The Secret of Skull Island (6 page)

“I haven't given up yet.” Cody gave him a lopsided smile. “Come on, let's go for a swim.”

The two boys plunged into the surf. The water was crystal clear and cool. Colorful fish swam all around them.

The twins swam for over an hour. Then they left Rae, who insisted on staying in the surf, and walked slowly back to the inn. They left the shovels in the garden shed and then headed up the walkway, past some iguanas and geckos standing on rocks that lined the path. The reptiles were so still they looked like green spiky-headed statues.

The step had been fixed. The new board looked strong and sturdy.

“That was fast,” Cody observed.

The twins entered the kitchen, where they found Aunt Edith and Maxim sitting at the table in the dining room. The adults looked up as the boys walked in.

“We've just been talking about cooking,” said Aunt Edith. “I had no idea Maxim used to be a chef.”

“He's done a
lot
of things,” Cody said. “Hey, Aunt Edith, you got that step fixed pretty fast.”

“Yes. Shortly after the accident, Mr. Cordell came to me and insisted on fixing the step so that no one else would get hurt. He even apologized for getting so angry—isn't that nice?”

“Oh,” Otis said softly.

“Is something wrong?”

“No—no. We were just wondering how it broke the way it did. It held us all when we were entering. And then we noticed that the wood on the step that broke didn't look the same as on the other boards.”

Aunt Edith put her hands on her hips. “But they were all replaced at the same time. That would be very odd.”

“Yes, wouldn't it?” Cody nodded. “But think about it. Why did it break all of a sudden?”

Maxim was shaking his head. “I see that you are determined to be detectives. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Apparently an animal has been scratching and gnawing away at it. Finally the step was so weak that poor Ms. Esposito went through it.”

The boys exchanged glances. Just as they thought, Maxim was sure the boys were only getting carried away with the game of being detectives.

“What happened to the broken board?” asked Otis. “Do you know where it is?”

“I imagine that Mr. Cordell tossed it on the rubbish heap behind the house,” said Aunt Edith. “But I don't think you'd find it. There is a mountain of stuff left back there from the renovation that I've got to get carted away.” She thumbed over her shoulder.

Otis and Cody walked to the window and stared out at an immense mountain of tangled lumber and plaster. It was very unlikely that they'd locate the board there.

As they walked from the kitchen they talked about what they'd been told. It just didn't seem right that it all fit together so neatly and innocently.

“Well, we didn't exactly
nail
that one,” Otis remarked.

“No, we didn't.” Cody sighed. He paused for a moment, listening. “Do you hear water running?”

Otis tilted his head. “Yes, I do. It sounds like a
lot
of water.”

The boys hurried in the direction of the sound. It was coming from the bathroom in the lobby, gurgling and whooshing.

By the time they reached the bathroom, water was rushing out from underneath the door. They opened it and saw water all over the floor, pouring from the toilet tank.

Maxim and Aunt Edith ran up behind them. “Oh, no!” cried their aunt as she looked at the flood.

Cody bent down and turned the knob that shut off the water. Otis grabbed some towels off the rack and threw them down to soak up the water. Then he took the top off the tank and peered inside.

“This is a nightmare!” Aunt Edith wailed. “I think a pipe burst!”

Rae appeared, her towel slung around her neck. She eyed the overflowing toilet. “No, no, Aunt E.—it's not that bad,” she said. “I think the toilet just overflowed. The water kept running because the overflow tube was clogged up.”

“What's that?” asked Aunt Edith.

“It's a tube where water drains from the tank back into the bowl. The flotation device has been tampered with, too. There was no way for the tank to ‘know' that it was full. So the water just kept on running.”

“Did you read that in a plumbing textbook?” Maxim asked. “Honestly, Rae, the things you and the twins know never cease to amaze me.” He chuckled.

“We had that problem when a contractor redid our bathroom, that's all,” said Rae.

“We'll just clean it out then, right, Cody?” Otis said. Cody nodded. “Don't worry, Aunt Edith.”

“I'm going to run and change,” said Rae. “See you all later.” She took off up the stairs. On her way, she passed Albert McNab.

Aunt Edith raised a hand to her forehead. “It's one thing after another since I've opened this place. I'm just worn out.”

“Now, now, calm down, dear,” Maxim said gently.

“I can't calm down,” said Aunt Edith. “This wasn't an accident.”

Cody shook his head. “Can you think of anyone who would want to sabotage the inn?”

Aunt Edith sucked in her breath. She hesitated a moment and then said, “Actually, there might be someone who would. I had to fire a worker. He was always late, left early, disappeared for hours. He was pretty angry when I let him go.”

“Maybe he came sneaking back here and made sure some things went wrong,” said Cody.

Aunt Edith looked thoughtful. “Do you mean that maybe he drained the hot water heater and caused the chandelier to fall and put that snake in my bed?”

“It's possible,” Cody replied. He rinsed the dirt and pebbles from the return tube and fixed the flotation device. “Good as new,” he announced.

“I hope we'll get to relax for a while.” Aunt Edith sighed.

“Well, I'm not feeling very relaxed,” said a voice in the doorway. They looked up and saw McNab. “My room has been ransacked,” he said.

[Chapter Eight]

T
he room had been ransacked, all right. The mattress had been pulled off the bed, the linens and pillows scattered everywhere. The clothes had been pulled off the hangers in the closet and were piled on the floor. Every drawer had been dumped out.

“Look at that note,” McNab said, pointing to a piece of paper taped to the inside of his door. Written in jagged letters that looked almost as if they'd been slashed into the paper were the words,
Get out while you can.

“What a mess! What happened?” said a woman's voice outside the door. It was Muriel Esposito, and when she saw the wreck someone had made of the room her face went pale.

“Oh, goodness,” she said, her body sagging as she leaned against the wall. “I can't take all of this. My constitution is just too delicate.” She gazed at McNab. “You should leave. You've been threatened!”

“Don't get all worked up,” McNab said hurriedly. “Everything will be fine.”

“That's right.” Maxim put a hand on her shoulder. “It might be some sort of prank. Apparently there is a disgruntled worker lurking about. It seems he's angry, but we don't think he's dangerous.”

Was he forgetting that he might have been responsible for the chandelier falling down? the twins wondered. Someone could have gotten hurt, although no one could be sure that it hadn't been an accident. Maybe Maxim was just trying to calm Ms. Esposito.

“We'll get to the bottom of this,” Aunt Edith said hurriedly. “Don't worry, Muriel. I tend to agree with Maxim. It's a prank.”

“I'm going to go splash some cold water on my face,” said McNab. He walked into the bathroom and let out a yell. “In the toilet! It's a huge rat, and it's trying to jump out!”

Nobody moved. They all hated rats.

“Aw, why does there have to be a problem in a toilet again?” Cody mumbled. “Come on, Otis. Let's have a look.” They headed cautiously into the bathroom.

The rat in the toilet was a super-gruesome sight. The animal looked crazed. It was a dark gray with a pointed snout. There was blood around its mouth and growling sounds erupted from it as it tried to jump again and again but kept losing its footing on the smooth porcelain.

“Eww … gross,” said Otis. “Maybe it has rabies. And there's no way to get it out of there without getting bitten, right? If we just leave it alone it will tire itself out and drown.”

“How did it get in here anyhow?” Cody wondered aloud.

Other guests appeared. They had returned to the inn for lunch and then heard the commotion.

“Now, you boys be careful,” Eric Barber said in a shaky voice. “I think you should stay away from that awful animal.”

“Yeah, I think you're right,” Otis agreed. “Come on, Cody, there's nothing we can do.”

But Cody didn't move. He stood still, head tilted, staring at the rat. Then, before anyone could stop him, his hand shot out and he grabbed the rat's head.

Everyone gasped and groaned. Some were too shocked to make a sound. They just stared, unable to believe what they had just seen. Cody held onto the rat tightly as it thrashed.

“I think I'm going to be sick,” murmured Mr. Barber.

“Me, too,” said Ms. Wallace.

Muriel Esposito had pressed her hand to her mouth.

“It's okay, folks, really,” said Cody. He held up the thrashing rat by the tail to convince them. It didn't work. It just sent everyone into more spasms of horror.

Cody shook the dripping rat. Its movements were slowing down.

“It's not real,” he said. “It's a fake … a toy. Look!” He peeled back a flap of fur on the rat's stomach and exposed a black switch. He flicked it and the rat was suddenly still.

Everyone gasped. “But … how did you know?” Ms. Wallace's voice trailed off.

Cody shrugged. “Back home I sometimes help out in a store called Wackorama. They sell a lot of goofy gadgets like whoopee cushions and hand buzzers. Fake rats are one of our most popular items around Halloween. I guess a fake rat makes a great
party booby trap
,” he said, giving his brother a sidelong glance.

Otis rolled his eyes and nodded back to let his brother know he recognized the palindrome.

“That thing is disgusting,” said Ms. Esposito.

“I know,” Cody agreed.

“I can't take it anymore,” said Aunt Edith. “I'm calling the police.”

*

All of the guests were gathered in the front hall when Officer Tano arrived. They followed as Aunt Edith took him to McNab's room. The officer examined the mess, the mechanical rat, and the note.

He treated the whole thing as a joke. He talked to Aunt Edith as if she were a child.

“You got me out here for this, lady?” he asked with a smirk. “This is the kind of thing the local kids do. They know that you're new to the island, and they decided to have some fun with you.”

“Well, maybe this is your idea of fun, but it isn't mine,” said McNab.

“It isn't mine, either,” said Maxim. “Frankly, I'm shocked by your reaction.”

The police officer's smirk deepened. “Messing up a room, putting a toy in the toilet, and leaving a note … is that what you call a real crime? I don't.” He turned to McNab. “Was anything stolen?”

“Well, no, there wasn't,” McNab admitted.

“See? This was some kind of kid's prank,” said Officer Tano.

“What about the worker I told you about on the phone?” asked Aunt Edith. “The one I fired?”

“We can't prove it was him,” the officer said smoothly. He smiled broadly at the guests. “Go on about your business, everybody. There was no crime here.”

As Officer Tano drove away, the guests began muttering. Strangely enough, the officer's unconcerned attitude was catching. As they began leaving, several guests were shrugging and mumbling about pranks.

“Unbelievable, just unbelievable,” said Aunt Edith. “That man didn't take this seriously at all.”

“That was really weird,” Cody said to Otis as they walked downstairs.

“Yeah,” Otis agreed. “What Aunt Edith said about firing that worker adds another suspect. I wonder how we can find out about this guy.”

“We'll ask the gardener,” said Cody. “He's been on the island his whole life. Maybe he knows something.”

They headed out to the garden to find Winston Cato.