Goofballs 4: The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery Read Online Free Page A

make these costumes! All for nothing! Oh, my poor fingers worked to the bone! My fingers are my best feature. Next to my perfect cheeks, long eyelashes, and the way I tap-dance. I’ll never recover by next Friday! Maybe by Saturday …”
    “You’d better sit down,” said Mrs. Rinkle.

    “I can’t! This costume is too tight!”
    Ripppp
!
    Her shoulders came through the elbows.
    “Tiffany’s right. We should delay the show until Saturday,” said Joey, trying to find where his costume ended and his legs began.
    Mrs. Rinkle paced back and forth, shaking her head. “No. No. The high school needs the building on Saturday. Besides, the show must go on.”
    “On what?” asked Billy. “A plastic plate?”
    “On a bicycle?” asked Tiffany.
    “On a vacation?” asked Violet.
    “On next Saturday?” asked Joey.
    Mrs. Rinkle shook her head. “
On next Friday!
Children, please. Let’s take the weekend to rest up. Then we’ll start again bright and early Monday afternoon.”
    Mrs. Rinkle checked her watch. “At the end of the week, Principal Higgins will come with tickets for you for your families,” she said. “Because … the show must go on!”
    “Goof! Goof!” said Sparky, whose tiger costume was the only one that fit.

    * * *
    On the following Monday, the auditorium lights wouldn’t turn on. Until Kelly found tape covering the main light switch.
    On Tuesday, the bathrooms were locked, so we all had to run home early.
    It rained on Wednesday, so our coach cancelled the game and we had rehearsal.
    Or we
would
have had rehearsal if Mrs. Rinkle hadn’t
vanished
before our eyes.
    No sooner had Brian, Mara, Kelly, Tiffany, Billy, Violet, Joey, and I entered the high school than a sudden scream rang out.
    “Help! Help! Oh, help!”
    We raced into the auditorium.
    And there was Mrs. Rinkle, slowly disappearing
into
the stage. Her big red dress billowed out around her while her whole self sank into the floor.
    “Mrs. Rinkle is melting!” cried Brian. “I saw this in a movie once. She must be a witch!”
    “I am not a witch!” shouted Mrs. Rinkle.
    But by the time we ran up to the stage, Mrs. Rinkle and her big red hair were gone in a cloud of blue smoke!
    We were completely speechless.
    Except Brian.

    “She said she wasn’t a witch,” he said. “But what do we really know about her?”
    Just then, Principal Higgins came into the auditorium with a stack of tickets and a seating chart. “Hello, students. Foggy in here, isn’t it?”
    “Mrs. Rinkle melted away!” said Billy. “It was pretty sad. She was such a nice lady.”
    Principal Higgins blinked. “Whatever do you mean?”
    “That she was kind and liked people,” said Billy.
    “Not that!” said the principal. “What do you mean she
melted away
?”
    “She disappeared into the stage,” said Joey. “It was awesome. Plus a little scary.”
    “The show can’t possibly go on Friday night,” said Tiffany.
    “Maybe we should delay it to Saturday night,” said Violet.
    “Saturday?” said the principal. “Everyone knows we can’t do that.”
    “Oh,” said Violet. “I guess I forgot.”
    I suddenly spotted the last wisps of fog vanishing beneath the stage where Mrs. Rinkle had been. While the other kids talked among themselves, I turned to Principal Higgins and my friends.
    “Sir?” I whispered. “The Goofballs can get to the bottom of these mysteries. And when I say
get to the bottom
, I mean we need to get
under
the stage, where Mrs. Rinkle went.”
    “Under the stage?” said Principal Higgins. “I just happen to know the way there. I was in shows here in high school, you know.”
    We didn’t know that.
    “Come along, Goofballs,” he said. “And your Goofdog, too. Follow me!”
    The principal zipped out the door into the hallway. And we zipped right behind him.

6

Under the Stage
    W e followed Principal Higgins down a short set of steps to a black door.
    “We were going to go through this door when we searched for the