An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs Read Free

shaky.
    Tina aimed the spotlight at the creature. She sighed.
    “So this is it, huh? Big and floppy and
     green.”
    It was a tattered tarpaulin, floating just off the bottom of the
     pool, its ratty edges undulating like tentacles.
    “It looked so much bigger when I saw it,” Kevin said
     sheepishly.
    “This must be Miss Frost’s
     creature,” said Giles with relief.
    “Yes,” said Tina wisely. “A gas bubble must
     lift the tarp up through the water. At the top, all the gas escapes, and the
     tarp sinks back down to the bottom. It could keep going up and down like that
     forever.”
    “Well,” said Kevin, who had cheered up considerably,
     “that’s another case cracked by the Quark genius business.” He
     nudged Giles. “See, it wasn’t worth getting so scared about, was
     it?”
    Something nudged up against the bathysphere window, blotting out
     the light.
    “Gork!” said Kevin again.
    Giles knew exactly what he meant this time.
    This wasn’t a tarpaulin.
    This was something else.
    This something had a purple, wedge-shaped head with green-rimmed
     eyes, and a long, narrow mouth lined with two sharp mountain ranges of
     teeth!

Chapter 4
Dinosaur!
    Miss Frost looked up as they burst into her office.
    “You’ve got something, all right!” Kevin blurted out, skidding across the floor.
    “A creature!” said Giles. “There is definitely a strange creature living in your pool!”
    “I see,” Miss Frost replied calmly. “You’re quite certain of that, are you?”
    “Certain?” said Kevin. “You should have seen the teeth on that thing!”
    “Thank you, Kevin,” said Tina firmly, “that will be enough. Miss Frost, I’m pleased to report that I have made visual contact with the creature in question, and have managed to make an identification.”
    “Go on,” she said.
    “Unless I’m mistaken,” Tina began, “and I so rarely am, the creature is actually a very rare species of Hydrosaurus .”
    “Are you telling me I have a dinosaur living in my pool?”
    “Yes I am, Miss Frost.”
    Giles had never seen anyone take such extraordinary news so calmly.
    “How did it get there?”
    “Through a crack in the bottom,” said Giles. “It must swim in from some underground river. After we saw it, it darted back down through the crack.”
    A telephone rang. Miss Frost picked it up, said, “Not now,” and hung up.
    She looked back at the three of them and smiled. “Excellent. A remarkable job.”
    “Well, I think that about wraps things up here,” said Kevin eagerly. “It’s been a real pleasure, Miss Frost. We’ll send you our bill and—”
    “No, no,” said Miss Frost. “You’re not finished yet.”
    “We’re not?” said Giles.
    “I wonder how much a dinosaur is worth?” Miss Frost said quietly, turning towards the flashing wall oftelevision screens. “It’s one of a kind. I’d be the only person in the world to have one.” She looked sternly at the three of them. “I want you to catch it for me.”
    “Catch it?” exclaimed Kevin.
    “Miss Frost,” said Giles, “catching dinosaurs really isn’t the kind of thing we do.”
    “It isn’t at all,” agreed Kevin. “I mean, the last time we caught dinosaurs was—”
    “I want that hydrosaur,” said Miss Frost in her steely voice.
    “I’m sure we could trap it for you,” said Tina confidently.
    Giles stared at her in amazement.
    “But—” he began to say.
    “But—” Kevin began to say.
    “Good!” said Miss Frost. “That’s the kind of attitude I like in my business.”
    She opened a drawer and took out the thickest wallet Giles had ever seen.
    “And rest assured,” she said, “I’ll make it very worth your while.”
    “I can’t believe we’re actually trying to catch a dinosaur,” said Giles nervously.
    “It’s a scientific breakthrough,” said Tina grandly. “Think about it, Barnes. Until now, all we’ve had to go on are dinosaur bones. But now we’ve discovered a living specimen! It might be