The group got busy and tried out different combinations of letters. Finally, Valerie came up with the answer.

"I think I've got it," she said. "The only words that make sense are Playboys Ice Ring."

"Oh no," Josie groaned. "Another cryptic message we have to figure out."

"The Mastermind sure isn't making this easy for us," Alan remarked. "Playboys Ice Ring."

"Now what in the world does that mean?" Alexandra demanded.

"Hugh Hefner owns an ice skating rink?" Robert suggested.

"Oh Robert!" Josie shouted. "Be serious!"

"It was just a suggestion," Robert said, shrugging. He went to the front of his van and turned on the radio. The song "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys was playing. Robert was about to change the station when Valerie stopped him.

"Hold it!" she shouted. "I think I just figured it out."

"What do you mean, Val?" Alan asked.

"Well, ice is a slang term for diamond," Valerie said. "Ice ring must mean diamond ring, and the song 'This Diamond Ring' was sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys."

"By George, I think she's got it!" Robert shouted in a faux British accent.

"Who's George?" Melody asked.

"Never mind, Melody," Josie said. "Come on, let's go!"

"Wait a sec," Robert said, handing Alan his phone, and the others notepads and pencils. "Take those with you. You might need them. And as for the phone, you might need it as well. I'll stay here in case the Mastermind calls the hotel. That way, I can get in touch with you quickly if something happens. And you guys can call me if you need back up."

"Great, thanks a lot, Robert," Valerie said. "We really appreciate your help."

"Like the old saying goes," Robert said. "What are friends for? Good luck, you guys."

"Thanks," Alan said. "Come on, cats! Let's move!"

The Pussycats raced back into the hotel. Their first goal was to find a phone book and look up jewelry stores in town. Unfortunately, there were about five of them listed.

"Oh golly," Josie said. "How do we know which one is the right one?"

"There isn't any time to check all of them," Alan said.

"I think I have an idea," Valerie replied. "There are five of us, six including Sebastian. Let's each take a store, and meet back in the hotel lobby."

"That's just what we'll have to do," Alan said. "Let's split."

The group divided up the stores and left. Alexandra was sure this was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially since she had no idea what she was looking for, and neither did the others. But Alexandra did have an advantage over the others, and that was Sebastian.

"Okay, Sebastian," Alexandra said to her furry friend as she walked inside her store. "I'll keep the clerk busy while you look around here for clues."

Sebastian nodded, and began sniffing around. Alexandra walked up to the display cases, and pretended to look at rings. Sebastian wandered behind the counter, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. He finally spotted something in one of the display cases. It looked like another index card. Using his claw, Sebastian unlocked the display case, opened it, pulled out the card, and ran off with it. Alexandra saw him, and left.

"Let's see what you've got, Sebastian," Alexandra said. She looked at the card and groaned. "Ooooohhhh! Another stupid series of numbers! Well, we'd better go back to the hotel and meet the others and figure out what this one means."

Sebastian grumbled, and followed Alexandra back to the hotel. The others were already there.

"Anybody have any luck?" Alan asked.

"None whatsoever," Josie said with a sigh.

"I couldn't find anything either," Melody said. "Except a whole lot of jewels."

"I came up empty, too," Valerie said.

"That makes it unanimous," Alan sighed.

"No it doesn't," Alexandra said, waving the index card in front of the others. "Look what we've found. Another series of numbers on an index card."

Alan looked at the card. This time, the numbers were:

63 263 58546

"Let's get to work cracking this code," Valerie said. "And hope it leads us to the Mastermind and Alex."

The others nodded and wrote down the numbers on their notepads. Finally, Josie got something that made sense.

"Me and Julio," she said.

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever!" Alexandra shouted.

"No one said this was going to be easy," Melody said, with a shrug.

"Wait a minute," Alan said. "Isn't there a Paul Simon song called Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard?"

"Yeah!" Josie shouted. "Maybe that's it!"

"Either that or a Mexican restaurant," Melody suggested.

"Oh brother," Valerie groaned.

The gang raced for the schoolyard. It was Sunday, so no one was there, except maybe a janitor or two inside. But whatever the case, they couldn't get inside the school to search it. But Sebastian could.

"Okay, Sebastian," Alan said. "You sneak into the school through the air conditioning vent, and look around. See if the Mastermind is holding Alex somewhere inside."

"And the rest of us will check the schoolyard for any clues," Valerie said.

"Like another secret message?" Melody asked.

"Exactly," Valerie said. "I don't think the Mastermind would be hiding here, anyway. But it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Meow," Sebastian said, and ran through the vent. The others got to work in the schoolyard.

"Nothing at the swing-set," Alexandra said, looking at each and every swing, and turning them over to see if a card was taped on the bottom of one.

"Nothing on, or under, the see saws," Valerie reported.

"Nothing around the monkey bars," Josie commented.

"Nothing in the sandbox," Alan replied.

"I've found something here in the jungle gym!" Melody called out.

"Is it another card, Melody?" Josie asked as she and the others ran over.

"No," Melody said.

"Well, what did you find?" Alan asked.

"I found that I'm stuck!" Melody shouted. She had tried to squeeze in through an opening and got stuck. The others groaned, and pulled her out.

"We'd better keep looking," Josie said.

"Right," Valerie replied. "And if we can't find anything out here, then we'll have to hope Sebastian found something in there."

The others nodded. And, as if that were a cue, Sebastian came running out of the air conditioning vent.

"Did you find anything, Sebastian?" Melody asked. Sebastian meowed, and shook his head.

"Well, we'd better keep looking," Alan said. "I can't think of any other place we can look that's relevant to Me and Julio."

Josie climbed up to the slide, and looked inside of it. It was one of those covered slides. She saw something on the top inside of the tube, and grabbed it, ultimately loosing her balance, and sliding down the slide.

"Hey Alan!" she called. "I think I've found something!"

"Good work, Josie," Alan said, pulling Josie to her feet.

"Nice hairdo," Alexandra said, sarcastically. Josie gave her a Look, and tried to smooth down her hair, which was sticking up in various places, due to the static electricity from the slide.

"Is it another code, Alan?" Valerie asked.

"Looks like it," Alan said, giving the card to Valerie:

53736424 927 2 2855376

"Here we go again," Alexandra groaned.

"Let's get to work," Valerie said.