Academy isââMom clears her throatââhighly competitive. This is my last chance. If I fail this assignmentââher voice cracksââIâll have to move on.â The heavy burrito feeling is back in my stomach. My go-getter mother is failing at something? âMove on?â âTo the afterlife reserved for Academy failures.â So Iâd be losing her all over again. Right after we found each other. And to a terrible fate for which I donât want details, thankyouverymuch. âI really need your help,â she says. Like the pitiful drummer in our school band, my heart beats all erratically. My mom needs me. My überindependent, never-turns-down-a-challenge mother needs me. And not just for babysitting but for big stuff. This is mind-blowing. âWhat would I have to do?â âSomeone is leaving unauthorized banana treats in the rhino enclosure of an animal park.â âAnd?â âTheyâre either using the bananas to lure the rhinos to a spot where they can shoot them or planning to poison the bananas and thus the rhinos. My assignment is to find the culprit, figure out the motive and prevent any rhino deaths.â âWhy doesnât the park just tell the cops?â âAccording to Academy sources, the park officials donât know thereâs a deadly agenda. They think itâs a simple case of unauthorized treats,â Mom says. âAnd they feel they can handle that internally.â âOf course they can.â Iâm big-time buying into the park-people-take-care-of-the-prob scenario. âThey most definitely cannot.â She pauses. âBesides, for me to get the credit for my class, we canât let anyone else solve the case.â âYou have tons of experience catching criminals. Why do you even need me?â âMy basic ghost skills and sense of direction are not up to par,â she says. âItâll take us both.â âHow do you even know something badâs going on?â âA ghost who knows a ghost who knows a snitch. Typical informer situation.â âWhyâd they assign you this case, anyway?â I scrunch up my face. âLike, why rhinos? Why arenât you going after the scumbags who killed you?â âThe Academyâs not about personal revenge,â Mom says. âAnd I got the rhino case becauseââher voice goes all proudââIâm advanced when it comes to connecting with live animals. I was the only one who got an A plus in the Animal Mind Control class. Who knows? Maybe all that time I spent working Canine gave me a special ability. Remember Nero Wolfe, my springer spaniel? That dog could sniff outââ Oh no. Sheâs on a roll. I swear she loved that dog more than me. âListen, Momââ âYou can do it, Sherry. We can do it together.â Perched on the end of a palm frond now, the wrenâs glaring at me with beady eyes. Creeeepy. His feathers are thin and ratty, and heâs got a bunch of wrinkled pink skin pouching out. Grooooss. This whole situation is so not me. My stomach goes all churny. âI still donât get what Iâm supposed to do.â âGo to San Diego over spring break. The rhinos are at the Wild Animal Park. You can stay at Great-aunt Margaretâs.â Wham. Itâs like the time I rode my bike into the garage door. After years of contradicting each other, now my parents decide to act as a unit? âSo you and Dad are ganging up on me?â I spit out. âJust so he and The Ruler can go on their honeymoon?â I clap my hand over my mouth to stop the words. Too late. âThe math teacher?â The branch above me shakes wildly. âOh! Oh! Oh!â Thud . Sand from the sandbox sprays out onto the lawn. âOuch.â âMom! Mom! You okay?â âSee what I mean about having