35 Chapter 35

Chapter 35 "Entrance to Community Meeting Room B will only be granted to KYLE KEELEY, SIERRA RUSSELL, AKIMI HUGHES, and MIGUEL FERNANDEZ," said the soothing female voice in the ceiling after the four teammates had swiped their cards through the meeting room door's reader slot. "This makes sense," said Akimi. "We needed a place to organize all this material, put it on the walls, and draw a chart like the FBI always does on TV when they're tailing the mob."

"Stole the meeting room idea from me, eh, Keeley?" Charles Chiltington was standing in the doorway to Meeting Room A on the far side of the rotunda. "No," said Kyle. "We just needed someplace to throw our victory party after we win." "Not going to happen," Charles said smugly. "Must I remind you? I'm a Chiltington. We never lose." And he disappeared back into Meeting Room A. After Charles was gone, Kyle led his team into Meeting Room B. Miguel posted the bank blueprints he had found up on the walls while Sierra set up the Bibliomania game board on the conference table. "I'm glad this room won't let anybody else in," said Kyle. "And by 'anybody' you mean Charles Chiltington, right?" said Akimi. "Totally." Akimi grabbed a marker and wrote a neat outline on the dry-erase walls:

CLUES SO FAR DEFINITE CLUES 1) From the 000s room: Get to Know Your Local Library book 2) From the Art & Artifacts Room: Willy Wonka candy (rhymes with "Andy"). Find glass elevator? 3) From the 200s room: Bible verse—"Thou shalt not steal." PROBABLY CLUES BOOKS/AUTHORS ON THE BACKS OF LIBRARY CARDS #1 Miguel Fernandez Incident at Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert/ No, David! by David Shannon #2 Akimi Hughes

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss/Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger #3 UNKNOWN #4 Bridgette Wadge Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume/Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling #5 Sierra Russell The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder/ The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin #6 Yasmeen Smith-Snyder Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne/The Yak Who Yelled Yuck by Carol Pugliano-Martin #7 Sean Keegan

Olivia by Ian Falconer/Unreal! by Paul Jennings #8 UNKNOWN #9 Rose Vermette All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor/ Scat by Carl Hiaasen #10 Kayla Corson Anna to the Infinite Power by Mildred Ames/Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein #11 UNKNOWN #12 Kyle Keeley I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt/ The Napping House by Audrey Wood MAYBE CLUES???

Statues ringed around the dome: Thomas Wolfe, Booker T. Washington, Stephen Sondheim, George Orwell, Lewis Carroll, Dr. Seuss, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Pseudonymous Bosch, Todd Strasser "Wow," said Akimi, stepping back to study the walls. "What an incredible mess." "Yeah," said Kyle. "Okay, guys—there are eight more book rooms to explore and who knows how many more wild cards. Whose turn is it?" "Yours," said Sierra. Kyle flicked the spinner. "Green. The five hundreds. Science." He pulled the first green card from the deck. " 'Four and twenty were once in a pie. 598.367 might tell you why.' " "Blackbirds?" said Miguel. "I guess." "Well," sighed Akimi, "let's go check out another book. There's still like an inch or two left on our whiteboard."