Chocolate Sundae Mystery (7 page)

“You should all be very proud of yourselves. You put in a good day of detective work,” Grandfather said. He gazed affectionately at the tired faces of his grandchildren. Benny looked so sleepy, he could barely hold his fork up to eat the delicious meatloaf Mrs. McGregor had made.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you the good news,” Violet said as she poured some milk into Benny’s cracked pink cup. That cup was very special to Benny. He’d had it ever since they’d lived in the boxcar.

“What?” everyone but Jessie said at once.

“Mr. Brown had a new glass pane installed this afternoon. The Shoppe can now open for business tomorrow.”

“Oh, that is good news,” Grandfather remarked as he put some pepper on his mashed potatoes.

Jessie proceeded to tell her family about Simone and her mysterious friend. Everyone listened closely.

“That’s not the same customer who yelled at her the first day?” Benny wanted to make sure.

“No,” Jessie replied. “This is another one. He has red hair — and he’s very quiet. I’ve seen him with Simone before.”

“Maybe they are planning something,” Henry said thoughtfully as he poured himself some water. “But I still can’t believe Simone is really involved in all this. She seems so careful about her work.”

“Well, she did take the morning off after all that chocolate ice cream disappeared. And one day Violet saw her reading a note very secretively,” Jessie reminded Henry. “I don’t want to believe it of Simone either,” she added.

Henry and Benny took turns telling their family about the ice cream trail they’d followed.

“You know,” Jessie said, “I wonder if there’s a connection between the ice cream trail and that trail of broken glass we saw.”

“You mean the morning after I heard glass breaking,” Benny said after he swallowed a mouthful of peas. He tried not to make a face.

“Yes!” Jessie sounded excited.

“There may be,” Henry said. “I just don’t know what to make of all these clues yet.”

After dinner, the children gathered in Benny’s room again to come up with another plan.

“I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on the parlor one evening after Mr. Brown closes up,” Henry said.

Jessie nodded. “There’s a big closet in the kitchen we can hide in.”

“Oh, the one where Mr. Brown keeps the brooms and mops,” Violet said. “It would be big enough for all of us to fit in.”

“Good,” Henry said. “We should wait a couple of nights, I think.”

“Why?” Benny asked and then yawned.

“I think whoever broke that window will probably stay out of sight for a couple of days,” Henry remarked.

The others nodded. Then they all went to bed early and slept soundly.

The Shoppe was quiet for the next two days. Business seemed very slow. The Aldens watched Simone and Brian closely, but they never saw them do anything out of the ordinary.

The following Monday, the Aldens came to work early. Mr. Brown was already in the kitchen mixing a big batch of creamy chocolate ice cream. “I’m putting chocolate sprinkles and cherries in this batch,” he announced. Benny grinned.

Violet went to the table to get today’s menus, and right away she noticed something was wrong. Someone had scribbled on the menus with green crayons.

Mr. Brown looked at the menus in disbelief. “Simone, Brian, do you know anything about this?” he said calling the others to the kitchen.

Simone and Brian shook their heads. “I can make more menus,” Violet said. She tried to put Mr. Brown at ease.

“I know you can,” the owner answered sadly. “But that’s not the point.” He sighed. “I didn’t believe this at first, but someone is really trying to hurt the parlor,” he said, looking at everyone gathered around him.

“Surely, you don’t think we’re responsible.” Simone sounded a little indignant.

Mr. Brown sighed even more heavily. He sat down at his stool by the ice cream maker. “No, I would hate to think anyone in this room is responsible,” he said. “But I lock up at night. And most mornings when I come in something has been disturbed.”

Simone looked down at the floor.

“At first, I thought I was just forgetting or misplacing things,” Mr. Brown continued. “I am absentminded, but now I’m convinced someone wants to hurt our business.”

The Aldens looked at one another. “But who would want to hurt the parlor’s business?” Simone asked. She looked down at her hands and twisted her silver ring around her index finger.

“Have you thought about Mrs. Saunders?” Benny asked.

“Or what about that customer who is always so angry?” Simone asked Mr. Brown.

“That’s possible,” Mr. Brown said. The Aldens noticed how sad and tired he looked. “If any of you see anything suspicious, I hope you will let me know.”

“Of course,” Simone said. The others nodded and went back to work.

That afternoon, when no one else was around, the Aldens secretly made plans to spy on the parlor late that evening.

“We’ll have to be careful,” Jessie whispered as she added maple syrup to a banana shake. “Now that Mr. Brown is so suspicious, he’ll be very careful about locking up. He may even look in the closet.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Henry said. “Maybe we should tell him what we’re planning.”

Violet shook her head. She drew some soda water from the spigot at the counter. “I don’t think he’d let us do this, if he knew.”

“You’re probably right,” Henry said. “The fewer people who know of our plan, the better.”

That night Mr. Brown said he felt very tired. He began to lock up the Shoppe around five o’clock in the afternoon. The Aldens waited until Brian and Simone had left. Then, while Mr. Brown was in the kitchen putting on his coat, they pretended to leave by the front door.

“Good-bye, Mr. Brown,” they called.

“Good-bye, children. See you tomorrow,” Mr. Brown said.

Henry pretended to close the door with a loud bang. Then quickly, the Aldens all sneaked into the small coat closet at the far end of the counter.

Luckily for them, Mr. Brown only came into the parlor’s main area to lock the front door. Then he returned to the kitchen and left by the back door, locking it firmly behind him.

“Whew, it feels good to get out of there,” Benny said as he emerged from the cramped closet.

“I know what you mean,” Henry said. He stretched his arms out in front of him and rubbed his shoulders. “It was crowded inside with all of us. It’s a good thing the broom closet in the kitchen has more room.”

“I’m just glad we didn’t disturb anything,” Jessie said as she let Violet crawl out in front of her. Violet was careful not to pull down any of the aprons that hung crisply on their hangers.

“I’m afraid we may have a long wait ahead of us,” Henry whispered. “I’m going to call Grandfather from the pay phone to tell him where we are, and that we’ll be home by nine o’clock.”

“Be careful not to let anyone see you from the window,” Jessie warned him.

“Don’t worry, the shades are down,” Henry whispered back.

“Why are we all whispering?” Benny wondered. “We’re the only ones here.”

For the next three hours, the Aldens played word games and ate the sandwiches Henry had saved from lunch. At about eight o’clock, the parlor was dark.

“It’s spooky in here when the sun goes down,” Benny said softly.

“We should have brought a flashlight,” Henry observed.

“I know where we can find one,” Jessie said. No sooner had she pulled a flashlight from a big drawer, than they heard someone rattling the back door.

“Someone’s trying to get in!” Benny whispered loudly.

“Quick!” Henry said. “Into the storage closet.” The Aldens hurried inside amongst the mops and brooms as the rattling grew louder and louder. Benny’s heart was pounding so loudly he was sure everyone could hear it. But he kept still. Finally, when he thought he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, the back door creaked open.

Someone turned on the kitchen light and a muffled voice said, “Okay, come in.”

B
enny gulped. Henry peered through the keyhole. What he saw made him shake his head sadly.

Brian was leading four skinny boys into the parlor’s kitchen. The boys wore T-shirts that looked much too big for them, and worn-out shoes.

As Henry watched, Brian seated the boys at the big kitchen table. “Can we have chocolate sundaes tonight?” one of the boys asked.

“Sure,” Brian said. “You know this is the last night we can do this,” he added as he went to the counter to bring back the container of vanilla ice cream.

“But Brian, you promised,” the tallest boy protested.

“I know, Eric,” Brian said as he scooped out four generous portions of vanilla ice cream and put them in special sundae dishes. “But the owner knows something is up.”

“Was he mad about those glasses we broke?” one of the boys asked.

“No,” Brian said as he poured chocolate sauce on the ice cream.

“We didn’t do it on purpose,” Eric said. He got up to help Brian finish making the sundaes. “Paul tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and dropped the package.”

“I don’t think Mr. Brown even noticed those glasses,” Brian said as he put cherries on all the sundaes. “But we have to remember to put everything back in the refrigerator. One night we left the cream out and it spoiled.”

“I guess it didn’t help when we broke that big window,” Eric said glumly. “But we were just trying to help you clean up. I was chasing Paul with the broom and the next thing I knew, the handle went through the window.”

“I know you didn’t do it on purpose,” Brian said as he brought the sundaes to the kitchen table with Eric’s help. “But we should have tried to keep Robbie from scribbling on the menus.”

The boy called Robbie shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Brian,” he said softly.

Brian patted the little boy’s shoulder. “I know you were very excited when you saw all those crayons in the kitchen drawer.”

Brian seated himself at the table while the boys ate hungrily. Henry, who was still watching through the crack, noticed that Brian did not eat anything himself.

“Oh, I’m starving,” the boy called Paul said as he scraped the bottom of his dish. “This is the first meal I’ve had all day.”

For some time now, Benny’s foot had been asleep. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to wiggle his foot. It tingled so much, he jumped and banged against Jessie, who gave him a warning look in the dark. Benny moved the other way and knocked over the big mop. It clattered loudly to the floor and hit Violet.

“Ouch!” she yelped, then quickly clapped her hands to her mouth.

The boys in the kitchen all jumped and looked toward the closet.

“What was that?” Eric said. He stopped eating and held his spoon in midair.

“Something fell down in the closet,” Brian answered.

“I heard someone talking in there,” Eric insisted. He advanced warily toward the closet, still holding his spoon.

Henry took that moment to open the closet door and step out. Jessie, Violet, and Benny followed him.

The boys stared at the Aldens in horror. “Who are you?” Eric asked sharply.

“It’s okay. I know them. They work here,” Brian explained.

He turned to the Aldens. “I know what you must be thinking,” he said sheepishly. “I can explain.”

“Maybe we should leave now,” Eric said quietly. Brian nodded.

When the boys had left, Brian sat at the kitchen table and told the Aldens everything, everything they hadn’t already guessed.

The boys lived at the edge of town in a very run-down neighborhood. Brian was very good friends with the oldest one.

“Is that Eric?” Benny asked.

“Yes,” Brian nodded. “When he heard I had a job here, he thought I’d be able to help him and his little brothers. You see, Eric’s father lost his job a year ago and his family is very poor. Sometimes, this is the only meal they get all day.”

At first the Aldens had been angry at the boys for eating the Shoppe’s ice cream without paying. Now they felt so sorry for them they nodded sympathetically.

“Could Eric get a job at the parlor?” Jessie suggested. “I’m sure Mr. Brown would hire him.”

Brian shook his head. “No, he has to stay home and baby-sit his little brothers. His mother works, and his father left the family a few months ago.”

Jessie looked down at her hands. “I see,” she said gently.

Brian shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I knew what I was doing was wrong,” he said. “But they’d all come to depend on me.”

“How did you get in?” Henry wondered.

Brian’s face turned bright red. “We used a coat hanger to pick the lock,” he admitted. “We never broke it.”

“I know,” Henry said. “That’s why Mr. Brown never found any sign of a break-in.”

Brian pulled a notebook out of his apron. He lay it on the table and opened it to a page filled with a neat row of numbers. “I was keeping track of what they ate and how much it cost,” he explained. “I was planning to pay Mr. Brown back out of my salary. But after that window broke, I didn’t know what to do.”

Henry patted Brian gently on the arm. “Don’t worry, Brian, we believe you,” he said. “But you have to tell Mr. Brown about all this.”

Brian hung his head. “I know I do,” he said. “I feel awful that I helped ruin the parlor’s good reputation.”