Robyn still wasn’t speaking to us. Nick claimed it was a welcome relief and the most relaxing two days he’d ever had, but I could tell he felt bad. I did too. Unfortunately, there was only one way to fix things.
“Get real, Trev,” Nick said when I told him what we had to do. “How are we going to figure out who wrote that note? Haven’t we got enough to do, trying to prove that Mr. Joe planted the fossils at the dig, without adding Robyn’s mystery note to the mix?”
“Maybe we can do both,” I said slowly. “I have a feeling the two are connected.”
“What’s connected?” Hailey asked as she slipped into the seat in front of me. Science class should have started ten minutes ago, but there was still no sign of Mr. Joe.
I hesitated. I wasn’t sure we should tell anyone about our suspicions, but Hailey’s mom worked at the dig too. Hailey probably had a good idea what went on up there. As briefly as possible, I explained about Robyn and the mystery note. I told her we suspected Mr. Joe had planted the fossil at the dig. Hailey scowled as I talked.
“I think there might be a connection there, somehow,” I finished.
“No way,” Nick scoffed. “Mr. Joe would never leave a note threatening to trash Robyn’s reputation. The guy’s an adult. That’s something a kid would do.”
“I know. I’m not saying he did it. But there’s got to be a connection,” I answered. “The South Dakota fossils were missing from Mr. Joe’s filing cabinet, along with the rest. But I didn’t see them in the bag Robyn found under the stairs. I looked when Mr. Joe held them up.”
“So what are you saying?” Hailey asked.
“That whoever stole the fossils didn’t take the ones from South Dakota, or they didn’t leave them for Robyn to find.” I said. Robyn sat nearby, pretending to ignore us, but I knew she heard every word we said.
“Of course they didn’t,” Nick scoffed. “Because Mr. Joe had already removed the South Dakota fossils before they were stolen.”
“How? Why? They were all in the filing cabinet on Friday afternoon. Mr. Joe was cleaning up at the carnival. He left when we did. Then Monday morning before class, he asked us if we’d seen them. Someone swiped them Friday after school. Mr. Joe wouldn’t have had time to take the Ichthylobuttosaur fossils,” I said.
“Unless he came back later,” Robyn broke into the conversation.
“I thought you weren’t talking to us,” Nick said.
“I’m not,” Robyn answered grimly. “But I intend to prove my innocence.”
“Mr. Joe couldn’t come back later. The school is locked after four thirty,” I said. “And he was very upset about the missing fossils.”
“Sometimes the school is opened for clubs or sports teams,” Nick argued. “It had to be Mr. Joe. He’s the only one who has access to both the dig and the fossils. And he’s the only one with a good reason for doing it. His ‘discovery’ is getting major publicity. That will get more funding for the dig and it will probably vault his career into the stratosphere. Everyone’s going to think he’s a genius.”
I was silent. Everything Nick said made sense. It was the same argument that I’d thought of as well.
“I think we need to go out there,” Robyn announced.
“What?” Hailey said, startled. “Where?”
“The dig site. That’s where all the action is,” answered Robyn. “If we’re going to find any proof, that’s where it will be. The newspaper said only a few fossils were found. That means there are more. Maybe Mr. Joe didn’t get a chance to plant all of them. If we could catch him in the act, we’d have proof for sure.”
“Sounds great,” Nick said sarcastically. “But how are we going to get to Drumheller?”
Robyn grinned. “Easy. Hailey’s mom lives there. Do you think your mom would let us hang out at her house? You and I could have a sleepover.”
“Well…I don’t know…” Hailey hesitated. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea…”
“What about me and Nick?” I asked.
“You guys could camp in a tent in the backyard,” Robyn suggested.
“It’s a little cold outside,” Nick pointed out.
“So what?” Robyn shrugged. “You have a sleeping bag.”
“Thanks for your concern,” said Nick. “You and Hailey will be sipping hot chocolate in front of the TV while Trevor and I freeze our butts off.”
“It’s not that cold. Besides, it’s in the name of justice,” Robyn said. “Please, Hailey? You do want to help your mom, don’t you?”
“Of course!” Hailey answered with conviction. A bright flush stained her cheeks.
“Great!” Robyn’s eyes brightened. “Could we go tonight?”
“No. It’s Thursday. I don’t think my mom would let us miss school,” said Hailey. “Tomorrow then,” Robyn said.
Hailey bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I’d have to ask…”
Mr. Joe breezed in at last. “Hey, kids, sorry I’m late. I was on the phone with the museum. There’s going to be quite a celebration out there this weekend, because of the new finds.” He turned to the white board and began writing.
“Exactly…” Nick paused, his voice low. “There’s a press conference being held Saturday morning at the dig site. I saw it on the museum’s website.”
“Well, if any funny stuff is going on, it’ll happen before the conference,” I said.
“We’ll be there.” Robyn took Nick’s newspaper and flapped it for emphasis. “And we’ll be ready.”
The flashlight cast wavering shadows on the grasses beside the path. Gravel crunched under our feet.
“Does someone want to tell me why we couldn’t do this in daylight?” Nick said, tripping over a bush.
“Because there are always people around in the daytime. Mr. Joe wouldn’t plant the fossils at the dig while someone’s watching, doofus,” Robyn hissed. “And if he’s going to set up another discovery, it has to be before the press conference tomorrow. Can you imagine the headlines if they found another rare fossil right in front of the media? There’s no way the dig would be refused funding. No, it’s got to be tonight. Mr. Joe was in class with us all week. There’s no way he made it out to Drumheller before now.”
“How much farther?” I whispered.
“Not far,” answered Hailey nervously. She directed the flashlight’s beam ahead of us.
“Keep the light down,” I advised. “We don’t want to give any warning that we’re coming.”
“There aren’t…you know…bears out here, are there?” Nick glanced into the darkness.
“Not likely,” Hailey said. “They like the mountains, where there’s more food for them. There could be cougars though.”
“C-c-cougars?” Nick cleared his throat.
“Sure. There’s lots of small game. Gophers and rabbits. Good hunting for coyotes, and maybe the odd cougar.” Hailey smiled at Nick’s nervousness. “Don’t worry though. They don’t usually eat people.”
“Very comforting,” Nick muttered.
It was warm, in spite of the autumn darkness. The moon was just a sliver. We had to rely on the flashlight to guide us over the gnarled path.
“Shhh!” Hailey cautioned. We reached the stairs down the hillside to the dig site. The rickety wood structure creaked underfoot, but we crept down carefully. There was no sign of anyone.
“Let’s hide over here.” Hailey motioned to a groove in the hill, near an overflowing trash can. It smelled pretty bad, but it was the only hiding spot nearby.
“Whew!” Robyn pinched her nose and breathed through her mouth. “Someone forgot to empty that.”
“No kidding.” I tried not to gag on the odor of stale French fries and rotting leftovers.
We settled down to wait. The stink made things uncomfortable, but after a while a breeze blew up, and the smell was a little more bearable. We fell silent. Night noises filled the badlands, but in the valley of the dig site, things were very still.
I closed my eyes and yawned. Surveillance sure could be boring. If it weren’t for the stench of that garbage, I probably would have fallen asleep.
Hailey checked her watch. “We’ve been here for half an hour,” she said. “How long should we stay?”
“At least another hour,” Robyn answered. “It’s not that late.”
A soft shuffling reached my ears. I sat up and listened hard. The others were alert too, but no one moved.
“Mr. Joe?” Robyn mouthed. I nodded, but Hailey looked absolutely frozen in terror. I strained to hear the sound of footsteps.
The shuffling continued. I peered around the edge of the garbage can but saw nothing in the darkness. Something was definitely making noise though. It was coming nearer every second. I pulled my camera out of my pack. To catch Mr. Joe in the act, we’d have to ambush him. I motioned for the others.
“Trevor, no!” Hailey gave a strangled cry.
Too late. I bounded out from behind the trash can, pressing the photo button on the camera. The flash went off, flooding the clearing in a brief second of blinding light. Mr. Joe was nowhere in sight. I fumbled for the flashlight, clicking it on.
In the same instant, the source of the shuffling noise popped its small furry head out of the crumpled lunch bag it had been probing. It glared at me with tiny black eyes and whirled with its black and white tail raised.