have these tickets and ask her to go to the concert with you?â Amos shook his head. âNo style. I want this letter to really make an impression on her.â âWhat do you have so far?â Amos smoothed the piece of paper and cleared his throat. â âDear Melissa. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to theââ â âHold it. I think that oneâs been done.â Amos scratched his head. âAre you sure?â Dunc nodded. âPretty sure.â âOkay then, Iâll skip that part. How about this. âAt enormous personal expense I have obtained this priceless ticketââ â Dunc stopped him again. âAmos, you didnât pay anything for that ticket. It was free.â âDetails.â Amos cleared his throat again. âWhere was I? Oh yeahââto this once-in-a-lifetime opportunityââ â âAmos, itâs not once in a lifetime. Road Kill is giving two concerts.â âI know that. Give me a break. Iâm trying to be creative here.â âIs that what you call it?â Amos scanned the letter. â âFor the experience of a lifetime, meet me at the civic center at six-thirty on Friday, and together weâll attend the social event of the year. I will be counting the seconds until we meet. Yours eternally. Signed, your adoring admirer.â â Amos looked up. âWell, what do you think?â Dunc tried not to smile. âI donât know. It may be too low-key.â Amos studied the letter. âI didnât want to come on too strong. It might scare her off.â âWhy didnât you sign your name? How is she supposed to know who sent her the ticket?â âMystery.â âIâm not following you.â âI checked out this real informative book from the library called How to Attract Girls in One Easy Lesson . It said girls go nuts over stuff like this. They think itâs romantic. When I meet her in front of the civic center wearing my black tuxedo with tails and carrying an armful of red roses, sheâll know who sent the letter. Then weâll get engaged and pick out a china pattern.â Dunc erased some figures on his note pad. âI didnât know you had a tuxedo. And where are you going to get the money for an armful of roses?â âIâm not sure about the tux yet, but Iâve got the roses worked out. Mrs. McGillis down on First Street had a bumper crop of roses this year.â âAmos, you canât just go pick some poor old ladyâs roses.â âShe gave me permission.â âFor a whole armful?â âNot exactly. But she did say if I mowed her back yard, I could have a few.â âI hope it works out for you.â Dunc turned his attention back to his notes. âBoy, this case has me baffled. So far I canât figure out any reason for somebody to be sabotaging the Road Kill band. What we need is more clues.â âWhat we need is to let them solve their own problems. I know you. Youâre going to get us involved in some big deal and end up messing up my date with Melissa.â Dunc put his hand over his heart. âAmos, would I put a case before my best friendâs happiness?â âIn a heartbeat.â âOkay, just to show you how wrong you are about me, Iâll even go with you to put the letter in Melissaâs mailbox.â âWhy?â âLike I said, youâre my best friendâand besides, Melissaâs house isnât too far from the civic center. We can stop by there before we come home and see if we can dig up some more clues.â
⢠7 âDo you think Melissaâs dad bought any of that?â Amos pedaled up beside Dunc. âI think you had him right up until the part where you tried to convince him you were a dwarf working for the post office.â Dunc stood on