Game Store Mystery (4 page)

Jessie added those letters, too. The children stared at Jessie’s list of letters: L A K E R Y S E R E M N P O E A E P E I. But they didn’t see any pattern to them.

“We should get inside,” Violet said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do today.”

So the children said goodbye to Grandfather and went inside the store.

Raina was bustling around at the counter, picking things up and looking under them, then frowning as she set them down.

“Hi, Raina,” the children greeted her.

“Oh. Hi, kids,” Raina replied as she bent down, then stood back up. She tapped her fingers nervously against the counter.

“I-is something wrong, Raina?” Jessie asked.

Raina bit her lip. “Well, I wrote down a special order a little while ago, but I don’t know what I did with the paper,” she replied.

“I’m sure it’ll turn up,” Violet said.

As the children headed toward the Kids’ Korner, they noticed Carter and Tony Silver sitting together at a table. A game of Word Master was spread out between them.

“Hey, Carter is supposed to be an expert at word games,” Henry said. “I wonder if he would see any pattern to the letters that have been taken from the sign? That’s kind of how you play Word Master.”

Jessie shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask him.”

She pulled out her pad of paper and the children walked over to Carter and Tony.

The two men were in the middle of a conversation about the security of different kinds of safes.

“It’s got to be solid steel construction,” Carter said. “It’s got to have three-quarter-inch diameter steel chromed locking bolts and reinforced internal jambs. Anything less shouldn’t even be on the market.”

“I agree,” Tony said. “How do you know so much about safes, Carter?”

“Oh, my father was a safe manufacturer,” Carter said. “You could say it’s in my blood.” He smiled, but when he noticed the Aldens standing beside him, his smile fell.

“Sorry to bother you, Carter,” Jessie said. “But you know someone has been taking letters from that sign out front, right?”

“Yes,” Carter said impatiently. “What about it?”

“Well, we wrote down the letters that have gone missing. We know how good you are at word games, and we were wondering whether you might notice any pattern to these letters?”

Jessie held out the notebook for Carter to see, but he hardly looked at it. “I’m sure there’s no pattern to those letters,” he said gruffly. “The missing letters will probably turn up eventually.” He brushed the notebook aside and turned back to the game in front of him.

“Would you please just take a quick look?” Benny begged.

Carter scowled. “Fine.” He picked up Jessie’s notebook and glanced at it. “Sorry. I don’t see anything. Now would you please let me get back to my game?”

“Sure,” Jessie said. “We’re sorry we bothered you.”

The Aldens left Carter and Tony and went to look for Queenie. They found her in the back room mixing paint.

“Oh good. You’re here,” Queenie said when she noticed them standing there. “I put some old sheets down where you’re going to be painting. And I got a bunch of brushes and all the paint colors you asked for. So I think we’re set.”

“Good,” Violet said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

The older children each carried some paint. Benny carried the brushes. And Queenie followed behind with a six-pack of sodas. “In case you get thirsty,” she said.

Once Queenie was sure the Aldens had everything they needed, she went up to the cash register to check on Raina.

“Did you ever find that special order, Raina?” Queenie asked.

Raina held up a scrap of paper. “Right here,” she said with a smile. “I’ve already taken care of it.”

“Good.” Queenie nodded. “Then if you don’t need me out here, I’ve got some paperwork to do in the back.”

“That’s fine,” Raina said.

“We’ll let you know if we need anything,” Jessie said as she dipped her brush into a can of blue paint.

The Aldens spent the next hour painting. Benny painted triangle-shaped skirts on the girls and square-shaped pants and shirts on the boys. Jessie painted faces. Henry painted hair. And Violet outlined everything in black. Her picture was really coming to life.

“That’s looking really nice, kids,” Tony said when he and Carter finished their game.

“Yes, you’re doing a nice job,” Carter agreed.

“Thanks,” Violet said, pleased to receive praise from Carter. He never seemed very friendly around them.

“Thanks for a good game, Carter,” Tony said.

“My pleasure,” Carter replied. Then he went to join Queenie in the back room.

Tony stopped at the front of the store and bought a pack of gum.

Raina was on the phone when she rang up Tony’s gum. She had a very serious expression on her face. “Uh huh, I understand,” she said into the phone. “That’ll be sixty-five cents,” she told Tony.

Tony handed Raina a dollar, and she put it in the cash register. “Yes, I’m still here,” she said into the receiver.

Tony cleared his throat. “Uh, Raina? You forgot to give me my change.”

Raina covered the phone again. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, her face turning red. “Hang on a second,” she told the person she was talking to on the phone. She punched in some buttons on the cash register and the drawer opened.

“What do I owe you?” Raina asked.

“Thirty five-cents,” Tony replied.

Raina scooped up some coins and handed them to Tony. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Tony said.

Once he was gone, Raina turned back to her phone conversation. She listened for a while, then said, “Yes, I know. I know! Look, I don’t have the money now, but I can get it to you on Monday. Yes, Monday! I promise.” Then she slammed the phone down.

“Is everything okay, Raina?” Jessie asked for the second time that day.

Raina jumped. “What? Oh yes. Everything’s fine. I’m just a little behind on my rent. But I’ll have money on Monday. Everything will be fine.” She forced a smile, then hurried toward the back of the store.

“It seems like Raina’s got some money problems,” Violet said once Raina was gone.

“Yes, it does,” Jessie agreed. “But it sounds like everything will be okay next week.”

“I thought Queenie said she paid on the first and third Fridays of the month,” Benny said.

“Yes, I think she said that when she hired Raina,” Henry said.

“Today is only the second Friday of the month,” Benny said, pointing to the calendar behind the cash register. “Queenie isn’t paying today. And this is Raina’s only job. So where is she going to get money on Monday?”

“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “But Raina’s money problems really aren’t any of our business.”

“You’re right, Jessie,” Violet said. And the children got back to work.

“How many words did you find, Benny?” Jessie asked on Sunday afternoon. A light rain was falling outside, so the Aldens were spending the day indoors. They were clustered around the kitchen table playing Word Master. The smell of baking cookies hung in the air.

“I found seven words,” Benny said. “How many points is that?”

“It depends on which letters you used.” Violet leaned over to count up Benny’s points. “It looks like 75 points. Did you find the message in the words?”

“I don’t think so,” Benny said.

“How many points did you get, Violet?” Jessie asked, her pencil ready.

“I got 134 points,” Violet replied. “I didn’t find the message, either.”

“I think I got the message,” Henry said. “Is it ‘good things come to those who wait?’”

“Yes,” Jessie said.

“Then I got 154 points,” Henry said.

“I got 128,” Grandfather said.

Jessie was still counting her points. “I’ve got 162,” she announced once she finished counting.

“Wow!” Violet said.

“Looks like you win again, Jessie,” Grandfather said as he sat back in his chair.

The housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor, brought them a plate a freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. “You all look like you could use a snack,” she said as she set the plate in the middle of the table. “These just came out of the oven.”

“Mm! That’s the best time to have chocolate-chip cookies,” Henry said, helping himself to two cookies.

“I’ll go get the milk,” Benny said, hopping down from his chair.

Violet went to get glasses and napkins. Then the Aldens slid back into their chairs and enjoyed their snack.

“Can I have that cookie?” Benny asked as he eyed the last cookie on the plate.

“Haven’t you already had two cookies, Benny?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, but I’m still hungry.”

Violet laughed. “You’re always hungry.”

“So?” Benny said.

“Go ahead, Benny,” Grandfather said. “Then maybe we can divide up the letters for one more game.”

“Okay,” Benny said, snatching the last cookie.

Violet and Grandfather turned over all the letters and started handing them out.

“Can we play in the Word Master tournament, Grandfather?” Violet asked.

“I don’t know why not,” Grandfather replied. “I’m sure you’ll all do quite well.”

In the middle of the second round, the phone rang. Mrs. McGregor picked it up. “Alden residence,” she said. “What? Oh, no!”

The Aldens all turned when they heard the concern in Mrs. McGregor’s voice.

“I’ll let you talk to James, Queenie,” Mrs. McGregor said. She handed the phone to Grandfather.

“What’s happened, Mrs. McGregor?” Jessie asked.

“Are there more letters missing from that sign?” Benny asked.

“It’s worse than that,” Mrs. McGregor said, wringing her hands together. “I’d rather let your grandfather tell you about it.”

So the children waited for Grandfather to get off the phone.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Grandfather said. Then he hung up.

“I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news,” he said as he stood up and reached for his coat. “The Game Spot is closed on Sundays, but Queenie went in anyway this afternoon to catch up on some paperwork. It’s a good thing she did. Otherwise she wouldn’t have known until tomorrow that … her store has been robbed.”

The police were just leaving the Game Spot when the Aldens arrived.

“Did they find anything?” Grandfather asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Queenie replied. Carter was standing right behind her. They both stepped aside so the Aldens could enter.

“It’s just like what happened at the Java Café last week,” Queenie explained. “The store was locked when I came in. There’s nothing else out of place. The only thing missing is the money I had in the safe.”

Queenie led the group back to the back room. A small metal safe sat in the corner. The door stood open, and the safe was empty.

The Aldens wandered around the room looking for clues, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. There was no dirt or mud on the carpet. The papers piled on Queenie’s desk had been untouched. There was even a gold watch on Queenie’s desk that was still there. Piles of games and puzzles that hadn’t been put out for sale yet lined the shelves. Clearly, whoever had been back here had only been interested in one thing: the money inside Queenie’s safe.

“What about fingerprints?” Henry asked. “Did the police find any fingerprints?”

Carter shook his head. “The front door, the door to this back room and the safe had all been wiped down. Whoever came in here was wearing gloves.”

“Somebody had to have had a key to this store and the combination to this safe,” Queenie said as she paced back and forth. “They unlocked the front door, walked back here, opened the safe, then left again, locking the front door behind them.”

“Who could have done that?” Grandfather asked.

“I don’t know,” Queenie replied.

“What about that key you were missing the other day?” Violet asked. “Did you ever find it?”

“I’m afraid not,” Queenie said.

Carter frowned. “We probably don’t want to leave a spare key hanging on a nail in the back room anymore, Queenie. It was convenient for us, but anybody who went back there could have grabbed it.”

“But nobody goes back there besides us,” Queenie said.

“We’ve had all kinds of people back there this past week,” Carter said. “Workers and delivery people. Any of them could have taken it.”

“But they would have had to know the combination to the safe to get into it,” Queenie said. “Remember, I changed it this week. The only people who knew the new combination are the people who are here right now.”

“And that young woman you hired,” Carter said. “Raina Holt.”

The Aldens exchanged a look. Raina again.

Queenie pressed her lips together. “Raina did not do this, Carter. She wasn’t even working yesterday. She was visiting a friend out of town.”

“I hope you’re not making a mistake trusting her so completely, Queenie,” Carter replied.

“Hey!” Benny said all of a sudden. He walked over to the window. “Look at that sign now!”

In their rush to get to the store, the Aldens hadn’t noticed the sign on their way in. But they could see now that it had been altered again. This time there weren’t any letters missing. Instead there were two words in the middle of the sign. All the other letters had been crammed together around the edges as though they weren’t needed.