Mog blinked at Winnie.
"Uh, I don't get it, Winnie.
How can we possibly find Pedro's treasure?
The treasure map is gone, remember?
And Pedro buried that treasure chest a really long time ago."
"That's exactly why we might be able to find it," Winnie said.
"Because everyone else gave up looking a long time ago."
"Good point," Mog agreed. "I think it's a good idea."
Ben and his friends lowered their voices as they joined the other monsters in the lunch line.
"I don't know, Winnie," Waldo said.
"It sounds a little crazy, if you ask me.
It's like looking for a needle in a haystack—pretty much impossible."
Plop! A cafeteria troll dropped a serving of toad toes onto Ben's tray.
"Ugh." He made a face.
"They're serving cold toad toes again?"
"Yeah," Mog said.
"That's all we ever get now—the cafeteria oven is broken."
"So is the dishwasher," Ben said, eyeing stacks of dirty trays.
"Well, I think Winnie's right," Gaby chimed in.
"Detectives find missing stuff all the time.
Maybe we can locate Pedro's treasure, even without the map."
"I suppose we could try using magic," Waldo said.
"What if I—ah-choo!"
All the monsters in the lunch line ducked as fireworks burst overhead.
"Hey, Waldo, you know the rule," a ghost said.
"No spells in the lunchroom!"
Gaby gave Waldo a sympathetic look.
"I guess that sneezing spell hasn't worn off yet, huh?"
"It's not a spell," Waldo insisted.
"I told you, I just have a cold."
"Sure you do," Gaby said. Waldo looked annoyed as she bent down to pat him on the shoulder.
Winnie led the way to a quiet table.
She gestured at the dripping ceiling and then at the floor, where a dozen buckets were lined up.
"We have to do something. This school is becoming a disaster zone."
A fish monster sat nearby, catching water drops in his mouth.
"Some monsters seem to like it," Mog said with a shrug.
"Well, if we did find the treasure," Winnie said, "we could use it to help fix up the school."
"Conditions are getting pretty bad," Gaby said.
"The kids over there are wearing winter coats and hats."
"Yeah, because it's freezing in here," Ben said.
"Just think. If we can find the treasure, we could make Monster Academy great again," Winnie said.
"I'm sure we can do it," Gaby said.
"We just need to think like detectives.
They solve problems by using deduction."
Mog shook up his carton of newt juice and took a big gulp.
"What's deduction?" he asked.
"It's examining clues and making smart guesses about what happened," Gaby said.
Ben nodded slowly.
"We might be able to find some clues about Pedro's treasure.
But it won't be easy."
Winnie put her hands over her ears as somebody started hammering on pipes somewhere nearby.
"Sorry, but we don't have time to search for clues to make deductions," she said.
"We need to find the treasure as soon as possible.
Magic will be much easier—and faster."
"I agree," Waldo said.
"Magic is definitely the way to . . ."
He pinched his nose to stop himself from sneezing again.
His face turned red and smoke billowed out of his ears.
"Deduction could be fast too," Gaby said.
"Yeah," Mog said. "Detectives on TV always solve cases fast."
"That's TV, Mog," Winnie said.
"In real life, detective work is slow and painstaking.
It takes a long time to figure out stuff."
"Well, we could try being detectives," Mog said with a shrug. "It would be fun."
"Yeah." Gaby nodded. "Lots of fun!"
Waldo shook his head. "Magic would be faster and better."
"I don't think so," Gaby said as Waldo sneezed again.
"Especially since you have that, um, cold."
Waldo cocked his head and looked at her.
"Want to make a bet—magic versus detective work?"
"Sure!" Gaby reached out her hand and grinned.
"I'm confident that detective work will work better than magic."
She shook hands with Waldo and then looked at the others.
"Who's on my team?"
"Me!" Mog said.
Waldo looked at Winnie and Ben.
"Well then, who wants to be on my team?"
He hiccupped and more smoke came out of his ears.
"I'll be on your team," Winnie said.
"You might need some help with the magic."
"Uh-oh . . ." Ben gulped as all his friends turned to look at him.
"So, whose team are you on, Ben?" Gaby asked.
She drummed her fingers on the table, waiting for him to answer. "Mine or Waldo's?"