That night, Gum and Egg hung out in my and Cat’s room. Ms. Duran was there, so no one could throw a fit about boys hanging out in a girls’ room.
Egg scrolled through his photos. He had a whole bunch of the mysterious girl, plus some of those older kids who had pushed past everyone at the museum and the zoo.
“They’re college students,” Egg said. “See? They hold up their IDs when they go in.”
“Why?” Gum asked. “Do they think anyone cares that they’re in college?”
“I saw a sign about that,” I explained. “College students with an ID don’t have to pay to get in.”
“Do you have any pictures of Anton and his dad?” Gum asked.
Egg flipped through the pictures. “Here’s one,” he said, holding up his camera.
We all looked. It was a shot of the Gutmans near the zoo’s exit. Anton and his father had their backs to the camera, and were glancing over their shoulders.
“What are they up to?” I asked. “They look like they’re hiding something.”
Gum formed a sneaky smile. “Finally,” he said, “the evidence we need. Let’s go, Egg.”
“Where?” Egg asked.
“Down to our room,” Gum explained. “We’re going to confront Anton.”
With that, the boys left. We didn’t hear anything from them until the next morning.
* * *
Cat and I hurried down to the lobby at seven the next morning. We spotted Anton right away. He and his goonish friends were hanging out near the pay phones, probably making prank calls.
“There you are,” I said, walking up to Anton. “So, what do you have to say for yourself?”
Anton looked at me like I was crazy. “Um, how about ‘Good morning, dork’?” he said. His friends cracked up.
“I mean about the vandalism,” I said. “The stolen planet, and plaque! And the missing ‘Z’!”
Anton looked at me like I was a nut, then looked at his friends and said, “Cuckoo! Cuckoo!”
The three of them walked off.
Cat frowned. “Do you think he really didn’t know what you were talking about?”
The elevator dinged, and when the doors opened, Egg and Gum stepped off. They both looked tired and depressed.
“Gum!” I called out. Cat and I ran over to them. “What happened last night?” I asked. “Aren’t Anton and his dad the culprits?”
Egg shrugged. “We don’t know,” he said.
“I tried to make Anton talk,” Gum said. “We showed him the photo of him and his dad. I really interrogated him. You’d have been proud, Sam.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “So what did he say?”
“He finally admitted that he and his dad had bought ice cream cones,” Gum explained, “and they didn’t want to share.”
“How rude!” Cat said.
“Let me see that picture again,” I said. “I don’t believe it!”
Egg flipped through the photos again.
“What’s that?” Gum asked, pointing at one photo. “Sam, when did you pose with two cops?”
I laughed. “That was at the airport,” I said. “Anton’s dad nearly murderized me and Egg for taking so long.”
“Aha!” Egg said. “Anton and his dad aren’t the ones behind all this! Remember that call the two police officers got, Sam?”
“Great thinking, Egg,” I said. “Ralph Kramden’s lunchbox — another clear case of tourist attraction vandalism, and it happened when we were still at the airport!”
Egg and I explained about the walkie-talkie call we overheard.
“So if something was stolen at Port Authority, then it couldn’t have been the Gutmans,” Cat pointed out.
Gum seemed disappointed Anton hadn’t been the crook.
Just then, Mr. Neff came up to us. “You kids better get on the bus,” he said. “We’re off to the Statue of Liberty!”