The Skeleton Takes a Bow (A Family Skeleton Mystery) by Leigh Perry Page B

bad for Tristan. How can his brother be so awful when he’s such a sweetie?”
    “How sweet is that, exactly?”
    “Mom!”
    “What? I can’t ask about my daughter’s new friend?”
    “Yeah, I’m totally sure you were asking about him as a
friend
.”
    Maybe Sid wasn’t the only single-minded person in the house—my interest was just different from his.
    Since Madison was finished with her homework, I dragged her away from Mario Kart to help me broil chicken, steam broccoli, and mash potatoes. Sid came down just as we got food onto the table and started filling our plates.
    “How’s it going?” I asked.
    He said, “I have Googled my phalanges down to nubs, but I cannot find anything that connects Robert Irwin to PHS. As far as I can tell, he’d never so much as driven through town before the day he disappeared.”
    “You look pretty perky for somebody who hasn’t found anything useful.”
    Sid held up one finger, which looked as long as ever despite his early comment. “Good detective work takes time, my dear, but fortunately I have plenty.”
    “You’ve got about three and a half weeks,” Madison said. “That’s when we have our show.”
    “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “You can leave me in your locker for the rest of the school year—I don’t mind.”
    The look Madison flashed me showed that she minded, even if he didn’t.
    Sid went on. “My next step will be tracking down information on the PHS Five.”
    “Excuse me?” I said.
    “Those five teachers-slash-employees we haven’t been able to eliminate yet. If they were ever so much as in the same town as Irwin, I’ll find out about it. If I can’t find the connection that way, I’ll move on to other frequent visitors to the school. And then on to the rest of the town.”
    “Sid, you’re talking about an inordinate amount of work,” I said, exhausted just from hearing about his plans.
    “True, but I’m not getting any older. I don’t mind. Besides, I’m hoping my young apprentice can help.”
    Madison looked confused. “Do you mean me?”
    “Who else would I mean? While I continue listening in during the day and hitting the Web at night, you can work on gathering data.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like which students have deep voices, as a start. And has anybody ever lived in Medford or one of the other towns near there. I can get you a map of the area. Focus on the students whose parents are active in school functions, like Samantha. Her mother coordinates the monthly bake sales. And Jo’s mother is helping her with the costumes for the play, so she’s around a lot. Oh! Oh! There were two parent members of the search committee that interviewed Irwin—see if you can find out who they are!”
    Madison had progressed to alarmed. “But, Sid, I can’t—”
    He patted her arm in what he probably meant as a gesture of comfort. “You’ll do fine. Just remember to take notes about anything you find out.”
    “But—”
    “Now if you two don’t mind, I think I’ll get back to it. Lots to do before school tomorrow!” He clattered up the stairs.
    “Mom!” Madison said. “I’m not going to ask Samantha if her mother murdered somebody, or ask Mrs. Sinta if she had anything to do with a man disappearing.”
    “I know, I know.”
    “I’ve got the play, I’ve got homework and projects and Byron to take care of, and now I’m supposed to take notes about my friends? Even if I wanted to snoop around, I’ve got a life!”
    “It’s okay, sweetie. I’ll talk to Sid and explain that you’re already doing as much as you can.” I paused. “But you do still believe he heard a murder, don’t you?”
    “Yeah, I believe it—I’m just not sure I believe we can do anything about it.”
    I was starting to doubt it myself, but I’d promised Sid, and I couldn’t go back on that. “I’ll talk to him,” I said again.
    It didn’t happen that night. As soon as we were finished eating, I had work for the next day’s class plus