---

HARCOURT, INC.
San Diego • New York • London

---

Many thanks to Michael and Steven,
who shared the gecko vision.

Copyright © 2000 by Bruce Hale

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies
of any part of the work should be mailed to
the following address:
Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc.,
6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hale, Bruce.

The chameleon wore chartreuse: from the tattered
casebook of diet Gecko, private eye/written and
illustrated by Bruce Hale.—1st ed.
p. cm.
"A Chet Gecko Mystery."
Summary: When hired by a fellow fourth-grader to
find her missing brother, Chet Gecko uncovers
a plot involving a Gila monster's revenge upon
the school football team.
[1. Geckos—Fiction. 2. Lizards—Fiction. 3. Schools—
Fiction. 4. Lost and found possessions—Fiction.
5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.H1295Ch 2000
[Fic]—dc21 99-50673
ISBN 0-15-202281-3

Text set in Bembo
Display type set in Elroy
Designed by Ivan Holmes

First edition

A C E G H F D B

Printed in the United States of America

---

For J. C, my first reader, and Mom and Dad, who introduced me to the low-rent charms of gumshoes

---

---

A private message from the private eye...

I've always loved a good mystery Like, how do they squeeze ketchup into those little plastic packets? And, why is cafeteria food so bad? And, who put the boom in the shaka-laka-boom-boom?

My curiosity has given me a reputation around school. Kids talk. They say I'm someone who can solve mysteries.

They're right. I can.

Who am I?

Chet Gecko—Private Eye.

I go to fourth grade at Emerson Hicky Elementary.

I'm a lizard.