Mystery at the Washington Monument (5 page)
Read Mystery at the Washington Monument Online
Authors: Ron Roy
Opal wiped her eyes with the towel.
“You’re doing fine, Opal,” the president said.
“Dimm made a hole in one of the big stones they were getting ready to put into the wall,” Opal said. “The stone was from the state of Washington. Dimm drilled a hole right inside the letter
o.
He stuck the diamonds in the hole, then added a thin
coat of plaster to cover it up. He drew a picture of the stone, right in that diary.”
Opal looked at President Thornton. “I decided to get those diamonds. I knew I couldn’t climb up there, so I bought Bingo, the monkey. I trained him to recognize the word
Washington
, and to hit the
o.
Every time he did it right, I gave him a reward. Monkeys learn fast.”
“What happened to his arm?” the president asked.
“He fell one day and cracked a bone,” Opal said. “I took him to the vet, but I gave her a fake name. I didn’t want anyone to be able to connect me to the monkey. I guess I shouldn’t have picked Dimm.”
“How did Bingo get left behind in the Monument?” the FBI director asked.
“I was stupid,” Opal said. “Bingo pulled out the diamonds—they were in a pouch—and gave them to me. I was so nervous I forgot his reward. He took off on me, so I left him there. I figured I’d get him the next day or something.”
“Where are the diamonds now, Opal?” the president asked.
She shook her head. “In my freezer. I poured water over them in an ice tray and froze them,” she said.
Mr. Smiley stood up. “Take me to your home, Opal,” he said.
Opal stood up and handed the towel to KC’s mom. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry I ruined your party.”
Mr. Smiley led Opal from the room.
Washington Makes New Friends
Dr. Tutu invited Washington to live in the National Zoo. A few days later, KC and Marshall went to visit him. They stood in front of the giant cage filled with spider monkeys. There must have been fifty of them, swinging, chattering, and grooming each others fur.
“How do we figure out which one is Washington?” Marshall asked. “They all look alike!”
“I don’t know,” KC said. “They seem happy, though, don’t they?”
In every corner of the tall cage, spider monkeys were eating and playing and
snoozing. There were vines for climbing and trees for making nests. KC noticed one monkey holding a tiny baby.
“Look,” Marshall said. He pointed to a sign on the wall. WASHINGTON, ONE OF OUR SPIDER MONKEYS, HAS HAD AN EXCITING LIFE. HE STOLE SOME DIAMONDS, SLEPT IN THE WHITE HOUSE, AND HELPED CAPTURE A CRIMINAL.
Under the paragraph was another sentence: PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE MONKEYS.
Other people were watching the spider monkeys through the cage bars. One was a man sitting in front of an artist’s easel. He was drawing one of the monkeys.
“I have an idea,” KC told Marshall. She walked over to the artist. “Excuse me,”
she said. “Could you spare a sheet of paper and a pencil?”
“Sure,” the man said. “Do you like to draw?”
KC looked at the man’s beautiful sketch. “No, but I wish I could,” she said.
KC laid the paper on the ground and wrote the word
Washington
in big letters.
“Great idea,” Marshall said when he saw what she’d done.
KC and Marshall held the paper up to the bars of the cage. At first nothing happened. The monkeys continued racing and climbing and squeaking. Then one of them came toward the bars.
“Is it him?” Marshall whispered.
“I don’t know,” KC said.
The curious monkey sat in front of the paper and put his tiny hand through the
bars. Then he let out a loud chirp and began tapping on the letter
o.
“Yep, it’s Washington,” KC said.
The monkey tilted his head to one side. He looked at KC and Marshall. Then he chirped loudly again.
Marshall grinned. “I think he just said, ‘Hi, Marshall!’”
KC shook her head. “Wrong, Marsh. It’s so obvious that he said hi to me, not you!”
“How do you know?” Marshall asked.
KC smiled. “Girls know these things,” she said mysteriously.
KC walked over to the artist and returned his pencil. He was looking at them curiously. “What was that all about?” he asked.
KC laughed. “Don’t ask. It’s a long story!”
Did you know that the Washington Monument took more than thirty-five years to build? When the first stone was laid on July 4, 1848, no one expected that the capstone wouldn’t be placed until December 6, 1884.
The Washington National Monument Society was low on money from the start. The state of Alabama wanted to help by donating an engraved memorial stone. The Society thought this was a great idea. They invited states and groups to donate stones to be used in building the Monument.
Many did, but it wasn’t enough. Lack of funds, disagreements about the stones, and the out-break of the Civil War stopped construction of the Monument.
During the war and for many years after, the Monument stood partly finished, at a third of its final height. Cows, pigs, and sheep wandered the grounds around it, eating grass.
The United States celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July 1876. People were feeling patriotic. Congress finally came up with the money to finish the Monument. Once building started up again, it only took a few years to complete the 555-foot Monument.
Even though it was many years later, the builders included all the memorial stones that had been donated. And if you look carefully, you can still see the place where they stopped building all the way back in 1861—the marble above it is a slightly different color!
About the AuthorRon Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the bestselling A to Z Mysteries and Capital Mysteries. He lives in a quiet part of Connecticut. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach his dog tricks, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books. You can visit Ron on his Web site at
www.ronroy.com
.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2007 by Ron Roy
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Timothy Bush
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roy, Ron.
Mystery at the Washington Monument / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by Timothy
Bush. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Capital mysteries ; 8)
“Stepping Stone book.”
SUMMARY:
When KC and Marshall see lights flickering at night in the Washington Monument, their investigation turns up a monkey, a hole in one of the monument stones, and a hundred-year-old mystery.
eISBN: 978-0-307-49696-6
[1. Monkeys—Fiction. 2. Stealing—Fiction. 3. Washington (D.C.)—Fiction. 4. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Bush, Timothy ill. II. Title.
PZ7.R8139Mys 2007 [E]—dc22 2006029616
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