Barnes and the Brains Book 4: An Incredible Case Of Dinosaurs:
When Miss Frost sees a very large something in her swimming pool, she calls in the Quark geniuses and their best friend Giles to investigate. With the help of Tina's latest invention, a bathysphere, they discover a pair of Hydrosaurs, supposed to have been extinct for millions of years. Miss Frost thinks they'll make her a fortune, but Giles and Kevin have other ideas.
Read an excerpt...
An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs: Chapter One
Giles settled back in the bathtub with a contented sigh.
He'd just managed to work up a thick bubbly foam on the water's surface, when the bathroom door suddenly flew open and Tina and Kevin Quark walked straight in, and stood at the edge of the tub, looking down at him expectantly. Giles could only stare back at them, speechless.
"Knocking," he managed to say. "Ever heard of it?"
"We have secured another commission," said Tina grandly.
"We've got a job," added Kevin."Kevin," said Tina with a weary sigh, "that's what I just said."
"Could have fooled me."
Giles slid lower down in the tub, the water lapping against his chin. Life had seemed so simple before he'd met Tina and Kevin. Now that he'd been fully promoted to their genius business, it seemed he never had a moment's peace. Just last week, they'd been hired to deal with the Walsh's missing garden gnomes, and the Angelini's creaking hinges. Then there'd been a particularly nasty case involving a radio which only picked up country and western music. It didn't matter where the tuning needle was, or whether the radio was on or off, the same mournful voice and guitar strumming blared from the speakers.
Giles supposed he should feel grateful that business was going full blast. After all, he'd almost saved up enough for the remote-controlled airplane he'd had his eye on for months. But he couldn't help wishing things would slow down just a little.
"Here I am, just trying to enjoy a simple bath," he said to Tina and Kevin, "and in you come like the Charge of the Valkyrie!"
"Charge of the what?" said Kevin.
"Giles is saying we just barged in," Tina explained.
"Well, I suppose we did," said Kevin good-naturedly. "Sorry about that, Giles."
"Oh no, not at all!" he said. "Look, just climb right in, both of you!"
"Thank you, Giles," said Tina, "but we're rather pressed for time. Maybe at some later date."
"It was a joke," said Giles, rolling his eyes. "So, what's this new job?"
"A Miss Frost telephoned," said Tina, taking a small notebook from her pocket. "She says there's a problem with her swimming pool."
"What kind of problem?"
"How much do you know about underwater life forms, Giles?"
"You know," said Kevin helpfully, "squiggly things with tentacles and suckers the size of --"
"In her swimming pool?" said Giles, glancing nervously at the bath water. "You must be joking!"
"All I know," said Tina calmly, "is that Miss Frost seems to think she has something strange living in her pool. I personally doubt very much that this is the case, but we'll need to make a full investigation tomorrow morning."
"Fine," said Giles. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm going to pull the plug."
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An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs, copyright Kenneth Oppel
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