The Mystery of Silas Finklebean Read Free Page A

cream. Dee-licious.”
    “A conundrum,” explained Theodore, “is a puzzle, a mystery that needs to be solved. It has nothing to do with coconuts, marshmallows, or whipped cream, my fine purple friend.”
    Wally looked crestfallen. “Bummer, blue dude.”
    They watched as Theodore’s eyes spun in his blue head, a sure sign that he was thinking with maximum computing power. At last he said, “If you saw a man dressed in clothes from a long time ago, and he was floating in the air and moaning, and it wasn’t simply a hallucination, then I think you may have been witness to an apparition of supernatural composition.”
    “That would’ve been my guess,” agreed Wally, but then he looked puzzled. “Uh, what exactly did you just say?”
    “I exactly said that I believe Freddy saw a ghost.”
    “A GHOST!” screamed Wally, jumping up in the air and hitting his head on the ceiling before falling back to the floor and rubbing his noggin.
    Theodore nodded. “I have just now made a comprehensive evaluation of my databases and that is the only conclusion that conforms to the evidence now available.”
    Wally proudly announced, “I, too, made a com … a compr … uh, a eval … er, vul, uh, a …” He suddenly smiled and restarted with confidence. “I made a constipated evacuation of
my
ductwork and that’s what I think too.”
    Theodore said, “I think we need to do some research into the actual history of the Burger Castle.”
    “Howie and I can go to the town library tomorrow after school,” replied Freddy.
    “But Freddy,” said Howie, “we have to get busy on the science competition. We don’t even have a project picked yet.”
    “Howie, if Theodore is right and it was a ghost I saw, that would make a terrific science project. If we could discover its source, we could maybe solve one of the greatest mysteries of all time. We’d be a lock to win the competition.”
    As Freddy was going to sleep that night, all he could think about was what he’d seen. Had it been a ghost? If so, whose ghost was it? And why was it at the Burger Castle? It was both scary and exciting.
    As he finally drifted off to sleep, Freddy hoped tomorrow brought some answers.

CHAPTER 4
    THE MYSTERY OF SILAS FINKLEBEAN
    After school the next day, Howie and Freddy rode their bikes to the town library.
    “Don’t forget, Freddy, we have to register for the science competition as soon as we’re done here,” reminded Howie.
    Inside the library, they passed a big banner that had been hung across one wall. It read: HAVE A QUESTION? IT’S “ASK A LIBRARIAN” WEEK .
    “Well, I guess we came to the right place for answers,” joked Howie.
    At the front desk they asked the elderly librarian for information about the history of Pookesville. She brought out a book, stamped the checkout page, and handed it to Freddy.
    “No one’s checked out that book in a long time,” she said. “What are you two boys looking for?” she asked.
    “Freddy thought he saw a ghost —” began Howie before Freddy clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him to a table in a deserted part of the library.
    Freddy read the title of the book aloud to Howie.
“The Entire History of Pookesville in 31½ Pages
.”
    “Well, it’s not that big of a place,” commented Howie.
    Freddy flipped through pages and then stopped. “Omigosh, Howie, look at this picture.”
    “That’s the Burger Castle!” said Howie excitedly.
    “Shhh!”
    They both looked up. The librarian had come around the corner and was looking at them very severely. “This is a library,” she said quietly, “not a sock hop.”
    As she went away, Howie asked, “Uh, Freddy, what’s a sock hop?”
    Freddy was reading the story accompanying the picture of the Burger Castle. He said absently, “I don’t know. Must be something only really old grown-ups know about.” He straightened up and turned to his friend. “Listen to this. I was wrong. The people who owned the Laundromat didn’t build