The Mystery of the Zorse's Mask by Linda Joy Singleton Page B

you after school. I should have realized he’d be curious. He asked how we became friends, and I couldn’t think of a lie.”
    Becca gasps. “Did you tell him about the kittens?”
    â€œOr our club?” I ask.
    â€œNo. I didn’t reveal CCSC information—which made him suspicious. When I left, I saw his reflection in a window and realized he was following me.”
    â€œWe can’t let him find out our secrets,” I warn. “Stay away from Frankie.”
    â€œBut I like helping him,” Leo argues. “I promised to come back tomorrow to assemble an elephant.”
    â€œFrankie can make his own elephant,” Becca says firmly as she lifts her bike off the rack. “Protecting our club is more important.”
    â€œAffirmative,” Leo says with a sad sigh.
    Becca and I take off on our bikes, and Leo zooms ahead on his gyro-board. Galena Park is across the street from the Ross house. Becca and I roll into the park and prop our bikes by a bench where Leo is already waiting for us.
    â€œTarget house sighted.” Leo points to a boxy, two-story brick home with a huge oak tree in the front yard reaching higher than the roof.
    Becca peers across the street. “Kelsey and Leo, you should be my lookouts. Izzy might be scared if we all questioned her, so it’s better if I talk to her alone.”
    â€œYou’re our social operative,” Leo agrees.
    â€œOkay with me,” I say, but I’m a little disappointed to be left outside.
    â€œIf I need anything, I’ll text Leo,” Becca says as she takes out her phone.
    â€œTexting isn’t covert enough,” Leo tells her. “Give your phone to me.”
    She hesitates, then hands over her glittery, pink phone. Leo pulls out his phone from his pocket. Placing the phones side by side, he taps keys on each phone. His fingers move so quickly, I can only glimpse flashing images. Finally, he seems satisfied and returns Becca’s phone.
    â€œOur phones are synced—like a Skype—so we’ll be able to hear and see what’s happening in the house,” Leo explains. “Your phone is muted, so no one can hear us. Hold your phone so the camera faces Izzy and the speaker isn’t covered. Like this.”
    Becca nods and copies his hand position; then she heads for the Ross house.
    Sitting close on the bench, Leo and I stare down at his phone, which shows pavement as Becca crosses the street. She lifts the phone to a view of the front door and we hear a chime. A thirtyish bearded man with dark-rimmed glasses opens the door. He wears a navy-blue jacket over a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Behind him, a little girl clutches a red-haired doll to her chest as she spins like a ballerina, her white-blond hair flying.
    â€œIzzy,” I guess.
    Leo nods. “Subject sighted.”
    Izzy stops spinning to stare up at Becca with curious blue eyes; then the screen dips lower for a close-up of the red-haired doll. I recognize the cloth doll with loopy yarn curls because I have a set of Raggedy Ann books on my shelves. The stories are magical, and I love how Raggedy Ann has a candy heart with the words I love you tucked inside her stuffed body. Once I put a candy heart in my Raggedy Ann doll, but ants swarmed all over her.
    â€œBecca has infiltrated the house,” Leo reports.
    I glance down at Leo’s phone. The screen jiggles, sweeping across a tile floor, then rising to the ceiling, then stopping on Izzy sitting on a couch.
    â€œMy wife told me you wanted to ask Izzy about a mask?” Mr. Ross says.
    â€œIt’s a netted mask that keeps flies off horses,” Becca explains. “It’s trimmed in leather and sparkly stones. It means a lot to a sick old lady and was mistakenly donated to the drama club. We think Izzy may have borrowed it from the drama club.”
    â€œI can’t imagine why she’d want a horse mask when she has a room full of toys. But go