A to Z Mysteries: The Bald Bandit Read Free

a flattop? How about one of them Mohawk jobbies, with the stripe down the middle?”
    “I don’t want a haircut,” Dink said. “I need to ask you something.”
    Howard squinted one blue eye. He lifted Dink’s baseball cap. “What happened to your hair?”
    Dink blushed. “I was a vampire last night. I used black shoe polish in myhair and it won’t come out. I tried.”

    Howard grinned. “Hop up in the chair, me lad. I’ll dose you with me special shampoo. You can ask your question while I perform a little magic.”
    Dink hung his hat on a peg andclimbed into the barber chair. Howard pulled a bottle and some white towels out of a cupboard.
    “I was wondering if you know any kids with red hair,” Dink said. “Besides Josh.”
    Howard draped a towel around Dink’s shoulders and pinned it in back. He misted Dink’s hair with a spray bottle of water.
    “I might,” he answered. “Why do you want me to dye your hair red?”
    Dink laughed. “No, I’m looking for a certain kid who has red hair. I think he’s a teenager.”
    “I know one teenager who
had
red hair,” Howard said, pouring green shampoo onto Dink’s hair. “But I shaved it all off last week. Came running in here all excited, out of breath. ‘Shave my head!’ he tells me. So I did.”
    The smell of the shampoo made Dink’s eyes water. He felt his heart start to tap-dance.
    “Was he carrying a video camera?” Dink asked.
    Howard rubbed the shampoo into Dink’s hair.
    “Why all the questions about this redheaded boy?” he asked.
    Dink thought for a few seconds, then decided to spill the beans. He told Howard about the bank robber, about the kid with the video camera, and about the three hundred dollars the detective had promised.
    Howard chuckled. “Oh, now I see why the boy ran in here yelling for me to cut off all his hair. He didn’t want the bank bandit to recognize him. So if I tell you this lad’s name, you’re going to persuade him to give you the videotape?”
    “Yes, if I can,” Dink said.
    “What about the money?” said Howard.
    Dink looked at Howard in the mirror. “What about it?”
    “Would you be planning to share the reward with the redheaded boy?”
    Dink grinned. “Sure. We’ll give himhalf of what we get from the detective.”
    “That sounds like a fine idea.” Howard rubbed Dink’s hair vigorously. Dink watched in the mirror. His hair was a slimy green mess.
    “Does this stuff really get shoe polish out?” he asked.
    “Yup. Invented it meself,” Howard said. “Secret recipe. I used it once to get bubble gum out of me granddaughter’s hair. It took tar out of our dog’s fur, too.”
    Howard swung the barber chair around and lowered its back. He positioned Dink’s head over the sink.
    “Close your eyes, me boy. Let’s wash this gook out and see what’s what.”
    Dink liked the feel of the warm water and Howard’s fingers smoothing the shampoo out of his hair. After a few minutes, Howard sat him up andplopped a fresh towel on his head.
    “Dry off. I think you’re back to normal.”
    Dink rubbed his hair with the towel, then looked in the mirror. He laughed out loud. “You did it!”
    Howard smiled at Dink’s reflection. “I should sell this stuff and make a million dollars.”
    “How much do I owe you?” Dink asked.
    “This one’s on me, young fella. And the boy with red hair is Lucky O’Leary. He lives over on Robin Road with his mum and his little brothers and sisters. All six of ’em! Nice kids, and every last one’s a redhead.”
    Howard grinned as he lowered the chair.
    “Except for Lucky, who suddenly decided to go bald.”

“He’s
bald?”
Josh said climbing Ruth Rose’s front steps.
    Dink had run right home from the barbershop and called Josh. Now they were picking up Ruth Rose so they could go to Robin Road together.
    “That’s what Howard said,” Dink told Josh. He pushed the doorbell.
    “So that’s why we didn’t spot him at the high school!” Josh said.
    “COME