Chapter 7

The neighborhood branch of the Berkeley Community Library looked like a Gothic castle that should have held ghosts and spirits rather than books and magazines. According to a sign by the heavy front doors, the three-story structure was more than a hundred years old. Cody loved the place, especially the maze of musty rooms, crowded shelves, and hidden stacks that spread throughout the building.

The Code Busters often met at the library after school, to do their homework and research codes. Each time they met at a different location there. The first person to arrive wrote a math code, signed it “Dewey,” and stuck it on the library bulletin board. The rest of the Code Busters had to solve the code—based on the Dewey Decimal System—to determine their meeting place. Once the kids had the correct answer, they knew where to go.

Quinn led the way to the bulletin board and quickly spotted the message. It read: “Math Question of the Day: 5 X 5 + 6 X 6 + 9 X 9 + 400 − 37 = ???”

Code Buster’s Solution found on p. 206.

“Easy one,” Quinn said. “It’s on the second floor.” Cody followed him up the stairs and through a labyrinth of bookshelves until they reached the right row. At the end of the row they found Luke at a small table reading a copy of Goofyfoot, his favorite skateboarding magazine. He often talked about becoming a professional skater—or a stunt-man. Cody had no doubt he would succeed at either one. Luke was strong, athletic, and fearless. He looked up and grinned at Cody.

“Hey,” he said, rolling up the magazine. “About time.”

Cody smiled back. She felt her cheeks burning.

Quinn, oblivious to the interaction between Cody and Luke, glanced around to make sure the area was clear of any potential spies. Once he determined the coast was clear, he plopped into a stiff wooden chair.

Cody slid into the chair next to Quinn, opposite Luke, and opened her backpack. She pulled out her spelling words along with her Case Files Codebook, figuring she’d study a little until M.E. arrived and the meeting officially started. But before she could look at the first word on the list, her friend appeared from the stacks.

“Hey, guys,” M.E. said, sitting next to Luke. She’d exchanged her school outfit for blue overalls, a stretchy pink top studded with rhinestones, and pink bunny slippers. There was nothing M.E. wouldn’t wear—including pajama bottoms. Cody often wished she had the nerve to dress like M.E., but it just wasn’t her style.

Before officially beginning the meeting, the Code Busters gave the secret greeting: they each made a fist and touched their thumbnails to their lips— the American Sign Language sign for “secret.”

“’Sup, dude?” Luke asked Quinn, apparently eager to get the meeting started. A man of action, Cody thought.

Quinn leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice. “Okay, first we need a plan to find the treasure at Skeleton Man’s house.”

“How do you know there really is a treasure?” M.E. asked, twisting her long black hair up with a scrunchy. “If he’s so rich, why hasn’t he fixed up his house or built a swimming pool or bought a race car or something?”

“Because he’s crazy,” Quinn said, tapping his forehead. “I mean, he has all those weird statues in his yard. And, like, a hundred cats.”

Cody rolled her eyes at the common rumor about Skeleton Man’s so-called menagerie. “No, he doesn’t. I told you. He only has eleven. I counted them once.” She thought about Punkin and bit her lip. Where was her cat?

“But what’s going to happen to them with Skeleton Man gone?” M.E. asked. M.E.’s bedroom was like a mini-zoo. She had a bird, a guinea pig, a white rat, and a turtle. Cody envied her, but with Tana’s allergies, about all she could own was a turtle.

“My mom called the SPCA,” Quinn said. “They’re going to come and get the cats.”

Not Punkin!Cody thought. They can’t take my cat away!

“What’s SPCA?” Luke asked. “Some kind of code?”

“An acronym, doofus,” M.E. said. “The letters stand for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They take care of sick and abandoned cats and dogs.”

“That’s cool,” Luke said. “I had a dog, back in N’awlins… ” He drifted off without finishing his sentence. Cody wondered if the dog had been lost in the flood.

“Anyway,” Quinn interrupted, “back to the plan. You know those two strangers who were over at Skeleton Man’s house? My mom talked to them and found out they’re his relatives. At least, that’s what they said.”

“She talked to them?” Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, when she saw them hanging around after the fire, she went over to ask about Skeleton Man.”

“Wait a minute. Those two were at his house— after the fire?” Cody hadn’t seen them and thought that they were gone by the time the house was in flames. “What else did they say?”

“They told my mom they didn’t know anything yet about how Skeleton Man was doing,” Quinn said. “Which was kinda weird, if they were relatives. But then they changed the subject and started asking my mom a bunch of questions.”

“Like wh— ” Cody said.

Before she could finish her question, she glimpsed a shadow moving behind one of the magazine racks. She held up her hand—the scuba diving sign for “stop!” Then she finger-spelled the letters “s-py” and pointed in the direction of the movement.

Someone was lurking in the stacks—and listening in.