Game Store Mystery (7 page)

“Apparently, Carter does,” Bob replied. “I’ve seen him, too. But that doesn’t mean he’s a robber.”

“Did you see that sign in the parking lot the other day?” Tony asked. “It said CARTER and ROBBER. Maybe someone knows something the rest of us don’t know?”

“Or maybe someone’s trying to frame Carter,” Henry said.

“Could be,” Tony admitted. “But I have to tell you, I was playing a game with him the other day and there’s something a little different about him. Plus he sure knows a lot about safes. More than the average person should know.”

“Well, the police are looking into it,” Bob said as he wiped the counter. “Did you kids need something?”

“We need some throat drops for our housekeeper,” Jessie said.

“I better let you get back to work,” Tony said to Bob. He picked up his toolbox, then went out through the back of the store.

Bob led the children over to an aisle that contained cold and flu supplies. “These should do the trick,” he said, pulling a bag of red drops off the rack.

“Thanks,” Henry said. “Well take them.”

The children paid for the throat drops, then left.

Violet seemed especially quiet.

“What are you thinking about, Violet?” Jessie asked.

Violet frowned. “I don’t know. I was just thinking that every time Tony puts in a safe at this mall, that store gets robbed.”

Henry thought back to when the jewelry store and Queenie’s store were robbed. “Hmm. You’re right, Violet.”

“What are you saying?” Jessie asked. “Do you think Tony is the thief?”

“He would certainly know all the combinations to the safes,” Benny pointed out.

“And he could’ve stolen keys when he brought the safes into the stores,” Henry added.

“But he seems like such a nice man,” Violet said. “I hate to think of him robbing his customers.”

“Still, he’s probably our best suspect at this point,” Jessie said. “Maybe we should keep an eye on the drugstore tonight? See if he, or anyone else, tries to sneak back in and rob the store after closing.”

“That’s a good idea, Jessie,” Henry said. “Let’s talk to Grandfather about that when we get home.”

Before heading home, the children decided to stop in at the Game Spot and see how their mural looked now that the paint was dry. When they arrived, they found Queenie and Raina decorating the store for next week’s big Word Master tournament. Carter was seated at the main table. His brown jacket was draped over a chair. He was too engrossed in the papers in front of him to pay any attention to the children.

But Queenie greeted them cheerfully. “Well, hello there. I wasn’t expecting to see you children today.”

“We thought we’d stop in and take a look at the mural,” Jessie explained.

“I’m glad you did,” Queenie said. She set the Word Master flyer and the stapler down on a chair. “It turned out so nicely! I spent the morning getting the table and chairs arranged and putting the pillows down. And now I think the Kids’ Korner is officially done.”

They all walked to the Kids’ Korner. Red, blue and green chairs sat around a yellow table in the middle of an open area that had been partitioned off from the rest of the store. Large, fluffy pillows were stacked in a corner next to some games. And the mural on the wall showed a variety of children standing in a line holding hands. The whole area looked really inviting.

“This is wonderful, Queenie,” Violet cried.

Queenie shrugged. “Well, you kids did most of the work. I’m pleased with how things turned out. Now the children who come in here have someplace to play while their parents look at games or play a game of their own.”

“Could we play a game here right now?” Benny asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Queenie replied. “What game would you like to play?”

“How about Word Master?” Jessie suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Queenie said. “You can practice for the tournament next week. You kids are planning to play in the tournament, aren’t you?”

“We sure are,” Jessie said.

“Wonderful,” Queenie said as she went to get a copy of Word Master off the shelf. She set it on the table in front of the children. “Carter’s really taking this tournament seriously. He’s been studying word lists all week.”

“Wow, he must really like to win,” Henry said.

“He likes to do his best,” Queenie said.

Benny opened up the Word Master box, and Violet and Jessie started dividing up the letters. Queenie went back to hanging flyers.

While the children were playing, Carter suddenly stood up. He picked up his brown jacket and put it on. As he did, Violet noticed that part of his pocket was torn off.

Violet nudged Jessie. “Look at Carter’s jacket,” she whispered.

Jessie turned. “Hey, the pocket is torn all the way off,” she replied in a low voice.

Henry reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the scrap of cloth they’d found in the rose bushes the other night.

“Carter’s jacket is the same color as this cloth,” Henry said.

“I’m going to go down to the drugstore and get a newspaper,” Carter told Queenie as he straightened his jacket.

“Okay,” Queenie called back. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Quick! Let’s get this game picked up,” Jessie said. “We need to talk to Carter about his jacket.”

The Aldens quickly scooped up the letters and put them back in the box. Violet closed up the box and put it back on the shelf.

“Let’s not tell Queenie what we’re doing until we talk to Carter,” Henry said.

“Good idea,” Jessie said. “We don’t want to upset her until we know something for sure.”

The children put on their jackets and hurried toward the front of the store.

“We’re going to head out, too, Queenie,” Henry said with a wave.

“Okay. Thanks for stopping in,” Queenie said.

When they got outside, they noticed Carter was just going inside the drugstore. The children decided to wait outside the store for him.

“I wonder why Carter would take letters off that sign?” Benny said. “What is he doing with them?”

“We’ll ask him that, Benny,” Henry said.

“And if he’s the one who has been taking the letters off the sign, why would he leave a message that says CARTER ROBBER?” Violet wondered.

“That is strange,” Jessie said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the list of words they’d found in the missing letters. “Let’s look again and see if we can find a message in these words while we wait for Carter.”

The others crowded around Jessie and looked at the paper in her hand. QUEENIE, POLK, PLAY, ME, PLEASE, SAME, MAPLE, MERRY, MARRY, MY, PEARL, SALE, SEAL, MEAL, SPRAY, and YES.

“‘Please play with me’ …” Violet said.

“No, there’s no W, T or H,” Jessie said.

“‘Sale please’ …” Henry said.

“‘Please Queenie’ … ,” Benny said.

“Now what are you kids doing?” Carter asked in a gruff voice. He had a newspaper tucked under his arm.

“We’re trying to figure out why you would have taken all those letters off that sign,” Jessie announced.

“What are you talking about?” Carter asked.

Henry held up the fabric scrap for Carter to see. Up close, there was no doubt it matched Carter’s jacket perfectly.

Carter glanced around nervously. “Look, it’s not what you think,” he said in a low voice. “How about we go down to that coffee shop and I’ll explain everything.”

The children followed Carter down to the Java Café. Carter went to the counter and ordered everyone cookies and hot chocolate. Then they all took their treats to a large table in the back of the café.

“I have been taking letters off that sign,” Carter admitted. “But it’s not what you think. I’m planning on giving the letters back. When I’m finished with them.”

“What are you doing with them?” Henry asked.

Benny took a bite of his cookie and listened intently.

“You were on the right track when you were looking for a message in the missing letters,” Carter explained. “I’ve been trying to collect the right letters so I can spell out a message.”

“You want to spell out a message on the mall sign?” Jessie asked. “Why?”

Carter smiled. “If you knew what the message was, I think you’d understand.” He reached inside the inner pocket of his jacket, pulled out a stack of plastic letters and laid them all out on the table.

“What is the message supposed to say?” Benny asked.

“Let’s see if you can figure it out,” Carter said. “I’ve finally collected all the letters I need.”

The Aldens watched as Carter moved some of the letters around on the table. “These letters make up the first word,” Carter said as he separated out the letters L E P E A S.

Jessie moved the six letters around until she found the word. “The word is PLEASE,” she said.

“That’s right,” Carter said. He pulled five more letters out of the pile: R A R M Y.

Henry scratched his head. “The word isn’t army,” he said. “There would be an R left over.”

“That’s right,” Carter said, taking a sip of hot chocolate. “Keep looking. You’ll get it.”

Violet moved the M to the front of the word. She grinned. “I know what the word is. It’s MARRY!”

Carter nodded. “And you already know that Queenie’s first and last names are in here.” He pulled out the Q U E E N I E and P O L K and laid the letters out at the end of the table.

“That’s why you talked Queenie into changing the message on the sign that day,” Jessie said. “You needed those letters.”

“That’s right,” Carter said.

“That only leaves M and E,” Benny said, reaching for the last two letters. “That spells ME.” He inserted the word in its proper place.

The children read the message in full: PLEASE MARRY ME QUEENIE POLK.

“I’m planning to put that message up tonight after dark,” Carter explained. “That way Queenie will see it when she comes in in the morning. Would you kids like to help me put it up?”

“Oh, yes,” Violet said eagerly. The others agreed.

“Everyone was right about you kids,” Carter said. “You are good detectives. I’m just glad that it was you who figured out what I was doing instead of Queenie.”

“Well, don’t worry,” Jessie said. “We won’t tell her.”

“But there’s still something I don’t understand,” Benny said, his face wrinkled in confusion.

“What’s that?” Carter asked.

“If you’re the one who’s been messing up the sign, why would you rearrange the letters to say CARTER ROBBER?” Benny asked. “You’re not the safe robber, are you?”

Carter stiffened. “No, I’m not,” he said. “And I’m not the one who put that message there. I wish I knew who did.”

Jessie finished the last of her hot chocolate, then wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I wonder if it was the real robber?”

“There have been three robberies here and the police still don’t have any leads,” Carter said. “I don’t suppose you kids have any idea who the robber is?”

“We have an idea,” Henry said.

“Who?” Carter asked.

“Well,” Jessie said. “Raina had a key to the Java Café and to the Game Spot. And she knew the combinations to both safes. But she didn’t have a key to the jewelry store. And she was out of town when the Game Spot was robbed. So we don’t think she could have done it.”

“And George has a key to all three stores, but he said he didn’t know any of the combinations to the safes,” Violet explained. “Plus it wouldn’t make sense for him to steal from his own tenants. They’d go out of business and then his mall would sit empty.”

“Then there’s Tony Silver,” Benny said.

“The guy who installs the safes?” Carter asked.

“We don’t know for sure that he’s our robber,” Henry said. “But he knows the combinations to all the safes. And it’s possible he stole keys to each of the stores when he was in there.”

“Hmm,” Carter said, shifting in his seat. “Well, all these robberies have occurred during the night. Maybe when we’re here tonight, we can keep an eye on things and make sure there isn’t another robbery.”

“That’s exactly what we were thinking,” Jessie said. “We could take turns watching. If Grandfather drives the van over, we could bring sleeping bags and some of us could sleep in the back of the van while the others watched the store.”

“That’s a good idea,” Carter said. “If your grandfather doesn’t mind. I could park my car in the alley behind the store, and a couple of us could watch the back door from there. The rest of you could watch the front from your grandfather’s van.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Violet said. “He’d want us to catch the robber.”

“It’s all settled then,” Carter said. “I’ll meet you kids here at nine o’clock. First we’ll put up the message for Queenie. Then we’ll spend the rest of the night watching the drugstore.”

“And if we’re lucky, we’ll catch a robber,” Henry said.

That night, Grandfather drove the children over to the mall at eight forty-five.

“What an interesting way to propose to a woman,” Grandfather said.

“Isn’t it?” Jessie said. “Do you think Queenie will like it?”

“I think she will,” Grandfather said.

“Even more important, do you think she’ll say yes?” Violet asked.

“I think she will,” Grandfather said again. “She and Carter have been good friends for a long time.”

Grandfather parked right in front of the sign. It read: TRY A LATTE AT THE JAVA CAFÉ.

“Hmm. A latte sounds good,” Grandfather said. “I think I’ll try and get one before the Java Café closes. Would you kids like something, too?”

“We’ve got snacks,” Henry said, glancing at the small cooler that sat at his feet. The cooler was filled with bottles of spring water. A bag of apples sat next to the cooler.

“We’ll just wait here for Carter,” Jessie said.

There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot. The Game Spot, Lake’s Jewelry Store, and Bob’s Drugstore had all closed at eight o’clock. The Java Café was the only store at Crossroads Mall that was still open.

The children watched as Grandfather went into the coffee shop and came back out with a tall paper cup a few minutes later. Chip Douglas had followed Grandfather to the door. Grandfather said something to Chip, and Chip smiled. Then Grandfather left, and Chip locked the front door.