Clocks and Robbers Read Online Free PDF Page A

people whose pictures are hanging on the wall in the other room?”
    “That’s got to be who they are,” said Sylvester. “Wow.”
    Rosie turned to the group. “What exactly is a secret society?”
    “My grandfather was a member of the Masons, a really famous secret society,” said Viola. “The societies are kind of like any fraternity or sorority at a college. Basically, they are organizations who keep their goings-on … well … secret.”
    “Why?” Rosie asked. “Are they doing illegal stuff?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Viola. “My grandfatherwas a pretty normal guy. I think mostly, his group was a bunch of close friends.”
    Sylvester nodded. “I’ve heard that most secret societies are people who help other people.”
    “Like what the Kiwanis Club does here in town?” said Rosie. “My sister got a scholarship from them a couple years ago to attend a leadership camp at Moon Hollow College.”
    “Or … like us,” said Sylvester. “The Question Marks help people too.” The group chuckled. “What?” he continued, offended. “We solve mysteries!”
    “You’re right,” said Viola. “It’s funny to think of ourselves as a secret society … but we are, in a way.” After a moment, she continued.
“The First Principles
might be a series of the Timekeepers’ beliefs. Maybe those words are not
only
a code but also a type of … motto.”
    “That’s a possibility,” said Woodrow. “The words do represent good qualities. We already know that the members of the group were generous. Mr. Clintock donated his fancy clocks to the town. The others gave Moon Hollow some of their money to help build this library.”
    “Nice of them,” said Rosie.
    “Who knows what else they did?” said Sylvester. “Hey, Viola, maybe we should tell your mom what we found. About the clocks and the codes. She could run an article in the
Moon
Hollow Herald
about the clocks and the Timekeepers. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
    “Oh, definitely,” said Viola. “This is right up her alley.”
    Outside, the November sky was overcast. The light was dimming. When the group left the library to walk back to their block, they passed by the large clock once more. Sylvester piped up. “So, now we know who Mr. Clintock’s secret messages were directed at. The Timekeepers of Moon Hollow. But there’s one thing I still don’t understand.” He pointed at the clock. “The numbers. The symbols. The addresses. Those were his codes. They change on a weekly basis. So what? What exactly was he trying to tell the secret society?”
     
    “A club needs a meeting place,” said Viola. “Right?”
    “Yeah,” said Rosie, zipping her coat up to her neck, protecting herself against the cold wind. “Like the Four Corners in our backyards.”
    “But maybe the Timekeepers had more than one meeting place,” said Viola.
    “Totally!” said Woodrow. “Three addresses. Three different spots to get together. The library. The train station. And the gatehouse up at the college.”
    “The locations rotated on a weekly basis,” Viola continued. “Mr. Clintock must have set up his clocks as a reminder to the group, in a variety of locations around Moon Hollow, so each member had easy access to find out where the meeting was going to be held that week.”
    “They only had to glance at any of the clocks,” said Rosie, “and they’d have their answer. That’s so clever!”
    Walking back to their block, they all secretly knew that the Question Marks had once again been pretty clever themselves.

3
THE SENSATIONAL FOUR
    Mrs. Hart ran the article on Monday morning. That afternoon, Viola received a phone call from a woman claiming to be from the Associated Press. She asked to speak with Viola’s mom to see if it would be okay to contact the rest of the group. The reporter, who introduced herself as Darlene Reese, wanted to run a story about the four kids who had uncovered the secrets of the little known philanthropic group in Moon Hollow,