Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 The next morning they met in front of the school before the first bus showed up. There were only a couple of cars in the teachers' parking lot. "I hope Mrs. Waters isn't late today" Josh said as they entered the school. "We need to get these

notes in the mailboxes before the teachers get here." They hurried along the silent hallway to the principal's office. Mrs. Waters was just taking off her coat. "Mr. Dillon isn't in yet," she said when the kids walked in. "We came to see you," Dink said. "Well, isn't that nice!" the secretary said, flipping a page on her calendar. "Goodness, where did March go already? Now, how can I help you kids?" Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose explained their idea. "You honestly think one of our teachers took that skeleton?" she asked. "We don't know," Dink said. "But the footprint looks like an adult's. Would you mind putting these in the right mailboxes?" He handed Mrs. Waters the eight notes they'd printed. She read one and smiled. "Of course I will," she said. "And I wish you luck finding Mr. Bones. I know Mr. Dillon will be happy to have this mystery solved!"

Mrs. Waters stood up, walked to the teachers' mailboxes, and placed the notes in eight different slots. The kids thanked her and left. Just then the bell rang, and students began rushing through the front door. They walked to their room and found Mrs. Eagle at her desk. "My, my, look who's eager to get started!" she said. Once more, the kids explained about the footprint, the eight notes, and their plan for finding the person who took the school skeleton. They showed her Josh's drawing of the footprint. "And you plan to ask each teacher if you can measure his or her feet?" Mrs. Eagle asked, grinning. "That footprint is our only clue," Ruth Rose said. "We want our class to win the tickets," Josh said. Mrs. Eagle smiled. "All right, if the teachers agree, you three may leave the room later," she

said. The morning seemed to last forever. Dink kept glancing at the clock, and Josh kept sighing and fidgeting at his desk. Finally, during math, a fifth grader came into the room and handed Mrs. Eagle a stack of papers. She looked through the stack, then called Dink up to her desk. "Here are your responses," she whispered. "All eight have checked YES. You might as well go now, and good luck!" Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose quietly left the room. They brought with them eight sheets of drawing paper, a ruler, Josh's footprint sketch, and Ruth Rose's list of teachers' names. "Guys, I just thought of something," Ruth Rose said in the hallway. "Whoever made that footprint yesterday might be wearing different shoes today." "You're right," Dink said. "So anyone whose shoe is about the right size, we'll ask if they wore the same shoes yesterday"

They started walking down the hall. On one classroom door, someone had hung a sign. It said: COME HOME, MR. BONES. WE MISS YOU! There was a drawing of a skeleton under the words. Three girls wearing skeleton masks scampered down the hallway. "Mr. Bones, where are you?" one of the girls said. The other two laughed at their friend. Outside the fifth-grade room, a paper skeleton hung from the ceiling. "The whole school is looking for the skeleton," Josh muttered. "We have to find it first!" "Then we'd better get going," Ruth Rose said. "Maybe no one else knows about the footprint yet." First on her list was Miss Alubicki, the kindergarten teacher. They showed her Josh's drawing and asked if she would let them trace her left foot. "Of course," Miss Alubicki said, smiling. "But I can already tell you, that foot is a lot bigger than mine." The little kids giggled as Josh traced around her foot on a piece of paper. Outside in the hall, Josh compared it with his drawing.

"It's definitely not her," he said. "Miss Alubicki's foot is only seven inches long." Ruth Rose drew a big X in front of Miss Alubicki's name on her list. After the name she wrote: TOO SMALL. They went next door and peeked into Mr. Diodato's first-grade class. The tall teacher was writing at the chalkboard: WHO STOLE THE SCHOOL SKELETON? Dink knocked, and Mr. Diodato looked up. "We have visitors, class," he said, grinning. While Josh traced Mr. D.'s sneaker onto a sheet of paper, the first graders gathered around.