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

problemo!
All we have to do is think sneaky. And thinking sneaky is one of my talents.”
    Nate nodded. “True.”
    And the way it turned out—Tessa was right. After about five minutes of brainstorming, she had added up one dinosaur egg, one Easter basket and one big Monday event at the White House to equal one foolproof plan.
    â€œAll we need now,” she said in conclusion, “is chocolate chips.”
    Toni nodded. “There are plenty in the kitchen. But we must hurry! Your grandmother will be back in only one hour.”
    The kitchen in the residence part of the embassy is on the first floor and not that different from one ina normal house. When we walked in—luckily—no one was there. Toni went straight to a pantry cupboard and pulled out the chocolate chips. From another cupboard, she got a pan.
    Then she poured the chips into the pan and turned on the stove.
    â€œYou’ve got to stir it, or they’ll burn,” I said.
    â€œWho cares?” Tessa said. “It’s not like anybody’s going to eat it—
owieee!
Think of your teeth!”
    â€œNo, no one’s going to eat it—but burnt chocolate smells terrible,” I said. “Someone might come to investigate.”
    â€œInvestigate what?” said a voice from the doorway—Toni’s abuelita!
    Now we had a puzzle. Did we tell her what we were doing? Ask her about the dinosaur egg—whether she had put it in Toni’s collection, whether she knew what it was?
    But what if she tried to stop us from returning it to Dr. Bohn and Dr. Rexington at the museum?
    For a moment, we all froze. Then Toni turned and said—a little too cheerfully—“
Hello, Abuelita!
Uh . . . we were just making some, uh—”
    â€œEaster treats!” My sneaky sister helped her out, and—without us kids even talking about it—the decision was made.
    Abuelita raised her eyebrows. “Oh, yes? That is very nice.”
    â€œAbuelita,” Toni said, thinking fast, “would you mind getting the beautiful Easter basket brought to me thisafternoon by my friends? Only . . . I am sorry, but I am not sure where I put it. Perhaps in the parlor? Or my bedroom?”
    Abuelita said certainly, she didn’t mind looking, and was barely out the door when the three of us rushed to the stove. The chocolate had melted by now. It was smooth and glossy and smelled delicious—but we couldn’t get sidetracked with a taste test. We had dipping to do.
    It might be that someday you’ll have to dip a dinosaur egg fossil in chocolate to disguise it, and if so, I have some advice:
    1) Use tongs.
    2) Dip repeatedly.
    3) Have plenty of paper towels handy.
    4) Decorate with sprinkles.
    By the time Toni’s grandmother found the Easter basket, our Easter egg of unusual size was chilling in the freezer, and—if I do say so myself—for a rock, it looked good. We thanked Toni’s grandmother, then took the beautiful basket apart—which seemed a little sad. The nice chocolate eggs and cookies we put in a bowl for Toni’s family. The Easter grass and a few jelly beans we left.
    Later we would put our special chocolate egg in the center and walk right out of the embassy with it.
    At least, that was the plan.
    â€œAnd the Easter treats you made, may I see?” Abuelita asked.
    Uh-oh.
    I was worried, but Toni went straight over to the freezer and opened it. Would the disguise be successful?
    Abuelita studied the egg. Then she looked at us . . . and for a split second, I was terrified she knew exactly what we were up to. But she couldn’t, could she?
    Still, it was a relief when she smiled and said, “Such a large piece of chocolate!”
    Score! So far, Tessa’s sneaky plan was working perfectly!

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

    While the chocolate-dipped dinosaur egg finished cooling, Toni, Tessa, Nate and I went out and played Frisbee with