A to Z mysteries

The Bald Bandit: Chapter 1

Dink slipped the plastic fangs into his mouth. He made a scary face at his best friend, Josh Pinto

"Do I look like a vampire?" It was hard to talk without spitting, so Dink took the fangs out again.

Dink's full name was Donald David Duncan , but nobody called him Donald. except his mother,when she was upset. Then she called him by all three names.

Josh grinned."No. You look like a skinny third grader wearing false teeth." 

"Wait till I put on the rest of my costume," Dink said."Then I'll look like a vampire."

"Maybe you will." Josh was tearing a green bedsheet into long strips."And maybe you won't." 

Dinks guinea pig, Loretta, crawled among the green strips. Every now and then she let out a curious squeak.

"How will you be able to walk if you're wrapped up in all those strips?" Dink asked josh.

Josh kept tearing."Swamp monsters don't walk," he said in a slithery voice"they gliiiide."

"Okay, so how will you be able to gliiiide around in all those strips?"

The doorbell rang. When dink opened the door, his next-door neighbor,Ruth rose, and me were standing on the steps

" Hi, Ruth Rose, hi Bella. Why are you Guys wearing wigs? Halloween isn't until tomorrow."

Ruth Rose was dressed in her usual bright clothes- a pink shirt,pink pants, and pink sneakers. Bella an older kid who hung out with them, was wearing a green shirt, red jeans and her black combat boots. On each of there heads were wigs, Ruth Roses black, Bella's red, but Ruth Rose wore thick fake eyebrows.

Ruth Rose wiggled the fake eyebrows up and down" Guess who me and Bella are!"

Josh stared at them" Hairy princesses?"

" No."

"Groucho Marx?"

They shook their heads.

"Tell us" Dink said

Ruth rose pretended to strum a guitar"I'm Elvis" she cried" And I'm Peter Pan!" Bella said while pretending to jab the air with a fake sword.

"That was my next guess," Josh said

Bella looked at his mound of green strips." What are you supposed to be?"

Josh wrapped a strip around his face. He made a swamp monster face at Bella.

"Guess," he said.

Bella smiled sweetly." You're a green sheet torn into strips."

The doorbell rang again.

This time Dink saw a tall man standing on the doorstep. He was dressed in a suit in tie. He had dark curly hair, a droopy mustache, and a dimpled chin.

" Hi, there. My name is Dectective Reddy. I was hired by the Green Lawn Savings Bank to find someone. Did you hear about the robbery?"

Josh, Bella and Ruth Rose came to the door and stood behind Dink.

Bella nodded." I heard about it on TV."

"Are you looking for the robber?" Josh asked.

Detective Reddy shook his head." Right now I'm looking for someone who saw him. When the thief ran out of the bank, he took off his mask. Some kid was walking by with a video camera. He got the thief on tape. The bank hired me to find the kid so I can get the video."

"What does the kid look like?" Ruth Rose asked.

Detective Reddy stared at her Elvis wig." Someone in the bank said he has red hair and he's tall and skinny."

"Sounds like you, Josh," said Dink. He laughed and pointed at Josh's red hair.

"It wasn't me, honest!" Josh said." I don't even have a video camera."

" No, the kid was a lot older than you," said the detective" probably in high school." He then turned to Bella and said" You might even know him," she tapped her chin and said" Sounds familiar, I can't put my tongue on it."

"But we do know Green Lawn pretty well." Dink said"  Maybe we can help you find him."

The detective looked at the four friends.

" Tell you what," he said. " Check the high school tomorrow. If you find the kid who filmed the robber, get the video." They nodded" I can also ask around in between classes." Bella said," Good idea. There will also be a nice reward if you hand it over."

"How much?" Josh asked.

How about one hundred dollars for each of you?"

"A HUNDRED BUCKS?" Screamed Ruth Rose.

Dink, Josh, Bella and detective Reddy covered their ears.

" Ouch!" Said detective Reddy." Thats quite a set of lungs you've got there."

"How can we get in touch with you if we find the kid?" Dink asked.

The detective pulled out a small pad and a pencil. He wrote something and ripped off the page.

" Here's my phone number. Call me if you get that video"

Dink closed the door behind Detective Reddy. He grinned at the others." A hundred bucks each! We're rich!"