Lauren Magaziner
“The Haunted Typewriter” copyright © 2020 by Gigi Pandian
“Surprise. Party.” copyright © 2020 by Lamar Giles
“The Dapperlings” copyright © 2020 by Kate Milford
“Codename: Mom” copyright © 2020 by Laura Brennan
“The Red Envelope” copyright © 2020 by Lara Cassidy
“Whiz Tanner and the Pilfered Cashbox: A Tanner-Dent Mystery” copyright © 2020 by Fred Rexroad
“The Magic Day Mystery” copyright © 2020 by Bryan Patrick Avery
“Puzzling It Out” copyrigh
t © 2020 by Eileen Rendahl
“The Mechanical Bank Job” copyright © 2020 by Maureen Walsh
“The Scary Place” copyright © 2020 by Alane Ferguson
“Ottonetics” copyright © 2020 by Peter Lerangis
“Gridlock Jones Cracks the Case” copyright © 2020 by Bruce Hale
“The Case of the Mysterious Mystery Writer” copyright © 2020 by Tyler Whitesides
“TRICKED! A Framed Story” copyright © 2020 by James Ponti
Interior images by
cat illustration by Matthew Taylor Wilson (here),
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Vector Market / Shutterstock (bell),
GANJIRO KUMA / Shutterstock (ring),
and Shams Suleymanova / Shutterstock (bee) (here),
Carboxylase / Shutterstock (emojis) (pages here, here)
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www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2020 by Matthew Taylor Wilson
Cover design by Michelle Taormina
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Grabenstein, Chris, author.
Title: Super puzzletastic mysteries : short stories for young sleuths from Mystery Writers of America.
Description: First edition. | New York : HarperCollins, 2020. | At head of title: Chris Grabenstein presents. | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: “New York Times bestselling author Chris Grabenstein and his all-star cast of contributing authors team up for Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, a group of interactive short stories that invite the reader to solve the mystery themselves”-- Provided by publisher.