The Panda Puzzle (6 page)
Authors: Ron Roy
CHAPTER 11“If it hadn’t been for you kids, Flip would have gotten away with it,” Officer Fallon said later that evening.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were sitting on the lawn at Panda Park. Inside the fence, Ping and Winnie were playing tug-of-war with a stalk of bamboo. Winnie’s fur was once again black-and-white.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were clean, too. A few hours ago, they had surprised their families by showing up completely covered with coal dust.
“He’d have picked up the money at midnight, then let you kids out of the coal cellar,” Officer Fallon continued.
“So no one could have proved that he took Winnie or locked us in, right?” Dink asked.
Officer Fallon nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “No one saw him take Winnie or lock that trapdoor. He’d have hidden the money somewhere. In a year or so, he might have begun spending it.”
“Were you really going to leave a million bucks in that hollow tree?” asked Josh.
Officer Fallon nodded. “Flip knew we had no choice,” he said.
Just then, Ping yawned, rolled over on her back, and went to sleep. Winnie cuddled next to her and chewed the bamboo stalk.
“Too bad Win Frances isn’t here to see this,” Dink said.
“Did she leave Flip any money?” Ruth Rose asked.
“Some,” Officer Fallon said. “But I guess Flip thought he was entitled to all of it.”
“Did he confess?” Josh asked.
Officer Fallon nodded. “You should have seen his face when I walked into that gym with Ruth Rose.”
“He thought I was still in the coal cellar,” Ruth Rose said. “I must have looked like a ghost!”
“What will happen to him?” Dink asked.
“He’ll probably go to jail for attempting to extort money,” Officer Fallon said. “Plus, he stole Winnie and trapped you kids in the coal cellar.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“Sometimes a judge will give a young person a second chance,” Officer Fallon went on, “especially if it’s his
first crime. Flip seems very sorry for what he did. The judge might ask him to do community service in place of some of his jail time.”
“What’s community service?” Dink asked.
“That means that Flip would do work for Green Lawn as part of his sentence.”
“What kind of work?” Josh asked.
Officer Fallon smiled. “Got any good ideas?”
“I do,” Dink said. “He could give free gymnastics lessons to kids.”
“And he could help out in the senior center,” Josh said. “He could do exercises with the old people.”
“I’m sure Flip would be willing. He’d be good at it, too,” Officer Fallon said.
“And his grandmother would be proud of him, right?” Ruth Rose asked.
“I knew Win Frances for many years,” Officer Fallon said. “She’d be sad about what Flip tried to do. But she was a woman who always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Win would give her grandson a second chance, too.”
“So is this what they mean by a
Win-Win situation?” Josh asked.
“Exactly,” Officer Fallon said. “Now how about I treat us to ice cream cones at Ellie’s?”
“That’s a Josh-Josh situation,” Dink said, smiling at his friends.
Dear Readers
,
So many of you sent in excellent stories for our Alphabet Zweepstakes contest. It was a difficult choice, but I selected Nicholas Oliverio as the winner. His picture is on this page. He sent in a terrific mystery story about a falcon. His winning entry is posted on the Random House Web site at
www.randomhouse.com/kids/books/series/az
. I loved the story and I am looking forward to meeting Nicholas and his family when we have lunch in New York City.
This book was about one of my favorite animals, the panda. In doing my research, I discovered that pandas are becoming more and more rare as
more and more of their habitat is used for other purposes. I am a member of the World Wildlife Fund, which helps save pandas and other animals from extinction. I have supplied the address below in case you’d like to join, too.
I’m thrilled that so many of you are visiting my Web site and sending me e-mail! I try to answer each one as soon as possible.
That’s all for now—I have to get back to work on the next A to Z Mystery.
Happy reading!
Sincerely,
World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037
Collect clues with Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose
in their next exciting adventure,
THE QUICKSAND QUESTION
“Wait for me!” Ruth Rose said, kicking off her sandals.
They pushed their feet through the warm, shallow water. Dink could feel the fine sand between his toes. The water was so clear he could see the tiny pebbles on the bottom.
Suddenly Josh stopped. He turned around with panic on his face. “I’m stuck!” he cried.
As Dink watched, Josh started to sink. The water was up to his knees!
“I can’t pull my feet out!” Josh yelled. “I think it’s quicksand!”
A STEPPING STONE BOOK™
Great stories by great authors …
for fantastic first reading experiences!
Grades 1-3
FICTION
Duz Shedd
series
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Junie B. Jones
series by Barbara Park
Magic Tree House
®
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by Mary Pope Osborne
Marvin Redpost
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The Chalk Box Kid
by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Paint Brush Kid
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White Bird
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NONFICTION
Magic Tree House
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Research Guides
by Will Osborne and
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Aliens for …
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Julian
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