Great Detective Race (5 page)

“No, we’re not,” Jessie agreed. “And if the hopscotch clue was a fake, then we’re back to figuring out what the alphabet letters mean.”

Benny scratched his head. “I’m not sure I remember the letters,” he said. “Oh, yes, I do!” He began to tick each one off on his fingers. “H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O.”

“What could it mean?” Jessie wondered.

Nobody had an answer.

“Ice cream would sure hit the spot right now!” Benny called out, as the Aldens wheeled back into Greenfield.

“Sounds good to me,” Henry was quick to agree. Jessie and Violet nodded.

When they stopped outside the Greenfield Ice Cream Parlor, Violet decided to take another picture. Henry, Jessie, and Benny smiled into the camera while she snapped a photo, then they went inside.

“This was a great idea, Benny,” Jessie said, as they claimed an empty table by the window.

It only took them a few minutes to decide on what they wanted. Their order included a hot-fudge sundae for Henry, a waffle cone with two scoops of chocolate-mint ice cream for Jessie, a strawberry milkshake for Violet, and a banana split for Benny.

“And four glasses of water, please,” Jessie added.

“Four glasses of H
₂
0 coming right up!” The waitress gave them a cheery smile, then hurried away.

Jessie stared after her in amazement. Then she turned to the others, her eyes wide. “Did you hear that?”

Benny crinkled his brow. “What’s H
₂
O?”

“That’s what scientists call water,” Henry explained, in an excited whisper.

“Oh,” said Benny, still not sure what all the fuss was about.

Jessie smiled over at her little brother and sister. “What were the letters in the clue?”

“H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O,” said Violet. Then she suddenly gasped. “H to O!”

Henry grinned. “I think we just found the missing piece of the puzzle.”

“I don’t get it,” said Benny, pulling a leaf from his hair.

“The puzzle showed the letters H to O,” Jessie explained. “And H
₂
0 is another name for water.”

“And if we put ‘water’ and ‘slide’ together,” put in Henry, “we get—”

“Waterslide!” the others cried out in unison.

Jessie nodded. “Maybe the clue’s pointing us to the Greenfield Waterslides.”

“That’s a fun place to look for a clue!” Benny exclaimed after gulping down his water.

“So was the bowling alley,” agreed Violet.

“And the ice cream truck,” said Jessie. “Debra said she wanted the race to appeal to kids.”

“Well, it does,” said Benny. “Right, Henry?”

Before Henry had a chance to speak, a familiar voice caught their attention. They looked over to see Debra Belmont sitting at a table nearby. She was sipping an ice-cream soda through a straw and talking on a cell phone.

“I’m telling you, I have no choice but to fix it,” Debra was saying into the phone. “What else can I do?”

Violet frowned. “I wonder why she sounds so upset?”

“I know, I know!” Debra was nodding her head. “If there’s a leak, I’ll have to walk.”

Jessie’s gaze jumped to Henry’s. Neither of them liked what they were hearing.

Just then, Debra pocketed her cell phone, pushed back her chair, and walked out of the ice-cream parlor.

“That was odd,” Henry said, as the door closed behind her. “I wonder if Debra was talking about the race.”

“It sure sounded like it,” said Jessie. “Do you think she’s planning to fix it?”

“Fix the race?” Benny scrunched up his face. “Is it broken?”

“Fixing a race means something else, Benny,” Henry said. “It means making sure a certain person wins.”

“In this case, somebody between the ages of twenty and fifty,” Jessie added. “The age of Mike Devlin’s radio listeners.”

“But what did she mean about a leak?” Benny wondered.

“I’m not sure,” said Jessie. “I guess if word leaks out about the race being fixed, Debra would be forced to walk out on her job.”

“Oh, Jessie!” cried Violet. “You don’t really think she’d fix the race, do you?”

“It does sound suspicious, Violet,” said Jessie.

But Violet wasn’t convinced. “We can’t be sure that Debra was talking about the race.” Violet didn’t like to think Debra would do something so dishonest.

“I suppose you’re right,” Jessie said, backing down a little. Violet had a point. It was one thing to suspect somebody. It was another thing to have proof.

As their ice cream arrived, the Aldens ate in silence. They were each thinking the same thing. Nothing was going to stop them from winning the Great Detective Race!

“Did you see how fast I went down that last one?” Benny asked the next afternoon. The Aldens were sitting on the edge of the pool, taking a breather from the waterslides.

Jessie grinned. “I think you broke all the records, Benny,” she said, as she rubbed sunscreen on her shoulders.

Violet looked over at her little brother. “I got a good shot of you coming down, Benny.”

Benny beamed. “Cool!”

“I wonder where the next clue could be,” Henry said thoughtfully. He was craning his neck as he glanced around.

Jessie slapped a hand against her forehead. “I almost forgot why we came.”

Benny noticed a lifeguard wearing a WGFD baseball cap standing nearby. On the spur of the moment, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “We listen to the Big G!”

The lifeguard jerked his head around in surprise. He was all smiles as he walked over. “Are you sure about that, young man?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye.

Benny paused. “We do listen to it sometimes,” he replied. “But just not all the time.”

The lifeguard laughed. “At least you’re honest.” He reached into the backpack slung over his shoulder and pulled out an envelope. “I haven’t given away too many of these yet.” He held the envelope out to Benny. “Good luck!”

“Wow!” Henry shook his head in disbelief. “How easy was that?”

“It was a nice change, that’s for sure,” said Jessie, as Benny pulled the next clue from the envelope.

Violet unfolded the sheet of paper Benny handed her. Then she read the words aloud:

Through a looking glass

all will be shown;

the code word you’re seeking

is made out of stone.

“It’s the last clue!” Jessie said.

“Got to be,” said Henry. “It leads to the code word.”

Violet couldn’t help noticing that her little brother was unusually quiet. She could tell something was troubling him. “Is anything wrong, Benny?”

“The lifeguard said he gave away some of these clues already,” Benny answered. “Somebody might beat us to the code word.”

“The lifeguard said he hasn’t given away too many,” Henry said. “We still have a chance.”

At that, Jessie read the riddle aloud a second time. After some thought, she said, “If the answer is made out of stone, maybe we should be looking for a statue.”

Henry nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Wait!” Violet snapped her fingers. “How about the Minuteman statue in the town square?”

“That’s a good guess, Violet,” Henry told her. “But the Minuteman statue is bronze—not stone.”

“You’re right, Henry.” Violet nodded. “I forgot about that.”

“What does it mean about a looking glass?” Benny wondered.

“A looking glass is an old-fashioned word for a mirror,” Jessie told him.

“Oh, I get it,” said Benny. “Because you look at yourself in it, right?”

“You catch on fast,” said Henry.

“I read a book about a girl who steps through a looking glass,” Violet said thoughtfully. “She suddenly finds herself in a different world.”

Jessie nodded.
“Alice Through the Looking Glass,”
she recalled. “It’s about the same girl from
Alice in Wonderland.”

Nobody said anything for a while. They were each lost in thought about the riddle.

“I was just wondering,” Violet said at breakfast the next morning, “do you think we should check out the House of Mirrors?”

“That store in the mall?” Henry paused as he cut his pancake with the side of his fork. “Seems a bit far-fetched, don’t you think?”

“It might be worth a shot,” Jessie said. She passed the platter of bacon to Henry. “Don’t you think?”

“I suppose you’re right.” Henry nodded. “The riddle
did
mention a looking glass.”

Benny nodded as he polished off his orange juice. “And that’s a kind of mirror.”

“Right, but … don’t forget the last part of the riddle,” Henry reminded them. “The code word is made out of stone.”

The Aldens left the kitchen spic-and-span, then headed for the mall. After dropping Violet’s film off at the one-hour photo shop, they made their way to the House of Mirrors.

Each mirror was different from the next. Some were tinted, some were plain. Some were star-shaped, some were half-moons. Some were full-length, some hung from chains. The four children peered long and hard at each and every one. But after trying the magic words on the salesclerk, they finally turned to each other in dismay.

“That didn’t exactly pan out, did it?” Violet said, as they left the store.

“Never mind,” said Henry. “We have to consider every possibility.”

As they walked through the mall, Benny began to recite the riddle aloud in a sing-songy voice.
“Through a looking glass/ all will
b
e shown;/ the code word you’re seeking/ is made out of stone.”

“I’m not sure what to make of it,” Jessie said. “Any ideas, Henry?”

But Henry wasn’t listening. He was looking over at a man in a business suit who was sitting on a bench. “Isn’t that Chopper Dan?” he asked.

The others followed their brother’s gaze. A tall man with curly hair was talking to a boy about Henry’s age. The boy had a WGFD baseball cap on backwards—and he didn’t look very happy.

Jessie nodded. “I think you’re right, Henry.” She recognized the curly-haired man from the WGFD posters.

Benny’s eyes widened. “And that’s the boy who signed up for the race,” he realized. “The one on the skateboard.”

Just then, Chopper Dan got to his feet and walked away. When he was gone, the boy slouched down on the bench, his arms folded.

“I wonder what that was about,” said Violet.

Henry shrugged. “There’s no way of knowing.”

As if feeling their eyes on him, the boy suddenly looked over. When Benny waved, the boy waved back.

“Come on,” said Jessie. “Let’s go over and say hello.”

As the Aldens headed his way, the boy sat up a bit straighten

“Hi!” Henry greeted him with a friendly smile. “You signed up for the race, right?” The boy nodded. “We signed up for it, too. I’m Henry. And these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet. And that’s my brother, Benny.”

“I’m Chris Beamer.” The boy shook hands with Henry. Then he shook hands with everyone else.

“Are you having any luck?” Violet asked him shyly. “With the race, I mean.”

“Not really,” he said with a shrug. “How about you?”

“Well, it’s not easy,” Jessie replied. “But we’re hanging in.”

Chris heaved a sigh. “Well, at least
somebody
still has a chance for a helicopter ride.”

There was something in the way Chris said
somebody
that alerted Jessie. “But you still have a chance, too,” she said. “Right?”

“Not anymore.”

Benny’s face fell. “You mean—somebody won?”

“What?” Chris looked over at Benny. “No, what I meant was, I’m out.”

The Aldens looked at each other in surprise. “You gave up?” Benny asked him.

“Not exactly,” said Chris. “I just found out I’m not allowed to be in the race.”

“Oh, kids are allowed to enter the race,” Jessie argued. “I’m sure of it.”

Chris shook his head. “Not if somebody in the family works at the station,” he pointed out. “Somebody like Chopper Dan.”

“Somebody like Chopper Dan?” Benny repeated, not understanding.

“Don’t you get it?” said Chris. “I’m Dan Beamer’s son.”

“Chopper Dan”—Benny paused—“is your father?”

“Yup,” Chris answered with a frown. “I signed up so I could get a ride in the WGFD helicopter. But my dad just told me it was against the rules. For family members to enter the race, I mean.”

“That’s too bad,” Violet said in her soft voice. “But I’m sure your dad will take you for a ride another time.”

“He’s not allowed to take anyone up with him,” Chris informed them. “The only person who can ride with him is the winner of the race.”

“Wow,” said Henry. “That’s a tough break.”

Chris shrugged, then got up and walked away.

“Poor Chris!” said Violet. “I wish we could do something.”

“Me, too,” Henry said. “But I’m afraid we can’t change the radio station’s rules.”

After picking up Violet’s snapshots, the children were on their way out of the mall when they almost bumped into Debra Belmont. The young woman was carrying a large cardboard box.

“Hi, kids!” she said, laughing a little. “I should watch where I’m going.”

“Do you need some help with that?” Henry asked, nodding towards the box.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Debra looked surprised—and pleased. “It isn’t very heavy, but it is rather awkward.”

Henry didn’t mind at all. “Are you on your way to the WGFD booth?” he asked, taking the box from her.

Debra nodded. “We ran out of ball caps,” she explained as they headed back through the mall. “I had to dash over to the station to get some more. It’s a long walk.”

Jessie gave her a questioning look. “You walked all the way across town?”

“Yes, my car’s at the garage,” Debra explained. “It was leaking oil, so I had to get it fixed.”

The Aldens exchanged glances. That must’ve been the phone conversation they’d overheard. Debra had been talking about fixing her car—not the race! Violet smiled a little. She knew Debra could never do anything dishonest.

After helping Debra with the box, the Aldens found an empty bench by the fountain. They sat down to look through Violet’s photos.