The Secret of the Skeleton Key

by Penny Warner

  Just to make sure, she’d look over her new words at the library—twice—and again later that night when she was in bed. But first, there was the matter of supposedly hidden money in a supposedly haunted house where a supposedly crazy man lived.

  And that note warning them to stay away.

  Chapter 7

  The neighborhood branch of the Berkeley Community Library looked like a Gothic castle that should have held ghosts and spirits rather than books and magazines. According to a sign by the heavy front doors, the three-story structure was more than a hundred years old. Cody loved the place, especially the maze of musty rooms, crowded shelves, and hidden stacks that spread throughout the building.

  The Code Busters often met at the library after school, to do their homework and research codes. Each time they met at a different location there. The first person to arrive wrote a math code, signed it “Dewey,” and stuck it on the library bulletin board. The rest of the Code Busters had to solve the code—based on the Dewey Decimal System—to determine their meeting place. Once the kids had the correct answer, they knew where to go.

  Quinn led the way to the bulletin board and quickly spotted the message. It read: “Math Question of the Day: 5 X 5 + 6 X 6 + 9 X 9 + 400 − 37 = ???”

  Code Buster’s Solution found on p. 206.

  “Easy one,” Quinn said. “It’s on the second floor.” Cody followed him up the stairs and through a labyrinth of bookshelves until they reached the right row. At the end of the row they found Luke at a small table reading a copy of Goofyfoot, his favorite skateboarding magazine. He often talked about becoming a professional skater—or a stunt-man. Cody had no doubt he would succeed at either one. Luke was strong, athletic, and fearless. He looked up and grinned at Cody.

  “Hey,” he said, rolling up the magazine. “About time.”

  Cody smiled back. She felt her cheeks burning.

  Quinn, oblivious to the interaction between Cody and Luke, glanced around to make sure the area was clear of any potential spies. Once he determined the coast was clear, he plopped into a stiff wooden chair.

  Cody slid into the chair next to Quinn, opposite Luke, and opened her backpack. She pulled out her spelling words along with her Case Files Codebook, figuring she’d study a little until M.E. arrived and the meeting officially started. But before she could look at the first word on the list, her friend appeared from the stacks.

  “Hey, guys,” M.E. said, sitting next to Luke. She’d exchanged her school outfit for blue overalls, a stretchy pink top studded with rhinestones, and pink bunny slippers. There was nothing M.E. wouldn’t wear—including pajama bottoms. Cody often wished she had the nerve to dress like M.E., but it just wasn’t her style.

  Before officially beginning the meeting, the Code Busters gave the secret greeting: they each made a fist and touched their thumbnails to their lips— the American Sign Language sign for “secret.”

  “’Sup, dude?” Luke asked Quinn, apparently eager to get the meeting started. A man of action, Cody thought.

  Quinn leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice. “Okay, first we need a plan to find the treasure at Skeleton Man’s house.”

  “How do you know there really is a treasure?” M.E. asked, twisting her long black hair up with a scrunchy. “If he’s so rich, why hasn’t he fixed up his house or built a swimming pool or bought a race car or something?”

  “Because he’s crazy,” Quinn said, tapping his forehead. “I mean, he has all those weird statues in his yard. And, like, a hundred cats.”

  Cody rolled her eyes at the common rumor about Skeleton Man’s so-called menagerie. “No, he doesn’t. I told you. He only has eleven. I counted them once.” She thought about Punkin and bit her lip. Where was her cat?

  “But what’s going to happen to them with Skeleton Man gone?” M.E. asked. M.E.’s bedroom was like a mini-zoo. She had a bird, a guinea pig, a white rat, and a turtle. Cody envied her, but with Tana’s allergies, about all she could own was a turtle.

  “My mom called the SPCA,” Quinn said. “They’re going to come and get the cats.”

  Not Punkin!Cody thought. They can’t take my cat away!

  “What’s SPCA?” Luke asked. “Some kind of code?”

  “An acronym, doofus,” M.E. said. “The letters stand for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They take care of sick and abandoned cats and dogs.”

  “That’s cool,” Luke said. “I had a dog, back in N’awlins… ” He drifted off without finishing his sentence. Cody wondered if the dog had been lost in the flood.

  “Anyway,” Quinn interrupted, “back to the plan. You know those two strangers who were over at Skeleton Man’s house? My mom talked to them and found out they’re his relatives. At least, that’s what they said.”

  “She talked to them?” Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Yeah, when she saw them hanging around after the fire, she went over to ask about Skeleton Man.”

  “Wait a minute. Those two were at his house— after the fire?” Cody hadn’t seen them and thought that they were gone by the time the house was in flames. “What else did they say?”

  “They told my mom they didn’t know anything yet about how Skeleton Man was doing,” Quinn said. “Which was kinda weird, if they were relatives. But then they changed the subject and started asking my mom a bunch of questions.”

  “Like wh— ” Cody said.

  Before she could finish her question, she glimpsed a shadow moving behind one of the magazine racks. She held up her hand—the scuba diving sign for “stop!” Then she finger-spelled the letters “s-py” and pointed in the direction of the movement.

  Someone was lurking in the stacks—and listening in.

  Chapter 8

  Cody eased out of her chair and moved as stealthily as a mountain lion to the magazine rack. After taking a breath, she peered over the top.

  An older woman stood leafing through a book on Berkeley architecture.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. Her imagination was working overtime.

  With a last glance around, she returned to the table. She motioned the others to keep their voices down.

  “So…what did your mom find out, Quinn?”

  M.E. whispered.

  “Well, the big woman asked if Mom knew anything about a will,” Quinn said.

  M.E. blinked. “What did she say?”

  Quinn shook his head. “She told her no, but she thought it was a weird question for relatives to ask.”

  Luke sat up. “Then there must be a will.”

  Cody nodded, then checked her watch and quickly gathered her things. “I have to get back, Quinn. My mom will kill me if I’m late. Let’s find your mom.”

  “Wait, we haven’t made a plan yet,” Quinn said. “If Luke’s right, if there is a will, maybe it’s hidden in a safe somewhere in his house. Maybe there’s cash, too, or something valuable. He used to be a gold prospector, remember? Maybe he has a pile of gold buried in the backyard or hidden in the attic…or in the basement. I think that’s why those two snoops suddenly showed up—to find his treasure.”

  “It is kind of weird that the house suddenly caught on fire after the cousins arrived,” Luke added, putting the word cousins in finger quotes. “I say we check it out.”

  “I agree,” Quinn said. “Let’s find whatever it is, before those guys do!”

  M.E. frowned. “Like, how are we going to do that? There’s no way I’m going to snoop around a burned-up haunted house at night. First of all, it’s dark out, so we wouldn’t find anything without some light. Second, if I get caught sneaking out, I’ll be grounded until I graduate. And third, we don’t even know if there is anything to find.”

  Quinn hushed her and looked around to see if anyone had overheard M.E.’s rant. Just in case someone was listening in, he said the key words in double Dutch. “Nag-ot to-nag-ite. To-mag-orrag-ow.”

  Code Buster’s Solution found on p. 206.

  M.E. shrugged. “But even if we find somethi
ng, it’s not ours. So what’s the point? Besides, it’s dangerous. The roof might cave in on us. We might get trapped. The fire might start up again.”

  Cody knew M.E. was not the bravest girl on the planet. But she had a point—in fact, several points. They needed to make sure the place was safe enough to explore before they went snooping around inside.

  “It’s not going to cave in,” Quinn insisted. “I heard the fire marshal say that to the TV reporter. But even if it does cave in, we’ll all be there to help each other. And it’s not going to catch on fire again, ’cause it’s totally water-soaked.”

  Cody spoke up. “I suppose if we found anything, we could make sure it gets back to Skeleton Man and not those creepy so-called relatives of his.”

  “And we might get a reward,” Luke added. “Then we could really fix up the clubhouse, buy some walkie-talkies, get some of those listening devices…. ”

  M.E. brightened. “I know! If we find the money, we could use it to save his cats. We could help build a cat sanctuary.”

  “Great idea!” Cody said, thinking about Punkin. She high-fived M.E.

  M.E.’s enthusiasm suddenly dimmed. “It could still be dangerous. What about that note we found, warning us to stay off his property?”

  “It was probably from Matt the Brat,” Luke said. “I’ll bet he followed us to the clubhouse and was listening in. I’m pretty sure it was his skull T-shirt I saw in the trees. He’s just trying to scare us off.”

  Cody smiled at Luke, then M.E. and Quinn. “Okay, I’m in.”

  “Me, too.” Luke stuck out his fist.

  M.E. shrugged and met his fist. Quinn and Cody followed.

  Cody checked her watch again and stood. “I’ve really got to go, or I’ll never be let out again. My mom will lock me up and throw away the key, without a chance for parole, even with my dad defending me. So…what time tomorrow? After school?”

  “No, not in broad daylight,” Quinn said. “I was thinking oh–six hundred tomorrow morning. There won’t be many people up at that hour to see us. And we’ll have plenty of time before school starts.”

  As the Code Busters Club gang headed for the stairs, Cody took one last look around, remembering that woman reading the book about Berkeley, but she saw nothing but shadows. Pushing through the heavy front door, Cody bumped into a large woman in a flowery dress. The crash caused the woman to drop an armload of books.

  “Watch it, kid!” the woman snapped at Cody. She spun around and glared at the small man behind her. He quickly knelt down and gathered up the tumbled books.

  Cody was about to apologize when Quinn grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. She jerked her arm away from Quinn’s grasp. “What did you do that for? I was just going to say I was sorry, even though it wasn’t really my fault.”

  “That was them,” Quinn said.

  “Who?” Cody asked.

  “The two people we saw snooping around Skeleton Man’s house!”

  Chapter 9

  When the radio alarm clicked on at 0530 military time—5:30 a.m.—Cody jolted awake. Pulling off her puffy comforter that had completely covered her head, she gasped for air. Seconds earlier, she’d had the distinct sensation of being smothered by a large woman in a flowery dress.

  Lying back down, Cody glanced at the radio alarm. She slapped the Snooze button, shutting off Acne’s latest hit, “Everything Stinks.” Five thirty? It felt like the middle of the night. In fact, it was about the same time Skeleton Man’s house had caught on fire the previous morning.

  She glanced at her ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars shone brightly. It was way too early for school. In fact, it was too early for anything.

  Just before she drifted off again, her eyes sprang open again. She’d almost forgotten! The alarm hadn’t been set for school. It was for the clandestine meeting of the Code Busters. They were supposed to meet in front of Skeleton Man’s charred house at 0600 sharp.

  She had less than thirty minutes to get ready.

  Moving into hyper-speed, Cody ran through her usual morning rituals. By five minutes to six, she was dressed in a fresh pair of jeans, yellow tank top, flip-flops, and red hoodie, with her hair in a ponytail. Although there was a chill in the early morning air, the day would turn warm by noon—perfect for her cool-weather fashion statement.

  Holding a cinnamon bagel in one hand and her backpack in the other, Cody slipped out the door, closing it quietly. She’d left a note on the kitchen table to let her mother know she’d be meeting M.E. early so they could go over their spelling words before the test. It was partly true.

  The street was eerily deserted as Cody crossed over to Skeleton Man’s house; the area was lit only by the nearby streetlight. Moments later Quinn appeared, wearing a relativity is all relative T-shirt and khaki slacks, followed by Luke, who wore his usual skater shorts, oversize shirt, and Vans. M.E. arrived minutes later, in red tights, a tie-dyed skirt, and Ed Hardy tattoo-style T-shirt.

  “Yo,” Luke said, yawning. M.E. groaned loudly.

  “Quiet!”Quinn hissed. He glanced up and down the street. “We don’t want to get caught before we even start.”

  Cody turned to the gutted house. Even in the dawning morning light the place looked creepy. Outside, the wood was scorched black. Quinn walked into the backyard and waved the others to follow him. Once inside the yard, they ducked behind the fence.

  “We’ll go around the back where no one can see us,” Quinn whispered.

  As she passed by the front of the house, Cody caught sight of the yellow caution tape and a sign that read, no trespassing! keep out! danger! Uh-oh. They were probably doing something illegal. If her mother found out…

  “No one will see us here,” Quinn said, as the group collected at the back door of the house. The yard was filled with metal sculptures that blocked the view of most neighbors.

  “I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” M.E. said, gawking at the soot that had collected on her shoes. Cody noticed her own toes were black. Wearing flip-flops had not been the best idea.

  “We’ll just take a quick look around and see if there’s anything like a safe or a will or gold,” Quinn said. “Then we’re outta here, okay?”

  The others nodded. Quinn tried the doorknob. It came off in his hand. Luke stepped up, grasped the hole where the knob had once been, and yanked the door open. After brushing the soot off his hands, he stepped inside. Quinn, Cody, and M.E. followed him into the shell of the old man’s home.

  Cody wrinkled her nose at the lingering smell of charred wood. She scanned the interior, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and wonder. The interior walls appeared rippled and shiny, like a frozen waterfall. Everything was shiny black or shades of gray. Some of the furniture had melted, while other pieces were just charred remains, like bony skeletons. She stepped carefully to avoid broken glass, while trying to identify blackened objects that looked surreal.

  “Let’s split up,” Quinn said, checking his military watch. “We’ll make better time. M.E., you check the bathroom; Luke, the living room; and Cody, the kitchen. I’ll search the back room.”

  Cody tiptoed into the kitchen, hoping the floor didn’t cave in. She marveled at the spectacle in shimmering black. Although the walls, floor, and ceiling remained, they were scorched and ripply. The appliances had melted and blistered and were covered with a shiny black skin. The room looked as if all the color had been sucked out.

  After a few minutes of searching the gutted cupboards, Cody found one cupboard door intact. She pulled it open and spotted a bunch of medicine bottles, unharmed by the fire. Wow, Cody thought as she glanced at the unfamiliar labels. Skeleton Man must have been sick. She tried to pronounce the various medications: Citi-something, Tenecte-something, Cere-something.

  I wonder what was wrong with him, she thought.

  After making certain there was nothing left to explore in the kitchen, Cody returned to the front hallway and met up with the others. Quinn had a black smudge on his cheek and black finger
tips. Luke had handprints on his shorts from wiping his sooty hands. M.E.’s black-and-white athletic shoes were now just black. Cody would have to scrub her feet and her face and hands before going to school. “Find anything?” Quinn asked, wiping his forehead and leaving a black streak.

  Cody shook her head.

  “Nothing,” Luke said.

  “Me, neither,” added M.E. “I think we better go.” She glanced around nervously. “This whole place could fall down on us any minute. I saw it in a movie once.” She started for the back door.

  “Wait!” Quinn grabbed her arm with a filthy hand.

  “No, Quinn,” Cody said. “M.E.’s right. It’s too dangerous in here. And there’s no sign of anything like money or treasure. We checked everywhere but upstairs, and we can’t get up there because the staircase is too damaged for—”

  Cody stopped. Catching a movement in the corner of her eye, she turned to see Luke waving at them from the hallway.

  “Hey, look at this.” Luke was pointing at something on the wall.

  It appeared to be a framed certificate, scorched but not completely charred, hanging by a thin wire. Although the glass had shattered from the intense heat, the frame was intact and dangled crookedly on the wall. The certificate inside was severely singed, with only a few readable letters remaining in one undamaged corner.

  Quinn read the letters aloud.

  “Looks like…C I A… ”

  “Dude,” Luke said, blinking rapidly. “You think Skeleton Man was a spy for the Central Intelligence Agency?”