JeNNIFeR aLLISoN duTToN chILdReN’S BookS GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 3 3/2/09 4:44:42 PM GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 1 3/2/09 4:44:41 PM also by Jennifer Allison Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator Gilda Joyce The Ladies of the Lake Gilda Joyce The Ghost Sonata GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 2 3/2/09 4:44:41 PM GILda Joyce The dead drop GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 1 3/2/09 4:44:41 PM GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 2 3/2/09 4:44:41 PM JeNNIFeR aLLISoN duTToN chILdReN’S BookS GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 3 3/2/09 4:44:42 PM DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS A division of Penguin Young Readers Group Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa • Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Of- fices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2009 by Jennifer Allison All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclu- sion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. CIP Data is available. Published in the United States by Dutton Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 www.penguin.com/youngreaders Designed by Irene Vandervoort ISBN: 1-101-05394-1 GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 4 3/2/09 4:44:42 PM To my friends at the International Spy Museum with appreciation, and to anyone whoever dreamed of becoming a spy. GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 5 3/2/09 4:44:42 PM GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 6 3/2/09 4:44:42 PM coNTeNTS Prologue 3 1 The arrival 7 2 The Roommate 14 3 The Psychic Spy 21 4 a d.c. Tour Guide for Math-camp Shut-Ins 23 5 The Spy Museum 29 6 The Life of a Spy 44 7 cIa Project MINdScaPe 51 8 The acquisition 56 9 Spy camp 74 10 The Message in the cipher 79 11 The Museum Ghost 87 12 The Promotion 90 13 The dead-drop Message 96 14 The Secret code 104 15 Team crypt 109 16 The Profiler 123 17 Lincoln’s Ghost 138 18 “The Man of our dreams” 141 19 The Ghost in the Machine 146 20 The Frightening Face 153 21 Two Truths and a Lie 161 22 dream of the Psychic Spy 171 23 cracking the code 175 24 a dangerous encounter 182 25 an unpleasant discovery 184 26 The Graffiti Ghost 194 GildaDEADDROP_forBlues.indd 7 3/2/09 4:44:43 PM