فصل سی و نهم

chapter-39

No one said anything for like five minutes after the two detectives left.

Finally, Mr. Lemoncello broke the silence.

“Soooo—have either of the two final teams brought back the fascinating fact about who or what was the inspiration for my very first board game?” “No,” admitted Akimi.

“We were going to look up the names of your brothers and sisters in the front of your family Bible,” said Angus.

“But we sort of got sidetracked,” said Kyle. “By the whole Family Frolic dealio.” “Of course,” said Mr. Lemoncello. “You were doing research. You were duty bound to consider all the evidence uncovered. Would you final four fact finders like to request another delay of game?” “Yes, sir,” said Kyle. “We’d all rather spend our time clearing your good name. Now, like we said, we can prove—” Mr. Lemoncello held up his hand. Smiled faintly.

“If it’s all right with you, Kyle, I’d rather spend my time reading a good book. Any suggestions, Sierra?” “Well, sir, I like to read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen whenever I feel like I can’t go on.” “Perfect. Help yourself to anything in the fridge or pantry, friends. I’ll be in my reading room. Reading.” He stepped toward the door.

“You can’t give up, Mr. Lemoncello,” said Kyle.

“I know. In fact, I’m not giving up. However, I also cannot personally help you, as you say, ‘clear my good name.’ It would be like the Wicked Witch of the West saying, ‘Hey, I’m not all that bad, Munchkins. Trust me.’ No, Elphaba, the green-skinned girl who grew up to become that Wicked Witch, needed Gregory Maguire to write Wicked to clear her good name. I, on the other hand, need you.” “B-b-but…”

“Why do you think Dr. Zinchenko and I created a game that would send you children out into the field to find facts for our new exhibits that we ourselves had already found?” “To make it fun for us to play?”

Mr. Lemoncello smiled. “Partially. But sometimes knowing how to find the answers and what questions to ask are more important than the answers themselves. With the research skills you twelve have honed in the Fabulous Fact-Finding Frenzy, we hoped you would learn how to find facts on your own—facts that Dr. Zinchenko and myself did not already have.” Kyle nodded. “Like who’s trying to make you look like a liar, a thief, and a cheat?” “Exactly. I didn’t know you’d be researching this particular subject right now, but that’s why research skills are like tweezers. You just never know when you might need them. Now, if you will excuse me, there is nothing more that I personally can do except, of course, hope that our trust in our trustees was not misplaced.” Mr. Lemoncello clicked his heels together. His shoes burped. He bowed, twirled his fingers in front of his face, and exited the room.

Kyle and the others were on their own.

“Bummer,” said Angus.

“Totally,” agreed Pranav.

“Wait a second, you guys,” said Elliott. “Where the heck is Katherine Kelly?” “Probably over in her chalet,” said Akimi. “Why?”

“She was my partner,” said Elliott. “While we were driving around, she told me she’s from Kansas City. Bragged about how it was the home of the best barbecue in America and the Krinkle Brothers game company.” “Yeah,” said Kyle. “She mentioned that to me, too. When we first met.” “It’s so obvious, we should’ve seen it sooner!” said Elliott. “She’s a spy! She planted that phony game box up in the Lemoncello-abilia Room. Then she stole the blueprints to the Fantabulous Floating Emoji game!” “Katherine Kelly?” said Kyle. “No way.”

“Way, dude,” said Elliott. “I saw her write down the combination to the safe in her stupid little notebook when Mr. Lemoncello told it to us.” “Now that you mention it,” said Sierra, “I saw her do that, too.” “She is from the Krinkle brothers’ hometown,” said Jamal.

“What more evidence do we need?” said Elliott.

“Please,” said Abia, “I beg of you: Do not go there.” “Go where?” said Elliott, sounding defensive.

“Holding everybody in the state of Missouri responsible for the acts of two creepy old men.” “But it makes sense,” said Diane.

“In the same way that it makes sense for the airport security screeners to give my father extra scrutiny every time he flies because his skin is brown and his first name is Muhammad?” The room became quiet again.

“Abia’s right,” said Kyle. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.” “Fine,” said Elliott. “Whatever. Let’s just go ask Katherine Kelly a few questions. Like Mr. Lemoncello said, we know how to find the truth!” —

The eleven trustees went to Katherine Kelly’s suite in a chalet located at the far edge of the old motel grounds.

She was in the one where the room and furniture were designed to look like snack cakes.

“Uh, hi, guys,” said Katherine from the Hostess Twinkies sofa when everybody crowded into her living room. “What’s up?” “Why don’t you tell us?” said Elliott, who probably watched a few too many lawyer shows on TV. “You’re from Missouri. Kansas City, Missouri, to be precise. Just like the Krinkle brothers. Just like Irma Hirschman.” “Actually,” said Akimi, “Ms. Hirschman is an actress from New York.” “Huh,” said Katherine. “That’s interesting. But why are you guys all here?” “Because,” said Elliott, “we think you may know something about who stole Mr. Lemoncello’s game blueprints and gave them to the Krinkle brothers so they could steal Mr. Lemoncello’s Fantabulous Floating Emoji idea.” Katherine Kelly turned a ghostly shade of puke-green.

“You’re right. I think I do. And I feel totally responsible.”