Detective Camp

by Ron Roy

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2006 by Ron Roy

  Illustrations copyright © 2006 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books,

  a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon and A TO Z MYSTERIES are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon and the A to Z Mysteries colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  www.steppingstonesbooks.com

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  Detective camp / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  p. cm. — (A to Z mysteries Super edition ; #1) “A Stepping Stone Book.”

  SUMMARY: While learning detective skills at a sleep-away camp, Dink and his friends uncover a real mystery involving stolen paintings.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-49481-8

  [1. Camps—Fiction. 2. Mystery and detective stories.]

  I. Gurney, John Steven, ill. II. Title.

  III. Series: Roy, Ron. A to Z mysteries Super edition ; #1.

  PZ7.R8139Dg 2006 [Fic]—dc22 2005016675

  v3.1_r1

  This book is dedicated to Mike Darby and his family.

  —R.R.

  To Molly and Jesse.

  —J.S.G.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  “Here y’are, kids,” the taxi driver told Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “Get out and stretch your legs and I’ll fetch your luggage.”

  The kids stepped out of the taxi in Bear Walk, Vermont. They were standing next to a gravel driveway in front of an old lodge built of timber. A banner over the wide porch said WELCOME TO DETECTIVE CAMP.

  Behind the lodge stood a red barn with its doors open wide.

  Dink noticed a few picnic tables on the lawn between the lodge and the barn. Across from the driveway stood three log cabins surrounded by wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. Off to the side of the cabins stood a larger building. Dink noticed a sign that said WASHHOUSE. White arrows pointed boys to one door and girls to another.

  “Where are we supposed to sleep?” Josh asked. Like Dink, he wore cutoff jean shorts and a T-shirt.

  “Didn’t you read the letter?” Dink asked, winking at Ruth Rose. “Josh Pinto sleeps in a bear cave.” Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan, but his friends called him Dink.

  Josh didn’t say anything, but he made a goofy face at Dink.

  “In those cabins, I guess,” said Ruth Rose, pointing. “I see some other kids over there.” Ruth Rose liked to dress all in one color. Today she wore pink from her headband to her sneakers.

  “Tell me again why we’re in Bear Walk, Vermont,” Josh said, glancing around. “I’ll bet there are bears everywhere!”

  “We came to Detective Camp because we love solving mysteries,” Ruth Rose said. “Besides, none of us has been to sleepaway camp before. It’ll be fun! We’ll learn all about-”

  “Yo!” someone yelled. The kids looked toward the cabins. Three teenagers were walking toward them. They each wore a white T-shirt with DETECTIVE CAMP on the front and green shorts. Whistles hung from lanyards around their necks.

  “Are you the kids from Green Lawn, Connecticut?” a tall boy with a buzz cut asked.

  “Yes,” Dink said. “I’m Dink, and these are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose.”

  “I’m Buzzy Steele,” the boy said, smiling. “You two guys are in my cabin, the one with the moose over the door.”

  “And I’m Angie Doe,” the girl said. She had red hair in pigtails. “Ruth Rose, you’re in Fox Cabin with me. You’ll have nine roommates!”

  The other boy had broad shoulders and dark skin. “I’m Lucas Washington,” he said. “Call me Luke. I have Bear Cabin with eight more guys.”

  “How many kids are here altogether?” Dink asked.

  “Twenty-six,” Angie said. “Sixteen boys and ten girls.”

  The taxi driver handed the kids’ packs and sleeping bags to them. “Have a good time,” he said, getting back into the taxi. Then he turned the cab around and pulled away.

  “Let’s get you kids into your cabins,” Luke said, reaching for an armful of sleeping bags. “Everyone else got here this morning.”

  They followed the three counselors onto the lawn. Stone paths led up to each of the three small porches.

  “After you get unpacked, we’re all meeting down by Shady Lake,” Angie told the kids. “About twenty minutes, okay? Just follow that path, and the lake will be right in front of you. Ready to meet your cabinmates, Ruth Rose?”

  “Yes!” Ruth Rose said. “See you later, guys.” She followed Angie into a cabin with a wooden cutout of a fox over the door.

  “Later,” Luke said. He loped next door.

  Buzzy led Dink and Josh through a door with a moose cutout over it. Inside the cabin, six boys were reading and playing board games. A shelf in one corner was overflowing with books and games.

  Dink counted four sets of bunk beds. Near the door was a single bed. Dink assumed that was where Buzzy would sleep.

  “Yo, guys, listen up!” Buzzy yelled. “Come and meet Dink and Josh from Connecticut.”

  Six boys turned toward Dink and Josh. They smiled and, one by one, introduced themselves and shook hands.

  Dink tried to remember the six new names and faces: A black-haired boy named Billy Wong. A thin kid with braces called Hunter. Ian and Brendan, twins with blond hair so light it appeared white. Duke, a tall boy. And Campbell, a short blond kid with a big smile.

  “If you need to wash up or use the bathroom, that’s all in the big building on the other side of Fox Cabin,” Buzzy told the boys.

  “We have to go outside to the bathroom?” Josh asked.

  Buzzy nodded. “Yep. The showers are there, too,” he said. “And don’t let the hot water run too long, or someone gets a cold shower! You all need to be down at Shady Lake in about ten minutes, okay?”

  “Are we going swimming?” Hunter asked. “Are there snakes in the water?”

  “No and yes,” Buzzy said, grinning. “There are a few harmless water snakes, but we’re not going swimming today. We’re just having a meeting with all the other campers.”

  Dink and Josh headed for the only set of bunks not piled up with the other kids’ stuff.

  “I guess this one is ours,” Dink said. “Top or bottom?”

  “Top,” Josh said, tossing his sleeping bag up onto the mattress. “That way, if a bear comes in, he gets you first.”

  Dink grinned. “Bears can climb, Josh,” he said.

  “I’ll still take the top bunk,” Josh said. He grabbed his backpack and climbed the ladder.

  Dink unrolled his sleeping bag and fluffed up the pillow he found on his mattress. As he emptied his backpack, he glanced out the window just over his bed. He could see a wooden fence separating the lawn from deep woods.

  He arranged his clothes in a cubby that already had his name on it. He set his toothbrush and other toilet articles on the
windowsill. He’d brought a couple of books, which he stood next to his toothpaste. The titles were Wild Animals of Vermont and Danny Doon, Boy Detective.

  Josh was on top, wrestling with his sleeping bag.

  “Are you ready?” Dink asked.

  “Almost,” Josh said. “My brothers used this sleeping bag last, and they tied about a million knots in the string.”

  “Okay, let’s hustle,” Buzzy called out. “Moose Cabin is never late! Now let’s go, little moosies!”

  The other six boys stampeded out the cabin door and raced for the path that led to the lake. A minute later, Buzzy followed them.

  Dink waited for Josh on the porch.

  Josh snuck up behind Dink and said, “Come back inside. I want to show you something.”

  “What?” Dink said as he followed Josh. “Come on, we’re gonna be late on our first day!”

  “Look,” Josh said. He was pointing to a small wooden chest under Buzzy’s bed. It had a hasp, and the padlock was in the locked position.

  “Josh, what do I care if—”

  “After the other kids left, I saw Buzzy hide something in there,” Josh said. “He was real careful, like he didn’t want anyone to see what he was doing.”

  “But Josh the snoop saw him, right?” Dink asked.

  Josh nodded. “This is Detective Camp, right?” he said. “Well, I’m being a detective!”

  Dink and Josh ran down the path. A couple of minutes later, they heard voices and followed them to the lake.

  They found all the other kids sitting on tree stumps arranged in a big circle. In the center was a ring of rocks surrounding a pile of wood. A few yards away, a dock jutted out into the lake. There were several canoes piled upside down on the dock. Paddles stuck out from beneath each canoe.

  Ruth Rose had saved two stumps, so Dink and Josh sat on either side of her.

  “You two are late,” Ruth Rose said in a whisper. “Bad Moose boys!”

  Suddenly a loud whistle pierced the air. Angie was standing on a stump with her whistle in her mouth.

  “Welcome to Detective Camp!” she said. “Whenever you hear a whistle like this, you need to stop what you’re doing and listen. Later, you’ll be getting daily schedules. For now, the guys and I want to tell you what to expect over the next week.”

  She turned and pointed toward the dock. “No one is allowed on the dock or near the canoes unless you’re with a counselor,” Angie went on. “You’ll get a chance to swim or canoe every day, starting tomorrow.”

  Luke took over next. “Each day, you’ll also get a chance to do other camp activities like crafts, nature walks, stuff like that,” he said. “You’ll also learn detective skills from a real detective!”

  A lot of the kids whistled and clapped at the word detective.

  “You’re expected to do camp chores, too,” Luke continued.

  “What kind of chores?” a girl with a long ponytail asked. “Like dishes and stuff?”

  “No dishes, Jade, but you’re expected to keep your bunks neat,” Angie said. “And we sweep the cabins every day. Some of you may want to feed the chickens and collect eggs. We even have a vegetable garden, if you like getting your hands dirty. Anyway, the chores don’t take long, and you can switch around so no one gets bored.”

  “When do we eat?” Josh asked, getting a laugh.

  “Mealtimes are sacred around here,” Buzzy said. “Mario is the cook, and he won’t wait for latecomers. Breakfast is at eight, lunch at noon, and supper is promptly at five o’clock.”

  “We eat outside on the picnic tables by the barn, unless the weather is bad,” Angie added. “If it rains, we don’t eat.”

  Most of the kids went silent and stared at her.

  “Are you kidding?” Josh asked.

  Angie grinned. “Yes. We eat in the barn if it rains. So that’s another chore, to help carry the picnic tables inside if the weather looks bad.”

  “When you’re not doing these camp things, you’ll have free time to relax, write letters home, whatever,” Luke said. “Okay, any more questions?”

  “Wait, Luke,” Buzzy said. “We forgot to tell them the most important thing!”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?” Luke asked with a big grin on his face.

  “The Marvelous Mystery Map!” Buzzy said. “Detective Robb will explain it all later. For now, we just want to clue you in that there’ll be a treasure hunt with a really cool prize.”

  “Awesome!” a bunch of kids yelled.

  “One more thing before we head up to the barn,” Angie said. “This’ll be fun. Break up into your three cabin groups. We want each group to decide on a cabin cheer. Try to keep it under fifteen words. Later, each cabin will get to yell out their cheer. Okay, get busy. You’ve got ten minutes!”

  The kids all scrambled around to sit with their cabinmates. Dink and Josh and the other six boys from Moose Cabin sat under a shady pine tree.

  “This is so cool!” Hunter said. “I’ve never been to camp before!”

  “Does anyone have any ideas for a cheer?” asked Billy.

  “How about putting in something that rhymes with moose?” said Ian, one of the twins.

  “Yeah, like noose or goose or loose,” his brother added.

  “Or juice,” said Josh.

  “Or caboose,” added Campbell.

  “What about this?” Dink said. “HEY, I AM A MOOSE. I DRINK MY JUICE. AT NIGHT, I SLEEP IN MY CABOOSE.”

  “That’s sixteen words,” Duke said.

  “I have an idea,” Campbell said. “MOOSIES ROCK! MOOSIES ROLL! MOOSIES RULE!”

  “I like that better than mine,” Dink said.

  “Everyone else does, too,” Josh said, grinning at Dink. “Let’s take a vote. If you like Campbell’s idea, raise your hand!”

  Eight hands flew into the air.

  “Okay, time’s up, everyone,” Angie announced a few minutes later. “If you didn’t finish, you’ll have time to get together with your cabinmates before supper tonight. Now we’ll head over to the barn and the lodge so you can meet the Darbys.”

  In a long, straggling line, the kids followed the three counselors back along the path.

  “Did your cabin finish making a cheer?” Dink asked Ruth Rose.

  “No,” Ruth Rose said. “But we have some good ideas.”

  “We did our cheer,” Dink said.

  “You did? Tell me!” Ruth Rose begged.

  Both boys shook their heads.

  “You’ll have to wait,” Josh teased.

  The group went around the lodge to the barn. It was bigger than Dink had thought when he first saw it. There was a long extension in the back. Through the open doors, Dink could see archery equipment hanging on one wall. There was a big empty space in the middle of the barn floor, and in a corner sat three potter’s wheels and shelves holding craft supplies.

  “Okay, campers, gather around,” Buzzy yelled. “This is where you’ll come for any craft activities. We eat on those picnic tables over there. Around the side is the chicken coop and Mote’s house.”

  “Whose house?” one of the girls asked.

  “Remote is a goat,” Buzzy said. “He’s the camp mascot. He once chewed up the Darbys’ TV remote. Since then, everyone calls him Remote, but I call him Mote the goat.”

  Suddenly a large red rooster strutted around the side of the barn. He had red and black feathers and a fierce-looking beak. He stopped when he saw all the strangers.

  “And this is Ronald the rooster,” Luke said. “He and Remote are buddies, but he’s not very friendly with anyone else. So watch out!”

  Ignoring everyone, Ronald began scratching the ground for bugs and worms.

  “Next we’re going into the lodge,” Angie continued. “The Darbys are excited to meet you. Remember, this is their home. They love reading mystery and detective stories, so they decided to create this camp.

  “This is its first year, so it’s sort of an experiment. They hope to have even more kids here next summer.”
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  Buzzy held the back door open and everyone filed into the lodge. They walked into a large, bright kitchen. A tall man wearing an apron was standing at a worktable, chopping vegetables.

  “Hi, I’m Mario,” the man said. “I do all the cooking, so be nice to me! And on your way out, grab a cookie. I’m taking a batch out of the oven in three minutes.”

  Mario’s head was completely bald, and he wore a red bandanna as a headband. He had a large brown mustache that curled up into pointy ends.

  “Thanks, Mario!” everyone said.

  “Let’s go into the great room,” Angie said, passing through a doorway.

  They all gathered in a huge room filled with sofas, tables, lamps, and more books than a small library. Most of the walls had bookcases, and they were all stuffed.

  Several paintings hung on the walls. Some were so old and dirty that Dink couldn’t tell what he was looking at. But others were bright and clean, as if they’d just been painted.

  Dink noticed Buzzy peering into a cabinet with glass doors. On the shelves inside were dozens of small animal figurines. They were metal and gleamed softly like the silver teapot Dink’s mom used only on holidays.

  Just then they all heard a screeching noise. A door slid open, revealing an elevator. As all the kids stared, a man and a woman walked slowly off the elevator. They both had white hair and wore glasses. The woman used a walker.

  Their wrinkled faces lit up when they saw the gang of kids.

  “Hello,” the man said. “I am Michael Darby. This is my wife, Bessie. Welcome to our home!”

  The couple walked among the campers, shaking hands.

  “I’ll try to remember your names, but forgive an old lady if I forget!” Bessie said.

  “Oh, excuse me,” another voice said from behind the group.

  They turned and saw a woman coming down the central stairs. Her black dress matched her hair, and she wore rose-colored glasses. She rested one pale hand on the banister as she paused at the bottom of the stairs.

  Dink thought he’d never seen such white skin before. Then he realized the woman was wearing white rubber gloves.

  “I am Mademoiselle Musée,” the woman said.