Great Turkey Heist (7 page)

Jessie was surprised. “No. I do not.”

Ms. Matthews started to walk away. She turned back to Jessie. “I do think a food pantry would be a good idea for our town. And I would like to be wrong about Mr. Grayson. But I don’t think that I am.”

Noreen handed a drink across the counter to a customer. Then she hurried over to Jessie. “What was that all about?” she asked. “Ms. Matthews is always so angry.”

“She does not believe that there is really going to be a food pantry,” Jessie said. “But she was not angry.”

Noreen untied the apron that she had been wearing. “Is it okay if I leave?” she asked. “I need to go get ready.”

“Get ready?” asked Jessie.

“I mean . . . get ready . . . get ready for the movie, of course!” Noreen handed the apron to Jessie.

“Oh yes,” Jessie said. “I hope you enjoy the movie.”

All the customers had filed into the theater. The lobby became quiet. Benny dramatically slid to the floor.

“Are you okay?” asked Jessie.

“That was hard work!” Benny said, hopping back to his feet. “I’m tired. But selling snacks is almost as fun as eating them.”

Mr. Tipton, Henry, and Violet joined Jessie and Benny at the snack stand.

“Thank you for all your help,” Mr. Tipton said. “This night is a big success because of you.”

“It was fun!” Benny said. “I had never worked at a snack stand before.”

“We collected so many donations,” Henry said. “You should see Mr. Tipton’s office. It is piled high with canned goods and cereal boxes. All of the customers were very generous.”

Jessie showed them the donation jar on the counter. It was filled with coins and dollar bills. “People even made donations at the snack counter,” Jessie said. “Mr. Grayson will be very pleased. Where is he?”

“He said he would watch over the donations in my office,” Mr. Tipton said. “We are trying to be very careful tonight.”

Just then Ms. Sweeney, the reporter from the newspaper, walked up to the snack counter. “Congratulations, kids!” she said. “You have done a great job here. This movie theater is packed with people.”

“Your article was very helpful,” Henry said. “Thank you for printing it on the front page.”

Ms. Sweeney smiled. “Just doing my job,” she said. “I would like to write another article about this movie donation night,” she said. “Can I interview you, Mr. Tipton?”

Mr. Tipton looked proud. “Of course,” he said. “But I could not have done it without the Aldens. Let me show you my office. You will see how many donations we received tonight.”

Everyone walked back toward Mr. Tipton’s office. When they opened the door, they were shocked! All the stacks of donations that Henry had piled so neatly were knocked to the floor. The room was a mess.

Ms. Sweeney took out her camera. She took many pictures. “Who could have done this?” she asked.

The children and Mr. Tipton looked at one another. “We don’t know,” Mr. Tipton said.

“Do you think any of the food was stolen?” asked the reporter.

Mr. Tipton looked around the room. “I don’t think so. But there was a donation jar on my desk and it is not there anymore. It was filled with money. Many people put dollars in it as they came into the theater. Someone has stolen it.”

The reporter quickly scribbled notes in her notebook. Then she left. The children helped Mr. Tipton straighten up his office. He sat behind his desk.

“I am going to stay here,” he said. “You children go enjoy the movie now. You deserve it.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny found seats at the very back of the theater. It seemed like an exciting movie. Something scary was hidden under the stairs. The actress walked carefully down the creaking stairs. Spiderwebs hung in front of her face. She carried a candle. Noises came from under the stairs.

Suddenly, Benny cried out. Jessie turned to him. “It’s just a movie,” she whispered. “Don’t be scared.”

“No,” Benny said. “It’s not just a movie! Look there!”

A loud gasp went up from the theater. Everyone saw it. It was Tom the turkey! He moved across the front of the movie screen.

“Hey!” someone called. “What’s that giant turkey doing? Get that out of here! We want to see the movie.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny jumped from their seats and raced to the front of the theater. But whoever had the turkey moved faster. Henry jumped up on the stage and ran to the edge of the screen. A door on the side opened and shut. Henry grabbed the doorknob, but the door was stuck. Someone was holding it from the other side! He could not get it open.

“Quick!” he said to his brother and sisters. “Let’s go out the front door.”

The Aldens ran through the lobby. They went outside and raced to the side of the theater. But no one was there.

“This is why I could not get the door open,” Henry said. A chair was pushed up against the door. It was a wooden chair with green leaves painted on the sides.

“That chair looks familiar,” Violet said.

“Violet is right. I have seen that chair somewhere, also,” Jessie said. “But we should probably get back inside. The movie will be over soon, and we should help Mr. Tipton clean up.”

After all the customers had left the theater, Mr. Tipton and the children walked to the screen. All the lights were on. They checked the stage and the screen. There was no damage. Most customers had thrown away their trash, but a few did not. The children picked up a few candy wrappers and popcorn boxes. Henry and Jessie swept the rows, and Mr. Tipton vacuumed the aisles. Soon, the theater was clean and ready for its next movie.

Everyone turned sharply when they heard the door open. But it was just Mr. Grayson. He seemed very happy. “We got so many wonderful donations!” he said. “My thanks to all of you.”

“Yes,” Mr. Tipton said, “but someone stole one of our donation jars. We could have had much more money for the food pantry.”

“Oh well. I wouldn’t worry about that. We’ll get more. There will be another story in the paper tomorrow. People will want to read about the theft and about the giant turkey waddling across the movie screen,” Mr. Grayson said. “C’mon kids, I will give you a ride home.”

On the way to Grandfather’s house, Mr. Grayson talked excitedly about the food pantry. He asked the children if they would help set up the donations on the shelves.

“Of course we will help,” Jessie said.

“And I have more good news,” Mr. Grayson said. “Some of the players from the Greenfield High football team want to help, also. At tomorrow’s division championship game against Westtown High, everyone must bring a donation to get a ticket.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jessie said.

“The football stadium is very large,” Henry said. “And this is a big game for our team. If Greenfield High wins, they win the championship. There will be a lot of donations.”

“Exactly!” Mr. Grayson said. “I think that several exciting things will happen tomorrow!” He winked at the children and dropped them by the front porch of Grandfather’s house.

After dinner, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat around the fire in the living room.

Mrs. McGregor carried in a pitcher of warm apple cider and a plate of pumpkin bread fresh from the oven. “You children have had a long day,” she said. “I thought you could use a snack before bed.”

“Thank you, Mrs. McGregor,” Henry said. “We would love a snack.”

“Especially me!” Benny said, jumping to his feet.

“That is why I am cutting you an especially big piece of pumpkin bread!” Mrs. McGregor said. “I heard your stomach growling all the way from the kitchen.”

Benny put his hand on his stomach. “It does that when I’m hungry,” he said. “I can’t help it.”

“I know,” Mrs. McGregor said. “And I am glad that I know how to make it quiet!” She handed Benny his plate and a fork.

The other children were hungry, as well, and took big slices of pumpkin bread. Benny lay on his stomach on the floor while he ate.

“Mr. Grayson sure seemed happy tonight,” Benny said.

“He was happy,” Violet said. “He was not even upset that the money in the donation jar was stolen.”

“That’s true,” Henry said. “He wasn’t surprised, either. When Mr. Tipton told him about the theft, he acted as if he already knew about it.”

“And wasn’t Mr. Grayson supposed to be watching Mr. Tipton’s office?” Violet said.

“Yes,” Henry said. “Mr. Tipton was nervous that something would happen. He said that Mr. Grayson was watching the office for him.”

“Maybe he liked the movie too much and he forgot,” Benny said.

“I don’t remember seeing Mr. Grayson when the movie was over,” Violet said. “He was missing for a while. He came back when the theater was cleaned up.”

“It’s a big movie theater,” Henry said. “Mr. Grayson could have been somewhere else.”

Jessie was writing a lot in her notebook. She told her sister and brothers about the conversation she had with Ms. Matthews at the snack stand.

“So Ms. Matthews was not angry about the food pantry idea?” asked Violet.

“No,” Jessie replied. “She likes the food pantry idea. She just does not like Mr. Grayson. She insists that Mr. Grayson is sneaky. She said that she saw Mr. Grayson sneaking around behind Higgins’s Grocery Store. She saw him carrying a very large package wrapped in plastic.”

“So Ms. Matthews still believes that Mr. Grayson is not really going to open the food pantry?” asked Henry.

“That’s right, Henry,” Jessie said.

“Do you think Ms. Matthews could be right?” asked Violet. “Do you think we did all that work for nothing?”

Jessie stared into the fire. “Mr. Grayson seems very sincere about the food pantry. But I have to admit that something is not right. Where did Mr. Grayson go during the movie? Why didn’t he watch the donations in the office? Why was he not upset that the money was stolen?”

“We should not forget that Ms. Matthews was at the theater, as well,” Henry said. “She could have gone into the office and stolen the donations.”

“I forgot to tell you!” Violet said. “Mr. Higgins was at the movie, too.”

“That’s right!” Henry said. “I saw him, also. He put a very large donation into the bin.”

“That’s odd,” Jessie said. “Mr. Higgins hates the idea of a food pantry. Why would he make a large donation?”

“By making the donation, he got into the theater,” Violet said. “If he was there, we must include him as a suspect. He could have gone into the office and stolen the money, too.”

Benny jumped up from the floor. “And where is Tom the turkey? Why did he come to the movie and then run away? You should write those questions in your notebook, Jessie.”

“I will, Benny,” Jessie said. “Those are very good questions. Why would someone go to the trouble of stealing Violet’s turkey sign and then show up at the movie with it?”

“It could be just a prank,” Violet said.

“I think someone planned the whole thing,” Henry said. “The turkey thief knew where the door was so that he or she could make a quick escape. Also, there was the chair that was jammed against the door.”

“Do you think something will happen at the football game tomorrow?” Benny asked, yawning.

“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “But we will be on the lookout.”

The next morning, the children ate a quick breakfast. Henry read them the story from the newspaper. There was a picture of Mr. Tipton’s office with all the boxes and cans spilled on the floor. The story told about the stolen donation jar. And it continued the story of the mystery of the missing turkey sign. At the end of the story, the reporter asked, “Where will the giant turkey show up next?”

When they arrived at the high school, the children had a plan. There was only one gate for fans to come into the stadium. The children would stand at the gate and watch all the donation bins. When they got full, Henry and Violet would take the bins back to a storage spot right behind the football players’ bench. Coach Stanton had lent them some pushcarts to use. The players and the fans could see the donated goods. Nobody could steal them without being seen.

Henry was right. It was a very crowded game. It seemed as if all of Greenfield had come to watch the football team win the division championship. Even Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor had come to the game. Mr. Carroll from the hardware store, Colette from the office supply store, and Mr. Tipton were at the game. Ms. Sweeney, the reporter from the
Greenfield Times
, came and brought a photographer with her, as well. She asked the children if there was any sign of Tom the turkey. She said her readers were following the story closely. She said a lot of people were buying the newspaper to find out what had happened to the turkey.

Henry and Violet were very busy pushing the carts back and forth between the gate and the players’ bench. Jessie and Benny collected the donations and gave out the tickets.

Jessie was surprised to see Ms. Matthews. She carried a bag full of canned goods. She placed it in the bin.

“Thank you for the donation,” Jessie said.

Ms. Matthews smiled at her. “I’m still hoping that I am wrong,” she said. Ten minutes later, Mr. Higgins came to the gate. He also had a very large bag full of donated goods.