by Natasha Deen
“Is that new?” I asked. “It’s pretty.”
She nodded. “I was telling my auntie about the play and how nervous I felt. She bought it for me. It has charms of some of my most favorite things—a dog, a cat, a soccer ball and a microscope. She says it’s good luck, and I’ll definitely break a leg if I wear it.”
Connor frowned. “Why would she want to break a leg?” he whispered. “Wouldn’t that mean she doesn’t get to go onstage?”
“Her aunt doesn’t really want her to break a leg. It’s what grown-ups in the theater say to wish each other good luck.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “I get it now.” He frowned. “No, I don’t. Grown-ups are weird.”
“Are you guys having fun?” Loi asked.
We nodded.
“Are you?” I asked her.
She thought for a minute. “Yes, but it’s a lot harder than it looks,” she said. “I know my lines in my head, but it’s a lot tougher when you have to say them out loud. And it’s hard doing it in front of people. I wish we had more time to practice, but the opening night is just a few weeks away. I wish I wasn’t so nervous.” She shook her bracelet, and it made a happy, twinkly sound. “Good thing I have this.”
“Try practicing in front of a mirror,” I said, “or recording yourself. That can be helpful.” I turned to Connor. “We should do that with you.”
“I can’t wait until you have to get up there,” Connor said. “I’m going to make sure Halmoni records you.”
“Thank you.” I patted his hand. “That will be very helpful.”
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I was being sarcastic, Lark.”
Little brothers. They can be so confusing, even when you’re trying to give them a compliment.
Mr. Folopoulos called everyone back to work on the next scene.
Connor didn’t have to be onstage. That meant he could keep going with our investigation. “See you later. I hope you break an arm and a leg!”
Loi’s face puckered in confusion.
“He means good luck,” I told her.
“Oh.” She smiled. “Thanks, Connor!”
Just as our friends left, Mrs. Robinson came up to us.
“I’m part of the scenery team,” she said. “We are going outside and painting the flowers.” She held up red and green paint cans. “I know how much you and Connor like painting and how good you both are at it. Maybe you’d like to help paint the stems and leaves?”
Painting scenery sounded like so much fun. But we had a job to do. “We’d like to, Mrs. Robinson, but we’re helping Miss Balza with a project right now.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll put it aside. At lunch I’ll ask Miss Balza about you helping with the painting.”
“That sounds great. Thanks.”
“Where should we start?” asked Connor after Mrs. Robinson had left. “We watched everyone before snack time and didn’t see anything.”
“Maybe we should investigate the places where the pranks happened,” I suggested.
He nodded. “That’s a great idea. There might be a clue. Let’s start looking.”
We climbed the steps to the stage and went to the left, to where the makeup tables were set up. Miss Balza was right. Each table had a mirror attached to it, and there was a light fixture attached to each mirror. But the lightbulbs were missing.
“I wish I had a fingerprint kit,” said Connor. “We could dust for fingerprints. Then we could take fingerprints of everyone in the play and compare them. We’d find the prankster for sure!”
“Yes,” I said, “but that would take a long time. Plus, the ink would make everyone’s hands dirty. They’d have to wash and wash, and that would take even more time. It was a good idea though.”
“Maybe the culprit dropped something, like a store receipt. The detective in the mystery book I borrowed from the library found the bad guy because of some thread he found on the ground.”
“That’s a great idea!” We searched around, but it was all bad news. There was nothing on the makeup tables. They were all neat and tidy, except for a couple of blue smears.
Connor poked one of the smears. “I think that’s the makeup for the Caterpillar.”
“Maybe we’ll have better luck with the curtains.”
But we didn’t. There weren’t any clues. The area around the curtains was just as clean as the area around the makeup tables.
“The custodian, Mr. Lancaster, must have cleaned up,” I said.
“I feel terrible,” said Connor. “We’ve been looking forever, but we aren’t any closer to figuring out who the prankster is!”
I felt bad too. I felt…it started with a d or maybe a j, and it was a good word that meant I felt extra sad. “Maybe we need a breath of fresh air. That will help clear our minds.”
He nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Let’s take a break from investigating the scenes of the crimes. I think we should talk to our suspects next.”
“That is a good idea,” I said, “but we should act like we don’t think they’re suspects.”
We went outside. There was a group of people painting the set flowers. The flowers were red and blue and pink and purple. Sophie was in the group.
“There’s our number-one suspect,” Connor said quietly.
She stopped painting when she saw us. “Baa baa Lark sheep.”
I laughed.
Connor growled.
He doesn’t like that joke, and he thinks Sophie’s mean. But I think the joke is funny because my last name is Ba and baa is the sound sheep make. “Hello, Sophie,” I said as we walked over.
Connor stared at her. “Have you been eating paint?”
“That’s dangerous!” She glared at him. “I wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Then why are your teeth and face all blue?”
“I had blueberries with my breakfast,” she said. “My babushka is visiting, and we’ve been baking all kinds of yummy things with blueberries. They’re my favorite fruit. I even brought some as a snack. They’re tasty, but they stain.”
“Baking things with blueberries sounds like a delicious thing to do,” I said.
“It is, but we’re running out of things to make.” She peered at us. “Why are you here? Not to talk to me about blueberries, that’s for sure.”
I told her about the pranks.
She scowled. “Do you think I did something? Is that why you came over?”
“No. Not even a little bit.”
“Good, because I didn’t do any of it.”
“Have you seen anything strange?” asked Connor.
“Just you,” she said.
He made a frowny, growly face at her.
“What about when you were on a break?” I asked.
She scowled again. “I’m too busy to take a break,” she said. “Everyone is. It’s a lot of work putting on a play.”
“That’s too bad.” I sighed. “I was hoping you could help. The play might get shut down if we can’t figure out who’s playing the pranks.”
She sighed too. “That is terrible. My babushka was going to watch rehearsals with me tomorrow. I get to be onstage because Loi has a dentist appointment. I’ve been practicing really, really hard.” She made a grumpy face. “You better solve this, Lark sheep!”
“I’m going to do my best,” I said.
Connor growled. “We’re going to do our best.”
“Good.” Sophie went back to her painting.
“This is terrible,” said Connor as we walked away. “It’s almost lunch, and we don’t know anything.”
“Let’s check the costumes,” I said. “Miss Balza said someone had cut the buttons off some of them.”
The dressing room held lots of things that could be clues. And that made me so happy! There were boxes of costumes and racks of costumes. On the floor we found a penny, a dime and a quarter. We found a receipt from Lee’s General Store. We also found seekwins, seQuinns, sequins, a black sock, some metal clips and a long string of black thread
.
“Look at all this stuff,” Connor said excitedly. “I bet something here is a clue!”
Just then Franklin ran up to us. “Come on, guys! It’s lunchtime, and Mr. Lee brought hot dogs!”
“Hot dogs! I’m going to have mine with mustard and onions and relish,” said Connor. He ran off with Franklin.
I wanted to run too, but something shiny caught my eye. Not really. That would really hurt my eye. Something catching my eye means that something caught my attention. I went over to the shiny thing on the floor and picked it up. And I did not like what it was. Not one little bit. Nope, nope, nope.
I found Connor in the lineup for lunch. “I have to talk to you,” I said. “I found a clue, and you’re not going to like it.”
We went to a quiet spot and I showed him what I’d found. “It’s a microscope charm. I think it’s from Loi’s bracelet.”
“Oh, man.” Connor looked sad. “You’re right. I don’t like that.”
“Me neither. But we’ll have to talk to her.”
We found Loi on the stage, reading over her script and making notes with her blue pen. “Hi, guys,” she said, smiling. “Lark, I know we’re supposed to rehearse your scenes after lunch, but I’m nervous about the stuff we did this morning. I asked Mr. Folopoulos if we could do a run-through with just my lines after lunch. Is that okay with you?”
I nodded. “We have to ask you something.”
“Sure. Is everything okay? What’s going on?”
I told her about the pranks.
“We’ve been investigating the spots where the pranks happened,” said Connor. He showed her the microscope charm. “And we found this.”
Her eyes went wide. “My charm! Oh my goodness!” She grabbed both of us and hugged us hard. “I lost two of them this morning, and I’ve been looking all over for them! Did you find the soccer ball too?”
I shook my head no.
“Come on! Let’s tell Mrs. Wiedman!” She jumped up and ran over to the costume area.
Connor and I followed.
“Mrs. Wiedman! Mrs. Wiedman!”
“Yes?” Mrs. Wiedman stood up from the chair. “What’s going on?”
“Lark and Connor found my microscope charm!”
“What a relief!” said Mrs. Wiedman. “I was looking for them for you.”
“Where did you find it?” Loi asked me.
“With the costumes.”
“I was trying on the Alice costume this morning with Mrs. Wiedman. It must have fallen off when I took off the dress. I’m so glad you found it! I was worried I’d lost it for good.”
“You should go and see one of the set designers,” said Mrs. Wiedman. “I bet they’ll have the tools to fit the charm back on your bracelet.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Loi.
She sped off.
“I bet the soccer ball is in those clothes somewhere too,” said Mrs. Wiedman. “I’ll keep looking. Good work, you two.”
“I’m glad that got explained,” said Connor. “I would have been sad if the prankster was Loi.”
“Me too,” I said.
Connor and I told Mrs. Wiedman about the pranks. “We don’t think you did those things,” said Connor. “But have you seen anything suspicious?”
“No, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been so busy making the costumes, I’m afraid I don’t notice anything but needle, thread and cloth. If I see anything suspicious, I’ll tell you.”
We thanked her, then went back to where everyone was gathered for lunch. They were outside in the sunshine. Mr. Lee had set up a bunch of tables.
“Mr. Lee is one of our suspects,” said Connor. “We should talk to him too.”
We told Mr. Lee about the pranks.
“We don’t think you did those things,” said Connor, “but maybe you saw something?”
He shook his head sadly. “No, I’m sorry. I just drop off the food, and then I go straight back to the store. I haven’t seen anything unusual.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Have a hot dog,” he said. “Maybe some food will help.”
We got our lunch and went to where Franklin and Kate sat. I put my book on one of the seats to save it for Sophie.
“I think I took too much fruit,” said Loi as she sat down beside Connor with a plate piled high. “You’re welcome to share it with me.” She held the plate out, and her bracelet went tinkle, tinkle. “Look, it’s all fixed!”
“Don’t you like hot dogs?” asked Connor.
“I love them,” she said, “but the fruit looked so delicious, I couldn’t resist.”
“Mr. Lee said you and Connor helped him find earrings that were stolen from their store,” said Loi.
“That’s true.” Connor’s chest went all puffy because he was proud. “We did.”
“Tell me everything.”
Connor and I took turns telling Loi about our adventure. When he talked, I ate. When I talked, he ate. As we were talking, Sophie came to our table. She added in stuff too. When we were done, Loi leaned back and said, “Wow. You two are good detectives.”
“Not that great,” said Connor. “I lost a pickle.” He lifted his plate and checked underneath. “Not there.”
I pointed at Loi’s hand. “Right now I detect you have ketchup on your fingers.”
She laughed. “Guilty. I better go wash up.” Loi grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Thanks again for finding my charm. That was great of you!” She walked away.
“I’m going to get another hot dog,” said Sophie.
Just as she left, Miss Balza and Halmoni came up.
“Lark,” said Miss Balza, “do you remember Mrs. Robinson asking you about painting the flowers?”
“Yes.”
“Well…” She glanced at Halmoni. “I was wondering if maybe you had decided to help with the painting.”
“No,” I said.
Connor shook his head. “Me neither.”
“Oh.” She gave Halmoni another look. This time she seemed worried.
“Is everything okay?” asked Connor.
“Halmoni will explain,” said Miss Balza. “I have to go and find Mr. Folopoulos. Excuse me.”
“Someone has played another prank on the theater—with the wooden flowers,” said Halmoni as Miss Balza walked away. “Miss Balza and I were painting them purple and red. I checked on the flowers five minutes ago, and they were there. But when I walked by just now, they were gone! Plus, someone got something blue all over some of the costumes. We can’t wash it off, so they’ll have to be sent out for dry cleaning.”
Crickets! More pranks!
“That’s terrible,” said Connor.
Halmoni stood up. “Yes, but I know if you put your heads together, you’ll figure it out.” She smiled and walked away.
I smiled too, but I was confused.
So was Connor. “How will putting our heads together help?”
“I don’t know,” said Franklin. “But maybe you should try it.”
Connor and I tilted our heads so our foreheads touched.
“Did you figure out anything?” I asked.
“Only where my lost pickle is,” said Connor. “I dropped it on my lap.”
I sighed and pulled away. “This is our hardest case yet!”
“Baa baa Lark sheep.” Sophie stood at our table with a plate of food in her hand. “Did you solve the case yet?”
I shook my head.
“And there’s been another prank—two of them!” said Connor.
“I thought you guys were great detectives,” she said. “I thought you would have solved it by now.”
“Me too,” I said.
She picked up her hot dog and bit into it.
Connor nudged me, and I knew why.
Sophie’s hands were all blue.
Connor and I moved to a quiet spot where no one could hear us talk.
“There was blue stuff on the costumes, and Sophie’s hands are blue,” said Connor. “I think she’s the culprit, La
rk.”
Double crickets! I couldn’t believe that was true! “But it doesn’t make sense. Why would she play those pranks?”
“Because Sophie always causes trouble.”
“Not always.”
“Fine.” He sighed. “But she causes trouble a lot.”
“But what’s her motive?” I asked. “Why would she do all this stuff?”
He shrugged. “Maybe she was mad because she didn’t get the role of Alice.”
“Maybe,” I said, “but she didn’t seem angry. She said she wanted us to solve the case.”
“Maybe she was just acting,” said Connor. “When I was the weeping willow, I pretended there was a breeze when there wasn’t any. Maybe she was pretending she was happy even though she didn’t feel happy.”
Maybe. Sophie was a good actor.
“We should tell Mr. Folopoulos and Miss Balza.”
“What if we’re wrong? We could get Sophie into a lot of trouble, and she doesn’t deserve that.”
“All the evidence points to her,” Connor said. “The blue stuff. Plus, when the flowers went missing, Sophie was the only one who wasn’t at our table.”
“I don’t know.”
“You heard what Miss Balza said. If we don’t catch the prankster, the play gets canceled. We have to tell her what we know.”
“Give me ten minutes to think about it,” I pleaded. “And if I can’t think of another suspect, then we’ll talk to Miss Balza, okay?”
He sighed. “Okay, but only ten minutes.”
I went and sat under one of the trees. This was terrible. Not only had Connor and I missed another prank, but now the play was going to not be a play anymore. And my best friend, Sophie, might be the one responsible for this mess! My bestest day was turning into my worstest day.
This was a really hard mystery. There were a lot of people, a lot of places and a lot of things to keep track of. My brain felt confused, and my heart felt worried because I didn't want to let anyone down. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind.
I thought really hard about the case. I took out my notebook and flipped it open. Then I wrote what I knew so far.