The Clue in the Recycling Bin (4 page)

“That means that Tío's Tacos is open very late,” explained Grandfather.

“One a.m. is one hour past midnight,” said Henry.

Benny's eyes opened wide. “Do people eat that late?” he asked.

“Some people do,” said Grandfather. “People who work in places that close at ten o'clock or eleven o'clock might want to eat after they leave work.”

“
Sí
, that is correct,” said Tío as he came to their table. His real name was Miguel, but he insisted that his customers call him Tío, which means
uncle
in Spanish.

Tío shook hands with Grandfather and each of the children, calling them by name. “I could not help but overhear what you were saying,” he explained. “People who work the evening hours, they need a place to eat after work. The people who work in the jewelry store, for example. Their store closes at nine o'clock. Tío's Tacos is open, and those good people come here to eat good food.”

“We're here to eat good food, too,” said Benny.

Tío smiled at Benny. “Yes,” he said. “You and your family come here often. I am glad to see you again.”

“I'm happy to hear that your business is good,” Grandfather said. “That makes it worth staying open so late.”

Tío scratched his chin. “It is good, but it is slow after midnight. Only Mrs. Wickett comes in, and sometimes the man who used to work at the jewelry store.” Tío seemed lost in thought. “It would be good if three or four more people came in after midnight.”

“Look!” said Benny suddenly, pointing toward the ceiling. “You have new piñatas!”

Everybody looked upward, where five new piñatas were hanging from the ceiling.

“You have two fish, a star, a llama, and a donkey,” said Benny.

“You are a very observant
niño
,” Tio said. “And do you know
why
I have new piñatas?” he asked.

Benny shook his head. Tío looked to the other children.

“New piñatas are pretty,” said Violet. “Their colors are very bright.”

“That is it exactly!” said Tío, beaming with pleasure. “The old piñatas, they became dusty on top. And their colors faded from the sun. So I bought new ones.”

“The new ones are beautiful,” said Violet.

Jessie and Henry and Grandfather all agreed.

“I am happy to hear that you like my new decorations,” said Tío. “I changed them a few days ago, and that made one customer very angry.”

“Why was that?” asked Henry.

Tío shrugged. “Who knows. He said he liked the old ones and didn't like the new ones.”

“Are the piñatas filled with prizes?” Benny asked. “Games and cookies and candy?” he added.

Tío smiled. “That is a secret.”

“Why is it a secret?” Benny asked.

“Because if I told you the piñatas were filled with something, I think you would want to break one open just to see.”

Benny looked at the piñatas. He thought it would be fun to break one open. He was going to say something, but just then manycustomers came in at once, and Tío had to seat them.

Violet looked at the people who had come into the restaurant. One of the people was Ethan, who was still wearing running shorts and a tank top.

“Look,” said Violet to her sister and brothers. “I wonder if Ethan is going to eat here.”

Jessie, Henry, and Benny all watched Ethan.

“Who's Ethan?” asked Grandfather.

Henry explained that Ethan was a volunteer at the recycling center.

“Ethan is buying two bottles of Doo-Dah Tea from the front of the store,” said Benny.

“Mint-flavored Doo-Dah Tea,” said Violet, who could see that both labels were green.

The children watched as Ethan paid for his tea, said goodbye to Tío, and left.

A server came to take their dinner orders. As they waited for their food, the children and Grandfather talked.

“I'll bet my bull piñata used to be in Tío'srestaurant,” said Benny. “I'll bet Tío took it to the recycling center and Kayla found it in the Other Stuff bin and then I took it home. When we get home I'm going to break it open and see what's inside!”

“Well,” said Grandfather, “it's your piñata and you may break it open if you want to. But usually people save piñatas for special occasions.”

“Yes,” said Jessie, “like a birthday.”

“Or a party with friends,” said Henry.

“Can we have a party soon?” asked Benny.

The children talked about whether or not to have a party, but they never reached a decision. Their food arrived, and soon they forgot about everything except the delicious tacos, tamales, and beans and rice.

As they were finishing their meal, Henry looked up as the restaurant door opened. He saw Mrs. Wickett walk in. She was dressed up. Henry saw a sparkling pin on her blouse.

She spoke to Tío, who was at the cash register. Tío turned to the cooler alongside the wall, opened it, and took out six bottlesof Doo-Dah Tea. Henry noticed that all bottles had red labels.
Mrs. Wickett sure likes raspberry-flavored tea
, thought Henry. He watched as she paid for the tea and Tío put the plastic bottles into a paper bag.

As she turned to go, Mrs. Wickett looked toward the Aldens' table. She stared for a minute, then walked over to them.

“Hello,” she said to Henry and Violet. “Didn't I see you this morning outside the recycling center?”

“Yes,” said Henry. He introduced Grandfather, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and himself to Mrs. Wickett.

“Tío told us that you're a good customer of his,” said Grandfather.

“Yes,” she answered. “Tío serves wonderful food. When I leave work, the first thing I smell is the wonderful aroma from Tío's Tacos. So naturally, I come here.” Mrs. Wickett patted the bag she was holding. “And Tío always has my favorite tea on hand.”

“You must work at Jonah's Jewelry Store,” said Grandfather with a smile.

Mrs. Wickett looked surprised. “Why, yes,” she said, “but how did you know that?”

“Oh,” said Grandfather, “I've learned a few detective skills from my grandchildren.”

Mrs. Wickett looked confused.

“Jonah's Jewelry Store is the only store that's open late in this two-block area,” Grandfather explained.

“Ahhh!” said Mrs. Wickett. “Very good. I'm their bookkeeper. I could work days, but I prefer to work nights. Everything is quiet then so I can concentrate on the numbers. Well, it's so nice to have met you, but I must get back to work.”

The Aldens said good-bye to Mrs. Wickett and watched her walk out the door and down the block.

“Did you notice the jewelry she was wearing?” Violet asked. “She had a diamond pin on her blouse and three diamond rings on her fingers.”

Grandfather smiled at Violet. “You make it sound suspicious,” he said. “But Mrs. Wickett works at a jewelry store. Maybe she's supposed to wear jewelry while she works there.”

“Or maybe she can buy it because the store gives her a big discount,” said Jessie.

“Or maybe she's not wearing diamonds,” said Henry. “Maybe she's wearing glass that looks like diamonds.”

CHAPTER 5

Footprints and Key Rings

T
he next morning, the children loaded Grandfather's car with recyclables, and he drove them to the recycling center. They unloaded the recyclables into the proper bins and said good-bye to Grandfather.

“Let's walk around the outside of the recycling center,” said Henry.

“Good idea,” said Jessie. “We might find footprints.”

The children walked out the front gate of the recycling center and turned rightto follow the chain-link fence around the outside of the center.

Violet noticed that Mrs. Wickett was sitting on her porch, holding something in her lap. Violet waved. Mrs. Wickett waved back.

There weren't any suspicious-looking footprints along the front of the recycling center. There were none along the side.

But as soon as the children turned the second corner, Henry raised his hand.

“Stop!” he said.

Benny, Violet, and Jessie crowded around Henry so they could see what he was looking at.

On the ground were two blurred footprints. The toes of the footprints were clearer than the rest of the footprints. The toes were pointing toward the back fence of the recycling center.

“Look,” said Benny, pointing through the fence. “The toes point right at the bags filled with leaves and grass on the other side of the fence.”

Jessie stared at the two prints. “The back footprint is a left foot,” she said. “And the front footprint is a right foot.”

“The two footprints are very far apart,” said Violet. “It looks like somebody was running.”

“We don't have our camera with us,” said Jessie. Then she grinned. “But I do have one of my recycled notebooks!”

Henry pulled a small tape measure out of his pocket. Henry loved tools, and he often had some with him. He measured one of the footprints from front to back. “Exactly eleven inches,” he said.

Jessie wrote that in her notebook. Then she sketched the tread pattern of the shoe.

When Jessie's sketch was finished, the children bent down to hold the drawing near the footprint.

“Good work,” Henry told his sister. “Now look at the top of the fence,” he said.

Jessie and Violet looked. “The top of the fence is fine,” said Jessie. “It's not bent at all.”

“That's right,” said Henry. He looked up at the sky. “It looks like it's going to rain, so it's a good thing we have this drawing.”

“Yes,” said Benny, “because the rain will wash everything away.”

Being careful not to step on the two footprints, the Aldens continued walking along the back of the recycling center.

Soon Henry raised his hand again and said, “Stop!”

“Wow,” said Benny. “More footprints! Look at them! They're all on top of one another.”

“Hmmm,” said Jessie. She was looking through the chain-link fence into the recycling center. The footprints were opposite the Other Stuff bin that had been tipped over yesterday.

“I think we can draw some conclusions,” said Jessie. “First, these footprints were made by a different person. They don't match the first set.”

“Maybe,” said Henry. “Or maybe they were made by the same person, but the person was wearing different shoes,” saidHenry. “There's one way to find out.”

Henry pulled the small tape measure out of his pocket again. It took him a while to find a whole footprint. When he did, he measured it. “These footprints are only nine-and-a-half inches long,” he said. “They were made by a different person.”

Jessie wrote the information on another page of her notebook. “There's something very different about these footprints,” she said. “Instead of being far apart like the other set, these ones are close together.”

“They're all on top of one another,” Benny reminded her. “See,” he said, pointing to where one heel mark was pressed deeply into another toe mark.

Henry stood and examined the top of the chain-link fence. It still had the same damage he had seen the first day. “The fence is bent inward here,” he said.

“So somebody climbed the fence here,” said Jessie.

“And whoever it was kept slipping off,” Violet said. “Whoever it was kept fallingback to the ground onto his own footprints!”

“Or
her
own footprints,” said Jessie.

Jessie drew the tread mark of a toe and of a heel. Everybody looked at her drawing and back at the fence.

“You know what this means,” Jessie said.

Henry nodded. “It means we have two different people breaking into the recycling center.”

“One wears a shoe that's eleven inches long,” said Jessie. “And the other wears a shoe that's nine-and-a-half inches long.”

“Are the two people working together?” asked Benny.

“I don't think so,” said Henry. “And I think each of them is breaking into the recycling center for a different reason.”