`Science Fair Mystery’

WHEN Corey McKellar, the genius kid who lives next door, called me up and asked if I wanted to come over and see his science fair project, I knew it was going to be something special. But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. “You built a robot?” I gasped.

“Yeah, and listen to this, Vickie,” he said, pushing a button on a small remote-control box.

I heard Corey’s voice say: “Hi, I’m Ralph the Robot. Pleased to meet you,” but it was coming from the robot!

“I put a voice-activated recording chip in him,” Corey said. “I can’t wait to see Nick’s reaction to this.”

Nick was our classmate in sixth grade and the one who won first prize at last year’s school science fair. I still think Corey should have won.

Wednesday night was the setup time for the science fair. I went with Corey and helped him get Ralph into the gym, where the exhibits were displayed. Nick was there too, and I thought his eyes were going to fall out!

The trouble started the next day, when Mrs. Vilches, the principal, came into our class right before the bell rang and told Corey there was a problem with his exhibit. I ran down to the gym with him to see what was wrong. Mr. Kim, the science teacher, and a fifth-grader named Brendan were already there. Sprawled out in a heap on the floor, with broken wires sticking out all over, was Ralph!

“Someone has sabotaged Corey’s entry,” Mrs. Vilches said. “Brendan discovered it this morning and came right to me.”

“I don’t know who could have done this,” Brendan said, coughing. “Sorry, I’ve had a cold all week.”

I knew: It had to be Nick. He did it out of jealousy. But how could I prove it?

“Maybe there’s a witness,” Mr. Kim said. “I’ll ask around.”

Suddenly it hit me. “There is a witness,” I cried. “Ralph himself!”

I picked up the control box and handed it to Corey. “Maybe the robot’s voice chip recorded sounds that will give us a clue!” I said.

Corey monkeyed around with the control box and got the playback to work. We heard a shout but couldn’t make out any words. But that didn’t matter, because the shout was followed by a sound all of us recognized. Suddenly I realized I had been dead wrong about Nick because Ralph had just coughed.

Everybody looked at Brendan. “Did you do this?” Mrs. Vilches asked him.

Brendan nodded, and for a moment I thought he might cry. “It was an accident,” he said. “I was checking my project and all of a sudden the robot talked back to me! I got really scared. When I jumped back, my arm hit the robot and it fell down and started to spark.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Mrs. Vilches asked.

“I was going to,” Brendan said. “But then you said how good it was that I came to you to report it, and, well, I didn’t want to get in trouble after that. I’m really sorry I hurt your chances for first place, Corey.”

“Brendan, perhaps you should offer to help Corey get Ralph up and running again,” Mrs. Vilches said.

Corey wasted no time. With Brendan assisting him, he went to work.

An hour later, Ralph the Robot was as good as new, and Corey was awarded first place.

As for me, science isn’t my best subject. But if anyone has a mystery that needs solving, I’m your girl.

This story will be on The Times’ website at latimes.com/kids.