The group got right down to work. They split the code into five different parts so they could work faster. Even Sebastian worked on the clue, but he worked on the whole thing, while the others worked on a section separately. Suddenly, Sebastian began meowing.

"What's up, Sebastian?" Alan asked. Sebastian handed him a piece of paper with the code written out on it.

"Hey, I think he's got it!" Josie shouted, looking at the sheet of paper. "It says be sure to wear flowers in your hair at the golden gate."

"The flowers in your hair is a line from a song by Scott McKenzie," Valerie said. "The song is called San Francisco."

"Does that mean we're going to San Francisco?" Melody asked.

"We're already in San Francisco, dum-dum!" Alexandra shouted. "We have to look for something in the city."

"And I think I know what it is," Valerie said. "Golden Gate Bridge. If I know the song lyrics, there's no mention of any golden gate."

"Good thinking, Val," Alan said. "Let's go!"The gang caught a cab to the Golden Gate Bridge, but their task proved to be more difficult than they anticipated when they got there.

"Well, there it is," Alan said. "Now the question is where in the world could that clue be?"

"I am not climbing up that bridge to look for it," Alexandra said. "The wind will simply ruin my hair!"

"Oh boy," Josie said, looking at the bridge. "Do you really think the Mastermind would hide a clue somewhere on that bridge? It'll be dangerous to try to climb up those towers."

"Well, Sebastian," Valerie said. "Looks like it's up to you."

Sebastian took one look at the bridge, let out a shriek, and darted under a bush, and he wouldn't come out. There was no way in the world he was going to climb that bridge.

"Oh no you don't!" Alexandra shouted, grabbing her cat by the scruff of his neck. "Get going up there for else I'm going to turn you into a cat stole!"

"Yeep!" Sebastian shouted, and immediately raced for the bridge work. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He got to the top of one of the towers and began looking around. While he was doing that, the others found the pedestrian gate to the bridge.

"Oh look!" Melody shouted, looking at the sign on the gate. "Here's another index card with a bunch of numbers on it. That must be our next clue."

"Good work, Melody," Josie said.

"You can come down now, Sebastian!" Alan shouted. "We found the next clue down here!"

Sebastian glared at Alan, and threw him a look that clearly said "Now you tell me!" Of course, Alan couldn't see it. He climbed down from the tower, and raced to his friends. Then he jumped onto Melody's shoulder to read the next clue.

3696 29 843 229

"Let's try to figure this one out," Josie said with a sigh.

"At least it isn't as long as the last one," Alexandra commented.

The gang sighed, and got right down to work. Finally, Alan had it.

"The only thing that makes sense to me is down by the bay," he said.

"Oh, I love that song!" Melody shouted. Then she began singing. "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow. Back to my home, I dare not go. For if I do, my mother would say . . . ."

"Knock it off, Melody!" Alexandra shouted.

"Actually, that's what my mother would say every time I started singing that song," Melody said, then she giggled.

"Well, here we go again," Valerie said. "Any ideas on where we go this time?"

"Down by the bay, silly!" Melody giggled again. "The clue says so!"

"Oh brother," Alexandra groaned.

"Actually, that's what we're going to do," Alan said, eyeing a fishing boat down at a dock. "Let's go!"

The quintet (plus Sebastian) ran over to the boat, climbed aboard, and began looking for clues. Valerie found another index card taped to the smokestack.

"The Mastermind is starting to get careless," she said once she regrouped with the others. "He left this one in a place where we could easily find it."

"Good," Alexandra said. "Maybe he'll give us a better clue this time around."

"No such luck," Valerie sighed.

7663844647 34749

"If we ever find that Mastermind," Alexandra said. "I'll wring his neck!"

"Mrooowww," Sebastian growled in agreement.

"Well, let's get started cracking it," Josie said, pulling out her notepad and pencil.

The group got to work. Sebastian finished first, and practically shoved the piece of paper he tore from Alexandra's notebook into her face.

"Looks like Sebastian's figured it out," she said, as she picked him up. "He has something's fishy."

"Good going, Sebastian," Alan said. "Now, we just have to figure out where to go."

Sebastian jumped out of Alexandra's hold, and ran to a sign nearby. It read "Fisherman's Wharf." Sebastian began jumping up and down, meowing, and pointing at it.

"Fisherman's Wharf," Valerie said. "That's it! Come on, everybody! Something's telling me we're closing in!"

The gang ran to the wharf and split up to look for anything that looked like a clue. Sebastian had wandered into the fish market. He sniffed around a little, and dove into a bucket full of tuna. The others groaned.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Sebastian!" Alexandra groaned.

A big, burly fisherman saw Sebastian, and grabbed him my the scruff of the neck. He then turned to Alan and the four girls.

"Is this yours?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Alexandra grumbled. "Just send my father the bill for any damage he's caused."

Alexandra wrote down the necessary information for the fisherman, and the group left. Sebastian snickered, still holding the tuna in his mouth.

"Sebastian, this is no time for a snack," Melody said. "We've got to find Alex!"

"Yeah, Sebastian," Alexandra said, dropping her cat, and yanking the fish out of his mouth. "Besides, this thing smells awful!"

"Wait a minute!" Josie shouted. "I think there's something in that fish's mouth!"

"What is it?" Alexandra asked. "A hook?"

"No," Josie said, pulling an index card out of the fish. "It's another clue. Good going, Sebastian! Here you go!"

Josie threw the fish back to Sebastian. The black and white cat immediately began to help himself to his tuna treat. Josie read off the numbers on the card.

968 226 8862 74266 263 968 226 8862 3474

"Another long one," she said. "I wonder why some of the numbers are underlined?"

"I'll bet it's part of the clue," Valerie said. "Come on, let's get cracking!"