The Dinosaur Mystery (9 page)

The room was quiet. No one knew what to say. Then everyone heard some clinking. They turned to see Violet chiseling a plaster-covered chunk. Several large pieces fell cleanly away from a knobby-looking bone.

“Could this be the last missing piece, Dr. Pettibone?” Violet asked, pointing to the fossil.

Dr. Pettibone stood up. “Oh, my dear girl! You found the right bone. I got so confused last night, I couldn't remember which block of plaster I'd hidden it in.”

For the first time, Dr. Pettibone looked directly at Benny and Soo Lee. “These little detectives spotted me trying to get back into the museum through the manhole that connects underground. That's why I didn't want them near me. And then Henry and Jessie and Violet saw those receipts from my stay here in town when I was supposed to be in Montana. I kept those out of habit.” He shook his head.

“Were you the shadow man the first night we came?” Jessie asked.

Now Dr. Pettibone looked confused.

“I was the shadow man,” Pete confessed. “I guess I should quit the museum, too. I figured out how to fix the lock in the dinosaur hall so I could visit
T. rex
anytime I wanted at night. I just like being around something like that.”

Mr. Diggs looked at his watch. “Whew! What a time to discover all this! We've only got about fifteen minutes before we let in everyone. Pete, you seem to know plenty about the fossils. You go help Dr. Pettibone wire those last bones to the skeleton.”

“We'll have to see about getting you a job as one of our guides — that is, when you're not helping Titus and Eve,” Mrs. Diggs said to Pete. “You may not be cut out to be a night watchman, but you certainly know your way around stars
and
fossils.”

Dr. Pettibone looked relieved, “Does that mean I can stay on, Emma?”

Mrs. Diggs nodded. “Of course. And Eve, too. We've all been overworked lately and not ourselves. Now that Pete will be around to give you both a hand, maybe the Pickering Museum can get back to normal.”

Mr. Alden laughed. “When things get normal, that means it's time for the Aldens to go home!”

Dr. Pettibone bent down to show Violet, Benny, and Soo Lee the missing hinge bone. “And thank you for helping me so much. I couldn't live without my bones.”

“Neither could anybody!” Benny said.

Nosey barked, as if he understood what Benny had said.

“See?” said Benny.

Everyone laughed.

Then Dr. Pettibone cleared his throat. “Time to open the exhibit and introduce
T. rex
's
bones to everyone — thanks to you Aldens!”

About the Author

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read, She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded,

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner's books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens' independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE'S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE

T
HE
G
UIDE
D
OG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
URRICANE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ET
S
HOP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
ECRET
M
ESSAGE

T
HE
F
IREHOUSE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
S
AN
F
RANCISCO

T
HE
N
IAGARA
F
ALLS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
A
LAMO

T
HE
O
UTER
S
PACE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
S
OCCER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
O
LD
A
TTIC

T
HE
G
ROWLING
B
EAR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
AKE
M
ONSTER

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
P
EACOCK
H
ALL

T
HE
W
INDY
C
ITY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
B
LACK
P
EARL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
C
EREAL
B
OX
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ANTHER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
Q
UEEN'S
J
EWELS

T
HE
S
TOLEN
S
WORD
M
YSTERY

T
HE
B
ASKETBALL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
OVIE
S
TAR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
IRATE'S
M
AP

T
HE
G
HOST
T
OWN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
B
LACK
R
AVEN

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
M
ALL

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
N
EW
Y
ORK

T
HE
G
YMNASTICS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
OISON
F
ROG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
E
MPTY
S
AFE

T
HE
H
OME
R
UN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
G
REAT
B
ICYCLE
R
ACE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
W
ILD
P
ONIES

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
OMPUTER
G
AME