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Bruno sharpened the VCR's focus as best he could. "It's some kind of crest, I
think."
Larry picked up a pad and pencil and began to sketch. The crest looked like a
grayish egg surrounded by many large and small circles. The whole design was
topped off by what seemed to be a crown.
The boys passed the drawing around. All agreed that was pretty much what they
saw, too.
"Listen up," said Bruno. "Somebody's got that shirt, and someday he'll wear
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it again. We want to know why that guy was out the night the underwear went up
the pole." He hitplay andfast forward and they continued to scan the tape.
Five minutes went by, then ten. Pete dozed off and began to snore gently.
Wilbur tiptoed to the bathroom and back in again. He had missed nothing.
"I wonder what time it is on the tape," mused Sidney.
Bruno flashed the display. "Two hours, fifty-five minutes. We started taping
at around eleven, so that makes it almost two a.m."
"Forget it," grumbled Wilbur. "It's too late. Nothing's going to happen now."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a whole army of figures seemed
to explode down the drainpipe.
"Whoa!" cried Bruno. He hacked at the remote control and the tape slowed down
to normal speed.
It was hard to make out faces, but there were at least thirty girls, most of
them weighed down with heavy equipment.
"What are they carrying?" asked Larry.
The girls hit the ground and set to work, but what they were doing was not
clear either. The camera had been focused on the drainpipe; the action was all
on ground level. Only the bottom corner of the screen displayed vigorous
activity. Sticks and shovels shot through the frame; clods of dirt were
airborne; blurred faces rushed around; leaves, branches, rope  all passed
before the boys' bewildered eyes.
Larry was bug-eyed. "It looks like they're laying the foundation for a
fifty-story building!"
There was a mad dash for the telescope. Bruno got there first and focused on
the spot where the previous night's activity had taken place.
"There's nothing there," he reported.
"Impossible!" Wilbur replaced him at the eyepiece. "From the action on that
tape, we could be across from the SkyDome by now."
"Maybe they're digging a tunnel," said Sidney. He got a pillow across the
back of the head for his suggestion.
"Well, I'm totally confused," said Boots, aggravated. "I mean, have we
learned anything here?"
"Let's make a list," Bruno decided.
1. Edward was out, but in the wrong place to put the bloomers up the
flagpole. That doesn'tmean he didn't do it before or after appearing on the
video.
2. Somebody wearing a white T-shirt with a crest on it was out on the campus.
Insignia: unknown. Identity: unknown. Mission: unknown.
3. A large number of girls were involved in a major operation at Scrimmage's.
However, there is no sign of what they built and no proof that any of this was
Phantom-related.
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4. Cathy and Diane may or may not have had the chance to sneak over to
Macdonald Hall and put the underwear up the flagpole.
"In other words," groaned Wilbur, "we know diddly-squat."
Sidney was examining the list. "I'm getting a headache."
Pete's eyelids fluttered and he yawned himself awake. His gaze fell on the TV
and VCR. "Oh, a movie. What did I miss?"
"The most baffling mystery in the history of the world!" growled Bruno. "But
it's not over yet!"
Counting Shirts
Mr. Sturgeon's ingrown toenail suffered greatly from being stomped on by Miss
Scrimmage. The entire toe turned purple and grew even more swollen. Every step
was misery.
His limp worsened, along with his mood. Finally, at the urging of his wife,
the Headmaster called the doctor.
"Well," said Dr. Haupt, "the accident really aggravated your condition."
"It was no accident," said Mr. Sturgeon darkly. "I was attacked by a crazy
person."
The young doctor looked shocked. "Really? Who?"
"Oh, the Headmistress of the finishing school across the road."
Dr. Haupt raised an eyebrow. "If this is the work of a Headmistress, I'd hate
to see what a hired assassin could do." He packed up his medical bag. "I
can prescribe a stronger painkiller to help you get a good night's rest."
The Headmaster shook his head. "I'm out like a corpse from the pills I
already have. I sleep so heavily my wife has been taking my pulse to make sure
I'm still alive."
The doctor shrugged. "I'm sorry, but my prognosis remains the same." He
opened the office door. "You need the operation. Nothing else is going to do
any good."
***
"& that's exactly what the doctor said!" Larry told Bruno and Boots as he
handed over photocopies of his sketch of the crest. "I was right there by the
Xerox machine making these and I heard every word."
Classes were over for the day and the boys were heading in the direction of
the dormitories.
"That doesn't sound good," said Bruno. "The Fish definitely needs an
operation."
"The doctor said nothing else would help," Larry added breathlessly.
"But whatkind of operation?" Boots asked.
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