by C.A. Lessard
only goes there at night when the wreckers are usually closed. His parents even built him an observatory, which is just a small platform with a telescope and a roof where he can sit and examine the stars all night.
“What’s up, Lunar?” asked Gwenda. “Other than you, I mean.”
“It’s no time for jokes, Gwen,” replied Lunar. “Last night someone stole The Great Bear Constellation, and I need your help to make sure they don’t do it again tonight.”
Lunar explained that The Great Bear is a bear-shaped group of stars that is only visible for two days every five years.
“I planned to study it all weekend,” continued Lunar. “I have a theory about why the stars are so seldom visible, and this is my chance to prove it. But when I went to my observatory last night, someone was working late at the wreckers. They had the yard lights on and they lit up the sky so much I couldn’t see the stars. Whoever turned those lights on stole my view of the constellation.”
“Why didn’t you ask them to turn the lights off?” suggested Gwenda.
“I did,” said Lunar. “I walked over and called to them from across the fence. I couldn’t see anyone, but someone shouted at me from inside a car. They said I should go take a moon walk before they set the dogs on me. I didn’t stick around to see if they meant it.”
“Do you know who they were?” asked Gwenda.
“I only heard their voice, but I’m sure it was Billy Blunt. He hangs out with Dirty W and works at the wreckers on weekends. He’s usually gone by the time I arrive. Like I say, he must have been working late. Tonight is my last chance to study the constellation and prove my theory. If I’m right, I’ll go down in astronomical history. You have to help me.”
Gwenda could see that Lunar was serious, but she didn’t know how she could help. “What can I do?” she asked.
“I need you to come to the wreckers with me. Billy won’t listen to me, but he might listen to you. You can explain the problems of light pollution. Maybe you can convince him to keep the lights off tonight.”
Gwenda knows that too much light at night is a waste of energy. It can spoil everyone’s view of the stars, disrupt people’s sleep, and confuse wildlife. She agreed to go with Lunar, and the two of them got on their bikes and began the ride out of town.
They arrived just past noon. Most of the yard was on lunch break.
“Where’s the car you say someone shouted at you from?” asked Gwenda.
Lunar pointed ahead of them. “It’s that blue jalopy over there.”
The pair moved toward the car, and Gwenda saw that the blue jalopy was pretty much stripped to its shell. The engine and battery were gone, and so were the tires and the wheels. There were two feet sticking out of one of the doors. The feet belonged to Billy Blunt. He wriggled out of the car and flashed a dirty look as he stood up. He was at least a head taller than Gwenda and Lunar, and he didn’t look like he wanted to be interrupted.
“I thought I told you to take a space-walk, moon boy,” he snarled at Lunar. “I’ve got work to do.”
“What are you working on?” asked Gwenda.
“Same thing I was doing last night,” snapped Billy. “I’m taking the interior out of this car. Someone else removes the mechanicals and electrics. I do the interiors. It’s a bigger job than it looks. We don’t just rip the stuff out. We remove it carefully so it can be re-used or recycled. We don’t waste stuff around here.”
“You were wasting last night,” shouted Lunar. “You were wasting energy lighting up the whole yard to work on one car, and you were wasting my chance to see the Great Bear Constellation.”
“If you couldn’t see the constellation, that’s your fault,” said Billy. “Maybe you need a new telescope. Don’t blame me. The yard lights were off all night.”
“If the lights were off, how could you see what you were doing?” asked Gwenda.
“Uh, well, I turned on the interior light of the car,” stammered Billy. “That much light wouldn’t steal anyone’s view of the stars. Now get out of here and let me finish my work.”
Lunar looked confused. “Maybe I was imagining things, Gwen,” he said. “Maybe the yard lights weren’t on. Maybe I need more sleep. Let’s go.”
“No,” answered Gwenda. “You were right, Lunar. The yard lights were on. Billy’s story has a missing connection.”
How was Gwenda sure Billy wasn’t telling the truth?
Re-read the story looking for clues or turn the page to read the solution.
Solution to The Case of the Stolen Stars
Billy said the yard lights were out and he could see what he was doing by turning on the interior light of the car. But when Gwenda and Lunar first approached the car, Gwenda noticed the engine and battery had already been removed.
In his story, Billy confirmed that someone else removed the car’s mechanicals and electrics before the car came to him.
With no engine or battery, the car’s interior light wouldn’t work.
When Gwenda pointed this out to him, Billy admitted he had turned on the yard lights. He had lied about it because his boss, Mr. Dawson, had warned him that the lights were wasteful, and told Billy he should setup a small spot-light if he was working alone at night. Billy hadn’t wanted to admit his mistake for fear of being fired.
He apologized to Lunar and promised to keep the lights off in the future.
Case 3:
The Case of the Blue-Haired Swimmer
Sandy “Flippers” Fernandez is the fastest swimmer in the seventh grade. In fact, he’s the fastest swimmer in any grade. Every year, Peak City competes against the nearby towns of Rosemont Cove and Bethany Harbour in the annual Tri-City Swim-Offs, and every year, Sandy brings home the hardware. He’s got more medals than a Four Star General. His coach, Bucky Night, says Sandy cuts through the water faster than a pack of sharks chasing the last goldfish at feeding time.
Sandy never stops thinking about ways to swim faster. Granola Graham has seen Sandy try all kinds of swim suits and swim caps to shave seconds off his time. He even watched Sandy shave the hair off his head right before a big race because he’d heard it would make him more aerodynamic in the water. But he’d never seen Sandy dye his hair blue before, and he couldn’t think why he would do it now.
Granola was playing Frisbee with Kenny Anderson on Burtynsky Beach when he spotted Sandy walking along the shore. Sandy never likes to be completely dry, so he was walking just on the edge of the surf to keep his feet wet. Sandy’s hair is blonde, but there was no doubt it was now sky blue. As Sandy got closer, Granola could see that the blue wasn’t just in Sandy’s hair. His eyebrows were blue and so was the tip of his nose. In fact, the blue seemed to be dripping from his ears, leaving a trail of small blue dots in the sand.
Sandy spotted Granola and headed straight for him.
“I heard you were here Granola,” he said. “I need your help.”
“Sure,” Graham answered, “but what’s with the hair? Did Bucky put too much chlorine in the pool again?”
“I suppose that’s funny,” Sandy replied, “but the truth isn’t. You’re not going to like what you hear, Graham.”
“Then you’d better tell me the whole story,” Graham suggested. “And don’t leave anything out. I can handle it.”
“Sure thing,” said Sandy. “But I’m starting to dry out. Do you mind if we stand in the water while we talk?”
The two boys walked into the surf as Sandy started his story.
“I was practicing swimming under-water in Platters Bay,” he explained. “The water’s deep, and there’s never too many other swimmers.”
As soon as Granola heard the name Platters Bay, he began to suspect what might be coming next. The Bay is at the end of the beach, and there are lots of reasons people don’t swim there. It’s close to the main road. The sand is rocky and hard to walk on. But the main reason people avoid it is an old broken-down lifeguard hut at one end of the bay. During the summer, that hut is the clubhouse of Dirty W and his gang of Tuffs.
“You guessed it,” answered Sandy. “At first they didn’t know I was in the bay. I was doing a new exercise Bucky taught me. I stay under-water as long as I can. Holding my breath increases my lung capacity. When I can’t stay under any longer, I push off the bottom and try to rise as high out of the water as possible. That part is for my leg strength.”
“It sounds good,” said Granola, “but what does this have to do with the Tuffs and your blue hair?”
“That part’s coming,” Sandy answered. “I’d been training at the east end of the bay to stay away from the old lifeguard hut, but I guess I was drifting west without knowing it. When I jumped up out of the water I was right in front of the Tuffs’ clubhouse. Then, bang, someone threw a bucket of blue paint right in my face. I ran out of the water, but with the paint in my eyes, I couldn’t see what I was doing. Whoever threw the paint was shouting at me and telling me to get off their beach. I could hear more voices coming my way and I thought I better scram. That’s when I started looking for you. What should we do Granola?”
“First we pay a visit to that lifeguard hut,” answered Graham.
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Sandy replied. “I’m not really in the mood for another face-full of paint.”
Granola turned to Kenny Anderson, who had been listening to the story.
“You can’t play Frisbee on your own, Kenny. Why don’t you join us?”
“Sure thing,” said Kenny. “The