A Monster of a Mystery (5 page)

“I guess,” Frank said. “But then why would he leave the store?”

Joe shrugged. He looked kind of stubborn.
Frank could see that his brother was convinced that Adam was the thief. But was he really the culprit?

Just then Adam pushed past them, heading back into the main part of the store. “I changed my mind,” he said. “I'm not going to let a bunch of creeps chase me away. I'm here to see Morpho.”

“Nobody's going to see Morpho again if that Spork doesn't turn up,” Joe said.

But Adam was already too far away to hear him. Joe sighed.

“Don't worry,” Frank told him. “If Adam did it, we'll figure it out.”

Iola came over just in time to hear him. “Yeah,” she said. “You two always solve the case!”

Joe smiled. “That's true.”

Frank stared around the store. There were pictures of the Spork everywhere. Where could the real one be? Who would be mean enough to steal it?

“I wish I had a way to take notes,” he said. He had
forgotten his trusty reporter's notebook at home. That was where he always wrote up their cases.

Joe rolled his eyes. “You always want to take notes,” he said. “But there's no time for stuff like that. Let's just start interviewing people. Somebody must have seen something suspicious.”

Frank hesitated. He thought they should begin at the beginning—by talking about the six
W
s. But maybe Joe was right. The store was really crowded. It seemed impossible that someone had stolen the Spork without anyone seeing them do it.

“Okay,” he said. “I guess we could talk to a few people and see what we find out.”

Joe looked at Iola. “Want to help?”

“Sure,” she said, sounding a little distracted. “But I'd better go find Chet first. I want to see if he knows where Mimi is.”

Frank nodded. He hadn't seen Mimi since she'd run out through the back door. Come to think of
it, he hadn't seen Chet in even longer than that.

“Okay,” he said. “We'll meet up with you later.”

Iola disappeared into the crowd. Frank and Joe wandered around, looking for someone to interview. First they talked to a bored-looking girl with purple hair. She said she thought it was all a publicity stunt and that the Morpho people knew exactly where the Spork was right now.

Frank didn't think that was very likely, so he and Joe moved on. They asked a couple of teenage boys if they'd noticed anyone suspicious hanging around. The teenagers said they'd seen a shady-looking guy dressed in black sneaking into the back room. Frank started to get excited, but then he realized they were just teasing them.

“This isn't going very well,” Joe said as the teenagers wandered away snorting with laughter.

Before Frank could answer, he spotted Biff and his cousin Colin hurrying toward them. Colin looked more hyper than ever.

“Can you believe this?” Colin exclaimed when he reached them, waving both hands in the air. “I can't believe the Spork is gone!”

“Me neither,” Biff agreed. “Who do you think took it?”

“We're not sure yet,” Joe began. “We think—”

“It's extra serious because this is, like,
the
Spork!” Colin interrupted. “It's the very first one they made—the one Morpho was holding in the movie when he got captured by the commandos.
That makes it a superspecial and one-of-a-kind collector's item.”

“Really?” Joe said. “No wonder those Morpho guys looked so upset.”

Before Frank could say anything, they all heard Mr. Roberts calling for attention again. When the room quieted down a little, he said he had another announcement to make.

“We really need that Spork back, and soon,” he said with a serious look on his face. “If it's not back before three o'clock at the latest, the rest of today's Morpho event will be canceled.”

Another Mystery

O
h no!” Frank blurted out, looking worried. “We've got to find that Spork!”

“Yeah!” Biff exclaimed. “This is really getting serious.”

“Don't worry, you guys,” Joe said. “We'll find the Spork!”

He looked around for Adam, but he didn't see him. It was hard to spot anyone in the store just then. Everyone was milling around, looking upset and talking about Mr. Roberts's announcement.

“Even if you don't find it, it's no big deal,” Colin said. “They're having a Morpho event at the comics store in my town next month. You could all come there—it's only a two-hour drive.”

“We should still try to find it,” Joe said. “Let's split up. We can talk to more people that way.”

“Cool,” Biff said. “Come on, Colin. Let's go find someone to interview.”

As soon as they left, Frank pulled Joe aside. “That was kind of weird,” he said. “If Colin could go see Morpho in his own town in a month, why'd he bother to come all the way to Bayport?”

Joe shrugged. “Colin's a superfan, remember? He probably goes to all the Morpho events he can.” He looked around. “Anyway, we have bigger problems right now. We have to figure out what happened to that Spork!”

“Do you still think Adam took it?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “But you were right. We have to investigate everyone, just in case.”

Frank smiled. Joe knew why: His brother loved being right.

“Okay,” Frank said. “Let's get back to interviewing people.”

They parted ways. As Joe wandered into the crowd, all around him he could hear people talking about the missing Spork. But nobody sounded as if they knew what might have happened to it.

Then he spotted Adam near the comics rack. He was leaning against the rack as he paged through the new Morpho comic.

Joe narrowed his eyes and watched him for a few seconds. But Adam didn't move. He just kept reading the comic book.

Finally Joe decided to move on. He could keep an eye on Adam while he talked to people.

He interviewed several kids about the missing
Spork, but nobody had anything useful to tell him. Just as he finished talking to a skinny girl with braces, he saw Frank coming toward him.

“Did you find out anything?” Frank asked.

Joe shook his head. “Nothing useful. What about you?”

“Maybe,” Frank said. “A couple of kids said they saw someone in a Morpho mask sneaking into the back room a few minutes after the event started.”

“A Morpho mask?” Joe looked around. Without even trying, he spotted at least four or five masks like the ones Chet and Colin had brought. “That doesn't narrow it down much. Besides, isn't the bathroom back through that back door? Maybe that's where that mystery person was going.”

“Maybe. But the kids I talked to thought it was weird, since the person in the mask left right when the artist started showing all those cool sketches.” Frank shrugged. “Anyway, it's the only clue we have so far.”

Joe thought about what Frank had said. Those Morpho masks were kind of expensive. Anyone who had one was probably a big fan. Why would someone like that want to miss part of this event?

“I guess that is a pretty good clue,” he told Frank. Suddenly he remembered the teenagers who'd tried to trick him with the fake-out story. “Wait,” he added. “Who were the kids who told you? Are they reliable witnesses?”

That was a term he'd heard his father use lots
of times. A reliable witness was someone who was likely to be telling the truth.

“I'm not sure,” Frank said. “It wasn't anyone we know. They said they were from out of town.”

Joe frowned. “What if they're making it all up? They could even be friends of Adam's. He could have told them to cover for him.”

“I guess.” Frank sounded doubtful. “Anyway, we should try to find out if anyone else saw what they said they saw.”

“Right,” Joe said. “Dad has a word for that, right? A cardboard witness, or something.”

“I think it's a
corroborating
witness,” Frank said.

Joe shrugged. Frank was always better than he was at vocabulary words. “Whatever. We should figure out who was near that door and ask them.”

“I know!” Frank looked excited. “I just remembered—Biff said his cousin would probably be in the front row when the Morpho guys
came out. He would have a great view of that Employees Only door from there, right?”

“Right!” Now Joe was excited too. This could be the clue they needed! “Let's go find Colin!”

They looked around. The store was still really crowded, so it was hard to see anyone more than a few feet away.

Joe led the way into the crowd, searching for Colin. He and Frank had only gone a few yards when they heard Chet calling their names.

“Hi, guys,” Chet said breathlessly, hurrying over to them. “I've been looking all over for you!”

He looked worried. Joe thought he knew why.

“Don't worry,” he told Chet. “We're trying to find Morpho's Spork.”

“Okay,” Chet said. “Um, but have you seen Mimi lately?”

“Mimi?” Frank shook his head. “I haven't seen her since she got scared and ran out with her friend.”

Chet bit his lip, looking more worried than ever. “Neither has anyone else,” he said. “Janie's sister chased them through the Employees Only door, but she couldn't find them anywhere. They're missing!”