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waiting for?” Benny cried. “Let’s start digging!”
    “I don’t think we can just start digging up the middle of the Quad,” Violet said uncertainly.
    “No, I don’t think so, either,” said Henry.
    “But we can’t just do nothing!” Benny said. “There’s a treasure down there.”
    “There might be a treasure,” Jessie reminded him. “Someone might already have found it.”
    “We need to ask someone if it’s okay to dig,” Henry said.
    “Look at that truck.” Violet pointed off to the side of the Quad, where some men in green jumpsuits were trimming bushes. “It says ‘Goldwin University Grounds Crew’ on the side. They might be good people to ask.”
    The children ran over to where the men were working. Jessie noticed that one of the men had a walkie-talkie and a clipboard. He seemed to be in charge. When she got closer she saw his jumpsuit had the words HEAD GROUNDSKEEPER embroidered over the left breast pocket.
    “Excuse me,” she said to the man. “We have a question to ask you.”
    “What can I do for you, young lady?” he asked.
    “I know this is going to sound strange, but we’d like to dig a hole in the Quad, over there where the tower’s shadow ends.” Jessie turned and pointed. “Would that be okay?”
    “What are you doing, searching for buried treasure?” the man asked, chuckling. “Normally I’d say no, but they’re going to be digging up this area anyway this week, to put in a water line for the new construction. So it’s fine with me!”
    “Thank you!” Jessie said.
    “You can even borrow our shovels, if you like,” he said, motioning to some shovels in the back of the truck.
    Jessie looked around at the others.
    “That would be great,” Henry said as he and Jessie each took two large shovels out of the truck. “We’ll bring them back in a little while.”
    The four children walked back to the spot between Morrill and McGraw, carrying the shovels. When they got to the spot where the shadow seemed to be pointing, they started digging. Henry pushed his shovel in first, pulling up a big pile of dirt. The others joined in.
    All of a sudden Benny stopped shoveling.
    “What’s the matter, Benny?” Jessie asked as she lifted a shovelful of dirt and dumped it in the growing pile.
    “I was just thinking about Professor Meyer’s glasses,” Benny said, going back to his digging.
    “Why were you thinking about that?” Henry asked.
    “Remember last night I said her glasses were the same as Mrs. McGregor’s?” Benny said.
    The other children nodded.
    “I just realized something. That’s not why they looked familiar. It’s because they’re the same glasses we found up in the clock tower,” he said.

    “Really?” Jessie asked. “That would mean Professor Meyer has been up in the tower at night. Maybe she dropped the letter!”
    “Remember when we showed her the letter?” Violet asked. “She said, ‘So that’s what happened to it.’ ”
    “And she wears sneakers,” Benny said excitedly. “That would explain that muddy footprint.”
    “Maybe this is the ‘special project’ she’d said she was working on,” Henry said. “Remember—she said she was always hoping to make a little more money. Finding a treasure would certainly do that!”
    “But she seems so nice,” Jessie said. “I can’t believe she would be up to no good.”
    “And how could she find a treasure if she can’t even find her own glasses?” Benny asked.
    “Maybe that’s just an act,” said Henry. “Maybe she just pretends to be nice and sweet and forgetful, when she really knows exactly what she’s doing.”
    By now they had dug a hole about a foot deep. But there was no sign of a treasure.
    “What if this isn’t the right spot?” Benny asked, taking a break and leaning on his shovel. It was hard work, and the children were all getting tired and sweaty.
    “Or what if the treasure is already gone?” asked Violet.
    “Let’s dig a little while longer before we give