The Case of the Mossy Lake Monster (9 page)

4
. Let the sunscreen dry.

5
. To read your secret message, hold the paper near a fluorescent black light in a dark room.

How does this work?

Black light emits ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light cannot be seen by the human eye. White paper contains brighteners. (So does white clothing.) When exposed to a black light, the brighteners change the ultraviolet light into visible light, and the paper glows. However, sunscreen blocks UV light, so the sunscreen letters appear dark against the white background.

T
ired of someone marking up your campaign posters? Tired of seeing yourself with missing teeth, a beard, black eyes, and maybe a horn or two? Tired of long hours of surveillance with no results? Not to worry. Using the products listed below, you can try some high-tech detective work of your own, just like Drake and Nell did.

A) The ultraviolet thief-detection powder that Drake and Nell used to nab Haley in Chapter Eight is available through the following company:

B) IIf you want to try something a little different, there is a fluorescent lotion made especially for kids. It’s called GlitterBug Potion and is produced by:

I
magine it. You’re minding your own business, when your mouth suddenly explodes! Tiny lightning bolts flash between your teeth! Thunder rolls! A meteorite crashes! (Well, okay. Maybe it’s not that explosive, but it’s certainly worth a try.)

MATERIALS

• wintergreen mints (Don’t use sugar-free mints, or the experiment won’t work.)

• your chompers

• a very dark room with a mirror

PROCEDURE

1.
Turn out the lights and wait a minute or two to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark.

2.
While watching in the mirror, quickly chomp on a mint with your mouth open.

How does this work?

If you blow up a balloon, you are storing energy in it. If you let go of the balloon, it whizzes around the room, releasing its stored energy. In the same way, when sugar crystals are compressed into a mint, energy is stored. As you break apart the crystals, instead of whizzing around the room, this energy is released as ultraviolet light. Wintergreen transforms the ultraviolet light into visible light in a process called fluorescence.

“DO YOU SUPPOSE FRI SCO, BALONEY, AND SHADY JIM ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER ?”
asked Drake, quite horrified by the thought.

June gasped. “But that would be cheating!”

“Cheating indeed, Ms. Jewell,” agreed Nell. “But it’s all we’ve got to go on right now.”

“Great Scott!” cried Drake…. “Don’t look now. To your left. By the corn dogs. Under the licorice ropes. James Frisco! The very man!”

… Drake and Nell sprang into action. They whipped out their magnifying glasses. They whipped out their periscopes. Their binoculars. Their insect repellant (it was a rather buggy day)…. They began surveillance (to watch, spy, stakeout, observe, shadow), determined to expose Frisco, the bad mad scientist, at his game.