It was time to act.
Mila, Joey, Danika, and I stayed after class to have a little talk with our teacher.
“Tell me, Ms. Gleason,” I said. “What do you think about … MAYONNAISE?”
“Excuse me?”
“Some people like eating it,” I said. “What about you?”
“I, um…” She blinked a few times. “It’s fine. I like it.”
“Aha!” I said. I made a note in my detective journal:
“How about pickles? Do they tickle your fancy?” I asked.
“Jigsaw, what’s this all about?” she asked.
I placed the palms of my hands on her desk. I leaned in. “I’m working a case. You might be the key.”
“Oh dear.” Ms. Gleason brought a hand to her mouth. “This sounds serious.”
Mila pushed forward. She handed the first note to Ms. Gleason. “Does that look familiar?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Where did you find this?”
“In a book,” Joey said.
Danika nodded. “Yeah, a book.”
“We want to know what’s going on,” I said. “Who is Starmann? Why did you draw that picture?”
“Yeah,” Joey said. “And are little green aliens coming to take over the planet?”
We all stopped to look at Joey.
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “I got excited.”
Ms. Gleason smiled. “I can’t fool you guys. It’s about our special visitor tomorrow. From far, far away.”
“May I ask who?” I said.
“You may ask, but I’m not telling. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Ms. Gleason said.
We heard a man’s voice down the hall. “Last call for buses. Everybody out!”
“Yikes!” Danika cried. We raced out of there lickety-split.
Chapter
10
A Surprise Visit
On Friday afternoon, everyone from grades 1 to 3 squished into the library. We buzzed with excitement. We faced the screen. Our librarian, Mrs. Ventura, tapped on the computer. Suddenly, a smiling face appeared on the screen.
A gasp filled the room.
We were meeting a real live astronaut.
“Hello, boys and girls!” the astronaut said.
I heard Lucy whisper, “Major Starmann is a woman.”
“And she looks like my mom,” Danika said.
“Greetings, Major Starmann. We are so excited,” Ms. Gleason gushed. “Thank you for taking time out to Skype with our students. Most of us have never met an astronaut before. I know I’m thrilled. We have so many questions.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Major Starmann said. “I love meeting young students.”
The visit flew by. Major Doreen Starmann had been an astronaut for fifteen years. She told us about floating in space—she called it “zero gravity”—and about her time living in the space station.
Toward the end, Stringbean asked, “How do you take baths in space?”
“There are no showers or bathtubs,” Major Starmann explained. “In the morning, we squeeze a few drops of water from a tube into a towel. That’s how we wash off.”
A third grader asked about going to the bathroom.
“I knew somebody would ask that!” Major Starmann laughed. And with a wink she said, “Bathrooms are private—just like on earth. Next question?”
“How do you sleep in space?” someone asked.
Major Starmann said that all astronauts have their own rooms, called crew quarters. They’re the size of a small closet. “I keep photos of my family in there. Personal things. It’s too small for a bed. Remember, there’s no gravity. We don’t have to lie down. We sleep in sleeping bags tied to the wall.”
“Oh my, I don’t know if I could get used to that,” Ms. Gleason said. She glanced at the wall clock. “We are almost out of time. Who has a final question?”
I wanted to ask about aliens. I wanted to ask, Is there life in outer space? But I felt shy and embarrassed. It was easier to stay silent.
Ms. Gleason nodded at Mila. “Is it hard to become an astronaut?” Mila wondered.
“Oh yes,” Major Starmann said, laughing. “I am very lucky to have this wonderful job. But I also worked very, very hard in school. That’s my advice—especially for you girls out there. The world needs more women scientists. Study hard. Dream big. Reach for the stars. Who knows, you just might get there!”
Walking back to class, Mila and I caught up with Joey. “That was awesome!” he exclaimed.
Mila agreed. “Reach for the stars. I liked that.”
“Dream big,” Joey said. “Just like I dreamed about becoming a detective. It came true.”
I put a hand on Joey’s shoulder. “Well, that closes the case. Too bad. No little green men from Mars.”
“I owe you guys,” Joey said. He started to reach into his pocket. I didn’t want to see what he might pull out.
“No charge,” I quickly said. “Besides, we couldn’t have solved it without your help.”
“For real?” Joey asked.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“Are you sure you don’t want any cheese?” Joey offered.
“Totally!” Mila and I said at once.
We laughed all the way back to room 201.
Chapter
11
The Stars Above
It was Friday night. My mother was out with friends. My father sat in a chair, staring at his laptop. The case was closed. My puzzle was finished. There was nothing to do. I lay on the carpet with Rags. And sighed.
My father snapped the computer shut. “What’s the matter, Jigsaw? You seem blue.”
“I don’t know. I guess I never really solved the mystery,” I said.
He didn’t understand.
“Up there.” I pointed to the ceiling. “In space. Are we alone?”
He thought for a moment, tapping a finger against his lips. “Give me five minutes,” he said. “Do me a favor, Jigsaw. See if Grams wants to come for a ride?”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To look for little green creatures from outer space,” he said.
“But it’s almost bedtime.”
“Up to you,” he replied.
Fifteen minutes later, Grams, my father, and I walked out behind the high school. It was dark. I held the flashlight. My father walked behind me, with Grams at his elbow. “Watch your step, Mom,” he said.
“We’re here,” he announced.
I looked around. The flashlight beam sliced through the darkness.
“Turn it off, Jigsaw,” he said.
The world went black.
It was as dark as a closet.
“So?” I asked.
“Look up,” Grams said.
The night sky was thick with stars. They seemed closer than ever before.
“If you want to go stargazing, you have to get away from the lights,” my father said.
“It reminds me of a famous poem by Walt Whitman,” Grams said. “When he gazes in perfect silence at the stars.”
My father reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out two small cans, attached by a string. “Let’s try an experiment,” he said.
He told me to hold a can to my ear.
“Listen very carefully,” he said. “Maybe we’ll hear aliens.”
He held the other can up to the sky.
“Well, any news?” Grams asked.
“Of course not,” I said. “It’s just string and a tin can. How am I going to hear aliens with this?”
“That’s the point, Jigsaw. Every year, scientists learn more. They watch the stars with powerful telescopes. They listen for signals. And every year, our machines improve,” my father said. “If there’s life up there, someday we might hear it. But first we might need to invent a really good telephone!”
“Phone home,” I said in my scratchy E.T. voice.
My father pointed a crooked finger to the sky. “Home,” he said.
We both laughed.
“Oh, hush, you two,” Grams said. “Just look at the stars.”
And so we did.
We stood in an open field.
In the dark of night.
And gazed at the stars.
In perfect silence.
“That’s the real mystery, Jigsaw,” my father said. “Are we alone in the universe? We don’t know yet. It’s a mystery that can’t be solved—even by the best detectives.”
“Not yet,” I said, gazing into the night sky. “Not yet.”
After a while, we headed to the car.
My father led the way. He took the flashlight.
I walked with Grams.
She held my elbow.
We went slowly.
“Careful,” I said.
And together we headed back.
Home.
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Read more Jigsaw Jones Mysteries by James Preller
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The Case of the Mummy Mystery
The Case of the Best Pet Ever
The Case of the Buried Treasure
The Case of the Disappearing Dinosaur
The Case of the Million-Dollar Mystery
About the Author
James Preller is the author of numerous books, including the acclaimed novels The Fall, Bystander, and Six Innings, and the Scary Tales and Jigsaw Jones series. He travels throughout the country visiting classrooms and book festivals. He lives in Delmar, New York, with his wife and their children. Visit him at jamespreller.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1 A Knock on the Door
Chapter 2 One Small Problem
Chapter 3 The First Clue
Chapter 4 The Little Free Library
Chapter 5 Room 201
Chapter 6 Our Solar System
Chapter 7 The Stakeout
Chapter 8 A Little Help from My Friends
Chapter 9 Working the Case
Chapter 10 A Surprise Visit
Chapter 11 The Stars Above
Other Books By James Preller
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2017 by James Preller. Illustrations copyright © 2017 by R. W. Alley.
A Feiwel and Friends Book
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
mackids.com
All rights reserved.
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].
First hardcover edition 2017
First paperback edition 2017
eBook edition August 2017
eISBN 978-1-250-11016-9
The Case from Outer Space Page 3