Authors: David A. Adler

The Green School Mystery (4 page)

BOOK: The Green School Mystery

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“Wait!” Eric told him. “Don’t you have a key to your own lock?”

“Yes, I do.”

He opened the lock. Dr. Prell looked in the locker. “There are lots of papers in here,” she said. “It’s a mess.”

“But there are no dimes,” Mr. Day told her. “We still don’t know where the money is. I was wrong. The thief did not hide the money here. I’ll take these clippers back to Mrs. Adams.”

Dr. Prell took a cell phone from her pocket and said, “I’ll call the police.” She pressed a few buttons on her cell phone and held it close to her ear. “Hello. I’m reporting a robbery.” Dr. Prell told the police officer about the stolen dimes.

Mr. Day returned to the locker room.

“The police will be here soon,” Dr. Prell told him.

“Jennifer and Eric,” she said, “please go to your class. And don’t talk about the missing dimes. Everyone worked so hard to raise all that money. They don’t have to know it was stolen. If we don’t find it, I’ll find another way to pay for the skylights.”

“Don’t worry,” Eric told her. “I’m sure Cam can
click
and find a clue and solve the mystery.”

Cam closed her eyes. She said,
“Click!”

“Please,” Dr. Prell said, “you don’t need to
click
. Now it’s up to the police.”

“I’m looking at the wooden box and all the dimes,” Cam said with her eyes closed. “There were lots of dimes.”

“I don’t need a photographic memory to know that,” Mr. Day said.

Cam said,
“Click!”
again. Then she said, “The thief left the wood box.”

“I know that, too,” Mr. Day said.

“Please,” Dr. Prell told Cam and Eric, “go to your class.”

“Let’s go,” Eric told Cam.

Cam’s eyes were still closed.

Eric took Cam’s hand and walked with her out of the gym.

As they walked, Cam said,
“Click!”
She said it again and again.

“Do you see anything?” Eric asked. “Did you find a clue?”

“No,” Cam said, and shook her head. “I still don’t know how someone took all those dimes out of here. If I solve that mystery, I’ll find the thief.”

Cam’s eyes were still closed. Eric led her into their classroom.

“Where were you?” Ms. Benson asked.

Eric whispered to her. He told her about the missing money.

“That’s terrible,” she said.

“We didn’t find the dimes,” Eric whispered, “so Dr. Prell called the police.”

“I hope they find the money,” Ms. Benson whispered back. “Now Jennifer, please open your eyes.”

Cam opened her eyes.

The classroom lights were off. The shades were up. Sun was shining through the windows.

Cam and Eric went to their seats.

Ms. Benson went on with the lesson.

“Why should we plant trees?”

A few of Cam’s classmates raised their hands.

“Look!” Beth called out before anyone could answer Ms. Benson’s question. “The police are here.”

Beth pointed outside. A police car had stopped by the front of the school.

Danny held out his hands and said, “Oh, please don’t arrest me! I’m innocent.”

Chapter Six

“I arrest Danny in the name of the law,” Beth said. “I arrest you for telling bad jokes.”

“Me?!” Danny said. He pretended to be surprised. “I tell great jokes. Like what did the big sunflower say to the little sunflower?”

“Flowers don’t talk,” Beth said. “And if they did, and they weren’t talking to me, I wouldn’t listen. That’s just being nosy!”

“Look,” Amy said, and pointed outside. “Two police officers got out of the car. They’re coming into school.”

Beth said, “I’ll bet Cam knows why they’re here.”

“Let’s get back to our lesson,” Ms. Benson said. “Jennifer, can you tell the class why it’s good to plant trees?”

“Trees are good for recycling,” Cam answered. “They take in carbon dioxide and recycle it as oxygen. We need oxygen to breathe.”

Eric raised his hand.

“The roots are good for the ground,” he said. “Roots hold on to dirt and keep it from washing away in the rain.”

Danny called out, “Eric knows about dirt, but he doesn’t know what the big sunflower said to the little one. It said, ‘Hi there, bud!’”

Beth said, “That’s not even funny.”

“Why should we try to burn less fossil fuel?” Ms. Benson asked.

Beth raised her hand. “Coal and oil are fossil fuels,” she answered. “We only have a certain amount of them. If we use too much, we might use them all up. And when they burn, they put bad gasses in the air.”

Cam slid down in her seat so Ms. Benson wouldn’t see her. Then she closed her eyes and whispered,
“Click!”

“Did you remember something?” Eric whispered. “Did you remember a clue?”

Cam shook her head. She whispered, “Not yet, but I’m sure I’m missing something. I just don’t know what.”

“What about solar and wind power?” Ms. Benson asked.

Hector raised his hand.

“Every day that the sun shines we have more solar energy,” Hector answered. “Every time the wind blows we have wind power. They don’t get used up and they don’t burn.”

“Very good,” Ms. Benson said. “Now, I have a special project for each of us. I want us all not only to go to a green school, I want us to live in green homes. I want each of you to make at least three changes in your homes, three things to help save our environment. By next Friday I want a detailed report on the changes you made.”

“Hey,” Danny said, “I’m hungry.”

“I’ll put a fluorescent bulb in my lamp,” Eric said. “That will save energy.”

“I’m running out of energy,” Danny said. “I need people fuel. I need to eat.”

Cam whispered, “I forgot all about lunch. The school lunch is sloppy Joes. That’s chopped meat and sauce on hero rolls. Lots of hero rolls.”

“So what?”

Cam closed her eyes and said,
“Click!”

“Did you remember something?” Eric asked.

“Click!”
Cam said again.

“Please,” Ms. Benson told the class, “line up for lunch.”

“Let’s go,” Eric said to Cam.

Her eyes were still closed. Cam had brought her lunch from home. Eric took it from Cam’s cubby. With his other hand he led Cam to the back of the line.

“Follow me,” Ms. Benson told the class.

The children walked quietly in a double line out of the room. Cam and Eric were at the very back of the line. Cam opened her eyes just as they were walking past the main office.

Cam told Eric, “I remembered something that might solve the mystery.”

“What mystery?” Beth asked. “Is something wrong? Was something broken or stolen? Is that why the police are here?”

Eric said, “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”

“About what?” Danny asked.

“If I told you that,” Eric said, “I would be talking about it.”

Ms. Benson stopped the class. They were by the entrance to the cafeteria.

“Let’s go,” Cam said. “I have to talk with Mrs. Apple, the cafeteria lady. I have to ask her something.”

“What?” Eric asked. “What do you have to ask Mrs. Apple?”

“Tell me, too,” Danny said.

Cam said, “I have to ask her if she can make me a sandwich. If she can’t make a sandwich, I might have solved the mystery.”

“Tell me!” Danny shouted. “What mystery?”

Cam didn’t answer. She left the line and hurried past the other children in her class and Ms. Benson. She was about to go into the cafeteria when Ms. Benson called to her.

Chapter Seven

“Jennifer, come back here,” Ms. Benson said. “We’ll all go in together.”

Cam stopped. She turned and told Ms. Benson, “But I’m not going in for lunch. I have to ask Mrs. Apple a question. It’s about—” Cam paused, then said quietly, “You know what it’s about.”

“Oh, yes. Go ahead.”

“I want to go, too,” Eric said.

“Go ahead,” Ms. Benson told Eric.

“Hey, what about me?” Danny asked. “I’m the one who is really hungry.”

“Get back on line,” Ms. Benson told Danny. “You’ll go in with everyone else.”

“Sure,” Danny complained, “by the time I get to eat, my sloppy Joe won’t even be sloppy anymore. Joe’s shirt will be tucked in and his hair will be combed. He’ll be neat Joe!”

Cam and Eric hurried past the children waiting on line to get their lunches. They walked into the kitchen.

“Mrs. Apple, can I get a cheese sandwich?” Cam asked an old woman.