The Dinosaur Mystery Read Online Free PDF

there will be some other kind of excitement.”
    Benny shook his head. “Nope. We missed it.”
    â€œWell, so long, Pete. Thanks for checking things out for us,” Henry said. “Sorry to bother you.”
    Pete unlocked the service elevator for the boys. “It’s no bother. As I said, it’s pretty dull around here.”
    But Pete was wrong. Things were not pretty dull around the museum. In fact, they were about to get pretty exciting.

CHAPTER 5
    A Tall “Tail” Mystery
    T he next morning when the Aldens got up, the apartment was empty.
    â€œGee, I wonder where Mr. and Mrs. Diggs went,” Henry said when he realized the Aldens were alone in the apartment. “Today’s the day for us to meet Dr. Pettibone.”
    Jessie found a message on the kitchen counter and read it aloud.
    Dear Aldens,
    We’re sorry not to have breakfast with you. There’s juice in the refrigerator and coffee cake on the counter. Help yourselves. Titus Pettibone had an emergency this morning when he arrived from his trip, and we had to see him right away. Please meet us in the dinosaur hall.
    Emma and Archie Diggs
    â€œWow, an emergency!” Benny cried.
    In no time, the Aldens had eaten and were on their way to the museum, racing down the sidewalk as fast as they could. They showed their visitor passes at the museum entrance, then zoomed by the Viking boats and the whale without stopping. Outside the dinosaur hall a small, noisy crowd of people had formed. The children couldn’t get through.
    â€œI can’t see,” Benny said. “There are too many people.”
    â€œWhere’s the dinosaur?” Soo Lee asked. “I can’t see either.”
    Henry and Jessie, who were the tallest, stood on their tiptoes to see what was going on.
    â€œThe door’s roped off,” Henry explained to the younger children. “It looks like Mr. and Mrs. Diggs are talking to the police!”
    Benny couldn’t stand the suspense. Being small, he squeezed himself through the crowd. “Excuse me. Excuse me,” he repeated until he reached the Diggs.
    He stopped. His eyebrows shot up. “Hey, that’s the man with the white beard!” he cried.
    But just then Emma Diggs spotted Benny and came over to get him. “Goodness, Benny. How did you make it through this mob? I was just about to call the apartment to have you take the freight elevator and get off right in back at the dinosaur hall. I’ll have Pete fetch the other children. He’s about to go off duty anyway. Pete? Pete?”
    Pete was so busy walking around and around the dinosaur hall with Nosey that he didn’t hear Mrs. Diggs right away. Finally she went to get him.
    â€œHey, Benny,” Pete said when Mrs. Diggs finally brought him over. “I guess I was wrong last night about things being pretty dull around here.”
    Benny couldn’t stand the suspense. “What happened, anyway?” he asked,
    â€œLet’s get the other kids, and I’ll tell you everything we know,” Pete said. “Coming through! Make way! Coming through!”
    When they saw Nosey pulling at the leash, people in the crowd moved aside so Pete and Benny could get by and rejoin Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Soo Lee.
    Jessie leaned over to pet Nosey. “What’s going on, Pete? Mrs. Diggs said there was an emergency.”
    Pete took off his guard hat and brushed back his hair. “You’re not kidding there’s an emergency — a missing bone emergency! When Titus Pettibone arrived this morning and checked the Tyrannosaurus skeleton, parts of the jawbone and tailbones were gone! Disappeared. This is the only museum with a complete skeleton — or was the only one.”
    Benny hopped from one foot to the other and tried to get Pete’s attention. “But that’s the man I saw last night going down the hole in the street,” he said, pointing to the man with the white