The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg by Martha Freeman Page B

latest research indicates many dinosaurs did have feathers.”
    I said, “Wait—I thought according to you it couldn’t be a dinosaur.”
    My cousin shrugged. “It’s a dinosaur egg, isn’t it?”
    Over all the noise in the room, I heard something new—laughter, which turned out to be Professor Bohn’s.
    â€œLadies and gentlemen,” he said, “if I can reclaim your attention? I’m afraid those of you hoping for something prehistoric are going to be disappointed. On the other hand, you could call this chick a modern-day dinosaur.”
    Nate grabbed my arm. “Come on. Let’s get closer to the action.”
    Jeremy followed us as we made our way through the crowd. Soon we could see the chick’s busy beak,chipping away at its prison, and pieces of white shell littering the floor and table.
    â€œHey,” I said when I finally got a good look. “I’ve got a book about birds at home. Isn’t that an ostrich?”
    Professor Bohn heard me and nodded. “Very good, Cameron.”
    â€œI knew that,” said Nate quickly.
    Tessa shook her head. “Wow—nature is sure awesome! Who’d’ve thought an ostrich could come out of a dinosaur egg?”
    Professor Bohn made a face that meant he was trying not to smile. “Well, actually, Tessa, the truth is this egg never belonged to a dinosaur. Dinosaur eggs, as you’ll see when you tour the rest of the exhibit, are fossilized and look like rocks.”
    Aunt Jen said, “In that case, you must have known this egg belonged to a bird. Why didn’t you say anything?”
    Professor Bohn looked down at his shoes. “My bad.” Then he looked up, and I noticed there were lots of laugh crinkles around his eyes. “I have a soft spot for pranks, and it was obvious to me that’s what this was. I didn’t want to spoil the fun, so I’m afraid I asked the museum staff if we could wait and see how it played out.”
    My aunt does not have what you’d call a big sense of humor. Without smiling, she nodded and said, “Ah.”
    Meanwhile, Nate asked, “Where’s the real dinosaur egg?”
    Professor Bohn started to answer, but the lady fromthe museum beat him to it. “Nothing to worry about. We have the case well in hand.”
    â€œCase?” Tessa perked up. “Are you saying there’s a mystery?”
    â€œOh, no, no, no.” The lady shook her head. “It’s not a mystery at all. The egg has, uh . . . just been misplaced. I’m sure it will turn up soon.”

CHAPTER THREE

    Tessa folded her arms across her chest and frowned. “Well,
that’s
disappointing.” The other grown-ups all looked super serious, but Professor Bohn laughed.
    I was beginning to think I liked Professor Bohn.
    Also, I knew what Tessa was thinking. She wanted a new mystery for us to solve! Since January, when Mom got to be president and our family moved into the White House, Nate, Tessa and I have investigated four different cases—and we’ve even been on the news.
    By now we could see the ostrich chick’s head—big beady eyes and a fierce-looking beak at the top of a long spotted neck. Honestly? It was ugly. But I remembered one time we had chicken eggs hatch in my class at school. The chicks started off disgusting, but then they dried off, fluffed up and got cute.
    Tessa must have had the same idea, because she said, trying to sound casual about it, “So, who gets to keep the ostrich?”
    â€œOh, no.” Aunt Jen shook her head. “Unh-unh, Tessa. Not happening.”
    Tessa said,
“Ple-e-ease,”
Aunt Jen said,
“No-o-o,”
and finally a guy in a blue shirt explained it would take the chick hours to get out of its egg, and then it would need to be washed in special soap to kill germs, and after that it would have to live in a special kind of electric box for a few days while it