A to Z Mysteries: The School Skeleton Read online

  Here’s what kids and parents

  have to say to Ron Roy,

  author of the

  A to Z Mysteries series:

  “Your books are the best in the world! You have made me an A to Z whiz.”—Jonathan A.

  “I love to read your books so much that sometimes after I’m in bed, I will get out a flashlight and read.”—Linus R.

  “I like your books because you combine action, mystery, and adventure all in the same book.”—John Michael H.

  “I really love your stories and I really love you.”—Matthew C.

  “Thank you for writing such an innovative mystery series for children. Your books certainly help a child to use her brain and think as she reads the story.”—Patrice Y.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  —Rhonda C.

  This book is dedicated to Andrew Stern.

  —R.R.

  To Todd, and the skeleton at Marlborough College

  —J.S.G.

  CHAPTER 1

  “Dink, would you mind passing out math paper to everyone?” Mrs. Eagle asked.

  “Oh, no, a math quiz,” Josh groaned.

  Mrs. Eagle smiled. “Yes, Josh. We have one every Monday at ten o’clock,” she said. “Now, I’d like to see bright eyes, quick minds, and sharp pencils!”

  Kids fumbled inside their desks for pencils. Then some of them formed a line at the pencil sharpener.

  Dink liked his teacher and his room. Everywhere he looked he saw books, cheerful posters on the walls, and sunlight coming through the windows. Mrs. Eagle had brought in a rug and some big pillows for the reading corner. That was Dink’s favorite spot in the room.

  Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan. But when he first learned to talk, all he could say was “Dink!” Now that was his permanent nickname.

  He walked to the paper shelf, grabbed a stack, and began handing it out to the other third graders.

  When Dink got to his friend Josh’s desk, Josh grinned and whispered,

  Teacher’s pet, teacher’s pet.

  When Dink gets sick,

  he goes to the vet.

  Josh Pinto was tall and thin. He had red hair that liked to fall over his freckled forehead.

  Dink crossed his eyes at Josh. Then he slid a piece of paper onto his desk.

  “Can I have two?” Josh asked, pulling another sheet from Dink’s stack.

  “Ouch!” Dink yelped, looking at his finger. There was a thin cut, and it was beginning to bleed.

  “What’s the matter?” Mrs. Eagle asked, walking over to Dink.

  “I got a paper cut,” Dink said.

  “I’ll bet that hurts,” Mrs. Eagle said, handing him a tissue. “You’d better go to the nurse’s office and get a Band-Aid.”

  Dink pressed the tissue against his cut and headed for the door. When he passed Ruth Rose’s desk, she grinned at him. “Hurry back for the quiz!” she teased.

  Ruth Rose Hathaway lived next door to Dink on Woody Street. She had bouncy black hair and quick blue eyes. She always dressed in one color, from head to toe. Today’s color was daffodil yellow.

  “I’ll be back,” Dink said. He left the room and headed toward the nurse’s office. Mr. Neater, the tall, white-haired school janitor, was sweeping the floor. He wore a metal key ring on his belt. The keys jangled when he pushed the broom. He waved at Dink.

  Dink showed him his cut.

  “Ooh, bet that hurts,” Mr. Neater said.

  Dink walked past a long line of lockers and bulletin boards. His paper cut was stinging, so he squeezed the tissue tighter.

  When he passed the principal’s office, the secretary, Mrs. Waters, was sitting at her desk. Behind her, through another door, Dink saw the principal, Mr. Dillon, talking on the telephone.

  Mrs. Waters smiled at Dink. “Are you here to see Mr. Dillon?” she asked.

  Dink stopped at the doorway and held up his finger. “Paper cut,” he said.

  Mrs. Waters shook her head. “Bet that hurts,” she said.

  Dink nodded and hurried next door to the nurse’s office. Miss Shotsky was staring at her calendar when Dink walked in.

  “Can you believe it’s almost the end of March?” she asked Dink. “Eighty-two days till summer vacation!”

  Dink held up his finger. “Um, I got a paper cut,” he said.

  “Ooh, I’ll bet that hurts,” Miss Shotsky said. “I’ll have to amputate.” Dink’s mouth fell open, and Miss Shotsky burst out laughing. Then Dink laughed, too.

  “Come on in the back, where I keep all my torture stuff,” the nurse said. She led Dink through a doorway behind her desk.

  Miss Shotsky pointed to the examining table in the middle of the room. “Hop up there, please,” she said as she walked over to a white cabinet.

  Dink sat on the table and looked around the room. Something smelled nice. Then he noticed a vase of flowers on a table next to a closed door.

  Over her shoulder Miss Shotsky said, “I have Batman Band-Aids, Wonder Woman Band-Aids, and bunny rabbit Band-Aids. Your choice, kiddo.”

  “Batman, please,” Dink said. He stared at the corner of the room where the school skeleton usually hung from a hook.

  “Miss Shotsky, where’s Mr. Bones?”

  The nurse had her back to Dink. “Hanging in the corner, where he always is.”

  Dink stared at the empty corner. The school skeleton had been there as long as Dink could remember. Miss Shotsky would bring it to each classroom when she told the kids how eating vegetables and drinking milk made strong bones. At holiday time, she always dressed Mr. Bones in costumes.

  The only thing Dink saw in the corner was a red scarf hanging on a hook. “He’s not there,” Dink said.

  Miss Shotsky turned around. “Don’t play tricks on the school nurse,” she said, grinning at Dink.

  “I’m not,” Dink said, pointing at the vacant corner. “Look.”

  Miss Shotsky looked. Her mouth dropped open. “Well, I’ll be hog-tied,” she said. “He is gone!”

  “Maybe someone borrowed him,” Dink said.

  “I don’t know when,” she said. “Mr. Bones was right there when I came in at seven-thirty I know because I put my scarf on him. No, someone swiped my skeleton!”

  Miss Shotsky shook her head. “Anyway, let’s look at your boo-boo,” she said, removing the tissue.

  In about five seconds, she had cleaned Dink’s finger and wrapped a Batman Band-Aid around it. “Now scoot back to class so I can tell Mr. Dillon about Mr. Bones,” Miss Shotsky said. She grabbed Dink’s hand and dropped two wrapped chocolates into his palm.

  “Thanks a lot,” he said.

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “And if you tell anyone the nurse gave you candy, I’ll deny it!”

  She patted Dink’s shoulder and walked him to the hallway. Admiring his Band-Aid, Dink ate one of the chocolates on his way back to class.

  Mrs. Eagle had her back to Dink when he walked into his classroom. Every kid’s head was bent over the math quiz.

  On the way to his seat, Dink dropped the other candy onto Ruth Rose’s desk. “Hey, what about me?” Josh squeaked.

  Dink grinned and slipped into his seat.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Sorry I gave you a paper cut,” Josh told Dink at morning recess. The cool March wind made Dink’s eyes water. Gray clouds blew across the sky and a few mounds of snow still hadn’t melted.

  “No problem,” Dink said. A soccer ball rolled against his feet, and Dink kicked it toward a bunch of kids.

  “Does it still hurt?” Ruth Rose asked. Her hat and scarf matched the rest of her yellow outfit.

  “Nope,” Dink said. Then he remembered what had happene
d in Miss Shotsky’s office. “But guess what? Mr. Bones has disappeared!”

  “The skeleton?” Josh said.

  Dink nodded. “I noticed it was missing when I got my Band-Aid,” he said. “Miss Shotsky didn’t even know it was gone.”

  “I wonder if someone stole it,” Ruth Rose said. She unwrapped the chocolate Dink had given her.

  “Why would anyone steal a skeleton?” Josh said, eyeing the candy in Ruth Rose’s hand. “Share?” he asked.

  Ruth Rose broke the candy in half and passed a chunk to Josh.

  Dink shrugged. “The last time Miss Shotsky saw it was around seven-thirty this morning,” he said.

  Just then they heard a whistle blow. Everyone lined up and entered the building.

  Mrs. Eagle was waiting inside the door. “We’re going to the gym for a few minutes,” she told her class. “Mr. Dillon has an announcement to make.”

  Led by their teachers, the third, fourth, and fifth graders trooped into the gym. The kindergarteners and first and second graders were already sitting in rows on the floor. Mr. Dillon was standing under the basketball hoop.

  When the bigger kids were also seated, Mr. Dillon smiled. “Good morning, kids!” he said. “I have some sad news to report,” he went on. “Earlier today, the school skeleton disappeared out of the nurse’s office.”

  Everyone started to talk. A fifth-grade boy with a deep voice said, “Who’d steal a skeleton? A zombie?” His buddies laughed, and his teacher gave him a look.

  “If anyone has any information about the missing skeleton,” Mr. Dillon went on, “please raise your hand.”

  No one raised a hand.

  “Well, it seems we have a genuine mystery on our hands,” Mr. Dillon said. He smiled at the hundred kids who sat watching him. “And I need your help solving it. So I’ve decided to offer a reward. The classroom that finds Mr. Bones will get free tickets to the new aquarium in Hartford.”

  “Ooh!” a lot of kids cried.

  Ruth Rose turned to Dink and Josh. “I’ve been asking my parents to take me,” she said.

  “Me too,” Dink said. “They’ve got a baby beluga whale!”

  “Now you’re excused,” Mr. Dillon said. “Have a nice day, and best of luck solving the case of the missing skeleton!”

  The kids stood up, gathered around their teachers, and left the gym. All around him Dink heard kids talking about the missing school skeleton. He heard one little boy whisper, “Maybe it came alive and walked away!”

  “Maybe if we figured out why anyone would want a skeleton,” Dink said, “we could figure out who took it.”

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose thought about this as they followed Mrs. Eagle back to their classroom.

  They passed Mr. Neater, cleaning a window. He smiled and waved.

  “Maybe he took it,” Josh whispered. “That key ring probably has keys to all the rooms in the school.”

  “Josh, why would Mr. Neater want a skeleton?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “She’s right,” Dink said. “You might as well accuse Miss Aria, the music teacher, or Mr. Love, the art teacher.”

  “Well, someone took it,” Josh said.

  Ruth Rose was shaking her head. “But why does it have to be an adult?” she asked. “Maybe the fifth graders stole Mr. Bones. Remember when they took that papier-mâché whale from the first-grade room and hung it from the flagpole?”

  “Yeah, that was so cool,” Josh said.

  Back in their room, Mrs. Eagle told the kids to take out their writing journals. “Since we have only a little time left before lunch, why don’t we spend it writing a story?” she said.

  “What about?” Bobby asked.

  Mrs. Eagle smiled slyly. “About a vanishing school skeleton!” she said.

  CHAPTER 3

  “What did you call your story?” Josh asked Dink at their lockers. It was three o’clock, and everyone was going home.

  Dink grinned as he put on his jacket. “It’s called ‘Josh Stole the School Skeleton and Should Go to Jail Forever,’” Dink said.

  “Ha-ha,” Josh said.

  “Mine’s called ‘The Skeleton’s Curse,’” Ruth Rose said. “Mr. Bones puts a curse on all boys with red hair.”

  “You guys are a riot,” Josh said as the kids walked toward the exit. Miss Shotsky poked her head out of her office and called to Dink, “How’s that finger?”

  “Fine, thanks,” Dink said, wiggling it at her.

  “Well, come on in and let me give you a couple of Band-Aids to take home.”

  “What a baby,” Josh whispered as the three kids piled into Miss Shotsky’s office.

  “He’s just jealous of your Batman Band-Aid,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Yeah, right,” Josh said. “Batman is out. Spider-Man rules the school!”

  The kids followed Miss Shotsky into the back room. While Dink got more Band-Aids, Josh and Ruth Rose examined the corner where Mr. Bones usually hung.

  “Look, there’s a footprint in the dust!” Ruth Rose said.

  Miss Shotsky and Dink walked over to look.

  “It looks like a sneaker,” Dink said. “See the zigzag tread?”

  “It’s the left foot,” Josh pointed out.

  “An adult’s size,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Maybe the thief made this footprint when he lifted Mr. Bones off the hook,” Dink said.

  “Could be—it sure isn’t my footprint,” Miss Shotsky said, holding her left foot up. Her white nurse’s shoe was shorter, and the tread on the bottom was different.

  “Were any teachers in here this morning?” Ruth Rose asked Miss Shotsky.

  “Not that I know of,” the nurse answered. “After I got here, I went to the teachers’ lounge to make coffee. I came back at eight o’clock, but I didn’t even look at Mr. Bones.”

  “So whoever took Mr. Bones had to do it between seven-thirty and eight, right?” asked Josh.

  Miss Shotsky shook her head. “Nope. I was in and out of here all morning, visiting the first- and second-grade rooms. Anyone could have taken Mr. Bones any time before ten o’clock, when Dink came in with his paper cut.”

  Just then there was a soft knock on the examining room door. “Excuse me, but could I sweep this room now?” someone said.

  It was Mr. Neater with his broom.

  “Hi, Tom, come on in,” Miss Shotsky said.

  “Could I make a drawing of this footprint before you sweep?” Josh asked Mr. Neater.

  “Sure, I’ll start in the front office,” Mr. Neater said.

  “And we should measure it,” Ruth Rose said.

  Miss Shotsky gave Josh a paper and pencil. She handed Ruth Rose a ruler.

  Josh made a quick sketch of the print.

  “Be sure to get that zigzag pattern,” Dink said, peering over Josh’s shoulder.

  Ruth Rose measured the footprint. “It’s exactly eleven inches long,” she said. Josh wrote ELEVEN INCHES next to the drawing.

  “So all we have to do is find out who wears this kind of shoe,” Josh said, “and we find Mr. Bones and win the tickets to the aquarium.”

  “But a lot of the teachers wear sneakers,” Ruth Rose said. “How do we find the right one?”

  “I know who we can ask,” Dink said. “Mrs. Waters. All the teachers walk past her desk to get their mail. Maybe she notices the shoes they wear.”

  “Let’s hurry before she goes home,” Ruth Rose said.

  Miss Shotsky opened a small door next to her filing cabinet. “Here’s a shortcut to the principal’s office,” she said.

  Sure enough, when the kids walked through the door, there was Mrs. Waters at her desk. She was staring into her open purse.

  “Hi, kids,” she said, closing her purse and putting it in a drawer. “Still here?”

  “We’re trying to find the skeleton,” Ruth Rose said.

  “We found a footprint on the floor where Mr. Bones hangs,” Dink said. “It’s a sneaker.”

  “We think the guy who stole the skeleton made the print,” Jo
sh said. “If we find him, our room wins the tickets!”

  “Just one footprint? Maybe you should be looking for a one-legged thief,” Mrs. Waters said with a twinkle in her eye.

  Josh giggled and placed his drawing on her desk. “Do you know anyone who wears this kind of sneaker?” he asked.

  Just then the small door opened again. Miss Shotsky peeked in, wearing her red scarf.

  “Good night, all,” Miss Shotsky said. “Happy skeleton hunting, kids.”

  “Good night, Claire,” said Mrs. Waters.

  The door closed.

  Mrs. Waters studied Josh’s drawing, then shook her head. “I usually notice what the teachers are wearing,” she said. “But I never see the bottoms of their feet.”

  She traced the zigzag tread with her finger. “Although this pattern does seem familiar. I feel sure I’ve seen it somewhere.”

  She smiled. “Knowing me, I’ll think of it halfway home.”

  Mrs. Waters glanced at the clock and stood up. “Time for me to leave,” she said, heading toward her coat closet. But when she tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge.

  Mrs. Waters walked back to her desk and pulled her purse and a sweater from a drawer. “First I lose my powder,” she said. “Now I think I’m losing my head!”

  Just then Mr. Dillon appeared in the doorway to his office. “Hey, kids. Still here?”

  Dink told Mr. Dillon about the footprint in Miss Shotsky’s examining room. Josh showed him his drawing.

  “We think the thief was wearing sneakers like this,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Well, that leaves me out,” Mr. Dillon said. He raised one foot and showed the kids the smooth sole of his shiny tassel loafer.

  “Me too,” Mrs. Waters said. She pointed a small high-heeled shoe at them. “That footprint is twice as big as my feet!”

  CHAPTER 4

  As the kids walked home, Josh studied his drawing of the left footprint. “How can we find the guy who wears this sneaker?” he asked.