Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 "What did you call your story?" Josh asked Dink at their lockers. It was three o'clock, and everyone was going home. Dink grinned as he put on his jacket. "It's called 'Josh Stole the School Skeleton and Should Go to

Jail Forever,'" Dink said. "Ha-ha," Josh said. "Mine's called 'The Skeleton's Curse,'" Ruth Rose said. "Mr. Bones puts a curse on all boys with red hair." "You guys are a riot," Josh said as the kids walked toward the exit. Miss Shotsky poked her head out of her office and called to Dink, "How's that finger?" "Fine, thanks," Dink said, wiggling it at her. "Well, come on in and let me give you a couple of Band-Aids to take home." "What a baby," Josh whispered as the three kids piled into Miss Shotsky's office. "He's just jealous of your Batman Band-Aid," Ruth Rose said. "Yeah, right," Josh said. "Batman is out. Spider- Man rules the school!" The kids followed Miss Shotsky into the back room. While Dink got more Band-Aids, Josh and Ruth Rose examined the corner where Mr. Bones usually hung. "Look, there's a footprint in the dust!" Ruth Rose said.

Miss Shotsky and Dink walked over to look. "It looks like a sneaker," Dink said. "See the zigzag tread?" "It's the left foot," Josh pointed out. "An adult's size," Ruth Rose said. "Maybe the thief made this footprint when he lifted Mr. Bones off the hook," Dink said.

"Could be—it sure isn't my footprint," Miss Shotsky said, holding her left foot up. Her white nurse's shoe was shorter, and the tread on the bottom was different. "Were any teachers in here this morning?" Ruth Rose asked Miss Shotsky. "Not that I know of," the nurse answered. "After I got here, I went to the teachers' lounge to make coffee. I came back at eight o'clock, but I didn't even look at Mr. Bones." "So whoever took Mr. Bones had to do it between seven-thirty and eight, right?" asked Josh. Miss Shotsky shook her head. "Nope. I was in and out of here all morning, visiting the first- and second-grade rooms. Anyone could have taken Mr. Bones any time before ten o'clock, when Dink came in with his paper cut." Just then there was a soft knock on the examining room door. "Excuse me, but could I sweep this room now?" someone said.

It was Mr. Neater with his broom. "Hi, Tom, come on in," Miss Shotsky said. "Could I make a drawing of this footprint before you sweep?" Josh asked Mr. Neater. "Sure, I'll start in the front office," Mr. Neater said. "And we should measure it," Ruth Rose said. Miss Shotsky gave Josh a paper and pencil. She handed Ruth Rose a ruler. Josh made a quick sketch of the print. "Be sure to get that zigzag pattern," Dink said, peering over Josh's shoulder. Ruth Rose measured the footprint. "It's exactly eleven inches long," she said. Josh wrote ELEVEN INCHES next to the drawing. "So all we have to do is find out who wears this kind of shoe," Josh said, "and we find Mr. Bones and win the tickets to the aquarium." "But a lot of the teachers wear sneakers," Ruth Rose said. "How do we find the right one?" "I know who we can ask," Dink said. "Mrs. Waters. All the teachers walk past her desk to get their mail. Maybe she notices the shoes they wear."

"Let's hurry before she goes home," Ruth Rose said. Miss Shotsky opened a small door next to her filing cabinet. "Here's a shortcut to the principal's office," she said. Sure enough, when the kids walked through the door, there was Mrs. Waters at her desk. She was staring into her open purse. "Hi, kids," she said, closing her purse and putting it in a drawer. "Still here?" "We're trying to find the skeleton," Ruth Rose said. "We found a footprint on the floor where Mr. Bones hangs," Dink said. "It's a sneaker." "We think the guy who stole the skeleton made the print," Josh said. "If we find him, our room wins the tickets!" "Just one footprint? Maybe you should be looking for a one-legged thief," Mrs. Waters said with a twinkle in her eye.