Dylan, Emily, and Theodore walked down the path. They were getting closer to the lake now.
Paige followed behind them. She shared more facts about the campground. “Did you know that Camp Leaf property circles the entire lake?”
“Whoa. That’s big,” said Emily.
“Yep, it is,” said Paige. “The camp got its name because there are seventeen different types of leaves that fall at the end of the season.”
Emily grinned. Now they were talking about interesting things.
“I love jumping in piles of leaves,” Emily said. “The crunchier they are, the better they are for playing!”
They passed in front of small cabins. To save the battery, Dylan flipped the UV flashlight on only when they passed someone. He’d point the light at their shoes.
At first, he tried to be sly about it so no one saw what he was doing. It didn’t work. People gave him strange looks. Finally, Paige said she wouldn’t let him do that anymore. Her grandma didn’t want Dylan bothering the campers.
Instead, Dylan decided to let Theodore distract the people.
Theodore was happy to go up to every person they passed. He whined and groaned and made them believe it had been days since he’d been petted.
People who would have thought Dylan weird with his flashlight changed their minds. Now, Dylan and Emily—with their adorable dog, Theodore—were just the sweetest kids ever. None of them noticed Dylan checking their shoes. They didn’t mind Dylan’s questions either.
Too bad there was no sign of paint on anyone on this path.
As they passed the last cabin before the lake, the Benny brothers strolled by.
The brothers were barefoot and dressed in swim trunks. Bits of leaves and sticks stuck out of their hair. They had strange marks around their ankles. It was like they’d been wearing socks that were too tight.
Emily pretended to lose her grip on Theodore’s leash. Theodore jumped on the brothers and put on his show. Dylan flashed the light on their feet.
Bingo.
Both of the brothers had stepped in the wet paint.
Dylan decided to try a different plan. He asked a question like Paige had. “I see you both were by the winner’s stand. There’s paint on your heels. What were you doing over there?”
Myles folded his arms.
Austin shrugged. “It’s the fastest way from the parking lot to our cabin.”
Paige frowned. “Actually, it’s not. The fastest way would be down this path by all the cabins. Then, you’d make a left and go past the playground.”
“We didn’t say we were good at directions,” Myles said. He drew in the dirt with his big toe.
“Well, what were you doing in the parking lot?” Dylan asked.
The brothers looked at each other. Their eyes grew big.
“Uh,” Myles stammered.
“You see, we . . .” Austin trailed off.
Emily crossed her arms. “You what?”
“We were getting dropped off. That’s all,” Myles said. He added, “And we weren’t anywhere important and what we were doing doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah. None of that matters,” said Austin, his voice squeaky.
“Let’s get out of here,” Myles said.
The brothers ran down the path and onto the dock. Within moments they were in the lake.
“I don’t understand the path they picked,” Paige said. “It took them way out of their way. Although, it would have been the least crowded.”
“I wonder if they were hiding from someone,” said Emily.
Dylan pulled out his detective notebook. He added a new line.
Dylan knew one thing for sure. The Benny brothers were hiding something.
But what?