Mystery at the Washington Monument Read online

  This is dedicated to Lloyd Emerick and his grandsons, Erik and Seth Gebel.

  —R.R.

  Contents

  1. Strange Lights

  2. Weird Noises

  3. Monkey in the Monument

  4. Too Many Mysteries

  5. Monkey See, Monkey Do

  6. Uncovering a Secret

  7. More Monkey Business

  8. Surprise Party

  9. Washington Makes New Friends

  1

  Strange Lights

  KC snuggled deeper inside her sleeping bag. She was camping out on the White House lawn with her best friend, Marshall Li. KC could smell the grass and the rosebushes. The traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue made a humming sound from the other side of the tall hedges. Fireflies danced in the bushes.

  “Why does the Washington Monument have those flashing red and white lights?” Marshall asked. He was sitting up in his sleeping bag a few feet away.

  “It only has red lights,” KC said. “I think that’s so airplanes won’t hit it.” She rolled over to look at the tall Monument. It was white against the night sky. At the top, red lights blinked on and off.

  “KC, they’re red and white,” Marshall said, pointing. “Look.”

  “They’re red, Marsh—” KC stopped speaking. Marshall was right. The red lights were flashing, but KC could also see white light in the windows at the top of the Monument. The white light seemed to move around. Sometimes it was bright. Sometimes it was just a glow.

  “It looks like someone with a flashlight,” Marshall said.

  KC shook her head. “The Monument is closed at night,” she said, climbing out of her sleeping bag. She walked toward the hedges.

  “Well, someone is up there,” Marshall insisted.

  KC watched the white light. It seemed to move from window to window. “Let’s go find out what it is!” KC said. She grabbed her flashlight.

  “Now?” Marshall asked. He was standing up, pulling on his sneakers.

  KC wanted to be a TV reporter when she grew up. She was curious about everything. She was especially curious about things that were strange, like those dancing white lights. But she knew her mom would kill her if she went walking around the city at night. With a sigh, she turned off the flashlight.

  “We can go on one of the tours tomorrow and look around inside the Monument,” KC said.

  “Look around for what?” Marshall asked.

  “A ghoooosssst,” KC whispered as she crawled back into her sleeping bag.

  After breakfast the next morning, KC and Marshall walked to the Washington Monument. A sign on a booth said that tickets for the tours were free. KC asked for two tickets for the nine o’clock tour. A park ranger in a gray uniform handed her the tickets and a pamphlet. His name tag said BUTCH.

  Marshall stared up at the Monument. “Wow, how tall do you think it is?” he asked.

  KC checked the pamphlet. It had a list of facts about the Washington Monument. “Five hundred and fifty-five feet,” she answered, “and five inches.”

  “How do they know that?” Marshall asked. “I mean, how could they measure it? They’d need a really big ruler!”

  KC shrugged. “No idea. Let’s ask when we get inside,” she said.

  At nine, another park ranger opened the door at the base of the Monument. “Hi, my name is Opal,” she said. “I’m your tour guide today.” She took tickets and led the small group to the elevator.

  “I thought we had to climb the stairs,” Marshall said to the park ranger as they waited for the elevator.

  Opal smiled. “Not anymore,” she said. “There are almost nine hundred steps. Until around 1970, you had a choice. You could either climb the stairs or take the elevator. But a few people were breaking off pieces of the memorial stones to take as souvenirs. Now you can only go up in the elevator.”

  “What are the memorial stones?” a man asked.

  “When the Monument was being built, many countries sent us huge stones to put inside,” the ranger explained. “Our own states also sent stones. In all, there are one hundred ninety-two memorial stones. You’ll get to see them when we come down in the elevator.”

  The elevator door opened and everyone stepped inside.

  “The ride up is fast,” Opal said. “But on the way down, it will be slower so you can see the stones.”

  The door closed and KC felt a jolt as the elevator rose quickly. A minute later, the door opened again. “This is the observation deck,” Opal said. “You just climbed five hundred feet in seventy seconds! Enjoy the view. The next trip down is in ten minutes.”

  The tourists walked to the windows that looked out on Washington, D.C. The windows were on each side—north, south, east, and west. Each window offered a spectacular view of the buildings, streets, and parks. Tiny cars and buses darted about like bugs. People walking on the ground looked like ants.

  KC stood next to the north window. “Look, Marsh!” She pointed at the lawn in front of the White House. “That’s where we were last night. Those weird lights must have shone through this window!”

  “Cool!” Marshall said. “If anyone was up here last night, I wonder if they saw us on the lawn.”

  KC looked at Marshall. “I never thought about that,” she said. She glanced around the observation deck.

  Had someone been creeping around in here with a flashlight last night? Did they also have a telescope or binoculars? Were they watching the White House?

  “Marsh!” KC hissed. “Maybe someone climbed up here to spy on the president!”

  2

  Weird Noises

  “Don’t be silly. How could anyone spy on the president from up here?” Marshall asked. “KC, you’re always jumping to conclusions. There could be lots of explanations for the lights we saw last night.”

  “Oh yeah?” KC said. “Like what?”

  “Maybe something in the Monument was broken, and they were fixing it,” Marshall offered.

  “Late at night?” KC said. “Why not wait till daytime?”

  Marshall went on. “Maybe it was a party,” he said. “Or a private tour for some important person.”

  They walked from window to window. KC half listened to him. She kept her eyes open for anything unusual. Over her head, the ceiling rose to a point. It was dark at the top. The walls were smooth marble. And she saw no lights at all, not flickering ones, not regular ones.

  “Do you know how they measured the Monument to find out how tall it is?” Marshall asked Opal.

  “Hmmm, I’m not sure,” Opal said. “Ask Jennifer. She might know.” She pointed across the observation deck.

  A female park ranger was selling maps and books about the Monument at a small counter near the elevator door. An open bag of peanuts sat on the counter. Next to the bag was a small pile of empty shells.

  Marshall repeated his question.

  The woman named Jennifer swallowed the peanut she’d been chewing. “Gee, I don’t know,” she said. “That’s a good question. No one ever asked me that before.”

  Suddenly the elevator door opened. “Going down!” a different ranger said. It was Butch, who’d given them tickets earlier.

  KC and Marshall joined a few other people who had decided to leave the observation deck.

  “Be sure to notice the memorial stones,” Butch said.

  The elevator began to descend slowly. Through the glass walls, KC could see the stones. Most had words or images carved into them. KC tried to make out some of the words, but she got dizzy trying to read while the elevator was moving.

  “These stones came from all the states and many foreign countries,” Butch said. “Even the Pope sent one from Rome.”

  “Are the stone
s valuable?” a woman in the elevator asked.

  “Some are,” Butch said. “The one from Alaska is solid jade!”

  When the elevator reached the bottom, everyone got out. KC hung back. “Excuse me,” she said to Butch. “My friend and I were camping on my lawn last night, and we saw a white light coming from the top windows. Do you know what that was?”

  Butch looked down at KC and Marshall. “Do you remember what time it was?” he asked.

  “Around ten o’clock,” KC said. “It wasn’t a strong light, just sort of glowy.”

  “Like someone with a flashlight,” Marshall added.

  Butch frowned. He seemed to think something over. “Tell you what, meet me at one of the picnic tables in ten minutes,” he said. “I’ll be taking my break, and we can talk some more.”

  Butch walked into an office that said EMPLOYEES ONLY on the door. KC raised her eyebrows at Marshall. “That sounded strange,” she said. “He must know something about those white lights!” They went outside, found an empty picnic table, and sat to wait for the ranger.

  The Monuments shadow fell on the lawn in front of them. “Maybe they measured the shadow to tell how tall the Monument is,” Marshall suggested.

  “But, Marsh, the shadow would be shorter or longer when the sun was higher or lower in the sky,” KC said. She grinned. “You know, when the earth moves.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” Marsh said.

  Just then Butch joined them. He sat and opened a brown paper bag. “Pardon me if I eat in front of you,” he said. “I only get fifteen minutes and I forgot to eat breakfast.”

  “We don’t mind,” KC said.

  Butch pulled a cheese sandwich and a bottle of juice from the bag. He took a big bite of the sandwich. “So you saw lights in the windows last night?” he asked as he chewed.

  KC nodded. “We were having a sleep-out on the White House lawn,” she told him.

  Butch stopped eating. The look on his face changed. “You slept on the White House lawn?” he asked.

  Marshall laughed. “She’s telling the truth,” he said. “The president is her stepfather.”

  “Oh yeah, I read the presidents new wife had a daughter,” Butch said, tipping his sandwich toward KC. “And you’re her!”

  “I’m her,” KC said. “My name is Katherine Christine Corcoran, but everyone calls me KC.”

  “And I’m Marshall Li,” Marshall said.

  Butch nodded. “I’m Lloyd Emerick, but you can call me Butch.” He set his sandwich on the bag and wiped his mouth on a paper napkin. “I think someone was inside the Monument last night. This morning, I found some small pieces of plaster on the floor,” he said.

  “Maybe someone was trying to steal a memorial stone!” KC said.

  Butch shook his head. “That would be impossible,” he said. “The stones are really big and heavy. They’re also concreted into the walls.”

  Butch sipped some juice. “There’s something else weird,” he said after a minute. “I heard an awful screeching sound this morning. It was like a big bird.” Butch laughed. “I was pretty spooked,” he said. “I don’t believe in ghosts, but you never know.”

  KC remembered the glowing lights. She didn’t believe in ghosts either, and she’d never heard of a bird that glowed in the dark!

  “Could we see that stuff you found?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I guess it would be okay,” Butch said. “Come on.”

  The ranger bagged his snack and led the kids to a small room inside the Monument. He unlocked the door. There was a workbench in the middle of the room, and shelves lined all the walls. The shelves held cans of paint, cleaning supplies, and tools.

  On the bench was a small pile of broken plaster. KC picked up one of the pieces. It was white on one side and gray on the other. “Where did you find it?” she asked.

  Butch pointed toward the ceiling. “Up there, a few hundred steps,” he said. “Feel like doing some climbing?”

  “Sure!” Marshall said.

  KC put the plaster piece in her pocket. Butch unlocked the gate to the stairs. The Monuments inside walls were on their left as they climbed. A metal railing was opposite the walls.

  Marshall stopped and stared up into the darkness. “How many stairs are there altogether?” he asked.

  “Eight hundred and ninety-seven,” Butch said. “In the old days, before the elevator was put in, a lot of tourists tried to walk up. Some of them gave up and turned around.”

  The kids climbed the first of many flights. They were able to look at some of the memorial stones up close. KC paused in front of a four-foot-long stone with the word Maine carved into its surface. Smaller carvings of animals and trees surrounded the state’s name.

  “That one is granite,” Butch said. “See what I mean about how big these are? Of course, some are smaller. But they’re all at least a foot thick. Trust me, without dynamite, no one is getting one of these babies out of here!”

  They moved on. After climbing for five more minutes, they stopped. “I found the pieces right here,” Butch said. He pointed to the floor.

  Over the spot was a stone that said STATE OF WASHINGTON. Each letter was as big as KC’s hand.

  “What’s this?” Marshall said, bending down. He picked up a peanut shell.

  “I didn’t see that before,” Butch said.

  Marshall checked for a trash can but didn’t see one. He dropped the peanut shell into his pocket.

  KC looked up at the stone from Washington State. “It’s huge!” she said.

  “Yep, this one is about four feet wide and two feet high,” Butch said.

  KC stood on her tiptoes to get a better view. “I think something is wrong with one of the letters,” she said. “See the o in Washington? It’s black, and the rest of the letters are gray.”

  Butch peered up at the letter. “I’ll be darned,” he said. “It looks like there’s a hole where the o should be!”

  “Maybe that’s what the plaster came from,” KC said.

  “I’ll have to get my boss,” Butch said.

  He left the kids and hoofed it down the way they’d just come.

  KC was staring up at the Washington State memorial stone when Butch came back. He was out of breath and carrying a small ladder. Behind him was another park ranger. He had short gray hair and a pointy nose.

  Butch leaned the ladder against the wall. “Kids, this is my boss, Dr. Grift,” Butch said. “Boss, this is KC and Marshall. KC is the presidents stepdaughter!”

  “How do you do?” Dr. Grift said. “Now what’s this about the Washington stone?”

  KC pointed up at the letter o.

  Dr. Grift looked up. “How odd,” he said. “Butch, please climb up there and examine the stone.”

  Butch climbed to the top rung of the ladder. “Boss, there’s a round hole cut right into the stone!” he said.

  3

  Monkey in the Monument

  “A hole?” Dr. Grift said. “What kind of hole? Is there anything in it?”

  Butch poked a finger into the hole. “Nothing but a few pieces of plaster,” he said. He climbed down the ladder and showed them what he had found.

  “That’s the same kind of plaster you found on the floor, right?” Marshall said.

  KC dug the other plaster bit from her pocket. “They are the same,” she said.

  “This is very distressing,” Dr. Grift said. “Damaged memorial stones in the Washington Monument!”

  Just as Dr. Grift spoke, something fell on Marshall’s head. He reached up and pulled a peanut shell from his hair.

  “Where did that come from?” KC asked him.

  “Another peanut shell!” Butch said.

  “Now what?” Dr. Grift sighed.

  They all looked up.

  “Oh my gosh!” KC cried. Twenty feet above their heads, a small brown monkey sat perched on the railing. It had a long tail, tiny hands, and a round, curious face. The monkey stared down at them, blinking its shiny black eyes.

  “Is that w
hat I think it is?” Butch asked.

  “It’s a monkey!” yelled Marshall.

  “I don’t believe this,” moaned Dr. Grift. “What’s a monkey doing in the Washington Monument?”

  “Beats me, Boss,” Butch said.

  They were all quiet for a moment.

  “Should we try to catch him?” KC asked.

  “I wish I had a banana,” Marshall said.

  The monkey began making chirping noises. Suddenly it leaped twenty feet down and landed on Butch’s chest. Butch looked totally surprised. He petted the monkey gently while it snuggled into his shirt.

  “We can’t have a monkey living in the Monument!” Dr. Grift said. His face had turned red.

  “I know, Boss,” Butch said. “I wonder how it got in here!”

  “Perhaps some tourist snuck it in,” Dr. Grift said. “But that doesn’t matter. It has to leave now! Those things have fleas!”

  “Most monkeys are very clean,” said Marshall. He petted the monkeys tail.

  “Still, the animal has to go,” Dr. Grift insisted.

  “I can bring it with me to the White House,” KC said. “The president really likes animals.”

  Butch and Dr. Grift looked at KC.

  “We already have a dog and three cats,” KC told them.

  Dr. Grift rubbed his hands over his face. “Thank you, Miss Thornton,” he said. “If you can take the monkey to the White House, that would be a help.”

  “My last name is actually Corcoran,” KC said. She took the monkey from Butch and nestled it in her arms. The monkey didn’t seem afraid. “And I’ll tell the president about the hole in the stone.”

  “Um, yes, of course he’ll have to know,” Dr. Grift mumbled.

  Butch carried the ladder down the stairs, with Dr. Grift at his heels. KC and Marshall followed them.

  “Want to carry him?” KC asked.

  “Sure!” Marshall said, reaching his arms out. “Come to Uncle Marshall.” The monkey climbed onto him. It stuck a tiny paw into Marshall’s pocket and pulled out the peanut shell.

  He chewed on the empty shell for a few seconds, then spit it out.

  When the kids reached the bottom of the stairs, Butch and Dr. Grift were nowhere in sight. The ranger named Opal was leading a group of tourists toward the elevator.