by Stuart Gibbs
I wondered if someone could have concealed themselves so well that they would have been invisible to the cameras. After all, the theft had happened during the night, when it would have been easier to blend into the shadows. Whoever had stolen Kazoo would have still needed to open the exhibit door, but maybe if they’d done it quickly enough, that would have been hard to spot in the twelve hours of recorded footage. Yes, Dad had gone through all of it, but staring at video of nothing happening for that long must have been mind-numbing. He’d probably only been looking for something dramatic, like the thief blatantly approaching the door, rather than someone more stealthy.
That might account for how Kazoo had been stolen, although the question of who’d done it was still wide open.
I poked around the exhibit a bit longer, but didn’t find any more clues. In truth I didn’t even know what I was looking for, short of a handy note saying I took the koala and signed by the thief.
It was already starting to get dark, which made it even harder to see inside the koala costume. I figured I ought to get back and return it soon. It was nearing closing time anyhow, and both my parents would soon be wondering where I was. I couldn’t help feeling frustrated. Despite Summer’s brilliant plan for me to remain incognito, I hadn’t learned enough, meaning I would still be suspect number one when Large Marge presented her case to J.J. McCracken the next morning. I decided to make one last sweep of KoalaVille, just in case I’d missed something, though I didn’t have high hopes.
And then I saw the man in the Astros cap.
It was the same man from the YouTube video Violet Grace had shown me at lunch, the man who’d been oddly stoic during the revelation that the koala had been poached. Even in the dimming light, it wasn’t that hard to recognize him. His orange cap stood out, and he was still wearing sunglasses, despite the darkening skies. He was standing near one of the closed-up koala merchandise tents, talking to someone I couldn’t see.
I crept closer. Unfortunately, now the koala costume was working against me. It was hard to be inconspicuous while dressed as a giant marsupial. There were no tourists around I could pretend to be entertaining. In fact, it occurred to me that Astros Cap was probably here for that exact reason: no tourists. Therefore no one to see or overhear him. I simply had to hope that because I was in KoalaVille, I’d look like part of an advertisement for Kazoo merchandise that someone had forgotten to clear away.
I finally reached a point where I could see around the corner of the merchandise tent. The person Astros Cap was talking to came into view.
It was Freddie Malloy.
It was tough to make him out at first, as he had a safari hat pulled down tightly over his head, but when he gestured, I could see there were only three fingers on one of his hands.
Freddie and Astros Cap definitely seemed to be familiar with each other. They were standing close together, like friends or business associates rather than two people who had just met. Freddie was pointing up the hill, away from KoalaVille, toward the rest of FunJungle.
Astros Cap listened intently, nodding every once in a while. At one point he reached forward, as though Freddie had handed him something small, and tucked it into the pocket of his jacket.
Unfortunately, I was too far away to hear what they were saying, and there was no way I could get closer in the koala costume. I’d have to ditch it and hope no one from security noticed me.
Just as I started to wriggle out of it, however, Astros Cap and Freddie started to walk away. They disappeared around the corner of the tent, heading back toward the park.
I kept the costume on and followed.
By the time I had made it to the tent, they had already split up. Apparently, the two of them didn’t want to be seen together. Freddie was moving quickly toward Carnivore Canyon, while Astros Cap was angling toward the park exit.
I couldn’t follow both of them, so I quickly opted to go after Astros Cap. I could always track down Freddie, while I might never see the other man again.
Astros Cap moved cautiously, pretending to be a regular tourist but keeping a close eye on his surroundings. I kept my distance until we made it back to Adventure Road, where there were a few tourists and it made at least some sense for a giant koala to be wandering about. Then I stepped up my pace to try to catch up to him.
Astros Cap suddenly stopped in front of Shark Odyssey.
I stopped as well and pretended to wave at some tourists.
Astros Cap looked around to see if anyone was watching him. His eyes fell right on me, but he didn’t seem to think anything of it. Eventually he decided the coast was clear, then ducked around the side of the building into the employees-only area.
That certainly seemed suspicious. Now that Astros Cap couldn’t see me anymore, I hurried toward Shark Odyssey as quickly as I could. It was hard to run in the costume, though, and despite the cold weather I began to sweat. A tourist family yelled at me to stop so they could take a picture, but there was no time. I pantomimed pointing at my watch and kept on going, as though perhaps Kazoo had a big appointment he was late for.
I reached the point where Astros Cap had slipped off Adventure Road. A small walkway wound through the landscaping along the side of Shark Odyssey. I followed it, although it was difficult to fit my giant koala head through the dense brush. My huge ears got hung up in the branches several times.
The path led to a door marked MAINTENANCE. EMPLOYEES ONLY. As with almost every other door at FunJungle, there was a keypad entry for it. I looked around. Astros Cap couldn’t have gone anywhere except through the door. The landscaping was too thick for him to have left the path without breaking some branches or leaving a footprint in the mud, but there was no sign of that.
I pulled off my koala glove and tried entering J.J. McCracken’s secret code.
As Summer had warned, it no longer worked.
Whoever Astros Cap was, he must have had the proper code for Shark Odyssey. Was he an employee there? Or was that what Freddie had given him? If so, how had Freddie gotten it? He didn’t work at Shark Odyssey himself.
Whatever the case, I’d hit a dead end. I schlepped back down the path, figuring I’d just have to wait until Astros Cap emerged from Shark Odyssey again.
The moment I stepped out of the landscaping, someone broadsided me.
For a moment I thought I’d been ambushed. But then I realized my attacker was only three feet high.
The tourist family had caught up to me. The three-year-old daughter was now clamped tightly to my left leg, hugging Kazoo for all she was worth. “Kazoo! I love you!” she crowed.
I did my best to give her a friendly rub on the head, the way I’d seen Kazoo do to other kids, although I ended up bonking her pretty hard. She didn’t seem to care at all. In fact she giggled happily.
“Isn’t that cute?” her mother cooed. “Kazoo loves you, too!”
While the parents snapped pictures, a line started to form. It was now past closing time. All the exhibits had shut down for the night, so I was the only thing left for people to see. The last batch of tourists filed out of Shark Odyssey, and every kid among them clamored to have their photo taken with me. Before long there were more than twenty families waiting to see me.
I didn’t want to make any waves, so I dutifully stood for photos with everyone. But more and more people kept showing up. Some people didn’t even know what they were lining up for; they simply saw a line and got in it, figuring it must be for something important. (This happened quite a lot at FunJungle.) I posed with one German family that seemed to think I was Yogi Bear. After a while, I lost track of how long I’d been standing there.
I was having my photo taken with a busload of Japanese tourists when Astros Cap finally emerged from Shark Odyssey again. He slipped out of the landscaping and headed for the park exit. There were still lots of people in line to meet me, but I had to go after him. Even though it was a direct violation of FunJungle character protocol, I spoke for Kazoo, using what I assumed was a cute, koala-like
voice, “Sorry folks! The park’s closed and I have to get home for dinner!”
Unfortunately, the tourists weren’t so easily put off. As I tried to leave, several blocked my way. “Come on,” one father implored. “My kid’s been waiting fifteen minutes to see you.”
“Sorry!” I chirped again. “I’m real hungry! I haven’t had any eucalyptus since lunch!”
A child latched on to my leg. “Don’t go, Kazoo! Please!”
Astros Cap was gaining ground. I didn’t have any more time to be polite. I dropped the koala voice and used the gruffest one I could. “Let me go, kid! I’ve really got to pee.”
The kid released me, startled.
Several adults weren’t quite as obliging. They all grabbed for me, but I shoved through them like a running back gunning for a touchdown. I knocked over at least two people with my giant ears, but I couldn’t even stop to see if they were all right. Instead I ran after Astros Cap as fast as I could.
He was trying to fit in with the other tourists, so he was only walking and I was able to close the gap on him. I wasn’t too far behind him when he suddenly ducked off the main path again.
He’d gone behind the Polar Pavilion. I rounded the corner after him.
This time, however, he wasn’t heading inside the building.
Instead, he was waiting for me.
LARRY THE LIZARD RETURNS
Astros Cap completely caught me by surprise. Between the darkness and the Kazoo head, I could barely see as it was. He ambushed me easily, grabbing me by the fur and slamming me against the wall of the Polar Pavilion.
“Why are you following me?” he demanded. Because he was much taller then me, I couldn’t see his face through the downward-angled mask. He had a strong Texan accent, though.
“I’m not!” I said quickly, though I still had the presence of mind to use the gruff voice, hoping he wouldn’t realize I was a kid. “I’m just working!”
“Don’t give me that bull,” Astros Cap growled. “I know a tail when I see one. Now tell me the truth . . . or I will hurt you.”
He held one of his hands where I could see it. It was clenched into a fist.
I gulped. I’d made it most of my life without anyone shaking a fist in my face, and now it had happened twice in one day. I didn’t think telling Astros Cap the truth would make him any happier with me, though, so I tried lying again. “I swear, I wasn’t following you! I’m only an actor!”
“I warned you,” Astros Cap said. The fist withdrew from sight, then slammed into the koala nose hard enough to dent it.
Luckily for me, Astros Cap wasn’t that bright. Apparently, he hadn’t realized that punching the koala in the face wouldn’t actually hurt me. The blow still knocked me off balance, however. I stumbled and, already top-heavy in the costume, tumbled backward into the landscaping.
Astros Cap loomed over me. Now that I was on the ground, he looked prepared to kick me—and my body didn’t have nearly the protection in the costume that my head did.
“Wait!” I said. “Please . . .”
“You had your chance to talk,” Astros Cap snarled, then cocked back his leg.
“Hey!” someone yelled. “Leave Kazoo alone!”
Since I was on my back, the mouth in my mask was angled up toward Astros Cap. Behind him I could see one of the families I’d just posed for. The father was the one who’d shouted. His wife was shielding the eyes of their two children from the sight of a grown man beating up their favorite koala.
Astros Cap turned to face the father, unfazed. “This doesn’t concern you, amigo. Mind your own business and move along.”
The father didn’t back down. Instead he turned and yelled to some other tourists. “Help! Some psycho’s beating up Kazoo!”
Within seconds a dozen other people rushed to his side. Most were parents, though a few park employees were in the mix. They all gasped upon seeing Astros Cap looming over me, and then grew angry.
“I’m only going to say this one more time,” the father told Astros Cap. “Leave the koala alone.”
“What’s wrong with you?” a mother demanded. “This is a family park!”
“Don’t hurt Yogi!” yelled the German father, who still didn’t know who I was supposed to be.
Now that he was outnumbered, Astros Cap wasn’t so tough anymore. He raised his hands, signaling the others to back down. “Hold on,” he said meekly. “This is all just a big misunderstanding. There’s no need to get nasty.”
“Yes there is!” I yelled. “He stole my wallet!”
The mob grew even angrier.
“You mugged an innocent koala?” a grandmother shouted at Astros Cap.
“Get him!” one of the park employees yelled.
Astros Cap ran. Several of the adults went after him. Astros Cap crashed through the landscaping and made it to Adventure Road just ahead of the mob, which pursued him toward the front gates like hounds going after a rabbit.
The other adults came to my side. “All you all right?” a mother asked.
“No,” I said. “Can you help me out of this costume?”
I knew it might cause trouble to reveal my identity, but there was no time for caution. I needed to learn who Astros Cap was and I couldn’t do it dressed like a koala.
Someone popped the head off my costume. Everyone reacted with surprise.
“You’re just a kid!” a father gasped.
“After-school job,” I lied, then wriggled out of the rest of the costume and bolted after Astros Cap.
He—and his pursuers—were well ahead of me, but I poured on the speed. Without the bulky, heavy costume, I suddenly felt a hundred times lighter. Plus, after so much time in the stuffy suit, the fresh night air was invigorating.
Astros Cap was most likely heading for the park’s main exit. There was really no other place for him to go. Everyone came to FunJungle by car, and the only place for guests to park was the giant lot out in front. The crowd grew thicker as we went, as everyone was funneling the same way. Astros Cap ducked and jibed through the other people, trying to shake his pursuers. I lost sight of him in the crowd.
Luckily, I knew a shortcut. I veered between the carnival midway and the nocturnal-animals building. There was an access to the employee area between them. I shot through it and cut behind a few exhibits to the employee exit. I emerged outside the front gates just in time to see Astros Cap barge through.
The thug was in such a hurry he was shoving people aside, even young kids and old ladies. He’d managed to lose the mob pursuing him, however. They all must have been stuck back in the crowd.
Astros Cap darted into the parking lot. I paralleled him through the lines of cars, trying to keep a safe distance. He hadn’t seen me without the koala costume on, so he wouldn’t recognize me—but then, I’d already been caught following him once that day and it hadn’t been pleasant.
It was so dark now that Astros Cap finally had to remove his sunglasses, but in the dimly lit parking lot I still couldn’t get a good look at him. We zigzagged through the cars until we reached the Giselle Giraffe section, where Astros Cap quickly ducked into a white sedan. I hurried over as he started the engine, arriving right before he slammed the pedal down and peeled away.
I had just enough time to memorize the license plate. TEXAS, SDP 5967.
Then I turned around and headed right back for the park. It was now well after five, which meant my parents would soon be looking for me. As I crossed the parking lot, I dialed Summer McCracken. I wasn’t expecting to get her, thinking I’d just leave a message—but to my surprise, she answered on the second ring.
“Hey!” she said. “I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”
“You have?” I asked.
“Of course. How’d the investigation go today? Did my plan for you to go undercover work? You didn’t chicken out, did you?”
“No,” I said, a bit too defensively. “I did exactly what we talked about. And it worked just fine.”
“Ha!” Summer crowed. �
��I told you it would! So? Did you find out who stole Kazoo?”
“Maybe. I need a little help from you, though. Can you write something down?”
“Give me a second.” I heard Summer scrambling for a pencil. “Okay. Shoot.”
“I need to find the owner of the car with this license plate: Texas, SDP 5967.”
There was a pause while Summer copied that down. “Got it. I’ll send it to my dad right away. I’m sure he knows someone who can handle it. But he’ll need to know why I’m asking for it. Is it the koala thief’s?”
“Could be.” I told Summer all about Freddie Malloy and Astros Cap as I reentered FunJungle. It took longer than I’d expected, as Summer could never let me go more than three sentences without asking a question. By the time I’d explained everything, I was back by the Polar Pavilion again.
“So you really think this Astros Cap guy is our man?” Summer asked me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But he’s certainly up to something around here. Someone ought to look into it—and I know Marge won’t. If I gave her this info, all she’d do would be to try and arrest me for impersonating a koala.”
“You’re probably right,” Summer laughed. “But Daddy will get to the bottom of this. I’ll make sure of it. You did good work, Teddy. I wish I could have been more help.”
“You helped plenty,” I assured her. “I never would have found Astros Cap if you hadn’t thought for me to dress up as Kazoo.”
“That was pretty brilliant, wasn’t it?” Summer teased.
“There’s just one thing,” I said. “When you tell your dad about the license plate, you probably shouldn’t tell him I’m the one who gave it to you.”
“But I’d have to,” Summer countered. “How else would he believe I got the info?”
“He’s already threatened to fire my parents if I did any more investigating. You think he’ll be pleased that I stole a Kazoo costume and wandered around the park in it?”
“That was my idea. I’ll own up to it.”
“But I did it. Can’t you just make something up?”
“I can try—but knowing Daddy, he’ll figure out the truth anyhow. Hold on.” It sounded like someone had entered Summer’s room. I heard them say something, after which Summer groaned. “Sorry, Teddy. I’ve got to go. It’s supposed to be study time here, which means no phone calls.”