Lucky O’Leary’s Lottery ticket was gone. He asked Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to find the burglar and get his ticket back.
Josh stooped down and picked a piece of tinfoil that had been twisted into the shape of a small bow tie. It was their first clue. They wanted to talk to Lucky’s grandfather.
Hector O’Leary told everyone in the atrium, elderly-housing building, that he sent lottery tickets to his grandkids.
The children talked to the lottery clerk named Dot Calm at the supermarket. She told the children that a pretty creepy-looking guy, Joe, real close who could have overheard what Mr. O’Leary was saying. Josh drew a sketch of Joe.
The children asked Officer Fallon for help and showed him the sketch.
Another tinfoil fell out of Ruth Rose’s hair and landed in her soup. It was the same as the first tinfoil they picked in the backyard of Lucky’s house. Blue Boy buried it in Ruth Rose’s hair. The children thought the crook must had ever been in the atrium.
No one in the fitness center knew Joe. Then, the children understood that the sketch looked like Josh, but older. They didn’t know why Dot sent them on a wild-goose chase.
The floor of the lottery counter was littered with tiny tinfoil bow ties. The children needed to prove that Dot stole Lucky’s lottery ticket.
 Dink knew how they could prove Hector really did buy that ticket after his nightmare. Hector’s fingerprints also were on the lottery ticket. The children followed River Road south toward Blue Hills by skis at dawn.
Officer Fallon snapped on a pair of handcuffs. Officer Keene led Dot Calm to his cruiser.