A to Z Mysteries: The Bald Bandit Read Free Page A

IN!” Ruth Rose screamed from inside.
    Ruth Rose was sitting on the floorwatching a video with her four-year-old brother, Nate.
    “Come on, Ruth Rose. I think we found the redhead!” Dink said. “We’re going to his house.”
    Ruth Rose jumped up and screamed, “I’M LEAVING WITH THE GUYS, MOM! WATCH NATE!”
    Dink and Josh covered their ears.
    Ruth Rose told Nate, “You stay right here and wait for Mommy, okay?”
    Nate nodded and kept his eyes on the TV set.
    “Let’s go.” Ruth Rose led the way back to the door and skipped down the front steps.
    “How’d you find the kid?” she asked.
    Dink explained how he hadn’t been able to get the shoe polish out of his hair.
    “That made me think about cuttingmy hair off. And
that
made me think about the barbershop. Who would know all the redheads in Green Lawn?”

    “HOWARD THE BARBER!” she screamed.
    The boys covered their ears again.
    “I’m going to need a hearing aid like old Mr. Kramer,” Josh muttered.
    Dink had looked up O’Leary in the phone book to get the address on Robin Road. They stopped in front of house number 33. It was a big blue house with toys and bikes and sneakers and basketballs all over the lawn. Loud music came out through the front door.
    They walked onto the porch and stepped over a baseball bat. Four pumpkins sat in a row, all carved with scary faces.
    Dink rang the bell. “Keep your fingers crossed,” he said.
    A little girl opened the door. Shehad red hair and a face full of freckles.
    “Hi! I’m Josephine and I’m five and a half!” She held up ten fingers.
    “Is your brother home?” Dink asked.
    “Which one? I have this many!” Josephine held up ten fingers again.
    Dink laughed. “Do you have a big brother named Lucky?”
    The music went off.
    “Who’s out there, Jo?” a voice called. A tall, skinny teenager wearing torn jeans and a T-shirt came up behind Josephine. Dink noticed red fuzz covering his head, like a new red lawn.
    “Are you Lucky O’Leary?” Dink asked.
    The kid looked down at Dink and Josh and Ruth Rose. “Who wants to know?”
    “We do,” Ruth Rose said. “How’d you like to earn some money?”

    “I might,” he said.
    “We’re looking for a kid who got the Green Lawn bank robber on video last week,” Dink said. “The bank hired a detective to find the video, and we’re helping the detective. He’s paying us to get the video, and we’ll split the money with you. If you’re the kid, I mean.”
    “Are you?” Ruth Rose asked.
    The kid rubbed the top of his fuzzy red head. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I’m the guy.”
    Then he crossed his arms. “But I’m not giving my tape to any detective.”

The kids stared at Lucky.
    “Why not?” Ruth Rose asked. “The detective is helping the bank find the robber. You could be a HERO!”
    “Shh!” said Lucky. He looked around nervously. Then he beckoned Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose inside.
    “Come on.”
    Inside Lucky’s house, the kids followed him down a hallway into his bedroom. Dink noticed that he was limping. His room had posters of basketball players on the walls. There wereclothes all over the floor.
    Lucky flopped down on his bed.
    “Listen,” he said. “I’m afraid to give that tape to the detective. What if the robber found out I handed it over? With my luck, he’d come after me.”
    “How would the robber know it was you who taped him?” Dink asked.
    Lucky sat up. “Because he looked right at me when he ran out of the bank. The guy saw me taping him! That’s why I ran to Howard’s to get my head shaved.” Lucky scratched his fuzzy head.
    “But if you turn in the tape, the robber will get caught. Then you won’t have to worry about him at all,” said Josh.
    “Besides, we’ll give you half of our reward,” Ruth Rose said. “Right, guys?”
    “Right,” Dink said. “Is Lucky your real name?”
    The kid shook his head. “It’s Paul. Lucky is my nickname. People call me that because I always have such rotten