by Emily Ecton
Melissa printed an e-mail promising Mrs. Lewis secret weight-loss tips and snorted into the phone. “This doesn’t prove anything! Get real, Bondi. We don’t have a photo of Smith in the house. We don’t know what those invitations are for, or where we’re supposed to go, or when. We don’t know why they’re using secret names, and we don’t know why we’re answering clues. We know nothing.” She sighed. “Except that Butler is connected to the Ambrose family, and Smith is Linus Ambrose. We do know that. That’s something.”
“Well, when you put it that way…” Bondi grumbled. “So what do we do now?”
“We figure out what those invites are for,” Melissa said, grumpily deleting the last ten spam messages to Mrs. Lewis unread. “Too bad we don’t have the one for that other kid. It would be nice to know whether it said Taj Mahal or the Pope’s Residence, or if he has something completely different.”
“High five! That’s a great idea!” Bondi was so loud Melissa had to take the phone away from her ear.
“What? What’s a great idea?” Melissa was almost afraid to ask. She could practically hear Bondi strutting around on the other end.
“You just said it,” Bondi said. “We get the other kid. This isn’t a two-man job. It’s a three-man job.”
Melissa sucked in her breath. “Wait, do you mean…?”
“Oh yeah. Tomorrow, we go get Wilf.”
Wilf’s Clues:
Jeremiah 6:23 plus Psalm 46:9
Madame Tussaud and Mrs. O’Leary would be proud of their little blue friend.
???
Bondi’s Invitation:
Your attendance is requested
3 P.M., at the Taj Mahal.
Melissa’s Invitation:
Your attendance is requested
This Monday, Clementine Hall,
Pope’s Residence.
“So this is all some kind of con?” Wilf perched uncomfortably on Bondi’s couch. It was super low and squishy and smelled like potpourri, and his elbows and knees seemed to be competing with each other for space.
“Right!” Bondi looked relieved. Wilf hadn’t said a thing the whole time he and Melissa had been explaining, and it was beginning to feel a little weird.
“Total con,” Melissa said, peeking outside through the crack in the curtains. She didn’t really expect Butler or Smith to show up at Bondi’s front door, but you could never be too careful. “They’re using us for something.”
Bondi nodded slowly and smiled at Wilf. “Yeah, so we’re teaming up, right? I mean, this is completely against the rules. But we don’t care about that, right, Red?”
“Right.” Melissa gave the street one last once-over and then sat in a high-backed chair with her arms folded. “We just have to figure out what their game is.”
“Right…” Wilf echoed, looking from Bondi to Melissa and then back again. And then he broke out in a huge grin.
“Come on, for real?” Wilf said. “Come on!”
“For real,” Bondi said.
Wilf shook his bangs out of his eyes. “No way! You guys are whacked-out!” He pointed at Bondi and Melissa, still grinning. “It’s you guys, right? You’re pulling a fast one on me?”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “No. For real, Wilf. The letter, the competition, the clues…they’re just trying to get information from us.”
Wilf shook his head again. “No way! That letter was real. It was sponsored by Kaplan! And Barron! Everybody’s heard of those guys. They do those college guides and SAT things! They’re totally legit.”
Bondi pulled out his notification letter. “No, check it out. See here?” He pointed at the words. “It says Kaplin and Baron. They’re spelled wrong.”
Wilf shrugged. “Yeah, but those are probably just typos.”
Bondi shot Melissa a look. “Okay, let’s say they’re typos. Go to the website for the scholarship. I looked up the site’s history, and it was put up the day before we got the letters. And the links on it don’t go anywhere—they’re fakes.”
“Plus, you can’t find it on Google. It doesn’t show up anywhere else except for that site,” Melissa said.
Bondi pushed Wilf over to the computer on his dad’s desk and then folded his arms. Wilf looked at the site, then at the letter, then back at the site. “Huh.”
“You didn’t ever get the feeling that something was weird?” Bondi asked. “They gave us drivers, phones, and debit cards. That’s not normal.”
Wilf grinned. “No, but it was cool!” Then his face darkened. “But…”
“What?” Bondi pounced as Wilf hesitated.
“I knew it! Something was weird, right?” Melissa said, jumping up.
“It’s nothing. Just this one time. I kind of felt like…” He looked at the ground awkwardly. “It kind of felt like Frank was helping me with the clue. You know, like he knew the answer already.”
Bondi whistled. “Seriously?”
Wilf nodded.
“Man, that is weird,” said Melissa.
“But they don’t know, do they? Why would Frank know?”
“He’s not supposed to know, I’m pretty sure,” Bondi said. “Inez tried to help me once, but she didn’t know squat.” He clenched his jaw. “Or at least she acted like she didn’t.”
“Sounds typical to me,” Melissa said. “That’s why we need you now. We need your clues.”
“My, uh, clues?” Wilf swallowed hard.
“Right. How close are you to being done? We want to try something at your meeting with Mr. Smith, if you’re okay with it.”
Wilf shifted miserably. “Yeah, well, about my clues. I’ve been…exploring a couple of…See, I have this idea that…”
“How many, Wilf? How many clues solved?” Melissa said, snapping her fingers at him.
“One.”
“One left?”
“One solved.”
Melissa gawked at him. “One solved? How could you only have one solved?”
“I’ve been busy, okay?” Wilf shrugged. “I’ve got things to do.”
Bondi put a hand on Melissa’s shoulder. She looked like she was about to launch herself at Wilf, and that wouldn’t lead to anything good. Bondi smiled encouragingly at Wilf. “Okay, one solved. That’s fine. And we know it’s right, because Frank…helped.”
Wilf nodded.
“So we’ll just figure out the other two and go from there. Do you have them with you?”
Wilf nodded and pulled out his envelope. “They’re right here.”
He opened the envelope and emptied the contents onto the coffee table. Two slips of paper fell out.
“Two. That’s two, Wilf.”
Wilf peered into the envelope. “Um, I guess I left the other one at home. I’ll get it, though.”
Bondi nodded and looked at the clues. “Jeremiah 6:23 plus Psalm 46:9.”
“That’s the one I solved.”
Melissa snorted. “Of course it is.”
“It’s the Bowman and Spearman statues on Congress, downtown.”
“Good,” Bondi said, shooting Melissa a look. “Now, how about this one? Madame Tussaud and Mrs. O’Leary would be proud of their little blue friend. You have any ideas about that one?”
Wilf shrugged. “Maybe look up Mrs. O’Leary and see if she knows a Madame Tussaud?”
“Oh good grief,” Melissa said. “Do you even live in Chicago? Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, numskull! It’s got to be something about a cow.”
“Yeah, but cows aren’t blue, genius,” Wilf scoffed. She had a point, though. When he was at Navy Pier, he’d seen a store that was 90 percent cow stuff.
“Okay, good, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. We’ve got a starting point, so it’s practically solved.” Bondi shot Melissa another look and she shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “Do you remember the third clue?”
Had he even looked at the third clue? Wilf shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Fine, no problem. So we figure out the clues, and then, once you’ve got a meeting set up, we spring into action. So
und good?”
Wilf nodded. Bondi raised his eyebrows at Melissa and after a few seconds she nodded, too. “Sure.” Sounded more like impossible, if they were relying on Wilf. But she decided not to say anything.
“When you find that third clue, give me a call and tell me what it is. Or better yet, send me a picture of it,” Bondi said, walking Wilf over to the kitchen island, where Wilf had dumped his backpack.
“Photo. Got it.” Wilf grabbed his backpack and then picked up a Tupperware container on the counter. “What’s this?”
Bondi set his jaw. “It’s kale salad.”
Wilf opened the container and sniffed the contents. “Weird.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Bondi snatched the Tupperware away from Wilf. “It’s this Paleo diet thing my mom’s doing. Don’t even go there.”
Wilf leaned over to peer into the container. “No, I mean, you didn’t include any corn? And it smells like you left out the maple syrup, too. That’s not the way I usually make it.”
Bondi put down the container slowly. “The way you make it? What, you cook?”
Wilf shrugged. “I took a few classes. You know, since my mom…she’s got stuff to do.” He glared at Bondi. “What, you have something to say about it?”
“Sure do.” Bondi grinned and opened the refrigerator. “Can you teach me? This stuff is killing me.”
To: Bondi Johnson
From: Melissa Burris
Subject: Did we make a mistake?
I’ve got a bad feeling about this kid.
To: Melissa Burris
From: Bondi Johnson
Subject: RE: Did we make a mistake?
Give him a chance. The clue’s probably just on his dresser or something. Besides, his kale salad is the bomb.
To: Bondi Johnson
From: Melissa Burris
Subject: RE: Did we make a mistake?
And what about the drivers? Dimitri is going to notice that I’m not calling him. He’s very protective. Do you know how hard it is to sneak past that guy?
To: Melissa Burris
From: Bondi Johnson
Subject: RE: Did we make a mistake?
Relax. Dimitri probably hasn’t even noticed yet.
To: Inez Castillo
From: Dimitri Omar
Subject: My kid is not calling.
Has your Bondi contacted you? I have heard nothing from Melissa since her meeting.
To: Dimitri Omar
From: Inez Castillo
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
Nope. Nothing. But no biggie, right? He won.
To: Dimitri Omar
From: Inez Castillo
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
It is weird, though.
To: Dimitri Omar
From: Inez Castillo
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
Something’s up, isn’t it?
To: Frank Jennings, Dimitri Omar
From: Inez Castillo
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
Okay, Frank, have you heard from your kid? Me and Dimitri are getting the cold shoulder. And it’s freaking us out.
To: Frank Jennings, Inez Castillo
From: Dimitri Omar
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
Yes. I am freaking.
To: Inez Castillo, Dimitri Omar
From: Frank Jennings
Subject: RE: My kid is not calling.
Not a peep. But we’ll get to the bottom of this. Tomorrow we’ll meet with Butler.
HEY MOM,
DID YOU FIND A LITTLE PIECE OF PAPER IN MY ROOM ANYWHERE? IT HAD SOME OLD-TIMEY LOOKING WRITING ON IT. I NEED IT FOR A SCHOOL THING.
THANKS,
WILF
Sorry, hon, I haven’t seen anything like that.
Wilf’s Clues:
Jeremiah 6:23 plus Psalm 46:9
Madame Tussaud and Mrs. O’Leary would be proud of their little blue friend.
???
Bondi’s Invitation:
Your attendance is requested
3 P.M., at the Taj Mahal.
Melissa’s Invitation:
Your attendance is requested
This Monday, Clementine Hall,
Pope’s Residence.
“So I think I figured out something with the Mrs. O’Leary clue,” Melissa said, taking a bite of doughnut.
She couldn’t believe this place had been down the block from her school all this time and she’d never hung out there before. But then, she’d never had extra money to spend on doughnuts or hang out in coffee shops or things like that. She’d been worried about buying too much, but Bondi seemed pretty sure they weren’t going to have to reimburse Butler or Smith for their debit card purchases. It was pretty awesome to be able to get anything she wanted. Especially since Bondi liked to act like a big spender and put everything on his card.
“What did you figure out? Something about the cow?” Bondi wiped a piece of stray doughnut off of his jacket sleeve. Melissa wasn’t the neatest eater.
“No, Madame Tussaud. I had a feeling I’d heard the name before. That’s the wax museum lady, isn’t she?”
“Oh man, you’re right,” Wilf said, taking a doughnut from the box. It was his third. He figured if he had to get up this early on a Saturday and take the bus, he was entitled to half the doughnuts. At least.
Bondi nodded. “What was the clue again?”
Wilf dug the paper out of his pocket. “Madame Tussaud and Mrs. O’Leary would be proud of their little blue friend.”
“So if they have the same friend, and we’re assuming that Mrs. O’Leary’s friend is a cow, that means—”
“We’re looking for a cow. Probably made of wax. And blue.” Wilf snickered, dropping the last part of his doughnut into his mouth. He wasn’t the neatest eater, either. “But which blue wax cow? There are so many!” He snickered again.
Bondi set his jaw. “We need a computer.”
“Why does it have to be a wax cow?” Melissa said gloomily. “A regular cow, we could do.”
“Even I’ve seen regular cows. I just saw one the other day, in fact,” Wilf said.
Melissa thunked her head against the back of her chair. “And why does it have to be a cow? Wax submarine I could do. Wax tractor, done. But who’s seen a wax cow?”
Bondi frowned and closed the doughnut box before Wilf could take another one. He didn’t know how many Wilf had eaten, but he didn’t want to find out whether his stomach was really as weak as Inez said it was. “What do you mean, you saw a wax submarine? Where was that?”
“Museum of Science and Industry,” Melissa said. “They had one of those thingies—you know, those machines that make wax figurines while you wait. Tanisha’s sister, Tabi, wanted one, but we didn’t have enough change.”
“Oh yeah, those! I’ve seen those. Except I think they’re made of plastic instead of wax,” Wilf said, eyeing the doughnut box.
“Smelled like wax to me,” Melissa said, raising an eyebrow. She didn’t really care if it was melty plastic or wax or molten lava, if Wilf wanted to get into it, he was going down.
“You know, I just saw one of those. They had one…where?” Wilf pressed his fingers to his forehead, like it would help him think. “They had one at…somewhere. At the…”
Bondi caught his breath just as Wilf looked up, his eyes wide.
“THE ZOO!” they both said at the same time, high-fiving each other.
“The farm at the zoo. It’s in the barn, right?” Bondi said. “I’m almost positive I saw one of those machines there.”
“I think so, but I can’t remember for sure,” Wilf said. “I feel like I remember cows there, though. Real ones, I mean.”
“I bet that machine makes a blue wax cow!” Bondi said. “Oh man, we rock. Blue cow, here we come!”
“Wait, you guys both went to the zoo? Both of you?” She looked at Bondi, who shrugged. Melissa crumpled up her napkin and tossed it at him. “Well, forget it, this
one’s mine, then. I’m taking the photo so I can have a fun trip to the zoo, thank you very much.”
Bondi and Wilf exchanged a glance. “Sure, okay,” Bondi said. “You’re on cow duty. We’ll work on the third clue.” He turned to Wilf. “So what’d it say, anyway? You never sent me the photo.”
Wilf cringed inwardly. “Oh yeah. The clue. Well, I have it. It looked super easy, too. But I, um…left it at home again. Sorry, guys.”
“You don’t have it, do you? You lost it.” Melissa stared at him stone-faced.
Wilf laughed nervously. “No! Are you crazy? Lost? No, it’s right in my room, right there on the…I just forgot to bring it, that’s all.”
Bondi looked at his watch. “Okay, well, come on. We’ll go get it.”
“Um, now?” Wilf swallowed hard. He was so busted.
Bondi pretended not to notice. “Yeah, why not? Melissa, meet us when you have the cow. We’ll be at Wilf’s. And no calling Dimitri for a ride.”
“What?” Melissa scowled at him. “It’ll take me three times as long without him! And he won’t know anything’s up, I swear.”
Bondi shook his head. “Forget it, Melissa. They don’t work for us; they work for Smith. We don’t know if we can trust them.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. We can trust Dimitri.”
Bondi gave her a sad smile. “We can’t trust anyone. Not now. Not anymore.”
To: Butler
From: Frank Jennings
Subject: Would like an update, please.
Look, I know you have a plan and everything, but none of us drivers have heard from the kids in a while. We’re starting to get nervous. What’s going on?
Frank
To: Frank Jennings, Inez Castillo, Dimitri Omar
From: Butler
Subject: RE: Would like an update, please.
I appreciate your concern about the children. But never fear—they’ll be in touch soon. I have taken steps to move things along.