Clocks and Robbers

by Dan Poblocki

  Little mysteries were being solved, detail by detail, with every passing minute. What was in this or that package? Would the holiday turkey be ready in time? How long would it be before someone’s little brother or sister threw a temper tantrum?

  Rosie, Sylvester, Woodrow, and Viola — the four members of the Question Marks Mystery Club — were used to paying attention to such details. But on this day, they imagined that the best gift would be a great big mystery to share with one another. That’s why, when Rosie invited the other three to her house for some afternoon pie, they all whooped for joy at having their wish granted.

  They gathered in the Smithers’ living room, sitting amongst scattered pine needles in the ambient glow of the lighted Douglas fir. Mr. and Mrs. Smithers had gone on a walk. Rosie’s siblings — Greg, Stephen, Grace, and Keira — were all upstairs enjoying their gifts. Music blasted from one of their bedrooms, but the house was otherwise quiet. Rosie had brought plates and forks to share what was left of her mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, which sat in the circle between them.

  “Did you guys get anything good this morning?” Sylvester asked.

  “Aren’t all presents good?” said Rosie.

  “A present of socks is never good,” Sylvester answered. “I don’t care how you spin it.”

  Rosie frowned. “I love the ones my grandmother gave me this year. I’m wearing them right now!” She wiggled her cushy pink toes.

  “To each his own,” Sylvester said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be excited about the brand-new top hat my parents gave me for my magic routine.”

  “You’re right,” said Rosie with a shrug. “I wouldn’t.”

  “Well, I love the skateboard that Bill got me,” said Woodrow, “even though my mom wasn’t happy about it. She thinks I’m gonna break my arm. Still, I can’t wait until this snow goes away.”

  “Me neither,” said Viola. “I want to try out the trick kite my uncle sent me. I didn’t really get any other presents today.” Her friends looked horrified. Viola chuckled. “Since we celebrate Hannukah and Christmas, my family spreads the gift-giving throughout the month.”

  “My family has interesting traditions too,” said Rosie. “In fact, that’s why I invited you guys over. I wanted to tell you about what happened at my aunt and uncle’s Christmas Eve party last night.”

  The four huddled closer together, and Rosie went on. “Aunt Theresa and Uncle George live in an enormous house a few miles up the river. They host our holiday event — since their home is the only one big enough to fit my entire extended family. And every year, as far back as I can remember, we’ve played a game after dinner. It’s called White Elephant.”

  “I’ve heard of that,” said Viola. “Same thing as a Yankee Gift Swap, right?”

  Rosie nodded.

  Woodrow and Sylvester glanced at each other. “I’ve never heard of either of those things,” said Sylvester.

  “A traditional White Elephant game,” said Viola, “also known as a Yankee Gift Swap, involves every guest bringing a single present to the party. The presents, which have already been wrapped, go into a big pile. Then the guests draw numbers out of a hat. Whoever picks number one gets to begin by unwrapping the first present. The next person is allowed to unwrap a different gift from the pile. Or she can choose to ‘steal’ another present that’s already been opened. Once that happens, the person whose gift was ‘stolen’ immediately gets to choose another present.”

  Rosie nodded. “Our family plays a little differently. To keep everyone from arguing, we’ve eliminated the ‘swap.’ Whatever present you open is the one you keep. Since my extended family is so big, this is the cheapest way for us all to exchange gifts — everybody buys one gift, and everybody leaves with one gift.”

  “Smart idea,” said Woodrow. “If I had as many cousins as you do, Rosie, I’d go broke trying to get them all something.”

  “It’s just supposed to be fun,” said Rosie. “And it usually is…. Except, last night, something strange happened.”

  “Strange how?” Viola asked.

  “There was an argument,” said Rosie. “My aunt Theresa accused her cousin Martina of cheating.”

  “Cheating?” said Woodrow.

  “Theresa said that Martina always ends up with the best, most expensive present in the pile. Over the past few years, Martina’s taken home a silver pendant necklace, two tickets to the Nutcracker at Lincoln Indent in New York City, and a pair of mini-speakers for her stereo. Last night, Martina managed to unwrap a digital photo printer.”

  “She sounds lucky,” said Sylvester.

  “Theresa argued that luck had nothing to do with it,” said Rosie. “She said that Martina must buy a gift that she wants for herself each year. When it’s her turn to choose a present, she takes the one she came with.”

  “Not technically against the rules,” said Viola. “But not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the season either.”

  “And I knew that wasn’t what happened,” said Rosie. “At least, not this time. Martina might have been cheating, but not in the way that Theresa suggested.”

  “But these were mystery gifts,” said Sylvester. “How could you be so sure that Martina hadn’t brought the printer?”

  “Easy,” said Rosie. “Because I knew who did bring the printer: my mom! I’d watched her wrap it earlier that day.”

  “Ah,” said Sylvester.

  “But Theresa still didn’t believe Martina was playing fair. Her next theory was that Martina must somehow learn ahead of time what exactly is in the gift pile. Then, she selects the gift she wants as soon as she can get it.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Woodrow. “Does Martina go around asking the rest of your family what they brought to the party?” Rosie shook her head. “And she doesn’t have X-ray vision, right?” Rosie gave him a look. “Then how would your aunt know which gift to pick?”

  “Theresa had an idea that she was quick to share,” said Rosie. “If Martina didn’t ask anyone what they’d brought, how else could she learn which was the best present in the pile?”

  “The only thing I can think of is good old-fashioned peeking,” said Viola. “Martina must carefully unwrap the presents ahead of the game, then wrap them up again using the same paper they’d come with.”

  Rosie nodded. “Since the gift exchange happens after dinner, Theresa said that Martina had all afternoon to get ready for her deception. Between the time when the meal was first being cooked and when dessert was finally served, she must have slipped away to the sitting room where the gifts were kept, locked the door, and done the deed. With all the hustle and bustle, no one noticed she was gone. Martina vehemently denied it of course, but Theresa said she could prove that someone had unwrapped all the presents prior to the game.”

  “I know how!” said Sylvester. “After dinner, Theresa noticed that all the wrapping paper was wrinkled or torn.”

  “Good guess,” said Rosie. “But that wasn’t it. Martina had been careful not to ruin the paper. The evidence Theresa had was a little … stickier. Does anyone know what it was?”

  “Well,” said Woodrow, “if the evidence wasn’t the paper, the evidence must have been something else people use to wrap presents. Stickier?” He thought for a moment then cried out, “The tape!” Rosie smiled and nodded for him to go on. “I’m sure everyone at the party used different wrapping paper for their gift. But they may also have used different kinds of tape. Some tape is clear. Some tape is opaque. I’ve even seen some people use yellowish packing tape to wrap presents. If your aunt Theresa said she could prove that someone had unwrapped all the presents prior to the game, her proof could be that someone had rewrapped the presents using the same tape on all the gifts.”

  “You’re right!” said Rosie. “Digging through the remaining gifts and the scraps of wrapping paper on the floor, we saw that all of the presents had been wrapped using the same tape — an odd kind of tape that had string inside of it to make it stronger. It definitely wasn’t t
he tape my parents and siblings and I had used.

  “The rest of my family finally bought into Theresa’s suggestion, and they asked Cousin Martina to open her purse. Inside, they discovered a small roll of that strange tape. Martina had brought it from home! She had gotten used to taking the best present over the years, so she thought she’d found a way to make sure it kept happening.”

  “I bet your family wasn’t happy with her,” said Viola. “What did they do?”

  “No one really made a big deal about it,” said Rosie. “They all chuckled that a grown woman would do something so childish. And of course, Martina was completely embarrassed. She apologized and offered to give back the printer, but no one would accept it. Aunt Theresa said she felt bad for exposing Martina, but ever since they were little kids, Martina was always obsessed with getting presents. After getting caught, Martina said she realized how silly she had been and promised never to peek again. Everyone agreed to move on. After all, my grandparents started our White Elephant tradition with the understanding that these holidays aren’t about getting presents. They’re about being together and having fun.”

  Viola pulled a small satchel out from behind the sofa, where she’d stashed it earlier. “Yeah, but sometimes, they’re also about presents,” she said, opening the bag. She removed three small rectangular packages — each of them wrapped with a sheet of paper from the Moon Hollow Herald — and handed them to her friends, all of whom wore looks of surprise. Viola couldn’t help but grin.

  “Viola!” said Rosie. “You didn’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I did,” said Viola. “Open them up. You’ll see.” Woodrow, Sylvester, and Rosie tore off the wrappings, revealing tidy cloth-bound journals underneath. “They’re for writing down questions and answers. Every good detective needs one.”

  Her friends thanked her profusely. Then, they all reached for more pie.

  The mysteries don’t end here! Viola, Rosie,

  Sylvester, and Woodrow don’t believe in curses —

  but nobody can deny that something strange is

  happening at Moon Hollow Middle School.

  Can they learn the truth before their

  new rivals do?

  Find out in …

  THE

  MYSTERIOUS

  FOUR

  MONSTERS and MISCHIEF

  Available October 2011

  1

  THE BULLY IMPOSTER

  When the final bell rang at Moon Hollow Middle School one afternoon in late March, four friends raced from their classrooms, not knowing that a surprise awaited them. In separate parts of the hallway, Sylvester, Rosie, Woodrow, and Viola each opened their locker doors. They were too distracted by the pieces of folded notebook paper that fell at their feet to notice who was watching them.

  They retrieved the papers and unfolded them. Inside, written in thick black ink in the same messy handwriting, were the words: Meet me on the tennis courts in five minutes. Mickey. If someone had been listening very closely, he might have heard strange gasping sounds as four mouths collectively dropped open in shock.

  Mickey hadn’t signed his last name, but everyone already knew him. He spent most of his time making sure his classmates knew he was the school bully. And now, he was demanding that the four members of the Question Marks Mystery Club meet him in a secluded area around the corner of the building, where a rusted fence rose high above the cracked green surface of the so-called tennis courts. Where no one could see them from the street. It was a perfect location for an ambush.

  Making eye contact with one another, Sylvester, Rosie, Woodrow, and Viola noticed the pages in one another’s hands. Without exchanging any words, the four understood that they were all feeling the same thing.

  Fear.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Dan Poblocki is the author of The Stone Child and The Nightmarys. Like many writers, he’s had a long list of strange jobs. Dan has traveled New Jersey as a bathing suit salesman, played the role of Ichabod Crane in a national tour of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, wrangled the audience for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, sold snacks at The Lion King’s theater on Broadway, recommended books at Barnes & Noble, answered phones for Columbia University, and done research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Indent. He has never been a detective though, and after writing The Mysterious Four books, he thinks he might just give it a try.

  Visit the author at www.danpoblocki.com.

  Copyright

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Copyright © 2011 by Dan Poblocki

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, August 2011

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

  eISBN: 978-0-545-38943-3