Short Story – Level 1 – Medium

The Gym Equipment Mystery

It was early Monday morning when Coach Daniels walked into the school gym and stopped short.

The equipment closet was wide open – and someone had already started pulling gear out for the day’s sports classes. But the student helpers hadn’t left a note, and Coach Daniels needed to know exactly what had been taken before the official inventory check that afternoon.

He called in Riley, the clever student council treasurer, known for being good with numbers.

“Think you can figure out what’s missing from this closet?” Coach asked. “All I’ve got are three notes someone scribbled on the whiteboard before they left.”

Riley read them:

1. “If you take twice the number of basketballs and add the number of footballs, the total is 18.”
2. “If you add the number of footballs to three times the number of tennis rackets, the total is 29.”
3. “The total number of all three items taken is 20.”

Riley smiled. “Basketballs, footballs, tennis rackets. Three unknowns, three clues. I’ve got this.”