The Green School Mystery (3 page)

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Authors: David A. Adler

BOOK: The Green School Mystery

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Chapter Three

“What happened?” Dr. Prell whispered.

Mr. Day shook his head. He didn’t know.

“I put all the rolls of dimes in the box,” Mr. Day said. “I put on the lid. Then I came out here to tell the children where to stand.”

Dr. Prell looked in the box again. There were still just several bricks in it.

“What do I do now?” Mr. Day asked.

“Please,” Dr. Prell whispered, “tell the children how much money they raised.”

“But there’s nothing in there,” Mr. Day whispered. “All the money is gone.”

“Don’t tell them that! The children were great. They collected lots of bottles and cans. They should know how well they did.”

Mr. Day stepped up to the microphone.

“You brought in thousands of bottles and cans. Every day after school, I took them to the recycling center where I got thousands of dimes, which I put into rolls.”

Dr. Prell leaned close to Mr. Day and whispered, “They want to know how much money was raised.”

“In all, there were one hundred and eighty rolls of dimes.”

The children waited.

“That’s nine hundred dollars.”

The children and teachers cheered.

Cam whispered to Eric, “That’s how much was stolen.”

“But you’ll find all those dimes,” Eric whispered. “They were here this morning. What happened to them is a mystery, and you’ll solve it.”

“I’m not so sure,” Cam said, and shook her head.

Dr. Prell thanked Mr. Day. Then she thanked all the children.

“Congratulations. You did a great job. Keep bringing in bottles and cans. There’s lots more we can do to help our environment. Now please wait for Mr. Day to call your class. Then return to your rooms.”

The four children who had won gold-and-green buttons were told not to talk about the missing dimes. Two of the winners, Ashanti Stevens and Michael Teller, returned to their teachers. Cam and Eric didn’t. They stepped back and stood by the flagpole. They watched as Mr. Day called one class after another.

When the classes had all entered the building, Mr. Day turned to Dr. Prell. “I think I can solve this mystery,” he said. “After all, those dimes were really heavy. No one could have carried them out of the school. They must be hidden somewhere.”

Eric said, “We’re good at finding things.”

Dr. Prell turned and noticed Cam and Eric.

“Why aren’t you with your class?” she asked.

Eric pointed to Cam and said, “Cam has solved lots of mysteries. I’ll bet she can find the missing dimes.”

“We just want to help,” Cam said.

“They’re good kids,” Mr. Day said. “And Cam has a great memory. She saw me this morning when I was emptying the display case. Maybe she remembers something.”

“Well,” Dr. Prell said, “do you remember anything?”

Cam closed her eyes. She said,
“Click!

“This morning,” Cam said, with her eyes still closed, “we saw Mr. Day put rolls of dimes into the wooden box.”

“Lots of rolls,” Eric said.

“They were very heavy,” Cam said.

“That’s right,” Mr. Day said. “No one could have just carried all of them out of the building. I think they’re still here, but there are lots of places to look. Cam and Eric can help us.”

Dr. Prell said, “I don’t like children to miss their lessons.”

“Please,” Mr. Day said.

Dr. Prell looked at Cam and Eric. “Okay,” she told Mr. Day. “They can help you look. But only until lunchtime. If you don’t find the dimes by then, they have to go back to class.”

“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.