As Jill and Ashley hurried off, Henry looked at his friends.
"We'll have to work fast if we want to solve this mystery," he said.
"The ride will probably start up again after those new tires get here."
"Then let's not waste any time," Cole said. "Who should we question next?"
"How about William?" Maggie pointed to the new boy, who was kneeling by his front tire.
"He's one of our suspects. And he's right over there."
The Lemonade Detectives walked over to William.
"Hi," Henry greeted him. "Did your tire get slashed?"
"Yes!" William scowled. "And it was really expensive."
Just then Ms. Hernandez called for everyone’s attention.
"I spoke to Belltown Bikes," she announced.
"They'll be here in about 15 minutes with replacement tires.
The ride will continue once everyone's bike is fixed, so please be patient."
"That doesn't give us much time," said Cole.
Henry nodded. He turned to ask William another question, but the boy had disappeared while Ms. Hernandez was talking.
"That's odd," Henry thought.
Maggie had noticed too. "Hey, where did William go?" she asked.
Cole shrugged. "Never mind. We can't waste time looking for him now."
"Right," Henry agreed. "Let's split up so we can interview more people.
Try to find out who left the picnic area, how long they were gone, and who was with them.
We'll meet back here in 15 minutes."
His friends nodded and hurried off, and Henry looked around.
Who should he talk to first? He saw Tiny and his friends nearby.
"Hi, Henry," Tiny greeted him. "How are your tires?"
"They're fine," Henry said. "What about yours?"
Tiny sighed.
"I got my front and back tires slashed," he said, pointing to his bike.
"Hey, you're a detective, right? Maybe you can figure out who did this!"
"I'm trying," Henry said.
"I want to figure out who left the picnic area while we were all there."
"Not us." Tiny glanced at his friends.
"But some of the girls we were sitting with went to the restroom."
"Did they all walk there together?" Henry asked.
One of Tiny's friends laughed.
"Of course! Girls always go to the bathroom together."
"Yeah," Tiny agreed with a grin. "That way they can talk about us boys!"
Henry smiled. "Did you notice anyone else disappearing for a long time?"
"No." Tiny shrugged.
"Wait, I did," the other friend said.
"It was that weird guy with the dark glasses."
"You're right," said Tiny's friend with the blond hair.
"He's hard to miss! I think that kid from Valley High left for a while too."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't like him at all."
Just then Daisy walked over. "Hi, Henry," she said.
"Are The Lemonade Detectives trying to solve the case of the slashed tires?"
"Yes," Henry said.
"I just thought of something.
What if it wasn't someone from the ride at all?" Tiny said.
"This is a public park. It could have been anyone."
Daisy shook her head.
"Who would follow us all the way out here just to slash our tires?
Besides I bet I know who did it."
"Who?" Henry asked.
"That guy with the sunglasses," Daisy said. "Nobody knows who he is.
Plus, he was only at the picnic area for a few minutes."
Henry saw a flash of red and gold.
When he looked over, he saw the boy from Valley High School hurrying toward the restrooms.
The other student from Valley High School, Tina, was following him.
"What about Tina?" he asked. "Did anyone notice if she left the picnic area?"
Daisy nodded. "I think I saw her leave for a while.
She’s really nice. Is she a suspect?"
"I'm not sure yet," Henry said. "I need to get all the facts first."
He spent the next few minutes questioning several other people.
Then it was time to meet the other Lemonade Detectives.
"What did you find out?"
Henry asked when the three of them were together again.
"Almost everyone saw that guy with the sunglasses leave the picnic area," Maggie said.
"A few people noticed that William left too, but nobody saw him come back."
"Hmm . . . ," said Henry.
"I found out the same thing," said Cole.
"I also found out that Joey and Tina, the two kids from Valley High, left for a while.
What if they planned this prank to make Belltown look bad?"
"Maybe we should talk to them," Henry said.
He and his friends found Joey and Tina standing outside the restrooms.
But they weren't laughing over the prank or plotting more trouble.
Tina looked angry as she glared at Joey.
"I know you slashed those tires, and you'd better confess!" she yelled at him.
"You're making our school look bad!"