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

missing tuba,” said Brian.
    “But Violet tried the door and said it was locked,” added Mara.
    Except that when we tried the door, it wasn’t locked.
    It swung open easily.
    “That’s very interesting,” Principal Higgins murmured. “It’s even odd.”
    “
Even
can’t be
odd
,” said Kelly. “It’s mathematically impossible.”
    “Flashlights aren’t impossible,” said Mara, clicking on a mini-flashlight and pushing her big green glasses up on her nose.
    “I’ve sharpened my swords just in case we meet any real bats,” said Brian, drawing his tiny sticks out in front of him.
    “Cluebook open and pencil ready,” I said. “Principal Higgins, please lead the way.”
    “Oh, dear me,” said the principal, peering into the dark area beneath the stage. “I had forgotten how gloomy this space is. It’s far too creepy for someone in my position. There might be things living down there.”
    “Let’s hope Mrs. Rinkle is one of them,” I said.
    “I’d better go and see about selling tickets,” the principal said. An instant later—
whoosh!
—he was gone.
    “Now
that
was even odd,” said Mara.
    “I’d have to agree,” said Kelly.
    I took a deep breath and said, “All right, team, let’s … go!”
    Together, the four of us and Sparky eased past the black door and tiptoed beneath the stage.
    We ducked under the crisscrossing beams that held up the floorboards. We passed cables dangling from the ceiling. We spotted the enormous fog machine.
    Sparky sniffed and snorted and sneezed the whole way.

    Finally, we spied what looked like a big motor attached to a bunch of pipes attached to the floorboards above our heads.
    “A trapdoor machine,” said Brian. “That must be how Mrs. Rinkle vanished like a witch—”
    Crunch!
    “Bones!” cried Kelly. “I stepped on bones!”
    Mara swung her light down. “Not quite.”
    There was a crumpled sheet of yellow paper under Kelly’s toe. She picked it up, uncrumpled it, and gasped. “The original measurement sheet! The correct one!”
    “Just like I thought,” I said, looking over Kelly’s shoulder, which is easy because she’s so short. “Someone jumbled up the names and the measurements.…”
    “Goof!” Sparky was standing still, pointing his nose at a stack of papers.
    Brian followed Sparky’s nose. He picked up the papers. “The original scripts! With Billy’s lines still in them!”
    “This is too, too weird,” I grumbled.
    “Goofball mysteries are,” said Kelly.
    All at once, Mara dropped her flashlight and cried out, “I’m being attacked! Help!”
    “
Ve
shall come to your defense!” said Brian, jabbing into the dark with his tiny swords.
    But when I scooped up the flashlight and shined it on Mara, we saw her feet tangled in Violet’s big pink tuba. It was nestled in its pink blanket. Sparky was nestled in the blanket, too.

    “This is clue central!” I said. I wrote it all down in my cluebook.

    “Should we bring everything upstairs so the show can go on?” Mara asked.
    I wondered for a second, then shook my head. “Not yet. Let’s think about this.”
    “Our specialty,” said Kelly. “Ready …”
    “And think!” said Mara.
    Brump-bump-bump-bump!
    Brump-bump-bump-bump!
    While Brian supplied music, we paced, ducking so we didn’t bump our heads on the beams. Sparky paced, too, but didn’t have to duck. His legs are shorter than Brian’s swords.
    Suddenly, we heard Principal Higgins above us. “Cast, let me assure you that we’re looking everywhere for Mrs. Rinkle. Meanwhile, you can buy your family tickets for the show. Goofballs, if you hear me down there, meet us at the ticket booth in the lobby!”
    We heard lots of footsteps move outside the theater, to the lobby.
    “Tickets?” whispered Mara. “With Mrs. Rinkle still missing? With so many mysteries still to solve?”
    “And so many crimes?” said Kelly.
    “And so many no suspects?” said Brian.
    “How can we have five mysteries and not one