Rope Trap
By: Kailey Fontan
I’ll never forget the dismal, rainy morning when my principal called Lola, Sasha, and I down to his office. Since it had been top secret, it was meant only for the best spies at the best spy school; Turtle Creek High School; my school.
My principal had informed us that someone had committed what could’ve been one of the most dangerous crimes in at least a decade. It had taken pure skill, instincts, smarts, and bravery to steal money right from the government. Literally, this guy actually snuck into the building and stole it right from a machine. You’d think that this’d be impossible, from all the security they have there, but somehow they managed to turn off all the lasers and stun the security guards so they wouldn’t move.
My stomach was in knots when I found out we had to go there, to Washington D.C. We’d go with a supervisor and take a tour of the U.S. Mint, where we’d make a detailed map of all the security systems.
Our time in Washington D.C. wasn’t a complete failure, but it wasn’t very productive either. We did do some research on the suspects: Jillian Hoosher, Andrew Corz, and Mark McLang. They’re really the only people in the whole world that have the skill to pull this off. Mark is the principal of our school, and Jillian is a teacher, along with Andrew.
During our tour of the Mint, my group left to take a bathroom break, and I stayed behind. It wasn’t long before I spotted a note on the ground, and I bent down to pick it up. It was a list of targets-or so it looked like. There was also a list of steps to take, and the rest was thoroughly impressive. When I flipped it over, I saw a paragraph or two about his breakup with his girlfriend, signed with the name, “Red Iguana”.
Instantly, I recognized the name. We had learned about him, Red Iguana, at school. He used to go to Turtle Creek a few years ago. He graduated with a 5.0 GPA, and something like a one hundred ninety-eight IQ. He was better than the teachers in some ways, and always wanted to know more than they could teach. He was offered a job at Turtle Creek when he graduated college, but he turned it down because he had already been recruited for the military. Ironically, he disappeared off the face of the earth in the spring of 2005. Nobody knows where he went, and here was a note, written by him, in my hand.
I glanced down at the note again. It was then that all the puzzle pieces fell into place. The bits of information we had gathered about the suspects all made sense. I had figured it out, but for some reason, when my group came back, I didn’t tell them. I simply folded up the note and slipped it in my bag.
On the plane flight home, I still couldn’t gather up the courage to tell Lola and Sasha about what I knew. I don’t know what it was, but something inside myself was telling me that I could not tell anyone about it.
At school on Monday, I couldn’t keep this whole mystery thing out of my mind. I came close to telling Lola about it, knowing that she would keep it secret, but I backed down. After class ended, I walked into the Media Center to turn in my overdue library book. Nobody was there, so I silently slid my book into the return box and looked around. There, on the whiteboard in front of me, was a threat. It read:
“Millicent Boncard, I know more than you think. I know you know our secret. Don’t make me get out the guns, and don’t tell our secret.”
So I didn’t.
Not until I heard the jets flying over Turtle Creek Wednesday afternoon. They swooped down and landed on the school, scrapping the roof. The building was evacuated, and out of nowhere, more police men and women appeared on the roof of Turtle Creek. A few hours later, we were informed that we had a special visitor: Red Iguana.
It was then that I finally built up the courage to tell Lola and Sasha what I knew. They suggested that we go to Red Iguana himself and ask for help. So, later the next afternoon, we strolled into the hotel room that he was staying at. He agreed to help us with our mystery, and after taking finger prints, DNA tests, and lie-detecting quizzes, he’d figured it out.
For the first time ever, Red Iguana revealed his true identity; Andrew Corz, one of our suspects. He then explained that I was correct. My prediction had stated that Mark, our principal, had stolen the money to try to impress his girlfriend after their harsh breakup. He had used the fake codename, “Red Iguana”, to try and throw detectives off, then hired Jillian to keep it a secret.
I felt so accomplished knowing that I had solved a mystery. I couldn’t have been happier.
Friday night, Andrew, Lola, Sasha, and I marched right down to Mark’s principal office. We confronted him strongly, and when we were about to leave and tell the news reporters, Mark stopped us. We turned around just in time to see Mark pull a rope behind one of his fake walls. The next thing I knew, I was hanging upside down, helpless.
Mark said that he’d never let us go to keep us from telling his secret. We hung there for hours until Mark left the room for just enough time to let Andrew slip a knife out of his jean pocket. He cut the rope, and, well, we pretty much fell to the ground head first.
When we tried to escape, Mark was in the doorway, and that was when I was so glad I had chosen to go to a school for spies. We fought for a long time-thirty minutes to an hour.
He smashed things.
We pushed.
He shot bullets through the ceiling.
We snuck, kicked, and hid.
The fight went back and forth until Andrew finally pinned Mark down and he surrendered.
A week later, the newspapers and T.V.’s were full of the mystery I had help solve, and I couldn’t be more proud of my friends. Both Mark and Jillian went to jail, and were not to return for a long time. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this whole thing, it’s that sometimes, mysteries don’t solve themselves. You have to think for yourself, be on your guard at all times, and most importantly, notice everything.
Biography
Kailey Fontan is a twelve year old girl who lives in Flushing, Michigan. She attends Flushing Middle School where she is a straight A student. Kailey has an older sister, a younger brother, and a dog. She has enjoyed writing since she was in the fourth grade. In her spare time, she also enjoys ice skating, and playing the flute and violin. Kailey loves to create, whether it is in her writing, art work, cake decorating, or interior design. Kailey has written many short stories and a novel and is looking forward to the rest of her writing career.
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