Hopping Mad (6 page)

Mr. Willis thought for a moment. He pulled his long hair distractedly.

“Oh yes! She was dressed funny—like a bumblebee. Now I really must go find my frogs. Good-bye, boys!”

Mr. Willis ran out of the room.

“Dressed like a bumblebee?” said Frank. “Who
could that be? Was anyone wearing wings for the talent show?”

“No,” said Joe. “But Melissa was dressed in yellow and black! And she said she loves frogs.”

Was Melissa responsible for ruining her own number?

Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through!”

Frank and Joe ran through the halls of Bayport Elementary as fast as they could go. They had to talk to Melissa before Principal Butler got out of her meeting. When they got to the door to the auditorium, they could hear singing coming from inside. They were in luck! Melissa was still rehearsing.

They burst through the doors. Melissa and Todd stopped singing. Before they could say anything, Frank burst out with, “Did you take the frogs from Mr. Willis's classroom?”

Melissa looked stunned. “No! I didn't …
take
them.”

Something about the way she said it told Frank she was lying.

“Did you touch them?”

“It wasn't my fault! They were being kept imprisoned! I was going to take them outside, but then Mr. Willis came running in and yelled at me, and I turned around to grab them off the counter where I had put them, and they were gone!” Melissa had started crying. This time, Frank believed her.

“They must have hopped off the counter, into the open vent!” said Joe.

“I just wanted them to be free!” said Melissa.

“You're going to have to tell Principal Butler,” said Frank.

“But I didn't bring them to the talent show. Adam said he did it!” Melissa didn't want to get in trouble.

Frank and Joe explained their theory: The frogs had escaped into the system of vents. When they reached the auditorium, they had broken the grates and fallen through.

“Oh no!” said Melissa. “It
is
all my fault.”

Together, Melissa, Todd, Frank, and Joe headed to Principal Butler's office. When they arrived, Principal Butler was just about to call Adam's parents. Adam and Mina were sitting in the office with her.

Melissa, Frank, and Joe explained what had happened.

“I'm sorry, Principal Butler! I just love frogs so much,” Melissa cried.

Principal Butler pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and thought for a second.

“I believe you, Melissa. Since this was an accident, and the only performance you ruined was your own, I'm not going to call your parents. Instead, you will be volunteering with Mr. Willis for the rest of the school year. Your job will be to take care of the frogs.”

“Really? Oh, wow!” Melissa said. Frank and Joe had never seen her this excited—even when her Tasty, Tasty Treats Ice Cream commercial was aired for the first time!

“As for you, Mr. Ackerman, you will explain yourself right now.”

Adam looked down at his shoes and said nothing. Mina jumped in.

“He just didn't want anyone to know that he couldn't have thrown the frogs, because he was singing to me! I got so scared to perform, I hid in
the janitor's closet. Adam came and sang to me, like he used to when I was little and scared of the dark.”

Even Principal Butler smiled at what Mina had to say. It seemed no one believed Adam's denial. The big, bad bully, singing to his sister? No wonder he would rather have confessed to a crime he didn't commit!

“That's not true!” Adam yelled. “I don't sing!
Never! And if you tell anyone, I'm totally going to get you!”

Adam stomped out of Principal Butler's office. Principal Butler stood up from behind her desk.

“Well, now that all of that is cleared up, let's get the talent show back on!”

“Yay!” Everyone cheered.

The rest of the talent show went smoothly. Melissa and Todd got to perform their number—without any frogs this time. They were great, as usual. Then the boys were up. With all of the crime solving, they'd almost forgotten they were going to perform! Everyone loved their sword fighting, and they got a big round of applause when they finished. There were a few more acts after them, and then finally, it was time to vote.

Everyone was given a little slip of paper with all the acts listed. It was hard to vote for just one, but
both Frank and Joe knew who their favorite was—Cissy! It would be wrong to vote for themselves, and Cissy deserved it the most. Her juggling was so incredible.

It seemed like Frank and Joe weren't the only ones who loved Cissy's act. When the votes were counted, she was in first place!

“Wow!” she screamed. This was the first time in years that anyone other than Melissa and Todd had gotten first place. Cissy couldn't stop thanking everyone all the way to the winner's platform. “This is amazing. I mean, I never expected to win. Thank you all so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Melissa and Todd came in second. Melissa was so excited about getting to take care of the frogs that she didn't even seem upset that she hadn't won first place. Then Principal Butler read off the third-place winner.

“In third place, Frank and Joe Hardy!”

Third place? Wow! Who would have guessed? Today was the best day ever!

• • • •

After all the excitement of the day, Frank and Joe were happy to get back to their tree house. On their big blackboard, they wrote
Secret Files
Case #4: Solved!
They were just about to pin their winner's ribbon up on the wall when someone crawled up the ladder and into the tree house with them.

“Hey, Frank! Hey, Joe! How's it going?”

“Hey, Cissy! What's up?” Cissy was one of the few people the boys allowed up in their tree house at any time.

“I just had to give this to you,” Cissy said, holding out the first-place ribbon. “If it wasn't for the two of you, and your other special talent, none of us would have won today. The whole show would have been canceled. You guys really deserve first place!”

“No way!” said Frank. He shook his head. Cissy deserved that ribbon.

“Your juggling act was amazing!” said Joe.

But Cissy insisted they take first place. Finally, Frank had an idea.

“How about we share first place?”

Cissy thought for a moment.

“Deal!” she said.