Ivy and Bean Take the Case Read Free

because his baby cries all night!” said Prairie. “It’s not very mysterious,” agreed Dino. Ruby and Trevor, who lived down the street, nodded. They’d come outside when the mailman screamed, but they didn’t think a sleepy mailman was mysterious either.
    Ivy’s cheeks got pink. “Look! No one knew why he slept in his truck. Now we know. The mystery was solved by Bean, P. I.”
    Prairie shook her head.
    â€œFine,” said Bean. “I’ll solve my next mystery alone. With Ivy.”
    â€œWhat’s the mystery?” asked Sophie S.
    â€œI can’t tell you, but it’s a good one,” said Bean, crossing her arms.
    â€œA really good one,” added Ivy. “Very mysterious and strange.”
    â€œStrange?” said Sophie S. “Really?”
    Bean frowned. It wasn’t exactly strange.
    â€œYeah!” said Ivy. “So strange it would make your hair stand on end.”
    Trevor made an I-don’t-believe-you noise. “What is it?”
    â€œSo mysterious that your skin would crawl,” Ivy went on. Bean looked at her, worried. Their skin probably wouldn’t crawl, exactly. “So incredible—”
    â€œWHAT?” yelled Trevor, Ruby, and Prairie at the same time.
    â€œThe Tengs!” Bean shouted. “What do they keep locked behind their fence?”
    There was a silence. “I’ve always wondered that,” said Trevor.
    + + + + + +
    It was a beautiful garden. There were flowers everywhere, roses and big blue things that Bean didn’t know the name of. There was a cherry tree with shiny red cherries on it. There was a stone lion and a table and a white bench where the Tengs’ cat snoozed in the sun.There were even artichokes with purple tops growing on stems. Bean had never known that artichokes grew on stems. It was pretty. It was nice.
    But it was not mysterious.
    Or strange.
    Or incredible or skin-crawling.
    Bean climbed down the chair on top of the other chair on top of the table. Slowly, she turned to face Ivy, Sophie S., Dino, Prairie, Ruby, and Trevor.



WHAT’S UP?
    Things were not going the way Bean wanted.
    Dino pulled a blade of grass from the lawn. “Look!” he yelled. “It’s the Mystery of the Piece of Grass!”
    Sophie S. kicked off her flip-flop. “Oh my gosh! It’s the Mystery of the Missing Shoe!”
    Prairie held her finger in front of her face. “I see a mysterious hand!”
    Bean felt herself get hot and embarrassed. No one laughed at Al Seven. She was doing exactly what he did. Why was he cool and tough, while Bean was hot and embarrassed? It wasn’t fair.
    Ivy stomped her foot. “There
are
strange and mysterious things on Pancake Court. You just don’t notice them.”
    Sophie S. and Ruby giggled. Trevor said, “You’re loonies. Nothing strange ever happens around here. This is the most boring place in the world.” Trevor and Ruby went to school at home. They got bored a lot. “I’ll bet you fifty cents you can’t show me one strange thing on Pancake Court. One!”
    Bean looked quickly around Pancake Court for one strange thing. Houses. Yards. Cars. Mr. Columbi going to work. Two cats. A bicycle. Jake the Teenager and his shopping bag. Nothing strange. She had to think. She could say she had a buried treasure map, and then she could draw it really quick.
    Trevor made a snorty sound. “It’s the case of the missing mystery!” he said. Then he laughed.

    â€œBean’s hat is pretty strange,” giggled Prairie.
    Bean yanked her hat off. “Come on, Ivy,” she said, as toughly as she could. “We have mysteries to solve.” Ivy nodded in an Al Sevenish way. “Look tough,” muttered Bean. Ivy rubbed her face, and they walked quickly away around Pancake Court.
    Bean needed a mystery on the double. A lost puppy. Or a lost necklace. Or strange people hiding behind trees. Or