The Case of the Missing Flowers

Sadie and Jason were hard at work in their school’s garden. Along with other members of the school’s gardening club, they were planting white carnations in the shape of a wolf, the school’s mascot. It was part of the school’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration the next day.

“Time to water the flowers!” said Mr. Clark, the club’s adviser. He handed watering cans to the students. Jason began dumping water on the top of each flower. Some of the flower petals fell off under the water’s weight.

“Be careful!” said Sadie.

“I don’t want them to wilt before tomorrow,” Jason said.

“But you don’t need to pour the water on top of the plants,” said Sadie. “Flowers like carnations have tubes inside them that carry water from their roots to other parts of the plant. You should put the water in the soil, and the plants will suck it up from there.”

“That’s right,” said Mr. Clark. “Plants with those structures are called vascular plants.”

Jason nodded and poured the rest of his water on the soil.

After watering the flowers, Sadie and Jason strolled over to the school’s entrance. Students were busy setting up booths to raise money for different clubs.

Calvin, the captain of the school’s swim team, was setting up a dunk tank with a giant tub of green water. A large sign at his booth said, “Dunk a Leprechaun!” A smaller sign said, “Three throws for $3.” 

The next booth was for the gardening club. Standing behind the table was Jason and Sadie’s friend Julie, the club’s president. On her table were several bunches of carnations. They were just like the ones Sadie and Jason had planted but with green petals. 

“Hey, guys!” Julie said. “How’s the flower wolf coming along?”

“All finished!” said Sadie. “Those green carnations look great! Hopefully we’ll earn a lot of money for more gardening projects at school.” 

Just then, Calvin from the “Dunk the Leprechaun” booth walked over. “The flowers cost 10 dollars a bunch?!” he exclaimed. “That’s a lot!”

“Well, it’s worth it,” said Julie, annoyed. “They took months to grow!”

“Interesting,” said Calvin, returning to his booth.

When Jason got to school the next day, a crowd had gathered around the flower bed. The garden where the carnations had been was now a pile of dirt. “Someone stole our carnations!” Sadie said sadly. 

“Does anyone know who did it?” Jason asked. Sadie shook her head. 

Walking toward the school, Jason and Sadie saw that Calvin and Julie were in an argument. Calvin’s table in front of the dunk tank looked different today. It had bunches of green carnations and a new sign: “Green Flowers. $7 a bunch.”   

“Where did you get those flowers?” demanded Julie.

“You’re not the only one who can grow green carnations,” Calvin replied smugly.

Peering behind Calvin’s booth, Jason saw several cups on the ground filled with green water from his dunking tub.

“Sadie, go get Mr. Clark,” said Jason. “I think Calvin ripped up our flowers.”

“But the flowers that he’s selling aren’t white,” said Sadie.

“The flowers he is selling used to be white,” said Jason. “And I can prove it!”