by Penny Warner
Quinn reached inside the hole in the dirt and pulled out the envelope. He removed the papers he’d hidden inside just before Jezebel and Jasper had arrived.
“Here,” he said, handing the contents to Sergeant Price. “Mr. Skelton is planning to leave all his money to the SPCA—to take care of his cats. I guess his relatives don’t like animals that much. They wanted the money for themselves.”
“What money?” Cody’s mom asked. “I thought the man was practically destitute.”
“Not really.” Cody smiled at her mom. “The will says he has more than a hundred thousand dollars.”
The cops looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“Dudes…I mean, officers,” Luke said. “Those relatives of his were the ones who burned down Skeleton Man’s house. They tried to kill him.”
Cody’s breath caught in her throat. She suddenly remembered something Jezebel had said on the way to the cave:
“It’s time for him to go. We’re just trying to help him get there a little faster.”
Maybe they aren’t finished yet, Cody thought. “Come on!”
“What is it, Cody?” her mom asked.
“We’ve got to get to the hospital,” Cody insisted. “Mr. Skelton may be in trouble!”
“What kind of trouble?” Cody’s mom asked.
“Jezebel and Jasper said they were going to help Mr. Skelton…die.”
With lights and sirens blaring, the squad car containing two officers and four kids sped to Berkeley General Hospital, where Jake Skelton had been taken. When they arrived, ten minutes later, they rushed from the car and through the automatic front doors, to the front desk. Sergeant Price asked a volunteer for Skelton’s room and was given a number. As he headed down the hall, the Code Busters started after him.
“Wait! You kids can’t go in there,” said a nearby nurse, waving a clipboard at them. “No kids allowed until visiting hours.”
Cody’s mom turned to the woman, her hand pointing to her badge. Cody thought her mom looked cool and was proud of her.
“They’re with us,” she said, speaking with authority. The nurse glanced at Lieutenant Jones’s badge and nodded reluctantly. The kids stifled grins as they caught up with Sergeant Price.
The sergeant opened the door to Jake Skelton’s room and stuck his head inside. Cody couldn’t see with Sergeant Price blocking the door.
Then she heard, “Hold it right there!”
Sergeant Price pushed the door wide open and marched in.
Cody and her friends rushed inside, but Cody froze as she took in the situation. Hovering over a frail old man were Jasper and Jezebel. Jezebel’s arms and legs were covered with scratches.
“What the heck is going on?” Jasper asked, standing up straight and pulling his hands away from Jake Skelton. He held a sheet of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. “This is a private room. You have no business—”
Cody’s mom flashed her badge at them. Jasper shut his mouth.
Cody took the paper from Jasper’s hand and read it aloud: “‘Last Will and Testament of Jake Skelton.’ This is it! The fake will. I think they are trying to force him to sign it!”
She looked at the old man lying in the bed. His eyes were closed. He wasn’t moving. Cody’s mom rang the emergency buzzer.
“Did they kill him?” M.E. squealed, then covered her mouth with her hands.
“You two, you’re under arrest,” Sergeant Price said to the couple.
“On what grounds?” Jezebel bellowed.
“We’ll start with suspicion of attempted murder,” Sergeant Price answered.
Jasper and Jezebel slowly raised their arms. Cody’s mom seized the bottle of pills Jezebel had been hiding in her tight fist.
“You have the right to remain silent,” Sergeant Price began, as he pulled out his handcuffs and cuffed Jezebel to Jasper. Jezebel winced in pain.
“You have the right—”
“We ain’t done nothing!” Jezebel screeched. “We were just visiting our dear sick cousin.”
Lieutenant Jones read the label on the medicine bottle. “These don’t look like vitamins,” she said. “Like the sergeant said, it looks more like attempted murder, not to mention arson, fraud, extortion, forgery …” She continued the list as Sergeant Price shoved the handcuffed pair through the door and into the hall. Cody heard Jezebel moan with each step down the corridor.
The kids turned their attention to Cody’s mom, who was holding Skeleton Man’s frail, mottled wrist. She appeared to be feeling for a pulse.
Where is that nurse?Cody thought, her heart racing.
Then, to her amazement, she saw one of Skeleton Man’s eyes flutter open.
Bloodshot, the eye glanced around the room.
Cody’s mom held his hand. “Your so-called cousins are gone, Mr. Skelton. In fact, they’ve been arrested. The fire department found evidence of arson at your home. They’ll probably be charged with setting fire to your house. And it looks like we caught them trying to forge your name to a fraudulent will.” She didn’t mention the bottle of pills Jezebel had had hidden in her hand.
Jake Skelton’s eye narrowed. Cody wondered if he understood what her mother had said.
Then one side of his mouth opened. It looked to Cody like he was trying to say something.
“Is he all right?” Cody whispered to her mother. “Can’t he talk?”
“No, dear,” Cody’s mom said softly. “He had a stroke several months ago.”
“What’s a stroke?” M.E. asked.
Cody’s mom took a deep breath. “A stroke is like a brain attack. It happens when an artery is blocked, usually by a blood clot or a broken blood vessel. Sometimes, when this happens, it affects brain cells. It can impair motor skills, usually on one side of the body. Mr. Skelton’s left arm and leg aren’t working properly, and his speech is affected.”
“Is he going to …?” M.E. whispered. She seemed unable to say the word die.
“Not necessarily, dear. But he’s been doing physical therapy to help improve his movement. The fire didn’t help any.”
“Will he be able to talk again?” Cody asked.
“Hopefully, with speech therapy.”
Cody’s mom turned to the man lying in bed. “How are you feeling, Mr. Skelton?”
To Cody’s surprise, he lifted his right hand and gave a thumbs-up. The right side of his face lifted into a half grin.
“Mr. Skelton, these kids here found your will,” Cody’s mom said. “Your life—and your money— are safe, thanks to them.”
Jake Skelton raised his thumb again.
“And so is your cat—Punkin. I mean, Francis Scott,” Cody added. “I’m going to take care of him until you get well.” She looked at her mom. Lieutenant Jones nodded. “The rest are at the SPCA, safe and sound.”
Jake Skelton eyed Cody, then crooked his right index finger at her, signaling her to come closer.
Cody stepped forward nervously. She hadn’t been around old people much. And never around a person who was half paralyzed.
Jake Skelton reached out his right hand, and she took it. His hand felt dry, cool, and bony, but there was warmth in his gentle squeeze. Cody smiled at him.
“I’m Cody. I live across the street from you.” She turned to the other Code Busters and introduced them one by one. “This is Quinn—he’s your next-door neighbor.”
Quinn took off his sunglasses and gave a wave. Jake eyed him.
“This is Luke, and that’s MariaElena. We call her
M.E. We formed the Code Busters Club because we like to solve puzzles and decipher codes. That’s how we finally figured out that you were in trouble, and where your will was hidden.”
Jake Skelton gave another half smile. The rest of his face didn’t move.
“I have a question.” Quinn stepped closer and rubbed his hair nervously. “Did you used to work for the CIA? ’Cause that’s what I want to do when I grow up.”
The old man shook his head and frowned with on
e eyebrow. Then he lifted his good hand and began to gesture.
“He’s trying to tell us something,” Quinn said to the others.
They watched intently as Jake Skelton bent his hand into a claw shape and pretended to scratch the air. Cody paid close attention. Having used sign language with her deaf sister, she was getting good at reading facial expressions and body language.
“Do you have an itch?” M.E. asked, moving closer. Jake Skelton shook his head. Then he put his right hand up to his temple and flapped it.
“Ear?” Luke asked.
He shook his head again. Finally, he moved his hand next to his mouth, and opened and closed his hand.
“Talk?” Quinn guessed.
Jake Skelton closed his eyes. Cody knew they weren’t getting it. She thought for a moment, then said, “Obviously, he’s trying to tell us something. All we have to do is decode his gestures. First he made a scratching gesture. Like a cat. The second was like an ear, but instead of pointing to his ear, he held his hand up, like the ear was standing up. Kind of like a horse’s ear. And the third thing sort of looked like a duck’s bill, opening and closing.”
One of Jake Skelton’s eyes widened. A tear glistened.
“A cat. A horse. A duck. So what do they all have in common? They’re all animals.” Cody looked at Jake Skelton.
Skelton nodded and half smiled. “Did you work with animals?” Quinn asked. “Like in the zoo or circus or something?”
Skelton shook his head. Then he raised his right arm, pointed his finger, and brought it over to his motionless left arm.
“It looks like he’s giving himself a shot,” Quinn
said, looking at the others. “Do you need some medicine?” Luke asked. Jake Skelton shook his head. “Do you need a doctor?” M.E. asked. Jake Skelton shook his head again. Then he
pointed to himself. Cody lit up. “Were you a doctor?” He nodded. “An animal doctor? A vet?” she asked. Jake Skelton raised a thumbs-up.
“Cool! No wonder you had so many cats,” M.E. said.
At that moment, the nurse entered the room and gave them all a “time’s up” look.
“We’d better be going, kids,” Cody’s mom said. “Dr. Skelton needs his rest.”
The Code Busters nodded. Each one patted the old man on his right arm. Cody thought how much their view of Skeleton Man—Dr. Skelton— had changed in such a short time. Instead of being the scary hermit with too many cats and weird sculptures who kept to himself, he was actually a retired veterinarian who loved animals and did metal art. They just hadn’t taken the time to get to know him. And after his stroke, he became more reclusive.
“I’ve got an idea,” Cody said, then turned to Skeleton Man. “You’re really good at making gestures, Dr. Skelton. I’m teaching my friends sign language. How about we come and show you some signs so you can communicate until your speech comes back?”
Jake Skelton gave a half grin. He started to say something, then tears filled his eyes again.
Cody moved closer. “Here. I’ll teach you your first sign.” She thought about teaching him the sign for “friend,” but that would take two hands. “I know…do this.” She pulled some imaginary whiskers from the side of her face. “That’s ‘cat,’ in American Sign Language. After all, a cat was the key to this whole puzzle.”
Jake Skelton repeated the sign with his bony fingers.
“Tomorrow we’ll teach you the alphabet. Then you’ll be able to say anything you want. And then maybe you can tell us how you knew we could help you when you wrote those semaphores on your window.”
Chapter 17
That was really nice of you kids, offering to teach Dr. Skelton sign language,” Cody’s mom said later that night over spaghetti dinner. She’d invited the rest of the Code Busters to join them.
“Uttle bah fuffle,” Quinn said. Cody figured that was mouth-full-of-garlic-bread code for “It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah,” she said, “and I get to take care of Punkin until Dr. Skelton gets out of the hospital. I just wish I could keep him.”
“Well, guys,” Cody’s mom said. “I got a call from Dr. Skelton’s caregiver while you guys were hauling your stuff down from the old clubhouse.”
The four looked at one another. Cody’s fork hung in midair. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“Is he okay?” Cody asked.
“Oh yes, he’s doing well. But he had a message for you all. He typed it on a laptop the caregiver brought him. She read his message to me over the phone.”
“What did it say?” Luke asked.
“He said he’s going to use some of his money to help you build a new clubhouse. Once he learned about everything you guys did to help him, he wanted to do something to thank you.”
“Whoa!” Quinn said. “That’s awesome. A brand-new clubhouse.”
M.E. clapped. “That’s totally cool!” Cody looked at Luke. To her surprise, Luke frowned. “What’s wrong, Luke?” Cody asked. “You want a new clubhouse, don’t you?”
“Sure, of course. But there’s something I still don’t get. We thought he worked for the CIA, but he turned out to be a vet. So what about all those puzzles? And that certificate on the wall? ’Sup with that?”
“Oh, I finally figured that out,” Quinn said. “The letters on that certificate were supposed to say SPCA, not CIA. He got them for rescuing cats. The one we found was burned, except for a couple of letters—CA. We just read it wrong.”
“But what about the I? I know I saw C I A,” Luke insisted.
“It was a smudge—soot from the fire. I thought the I was a little odd at the time because it didn’t look exactly like the other letters.”
“Dude, nothing in this case was what it seemed,” Luke said, shaking his head.
“So why did he create all those puzzles?” M.E. asked.
“I know the answer to that,” Cody’s mom spoke up. “He explained it to the caregiver who read his note to me. He knew his distant cousins, Jasper and Jezebel, would come after his money someday. They were always asking him about it. So he hid the will and left coded messages leading to its location. He figured Jasper and Jezebel were not smart enough to figure out the puzzles. And he knew you guys were into puzzles and codes. He heard you talking in Quinn’s yard and found out about your club. Remember you said he was often watching you?”
“He’s pretty amazing.” Cody took her plate to the kitchen. The other three did the same.
“Did you hear anything about Matt the Brat?” Quinn asked Cody’s mom.
“The sergeant and I went over there and talked to him and his parents. He said he had nothing to do with destroying the clubhouse, except that he threw a rock at it.”
“Why would he do that?” Cody asked.
“Maybe he was jealous of you guys. Maybe he really wants to belong to your club and just doesn’t know how to ask.”
Cody thought about her mom’s words. She was probably right, but Cody still didn’t want him in the club. Maybe they could include him in another way. She’d have to think about it. He could be so annoying!
“Listen, you guys, go do your homework,” Cody’s mom said. “I’ll do these dishes. How about some brownies later?”
Cody remembered the brownies that went flying around the cafeteria earlier and grimaced. “Thanks, Mom, but could we have ice cream instead?”
Cody led her friends upstairs to her bedroom. She sat at her desk while Luke and Quinn flopped on the bed and M.E. wiggled into a beanbag chair. She turned on her computer to check her IMs, texts, and e-mail messages before starting her math homework. It had been hours since she’d last checked, and she was expecting a note from her dad about Jake Skelton’s will.
She signed on, clicked “Mail,” and watched as a dozen messages loaded into her file. The first few were spam, which she quickly deleted. The next two were answers to some homework questions she’d requested from the “Homework Help” site. Three more came from newsgroups she belonged to—SignChat, PuzzlePlace, and My
steryMansion. The last message was from her dad.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subj: Skelton’s Will
Message: Hi Dakota. It’s ur dad here. Y R U on the computer instead of doing ur homework??? JK!!;)
Cody smiled at her dad’s attempt to use messaging code before she read on.
Skelton’s will is authentic. I’ll keep it here in a safe at my office until I see him tomorrow. Nice work, helping him out like that. You and the Code Busters, right?
TTUL8R. Love, Dad
Cody gave a sigh of relief at the news. Case closed. She pulled up the last message and caught her breath. The little hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she scanned the cryptic message.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Treasure Hunt
Message:
In darkness yon,
A shrouded night covers island mists.
those hallowed, sunken, tiredsouls,
Lively ghosts hope you’ll see…
Alone a local treasure.
—Z
Cody stared at her computer screen. Was this supposed to be some kind of poem from someone who called himself TheShadow? If it was, it made no sense. “Hey, guys. Did one of you send this to me?” The others looked at the screen and shook their heads.
“It looks like an old-fashioned poem. What does it mean?” M.E. asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s from someone called the Shadow.”
“Maybe it’s a code,” Quinn said. “See? Some of the letters are in bold.”
Cody highlighted the message and copied it to a new document. Then she removed all the letters that weren’t in bold, leaving:
I dare y ou t ov is it
The ha un ted
Li ght ho u se
on a lca tra
Z
“Try sounding it out,” Luke said, then began with “I dare… ”
Moments later he had translated the coded poem.