The Amazing Mystery Show

  Henry was holding a gold coin!

  “We won the first round!” Benny said for about the umpteenth time.

  “We still have two more rounds to go,” Henry reminded him. “Don’t get too excited yet.” The four children had gone for a swim later that evening. Now they were sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling their feet in the water.

  “I can’t believe somebody tampered with our map!” Violet couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Who would do such a thing?”

  Benny had an answer. “Fiona.”

  Jessie looked at her little brother. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because she wants to go to Hawaii,” Benny answered. “It’s her dream.”

  “That’s true,” said Violet. “And she won’t get there unless the Best kids become five-time champions.”

  Jessie nodded. “Fiona didn’t look happy when we showed her the gold coin.”

  “She said it was just beginner’s luck,” Benny added.

  “Fiona does have a motive,” Henry said after as moment’s thought. “But what about opportunity? I’m not sure she had a chance to tamper with the map.”

  “You’re forgetting something, Henry,” Jessie reminded him. “They got to the lobby before we did this morning.”

  “That’s true,” Henry said, backing down a little. “She could’ve switched the landmarks on the map while the twins were browsing in the gift shop.”

  Violet remembered something else. “Fiona made a point of handing out the maps,” she said. “Maybe she wanted to make sure we got the mixed-up one.”

  “It’s a pretty strong case against Fiona,” Henry admitted. “But she isn’t the only suspect.”

  The other Aldens looked over at him, puzzled.

  “I think we should include Andy on our list.”

  “Oh, Henry!” cried Violet. “You don’t really suspect Andy, do you?”

  “I don’t want to think he would do something like that, Violet,” Henry said. “But we have to consider everybody.”

  “And we heard him on the phone,” Benny said, lowering his voice.

  “What are you talking about, Benny?” Violet wanted to know.

  “I’m talking about when we were at the zoo.”

  Henry nodded. “He said something about making the switch.”

  Jessie didn’t like the sound of this. Neither did Violet.

  “Are you positive?” Jessie asked. She wanted to be sure.

  Benny gave the water a splash with his feet. “We heard it with our own ears.”

  “Now that you mention it,” Jessie said after a moment’s thought, “Andy suddenly stopped filming when we were peeling the stickers off the map. Did you notice?”

  Henry had thought nothing of it. Neither had Violet and Benny. But now they wondered about it, too.

  “I bet he didn’t want anyone to find out he’d tricked us,” guessed Benny.

  They had to admit it was possible. After all, the ratings had shot up since the Best kids had taken the nation by storm. And wouldn’t the show be cancelled if the ratings went down? Andy would lose his job if that happened.

  “You know,” said Jessie, “there’s somebody else we should consider.”

  “Who’s that, Jessie?” Violet asked.

  “Hilary.”

  “Hilary!” The others were so surprised, all they could do was stare at Jessie with their mouths open.

  “But, Jessie,” said Violet, “Hilary seems so nice.”

  “We all like her, Violet,” said Jessie. “But she’ll lose her job if the ratings go down.”

  “And she likes traveling to different cities,” Benny recalled.

  Violet didn’t look convinced. “That’s not much to go on.”

  “There’s something else,” said Jessie. “I overheard Hilary talking on the phone, too. She said she didn’t like sneaking around, but she didn’t have any choice.”

  “That does sound fishy,” Henry admitted. “I think we should keep a close eye on all of them for now—Fiona, Andy, and Hilary.”

  The other Aldens were quick to agree. There was definitely something funny going on!

  CHAPTER 5

  The Two-Parter

  The next morning, Hilary once again handed each team a thermos of lemonade, an envelope of money, and another small wooden box.

  “This mystery will be a two-parter,” she told them. “You’ll need your best detective skills with you today.”

  “Honestly, that’s a bit much!” Fiona suddenly snapped.

  Hilary look puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “You know very well what I mean!” Fiona shot back, getting more annoyed by the minute. “There’s never been a two-parter before. Never!”

  “Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Hilary said quietly.

  “But it’s not fair to these children,” Fiona said, gesturing toward her nieces and nephews. “It’s not fair at all!”

  That was the wrong thing to say. “The clues are the same for both teams,” Hilary said in a hard voice. “There’s no use rolling your eyes, Fiona. Everyone has an equal chance to …” Her voice trailed away as Fiona stormed out of the lobby.

  The Aldens looked at each other in amazement. Why did Fiona rush out like that?

  Hilary seemed caught off guard for a moment. But she recovered quickly. “You’ll find a riddle inside the box,” she went on, “that will lead to another riddle. If you figure out the answers to both, you’ll—”

  “Find the gold coin!” Benny blurted out. He sounded excited.

  “That’s right.” Hilary smiled at the youngest Alden. “And you’ll have until five o’clock to find it. So good luck to everyone!”

  “Can you believe that?” Jessie said, as they headed outside. “Fiona just turned her back on Hilary and walked away.”

  “I guess she’s worried,” said Violet. “Maybe she thinks a two-parter will be too hard to solve.”

  “That doesn’t excuse her for being rude to Hilary,” Jessie insisted, as they sat down together on an empty bench.

  Henry, Violet, and Benny waited expectantly as Jessie lifted the lid of the wooden box and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

  “Read it, Jessie!” cried Benny. The youngest Alden couldn’t stand to be kept in suspense.

  With Andy’s camera rolling, Jessie unfolded the note and read the riddle aloud.

  “Up a ladder,

  down a pole,

  look for an arrow

  high and low.”

  “An arrow?” Benny’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s weird.”

  They were all lost in thought for a moment. Finally, Violet spoke up.

  “Something just popped into my head,” she said. “Do you think ‘ladder’ and ‘pole’ could be the names of streets?”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” said Henry, although he didn’t sound convinced. “We can check it out.”

  Jessie shook her head as Henry fished around for the map in the backpack. “Let’s buy a new map,” she suggested. “I don’t trust that one anymore.”

  “Good idea,” said Henry.

  Violet pointed to the sign just behind them. “Why don’t we try that store? It sells everything under the sun,” she said. “At least, that’s what the sign in the window says.”

  Benny was on his feet in a flash. “They’ll sell maps for sure!”

  As the children headed for the store, a woman with red hair suddenly dashed out the door. She almost knocked Benny over.

  “Honestly!” she snapped.

  “Are you okay, Benny?” Jessie asked as the woman hurried away.

  “That lady wasn’t very nice,” Benny said in a small voice.

  “No, she wasn’t, Benny.” Jessie put a comforting arm around him. “She didn’t even say she was sorry.”

  “It’s the weirdest thing,” Violet said as they went inside the store. “For a second, I thought …”

  “Thought what?” Jessie asked.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.” Vio
let laughed a little. “I’m probably just imagining things.”

  “Wow!” cried Benny, glancing around at all the souvenirs lining the shelves. “They really do sell everything under the sun.” There was everything from Betsy Ross dolls to Philadelphia ball caps. Violet even spotted a rack of postcards.

  “Let’s buy one for Mrs. McGregor,” she suggested.

  Jessie was quick to agree. “That’s a great idea.”

  While Violet and Jessie browsed through the postcards, Henry checked out the street maps, and Benny wandered around the store.

  “They have so many,” said Violet. “It’s hard to choose.”

  Jessie held up a postcard of Independence Hall. “How about this one?” she asked. “It’s the building where they signed the Declaration of Independence.”

  Violet didn’t answer. She was staring at another postcard.

  “Violet?”

  Violet suddenly snapped out of it. “Sorry, Jessie,” she said. “Take a look at this postcard of the Fireman’s Museum!” She sounded excited.

  Jessie glanced from Violet to the card and back again. “Do you think Mrs. McGregor will like that one best?”

  “I think well like this one best!” she said mysteriously. Stepping up to the counter beside Henry, she quickly added the postcard to his purchase.

  “This store even has old-fashioned costumes!” Benny said as he joined them. “And all kinds of wigs.”

  “I wish we had more time to look around,” Jessie said, smiling at her little brother.

  “Do we have enough money to buy a souvenir?” Benny asked. He was pointing to the gold coins behind a glass case.

  Henry glanced over. “Sorry, Benny,” he said. “We really can’t afford Betsy Ross coins. We might need our money for transportation and lunch.”

  “Oh, right.” The youngest Alden let out a sigh.

  “Never mind, Benny,” Violet said, as they stepped outside. “I have something exciting to tell you.”

  “What’s going on, Violet?” Jessie asked.

  Violet answered by holding up the postcard. “It’s the Fireman’s Museum!” she cried, her eyes sparkling.

  Jessie looked puzzled. So did Henry and Benny.

  “What’s going on, Violet?” asked Henry. He could tell by the look on his sister’s face that something was up.

  “Don’t you get it?” Violet asked. Then she recited the latest riddle from memory. “Up a ladder, down a pole, look for an arrow high and low.”

  Jessie’s face lit up. “Firemen climb up ladders and slide down poles!” She gave her sister a high-five. So did Henry and Benny.

  “Violet, you’re a genius!” said Henry.

  “Not really,” Violet said modestly. Andy gestured to her and she held the postcard up to the camera. “When I spotted the postcard, it just popped into my head.”

  “We’ll find that arrow in no time,” said Benny. He rubbed his hands together with excitement.

  “Good news,” said Henry, who was already checking out the new map. “Looks like the museum’s right here in the historic district.”

  With that, the Aldens set off with Andy. After a few blocks, Henry couldn’t help noticing that Jessie kept looking over her shoulder. He could see that something was troubling her.

  “What is it, Jessie?” he asked her.

  “I’m not sure,” Jessie answered. “I just have the strangest feeling somebody’s following us.”

  “Somebody is following us,” Henry pointed out. “Look!”

  Jessie glanced back at Andy. His camera was propped up on one shoulder as he filmed from a short distance away. “Yes, I’m sure that’s all it is,” she said, smiling a little. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling there was somebody else was following them, too.

  It wasn’t long before they arrived at the Fireman’s Museum—a three-story brick building with arched doorways for the fire engines to go in and out. While Andy waited in the sunshine, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny hurried inside.

  They found the museum filled with all kinds of old-fashioned fire equipment—everything from horse-drawn fire engines to antique axes. There was even a brass pole that went all the way from the first floor to the third floor. But they didn’t have any luck finding an arrow.

  Henry gave Andy the thumbs-down when they stepped outside again.

  “I was so sure we were on the right track,” said Violet. She let out a sigh as she sat down on a nearby bench.

  Jessie poured lemonade into Benny’s cracked pink cup. “It was a good try.”

  “But if we can’t figure out the first riddle,” said Benny, “how can we find the second one?”

  Violet sighed again. “That’s a good question.”

  “I just wish we—” Henry suddenly stopped talking in mid-sentence. His mouth dropped open.

  Violet turned to her older brother. “What is it, Henry?”

  “This is a one-way street!”

  “What’s wrong with that, Henry?” Benny wondered.

  Henry pointed to a street sign beside the Fireman’s Museum. It was an arrow pointing one way!

  The four children raced over to the pole with its one-way arrow on top. Andy was right behind them, his camera propped on one shoulder. Benny was the first to notice the message printed in yellow chalk on the pavement.

  “What does it say?” he wanted to know. The youngest Alden was just learning to read.

  Henry read the words printed around the pole.

  “It makes no sound

  but its words ring true;

  crack this case

  and win round two.”

  “I wonder what it means,” Benny said.

  “And where it’s leading,” added Jessie, tugging a small notebook and pencil from her back pocket.

  While Jessie made a copy of the riddle, the others looked at each other, baffled. Even Andy walked back to the bench, scratching his head. Finally, Violet spoke up.

  “One thing’s for sure,” she said, “this’ll be a tough riddle to figure out.”

  “It’s a real mystery,” said Henry. “No doubt about it!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Quack, Quack!

  The four children were still racking their brains when they stopped later in Franklin Square. They were sitting cross-legged on a shady patch of lawn.

  “If something doesn’t make a sound,” said Benny, “how can it have words?”

  “Books have words,” Violet pointed out, as Jessie passed around the hamburgers.

  “And they don’t make a sound,” added Henry.

  Andy held up a hand as he unwrapped his burger. “I thought you kids were taking a break from the mystery over lunch,” he reminded them. “If you keep this up, I’ll have to start filming again.”

  “You’re right,” Henry said, handing everyone a napkin. “A break just might clear our heads. Don’t you think so, Jessie?”

  Jessie nodded, but she was only half-listening. Her forehead wrinkled into a frown as she searched through the backpack. “It must be here somewhere,” she said under her breath. As she held the backpack upside down and gave it a shake, maps and brochures tumbled out onto the grass.

  “Something missing, Jessie?” Violet wondered.

  “It’s gone!” A look of concern crossed Jessie’s face. “I don’t understand it.”

  “What’s gone, Jessie?” Benny wanted to know.

  After a long pause, Jessie answered, “I’m afraid it’s your cracked pink cup, Benny.”

  “What …!” The youngest Alden almost choked on his pickle.

  “It couldn’t just—disappear!” said Violet.

  Benny had an opinion about this. “I bet somebody stole it.”

  “I doubt that, Benny,” said Henry. “Who would anyone steal a cracked pink cup?”

  “A thief!” said Benny. “That’s who.”

  “We shouldn’t suspect people,” Violet said quietly, “unless we’re certain it was actually stolen.”

  Henry had been thinking. “
I have a hunch we left your cup back at the Fireman’s Museum,” he told Benny.

  The youngest Alden brightened. “You really think so?”

  Violet agreed. “Jessie poured you some lemonade,” she recalled, “when you were sitting on that bench.”

  “We’ll go back after lunch and check it out,” Henry promised.

  But Jessie wasn’t so sure. She couldn’t remember seeing Benny’s cup on the bench. At least, not after they went to look at the one-way sign.

  Still, as soon as they finished eating, the little group went back to the Fireman’s Museum. But Jessie was right. Benny’s cracked pink cup wasn’t on the bench. It wasn’t in the trash can. And it wasn’t in the museum’s lost-and-found.

  “It’s gone,” said Benny. He slumped down on the bench, his chin in his hands. He looked crushed.

  Violet could feel her little brother’s disappointment. “Don’t worry, Benny,” she said, sitting down beside him. “We’ll check in the lost-and-found again tomorrow.”

  As they headed back along the street, Jessie was trying to think of something cheery to say, but Henry spoke first.

  “Guess what the detective duck said to his partner?” he asked.

  “What?” Benny gave his brother a half-hearted smile.

  “I hope we quack this case!” Henry said, making them all laugh.

  They laughed even harder when Benny added, “I hope we find my quacked pink cup!”

  This got Jessie thinking. She tugged her notebook from her pocket and read the riddle aloud again. “It makes no sound but its words ring true; crack this case and win round two.”

  “The first part is the trickiest,” Violet noted.

  “That’s true,” Jessie agreed. “But I think there’s a clue in the last two lines. Henry’s joke gave me an idea.”

  “What are you getting at, Jessie?” Henry wondered.

  “Benny’s cup isn’t the only thing in Philadelphia that’s cracked.”

  Henry suddenly caught his sister’s meaning. “The Liberty Bell!”