The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book: The G-Rex Bones (4 page)

“That is correct, Christiane,” said Ralph, grabbing the mike from her as he smiled broadly at the camera. “Sandcrab knew there was going to be a lot of publicity from this, not to mention a little money, and he was worried about handling such complicated matters all by himself. So I agreed to be his agent. He and I go way back, you know.”

“So I hear, Mr. Ripoff,” said Amanbear, snatching back the mike. “Our research staff has found that some time ago you sold Sandcrab Jones a termite insurance policy for his shack. They also found that the yearly price of the policy is more than it would cost Mr. Jones to rebuild his shack if it were completely destroyed by termites.”

“Termites?” said Ralph nervously. “I thought we were gonna talk about dinosaurs, not termites.”

“Maybe I should ask Mr. Jones himself about the termite insurance,” said Amanbear. “Where is he?”

“He’s holed up in his shack over yonder,” said Ralph quickly. “Kinda camera-shy, you know …”

Papa hit the mute button and turned to Mama. “This is
really
big news,” he said. “Did you see the size of those bones? Wait’ll Professor Actual Factual hears about this!”

“I’m sure he already has, dear,” said Mama. “But it bothers me that Ralph is involved …”

“Nonsense!” said Papa. “You heard Amanbear. Ralph sold Sandcrab some phony termite insurance. The old coot is probably feeble-minded. Natural for him to contact Ralph. Besides, there’s no chance in the whole wide world that Ralph would try to swindle Actual Factual. The professor knows fossils through and through. And that includes knowing what they’re worth.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Mama. “Still …”

“What do you think, cubs?” said Papa. “Pretty exciting, eh?”

The cubs had been transfixed by the sight of Ralph Ripoff and bears with shovels in Great Grizzly Desert for the second day in a row. They were still staring at the TV screen.

“Who, me?” said Brother. “Sure, Dad, it’s great. I think I’ll go upstairs and do my homework now.” He started up the stairs, then stopped and announced more loudly, “I said: I THINK I’LL GO UPSTAIRS AND DO MY HOMEWORK NOW …”

Sister jumped up. “Oh, yeah, me too,” she said, and hurried after Brother to talk about what they had just seen on TV.

Chapter 6

Gigantosaurus rex!

By the time the Bear Detectives gathered in their usual booth at the Burger Bear the next evening, it was all over town that Professor Actual Factual had agreed to buy the fossils from Sandcrab Jones for the Bearsonian Institution. The price: five million dollars. That morning, Actual Factual had visited the discovery site to examine the bones, which Ralph and Sandcrab had stored in a big tent. Actual Factual had announced that the fossil bones belonged to a new species of meat-eater similar to
Tyrannosaurus rex
. When the whole skeleton was finally put together and displayed in the rotunda of the Hall of Dinosaurs, he predicted, it would stand fully twice as tall as a
T-rex
. Not just the science world but all Bear Country was abuzz about the spectacular new find.

“Well, let’s start the meeting,” said Cousin Fred when the cubs’ milk shakes had been served.

“Let’s wait for Ferdy,” said Brother. “I invited him to join us because of his knowledge of fossils and dinosaurs.” Ferdy Factual, cub genius, was Actual Factual’s nephew.

“You did?” said Fred. He looked hurt. “But I know a lot about fossils and dinosaurs …”

“No offense, Fred,” said Brother. “But your knowledge is all from books. Ferdy has worked with his uncle in the Bearsonian fossil lab. Real hands-on experience.”

“Well, okay,” said Fred. “Just so long as he keeps his hands
off
my Bear Detective spot.”

Brother assured Fred that no one wanted to replace him as a permanent Bear Detective. Ferdy would only be sworn in as a temporary Bear Detective.

Moments later, Ferdy arrived. He was late because he’d come directly from the Bearsonian, where he’d had trouble getting through the crush of media bears camped outside the entrance. Brother swore him in and told him about what the cubs had seen in the desert during the school field trip.

Ferdy stroked his chin as he listened. Then he said, “That is a very suspicious story, indeed. Ralph Ripoff and four other bears with shovels. On the day
before
Sandcrab Jones is supposed to have found the fossils. But we don’t know for sure if Sandcrab was one of those bears with Ralph, or even if it was the same spot where the fossils were found.”

“That’s right,” said Lizzy. “Maybe Ralph was out there looking for fossils in some other spot.”

“That’s not quite what I had in mind,” said Ferdy. “It is highly unlikely that a small-time crook and swindler would become an amateur fossil hunter overnight. I was merely suggesting that before we develop any theories about what Ralph is up to, we should make sure that he was actually seen at the site of the discovery.”

The cubs agreed with Ferdy and made plans to check it out. Brother thought he could find the mesa from which they’d spied Ralph. And Fred had a big map of Great Grizzly Desert to help them. Sister thought Papa would agree to drive them out there if they told him the truth about their investigation. After all, if there was something fishy about the new fossils, it wasn’t just a Bear Detective problem. It was a Bear
Country
problem.

Ferdy insisted they go the very next day, which was Saturday. There was no telling, he said, where the investigation would lead or how long it would take. Actual Factual and Ralph had already made plans to sign the bill of sale in the rotunda at the Bearsonian the following Saturday, right beside the newly put together dinosaur skeleton. So the Bear Detectives had to act fast.

“The only thing that might cause a delay in the signing,” said Ferdy, “is some problem with the tests in the Bearsonian chemistry lab.”

“What tests?” asked Brother.

“Uncle Actual brought a fossil toe bone back from the desert to run chemical tests on,” said Ferdy. “To make sure it’s a real fossil.”

“You mean somebody might have made fake dinosaur fossils?” said Lizzy.

“And buried them in the desert?” said Sister.

“Well, it’s highly unlikely,” said Ferdy. “Not even Ralph’s involvement leads me to think so. No doubt, if Ralph is involved, it’s only to swindle Sandcrab Jones out of a lot of money. So the chemical tests on the
G-rex
bone are really just a precaution.”

“Did you say
G-rex
bone?” asked Brother.

Ferdy blushed and put his hand to his mouth. “It just slipped out,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a secret, so please don’t tell anyone. Uncle Actual has already decided on a name for the new species.”

“But I thought it was a new species of
Tyrannosaurus
,” said Fred, eager to demonstrate his knowledge. He turned to the others. “You see,” he explained, “
Tyrannosaurus
means ‘tyrant lizard’ in Latin, and
rex
means ‘king.’ King of the Tyrant Lizards.
Rex
is the species, and
Tyrannosaurus
is the genus, which is a group of related species.”

“Related like brother and sister?” asked Sister.

“Related in evolution time, not family time,” said Fred.