The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum (8 page)

“Now that you mention it, it does seem a little odd,” said Fred. Then his eyes widened in the semi-darkness. “You mean …”

“That's right,” said Brother. “Those aren't statues. Those are the real live Bogg Brothers pretending to be statues …”

The last words out of Brother's mouth before the Bogg Brothers grabbed him and Fred and covered their mouths were, “Help, Chief!”

As if on cue, Chief Bruno burst into the room. “Back off or I'll shoot!” he cried. His pistol was pointing at Billy, the head Bogg.

“Okay, Chief, you got us,” said Billy, putting up his hands. Bobby and Bert did likewise.

“All right, you three!” barked the chief. “Empty your pockets!”

Out of Bert Bogg's pocket came Queen Elizabear's pearl earrings and a ruby-encrusted bracelet. Out of Bobby Bogg's pocket came Queen Elizabear's beautiful pearl necklace. And out of Billy Bogg's pocket came … nothing.

“Turn around!” ordered the chief.

Billy Bogg turned his back to Chief Bruno.

“Well, well,” said the chief. “First time I ever noticed that your backside is shaped like a crown. Come on, out with it!”

Billy pulled the crown from his pants and glared at Chief Bruno. Keeping his pistol trained on Billy, the chief turned to the cubs and said, “While I don't like to see cubs messing around with dangerous criminals, I'll say this: as a policebear and as a citizen, it does my heart good to know we've caught the three Bogg Brothers red-handed.”

“Would you like to try for four?” came a voice from the rear. It was Officer Marguerite. She was standing in the rear exit with Igor, who was in handcuffs. And she was holding his ill-gotten gains: Lady Grizzly's priceless necklace.

“Four what?” asked Chief Bruno.

“Four Bogg Brothers,” Marguerite answered. “Found him in the getaway car with the motor running.”

Chief Bruno and the cubs took a good look at Igor. He was no longer shambling and bent over. And though he was taller, slimmer, and better looking than Billy, Bobby, and Bert, he looked every inch a Bogg.

“Is this guy your brother?” Chief Bruno asked Billy Bogg.

“Yep,” said Billy. “As much as I hate to admit it, he's our brother Buster. Sort of the black sheep of the family. He went and became an international jewel thief.” He shook his head sadly. “Don't know where we went wrong with that one.”

“Okay, Marguerite,” said the chief. “Cuff the rest of 'em and get them all into the police wagon.”

“You know, Fred,” said Brother as the Boggs were led out in handcuffs, “if I'd realized why Igor looked so familiar—just like a Bogg brother—I'd have known that those workbears were the Bogg Brothers and prevented this whole mess from happening.”

“True,” said Fred. “But think of it this way: one cub's mess is another cub's Great Adventure.”

Brother smiled and nodded.

“Hey,” said Fred, “let's go get some of that leftover food. I'm hungry.”

Chapter 13

Downhill Summer

It turned out that Chief Bruno had been on the lookout for jewel thieves the moment he'd heard about Lady Grizzly's plan to wear her diamond necklace to the grand opening of Madame Bearsaud's. But he never for a minute suspected Madame Bearsaud's assistant, Igor. And neither had Madame Bearsaud.

For years afterward, the grand madame was too embarrassed to tell anyone how Buster Bogg had fooled her into believing he was “Igor” from faraway Grizzylvania. But Beartown folks understood how it could have happened when they read the
Beartown Gazette
's report on Buster Bogg's life story. Anyone who could go from a backwater like Beartown to becoming a world-famous jewel thief had to be very clever indeed.

Brother and Fred were the talk of the town for the rest of that summer. Chief Bruno even gave them Crimestopper medals at a special ceremony in the town square. But, despite the opening of Madame Bearsaud's Wax Museum and Entertainment Center, things sort of went downhill from there. They had more adventures, of course. But no great adventures. And certainly not another Great Adventure (the kind with a capital G and a capital A). Nothing could quite compare with watching Madame Bearsaud's building go up and sneaking in to snoop around before it opened. Not to mention helping catch a pack of jewel thieves in the middle of one of the biggest events in Beartown history.

Now
that
was a Great Adventure!

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1999 by Berenstain Enterprises, Inc.

Cover design by Andrea Worthington

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2058-9

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

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