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The bus ride out to Camp Wiki-Wiki was the same as it had been the past three years as Perry Winkle looked out a dirt caked window. Trees lined the side of a bumpy road in dire need of new pavement as the kids sang songs along with the camp master, Ted Wilkens, and his staff, Carl Levinson, and Rocky Duggan. The three men loved to sing on the 2-hour bus ride as the kids sang along.
Normally, Perry loved the trip, but his mind was focused on his junior detective agency. He had seen more clients and solved more cases over the past few weeks than he had in six months. Business was booming and he didn’t like the idea of having to close shop to spend a week at the camp.
What worried him even more was what McKenzie Callahan said as the bus pulled away from the curb of his house. “Don’t worry about the crime rate increasing in the neighborhood because I’m opening up my own detective service.” Then she gave a crooked grin, the one Perry knew all too well. It meant McKenzie was up to no good. Then she added, “I think I’ll call it The Around the Clock Detective Service.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s enough crime for us to share.”
Perry didn’t think she was serious, but if she did open a detective agency, she might bully his clients to hire her. Not only that, but he didn’t think McKenzie had the brains to be cut out as a junior detective. Her specialty was committing crimes, not solving them.
The bus came to a stop. Dust from the dirt road floated in the air, causing Perry to sneeze.
“Okay,” Mr. Wilkens yelled above the noisy kids. “Get your bags and exit the bus in an orderly fashion. Once everyone is in the cafeteria, we’ll assign cabins.”
Perry reached under the seat and grabbed his suitcase. Two more buses pulled alongside, and kids could be heard singing.
When he walked toward the cafeteria, the famed Indian Headdress worn by Chief Wiki-Wiki, for whom the camp was named rested in a locked glass enclosure. Chief Wiki-Wiki and his tribe were known for their remarkable tracking ability.
Inside the cafeteria, Perry sat with several other kids. Soon all the tables were full of children. Mr. Wilkens stood at the head table with the other tribal counselors and tapped a glass with a fork. A moment later, the room fell silent.
“My staff and I want to welcome you to Camp Wiki-Wiki,” Wilkens said. “I would like to welcome two new tribal counselors, Mr. Miller and Mr. Taylor.” Two men from his right stood and waved to the crowd.
“They come to us from our rival tribe, Chippi-Wawa.”
Boos resonated from the crowd. The Chippi-Wawa’s won most of the competitions each year. There were rumors they cheated in the events, but no one could ever prove it.
Wilkens raised a hand in the air. The noise lowered to a soft murmur. “I expect each of you to welcome our new counselors. Now if there’s nothing else, your teepee assignments are listed on the wall to my left. After you get settled, you’re free to go to the archery range, canoeing, or walk around the camp. But the cafeteria is off-limits until lunchtime. Now go out and have fun.”
Perry was assigned to teepee three along with six other boys. The outside looked just like a teepee. A tall, cone-shaped tent, but instead of using buffalo skin, the teepee was made of canvass. He walked through the door and saw several of his bunkmates putting their things away.
Perry walked to an empty bunk bed and decided to take the bottom one. He didn’t want to have to climb up and down, especially when he was tired. One year, he rolled off the top and chipped a tooth on the wooden floor.
“My name is William,” a voice said behind him. Perry turned and saw a tall, lanky kid with glasses and short hair, combed perfectly to the side. He wore a navy-blue collared shirt and khaki shorts. He thought William dressed more for the yacht club than the great outdoors.
“I’m Perry Winkle.”
They shook hands.
William tossed his suitcase on the top bunk and asked, “What are you going to do until lunchtime?”
“I’m thinking about going to the archery range. I want to beat our rivals this year.”
“Are they any good?”
Perry nodded. “Chippi Wawa has won the competition the last five years.”
William opened his suitcase and removed his clothes. “How many years have you been coming here?”
Perry put a copy of the latest issue of The Old Time Mystery and placed it under his pillow to read later. “This is my third year. How about you?”
“This is my first. I’ve never been to a camp like this before. I got lost trying to find my teepee. Had to get directions four times.”
“Do you want to come with me and shoot some targets?”
“Sure. You’re the first friend I’ve found here.”
When they arrived at the archery range, there were about thirty other kids shooting round targets with arrows. Several staff members demonstrated how to use a bow and line up the arrow.
William tapped Perry on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back. I have to use the restroom.”
Perry thought about giving his new friend directions, but William had already darted down the trail. Perry stepped toward one of the staff members and picked up a bow and arrow.
“Do you need some archery lessons?”
“No, sir.”
The sun bore down, and the heat rose over the next hour. Sweat dripped down Perry’s forehead stinging his eyes. He used the back of his hand to wipe it away.
A loud horn startled him as he shot an arrow downrange. He missed the target and the shaft skirted across some grass before resting next to a tree stump.
“What’s that noise?” a kid asked.
“We’re being called back to the cafeteria,” a staff member said.
In the three years Perry had been coming here, he’d only heard the horn once. Several kids had gotten food poisoning after eating potato salad brought in by one of the boys. He wondered what had happened now. Perry looked around but didn’t see William. Maybe he got lost and now a search party was being formed.
When he got back to the cafeteria, he found William sitting at a table by himself. Perry sat next to him.
“What happened to you? You never came back.”
William shrugged. “Something bad has happened.”
One of the janitors ran to the head table and had a short conversation with camp master Wilkens. Mr. Wilkens’s ears perked. Then he shot from his chair and banged a fork on the table to get everyone to be silent.
“First of all, I have some disturbing news. It appears burglars have broken into our camp this morning and stolen Chief Wiki-Wiki’s headdress.”
A murmur went around the cafeteria.
“Obviously, this is a serious matter and the police have been called. I suggest you all hand in any valuables to the staff. And always keep the doors to your teepees locked. If you see anything unusual or anyone you don’t recognize on the campgrounds, report it to my staff or me immediately. Is that clear?”
Perry turned to William. “Did you see anyone suspicious while you were out?”
“Yes. After I left the archery range to find a restroom, I got lost and ended up back at the cafeteria. I saw two men breaking into the case and they took out the headdress. One of them was wearing sunglasses.”
Perry took out his notepad and pencil. The Old Time Mystery stories always reiterated to be prepared because one never knew when a case might pop up.
William continued. “Then they turned back toward me. Maybe to make sure the coast was clear. I ducked behind some bushes so they couldn’t see me. That’s when I noticed their eyes.”
“Their eyes?” Perry asked. “What about them?”
“One had green eyes, the other blue. I thought they saw me, but I froze trying not to let them know where I was.”
“What happened next?”
“They took the headdress and ran down one of the trails. Just as I stood, I saw Bart Miller and Zack Taylor walk up.”
“You mean the two new counselors from Chippi Wa-Wa?”
William nodded. “They noticed the case was broken and headdress missing. Then I heard a loud horn and now we’re here.”
Perry looked down at his notes. Maybe there was a clue to identify the thieves.
After reading his notes a second time he knew who stole the headdress.
Did you solve the case too? If not, turn to the next page to find out who stole the headdress.
William, Bart Miller, and Zach Taylor are the thieves.
William told Perry he needed to go to the restroom, but how could he have known where one was if he hadn’t been to Camp Wiki-Wiki before. He told Perry he got lost just trying to find his teepee. He described one of the thieves as having blue eyes and the other green. He couldn’t have seen the color of the person’s eyes behind the sunglasses.
William also mentioned Bart Miller and Zach Taylor walked up shortly after the crime, but he couldn’t have known their first names unless he knew them. They were introduced by camp master Wilkens as Mr. Miller and Mr. Taylor.