Rock 'n' Roll Mystery (2 page)

“Sure,” Henry said.

After he was gone, Violet said, “Guess what else I heard?” The others leaned in close. “I heard the TV station is going to come. They're going to show the Greenfield Four's concert on television.”

“Wow!” Benny said.

“That's great,” Jessie added. “Thousands of people will see them!”

Violet nodded. “That's right. So they've really got to play their very best.”

“Boy, I sure hope so,” a voice behind them said. The Aldens turned to see Alan Keller from the Greenfield Four. He had sandy blond hair and a deep, powerful voice.

“Hi, Alan,” Violet said. “How does everything look?”

“Perfect,” Alan replied, admiring the stage. The sparkle in his eyes told the Aldens he couldn't wait to get up there and play.

“Everything is just perfect. And I want to thank you kids again for all the hard work you're doing.”

“It's no problem,” Henry said. “We're all having fun.” The others nodded.

“Well, I'd better get back to the rehearsal studio,” Alan said. “There's not much left for us to do now but practice.”

“Good luck,” Violet told him.

“Thanks.” Alan turned and left.

The children spent the rest of their break finishing their juice and doughnuts and watching everyone work on the stage. One man stopped by and said he wished he had a bottle of cold juice just like Henry did, so Jessie promised to bring him one. Then they watched a woman with a clipboard test the sound system to make sure each speaker worked right. And then there was a tall, thin man who paused to admire Violet's sign. Henry had seen him helping with some of the electrical equipment. He had a beard, glasses, and a black beret.

“Do you like the Greenfield Four, too?” Benny asked him.

“Never heard of them,” the man said, though he smiled. The man adjusted his glasses and continued on his way.

Henry checked his watch, then took the last sip of his juice. “Thanks, that was delicious. I have to get back to work now.”

“You're welcome,” Jessie said. “Come on, Benny, we have to get back, too. Break time's over.”

Just as they were about to leave, Alan came around the corner of the stage again. He was closing his cell phone and putting it back into his pocket. He looked pale now, almost sick.

“Are you okay, Alan?” Henry asked.

“I just got a call from Amy,” Alan said.

“Is something wrong?” Jessie asked.

Alan looked as though he couldn't believe what he was about to say.

“There sure is—all of our instruments have been stolen!”

The children rode their bikes over to the Greenfield four's rehearsal studio. It was a large room with big windows and a high ceiling. The Aldens had been there several times during the past week, listening to the band practice. Everyone had been so excited about the festival.

But the mood was very different now. Alan was standing in one corner, speaking quietly to a Greenfield police officer. Nearby, a young man was sitting behind his drum kit. Dave was the “funny one” in the group, always quick to make a joke or smile—but he wasn't smiling at the moment. Amy Keller was talking with another police officer, who was taking notes.

Karen looked hurt and confused. She stood on the far side of the room, by a row of empty guitar stands. She was young and pretty, with straggly brown hair and lively green eyes. She stared in disbelief at the empty keyboard racks, the drum kit with no cymbals, and the cables thrown aside carelessly.

When she saw the Aldens, she tried to be cheerful.

“Hi, kids,” she said, smiling weakly.

“Karen, we're so sorry,” Violet said. “What happened?”

“Someone came in during the night and took most of our equipment.”

“Have the police found any clues yet?”

“No,” Karen said. “Amy is giving them a list of the items that were stolen.”

“It looks like a lot,” Violet said.

“It is,” Karen told her. “Guitars, basses, horns, keyboards … I don't know how we'll be able to play tomorrow night.” As soon as she said this, she looked twice as upset. The concert was supposed to be the band's “big break.” Now it looked like it might not happen at all.

“Can't you just borrow some instruments?” Benny asked.

Karen shook her head. “It wouldn't be the same. A lot of our instruments were made just for us.”

“You mean they were custom-made?” Jessie asked, remembering what Mr. Lessenger had said before.

“That's right,” said Alan. He slumped into a chair next to Karen. “Like my painted guitar. Not only does it look different, it has a special sound, too.”

The children had always noticed Alan's guitar at concerts. It was beautiful—the wooden body had been painted with a colorful autumn leaf design.

“We do our best when we play our own instruments.” Karen sighed. “And it would take days to program new keyboards.” She put her head in her hands. “There's no way we could do that now. We have to get ours back.”

“We promise to help,” Violet said, trying to make her feel better. “We've solved a few mysteries before.”

Karen smiled. “We can use all the help we can get. Time is running out fast.”

“Leave it to us!” Benny exclaimed.

After the police were gone, the Aldens went to work. They searched every inch of the big room for clues. Jessie and Benny checked every window, but they were all locked tight. Violet went to each spot where an instrument had been taken, hoping for something like a torn piece of clothing or maybe a footprint on the floor. No such luck. Henry was looking around the door—the only other way into the room aside from the windows—when he noticed a small plastic cover on the wall, next to the light switch.

When he lifted the cover, he found a keypad underneath. The buttons looked like the buttons on a telephone—each one had a number and three tiny letters on it.

“Is this an alarm system?” he asked.

“Yes,” Amy replied. She was a tall woman with blond hair. “We had it put in a few years ago.”

“It must've been off last night,” Henry said. “If it was on and someone broke in, the alarm would've sounded, right?”

The four members of the band looked at each other.

“I figured it had been accidentally left off,” Karen said with a shrug.

“Me, too,” Dave said. He was twirling a drumstick between two fingers.

“No, I'm sure I turned it on when I left,” Alan told them. “That's what I told the police.”

Henry looked back at the keypad. “Then how could the thief have broken in without the alarm going off?”

“Good question,” Alan replied.

He dug through a cabinet and found the owner's manual to the alarm system. Henry read the manual for a few minutes. He was good at reading instructions, even when they were long. Finally, Henry had it figured out. He tapped a few buttons, and the following words appeared on the little screen—

SYSTEM ACTIVATED 10:33 PM

“Ac-ti-va-ted? What does that mean?” Benny asked. He was still learning to read, and he loved discovering new words.

“Turned on,” Jessie told him. “It's when the system was turned on.”

“So I did turn it on when I left last night,” Alan said.

“It looks that way,” Henry said. Then he hit another button, and the screen read—

SYSTEM DEACTIVATED 12:04 AM

“De-ac-ti-va-ted,” Benny said. “That must mean the opposite, right?”

“Yes,” Jessie told him. “Someone turned the system off just after midnight.”

“That's how they got in without setting the alarm off,” Violet added.

“They knew the security code,” Henry pointed out. “That's the only way they could've done it. They had to know the six-number code.”

Jessie looked at the band members. “But who else knows it aside from the four of you? Anyone?”

“Only Raymond,” Amy Keller replied. “He was the one who programmed the code. It's ‘463534.' Very easy for all of us to remember.”

Benny made a face. “It doesn't sound easy!”

“It isn't,” Amy told him, “until you notice that those numbers can also stand for certain letters on the keypad as well—‘GNFLD4.'”

Benny smiled. “Oh, sure, I see now!”

Jessie said, “Do you think … maybe Raymond had something to do with the theft?”

Everyone in the room looked at each other.

“He seems like such a nice person,” Violet said. “Didn't you think so, too, Henry?”

“Yeah, very nice,” Henry agreed.

“Honestly,” Amy Keller said, “I don't know him all that well. He's been with us for a while, but he's so quiet. I have to say I've wondered about him from time to time.”

“Well, if someone in the band didn't steal the instruments,” Karen said, “then who else could it have been?”

No one had an answer to that.

The Aldens decided to return to the festival grounds to talk with Raymond. They wanted to find out if he had gone back to the rehearsal studio the night before, or if he had given the security code to anyone else.

“Alan seems to think Raymond is totally innocent,” Violet said.

“But the others didn't seem as sure,” Henry reminded her.

When the Aldens got to the stage, they quickly realized Raymond was nowhere to be found. Then the children spotted the tall thin man with the beard and the black beret. He was on his knees, working with some wires.

“Excuse me, sir?” Henry asked. The man didn't seem to hear at first, so Henry asked him again.

The man looked up and smiled. “Oh, hi. Sorry I didn't hear you. I get so involved when I'm doing electrical work. Anyway, I'm surprised to see you. I thought you'd left for the day!”

“No, we just had to go over to the Greenfield Four's rehearsal studio.”

“So I guess you heard about their instruments being taken,” the man said.

“We're going to try to find them!” Benny said.

“That's terrific. Can I help?”

“Actually, you can,” Jessie told him. “There was a person here earlier, helping out. His name was Raymond. Have you seen him?”

“He's their roadie, right?” the bearded man asked.

“Yes, that's him!” Violet replied.

The man got to his feet and patted his forehead with a handkerchief. It was very hot, and his eyes were blinking from the bright sunlight.

“I saw him go over there about twenty minutes ago,” he said, pointing towards the fairground's main building. “He hasn't come back since,” the man added.

“Thanks,” Jessie said.

The children had been in the main building before to see a play.

They went through the glass doors at the front, and they found themselves standing in a huge airy lobby. On one wall, there were old posters from past events. The Greenfield Four was on a few of them, the Aldens noticed. Sometimes they were the first band listed. Other times they were second, always beneath another band called “Danny and the Duotones.”

“I remember hearing Alan talk about that group,” Violet said. “Remember, the other night, while they were practicing?”

Henry nodded. “He said something about how much Danny would love to play for the man from the record company.”

“It seems like they've been rivals for a long time,” Violet said.

“What is a ‘rival?' ” Benny asked.

“A rival is someone who wants the same thing that you do,” Jessie told her brother.

At that moment, they heard a familiar voice—it was Raymond, in a nearby hallway, talking to someone.

The Aldens went over there slowly, and when they peered around the corner they saw him—on a pay phone.

“We shouldn't be listening to his private conversation,” Jessie said.

Henry agreed. “Let's wait for him outside.”