To Ben's relief, Waldo's love spell didn't last long.
Soon everyone stopped fighting and arguing over Waldo.
"Students!" Mr. Freaky hurried down the hallway.
"Why are you all hanging around the hallway? Get to class!"
As the monsters started making their way back to their classrooms, Ben glanced at Waldo.
The wizard was scratching his head.
"I wonder why the love spell wore off so quickly. Maybe I did it wrong."
"Who cares why?" asked Ben. "Just be happy that it did.
Otherwise, you'd be married to everyone at Monster Academy by now!"
"Let's go back to the library," said Waldo.
"I'm sure I can come up with another spell."
"Um . . . No thanks." So far Waldo's magic wasn't much help.
"Maybe later," Ben added quickly. "Right now I'd better get to class."
He floated off, absentmindedly fingering the tiny toothlike thing in his pocket.
"Now what?" Ben thought. Maybe he needed to make a list of suspects.
He didn't really know many kids at Monster Academy, but already one of them was high on his list—Mog.
Winnie had said Mog was nice, but he seemed like a troublemaker to Ben.
So maybe Mog was the one causing all the trouble with the brooms.
The next day at lunch, Mr. Freaky came into the cafeteria, looking even more nervous than usual.
His three noses were wiggling wildly.
"Everything is totally out of control!" he cried.
"Today two brooms are missing from the broom-flying classroom.
And we can't find them anywhere!"
Ben shot a look at Mog, who was sitting with Winnie.
But the monster wasn't looking his way.
The broom-flying teacher, Miss Bungle, was on lunch duty.
"Try not to get your noses in an uproar, Mr. Freaky," said Miss Bungle.
"You know what happens then—they all get stuffed up."
"How can I help it when someone keeps flying the brooms and crashing them all over school?" cried Mr. Freaky.
"It's a very dangerous situation!" He stopped to blow his noses.
"Until this problem is solved, I don't want to see anyone near the broom-flying classroom."
Ben glanced at Mog again.
Winnie was laughing at something the big monster was saying.
Suddenly Ben remembered that she'd come into the broom-flying classroom the day before. What was she—?
Abruptly, Winnie looked up and stared straight back at him.
Ben quickly looked back down at his lunch tray.
He hoped she hadn't been reading his mind again.
Then she'd know all about his suspicions!
That night Ben lay in bed, still thinking about Winnie and everything going on at Monster Academy.
The more he thought about the crashing brooms, the more suspicious he was of Mog.
"It can't be Winnie," he told himself.
She was too nice. And besides, there was no reason for her to cause trouble.
But Mog, meanwhile, was mean and—
"Whoo!" moaned Sid.
"Sid!" Ben snapped. He looked over at his younger brother.
They had to keep the bedroom totally dark or Sid got scared.
Ben didn't mind the dark.
But tonight Sid was practicing his moaning, which made it hard for Ben to think.
"Whoo!" moaned Sid again. He was even louder this time.
"Sid, be quiet!" said Ben. "I'm trying to concentrate."
"Well, I'm trying to moan," said Sid.
"I want to be really good at it. Whoo!"
Ben put his pillow over his head to muffle the sound.
Eventually, Sid stopped moaning and fell asleep.
Ben's parents had gone to bed too, so at last the house was quiet.
"Proof," thought Ben. "I need to find some proof."
Before long Ben had formed a plan.
He floated over to the window and quietly slid it open.
Careful not to wake Sid, he sailed out into the moonlit night.
Ben soared high above the streets of Monsterville.
Bats flew silently by, and the moon cast an eerie glow on the rooftops.
Ben looked nervously around. He hoped he didn't get caught.
Soon he was flying over Monster Academy.
The building was dark and empty. Ben knew he wouldn't be able to go inside.
He flew around the soccer field, looking for signs of the two missing magic brooms.
He checked the trash area and the bike rack, where Mog seemed to hang out a lot.
But there were no clues anywhere, as far as Ben could tell.
After that, Ben flew all around Monsterville, peering into alleyways, parks, and backyards as he looked for the missing brooms.
He saw a few brooms, but none of them was from Monster Academy.
He headed toward Mog's neighborhood, which was close to the fence that separated Monsterville from People Place.
Suddenly a loud, angry voice thundered below him.
"What do you think you're doing here?"