The Mystery of the Traveling Tomatoes

  “Thank you, Mr. Hamu,” said Jessie. “We’ll talk to him.” She and the other Aldens hoped they could find out who had been making trouble in their garden.

  The children biked up to the small house. They saw Mr. Dunkard working at a picnic table in his front yard. He sorted through a pile of metal objects. Jewelry went in one green cloth bag and coins in another. When he saw the children, his eyes bugged out. “What do you want?”

  “Why did you dump out our black gold?” Benny demanded.

  The man snorted. “You mean that heap of wormy dirt?”

  Benny jutted out his chin. “Worm poop is black gold.”

  “Worm poop!” Mr. Dunkard made a face. “Yuck!”

  “Why did you dump it?” Benny asked again.

  “I heard you talking in the Café about ‘black gold.’ I thought you meant real gold. You said it was in garbage cans,” the man answered.

  “The cans were on The Applewood Café property,” said Jessie. “At least you could have cleaned up the mess you made.”

  “I heard someone coming,” said the man, “so I left. Big deal.”

  “Why did you dig up Benny’s tomato plants?” asked Violet. “And his peppers and his onions?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mr. Dunkard said “I didn’t dig up anything. I may have snooped around in some cans, but I don’t dig in other people’s yards.”

  “Hey look!” Benny said. He picked up one of the green cloth bags on the table. “This is the same kind of bag we used to make Spooky’s head!”

  Mr. Dunkard yanked the bags back. “These are mine. I found them in the alley behind The Applewood Café. They were in the alley garbage can, not on Applewood property. Finders keepers.”

  “May I see them?” asked Henry.

  “No. You can get out of my yard, is what you can do.” The man with went back to sorting through the treasures he had found. “Worm poop,” he muttered. “Who calls worms ‘black gold?’ Kids. Bah.”

  As the Aldens got back on their bikes, they were all thinking the same thing. If Mr. Dunkard didn’t dig up the “traveling tomatoes,” then who did?

  CHAPTER 9

  Hot, Hotter, Hottest

  The children stopped back at the police station on their way home.

  “The detective brought back the metal panels from Duffy’s Garage,” the chief said. “Those will make great evidence once we dust them for fingerprints. No word yet from the other detective about the van. I promise I’ll call as soon as I hear.”

  None of the children liked waiting. It was always more fun to be doing something than doing nothing. But as they walked outside, they couldn’t think of what to do next.

  “Well,” said Violet, “we did solve two mysteries. We know it was Cesar who propped up our sunflowers and cleared the poison ivy out of the alley. And we also know that Mr. Dunkard dumped our compost cans searching for ‘black gold.’”

  Henry laughed. “I wish I could have seen his face when all he found was garbage and a million worms. But someone else dug around our garden, and we don’t know why. We need to think harder.”

  “I want to keep trying to find the bank robber,” said Jessie. She sat on the police department steps. “But I’m out of ideas.”

  “Me, too,” said Violet, joining her.

  “Me, three,” said Benny, plopping down between them.

  But Henry was not ready to give up. “Look, we’ve learned important things. We know the thief hid his van in Duffy’s Garage while he made it into an armored car. Then we found the van. We just don’t know who the thief is.”

  Jessie twirled a lock of her hair. She thought about the van in the scrap yard. She twirled and twirled her … hair! “Wigs!” she cried, jumping up. “The thief wore wigs!”

  “So?” said Benny.

  But Jessie was already running down the block. “And he wore a uniform,” she called to the others. “He wore wigs and a uniform. But we didn’t see wigs or a uniform in Duffy’s Garage or in the van.”

  Suddenly, her feet flew out from under her. Her right leg went east and her left leg went west. She landed with a thud. “I’m okay I’m okay,” she called, getting up. She’d slipped on some tomatoes!

  “They’re Cesar’s tomatoes,” said Benny. It was true. Ripe tomatoes littered the ground. They fell from the plants growing all down the block.

  “Come on!” yelled Jessie, waving to the others as she disappeared inside Cora’s Costumes.

  This time, Cora was dressed like a rock star in a sparkly sequin dress and a spiky wig.

  Jessie told her what they were looking for. “We need to look up someone who rented two wigs,” she said.

  “Two wigs,” Cora repeated. She typed wigs into her computer. A list came up. She clicked on Cheerleader. “That’s what I call our ponytail wig,” she explained. She printed out all the names of people who had rented a cheerleader wig in the past two months. Then she typed Elvis wig into the computer. “That’s our black wig with sideburns,” she said. She printed out another list of names. The children compared the two lists. One name appeared on both.

  “Mr. Malfrat rented both wigs the same day,” said Jessie. “Did he rent anything else?”

  Cora typed Malfrat into the computer. “Yes, here, Mr. Malfrat, size large, rented two wigs and a blue policeman’s uniform for four days.” The date of his order was two days before the robbery. “We were so busy with the circus costumes that I honestly can’t remember a thing about him. Wait, what’s this?” She scrolled down the screen. “Ah, here. I made a note that after he returned the costume I had to repair the police patch on the sleeve. It looked like it came off and someone tried to sew it back on. Hold on, I’ll get it for you.”

  Cora returned carrying the uniform. It was the same blue as the AAA Armored Car driver’s uniform. Violet ran her hand over the police patch on the sleeve. “The thief could have clipped this off, robbed the bank, then sewed it back before returning the costume.”

  Henry borrowed Cora’s computer to search the Greenfield phone directory.

  “There’s no Mr. Malfrat listed,” he said. “And the address is fake.”

  “Another dead end,” said Jessie.

  The Aldens left the costume store and walked down the block, careful to step around the squished tomatoes that littered the sidewalk. Looking at the tomatoes made Benny hungry. But he didn’t want a tomato. He wanted something sweet. He was about to ask if they could stop for ice cream when Violet spoke up.

  “Why would a bank robber return the rented uniform and wigs?” Violet asked. “Why not just steal those, too? He could have thrown them into the river or buried them or burned them. But he returned them.”

  “I think this proves that the thief lives right here in town!” Henry said.

  “It does?” asked Jessie.

  “Sure,” said Henry. “If he’d left town after the robbery he wouldn’t care what happened to the uniform and wigs. But if he was here in Greenfield, he couldn’t risk making Cora suspicious. She might connect the missing rented uniform with the uniform worn at the robbery.”

  Benny was tired of talking about costumes. “Could we get ice cream?” he asked.

  “We’ll stop at the ice cream parlor,” said Jessie.

  Benny pulled a crumpled dollar bill out of his pocket. “Wait, I don’t have enough money,” he said sadly.

  “Well,” said Jessie, “it might not be enough for an ice cream. But it’s more than enough for a vending machine. Let’s go to that one we saw at the bank”

  At the bank, Benny studied the goodies in the vending machine window. So many wonderful choices! Should he buy cookies, something salty, or something chewy? As he tried to decide, the vending machine man came and began refilling the machine.

  “That’s the one!” cried Benny as the man refilled the last row with red-wrapped candy bars. “That’s the one I want to try.”

  “You sure?” asked the man, closing the door.

  “Yup,” said Benny
. He fed his dollar into the machine and pressed C-5. Out came a Chili-Billy Bar. Benny tore off the wrapper and took a big bite. He chewed and chewed, waiting for the sweet candy to fill his mouth. He stopped chewing. His eyes grew wide. Wider. “Oh,” he said. “Ohhhhhh.” The candy was spicy hot!

  He ran to the drinking fountain. For a long time he stood there, letting the water cool his tongue. “Yuck!” he said at last.

  Violet picked up the red Chili-Billy bar Benny dropped. She recognized it at once. “This is the same red wrapper Fenster threw on the ground at the park,” she said.

  “That candy is hard to find,” said the vending machine man. “Most places don’t carry it. Last week, some guy bought my entire supply. He was going on a trip and wanted to take some with him.”

  Benny still had the yucky taste in his mouth when the children stopped at the police station. They told Chief Morgan about the wigs and uniform rented by a Mr. Malfrat. “Malfrat?” said the chief. His thick eyebrows came together. “That’s an interesting name. French, I think.”

  “May I please have some water?” asked Benny.

  Chief Morgan brought him a nice big cup. “Here you go, Benny.” He looked at the others. “Anyone else need some watering?”

  “Watering?” gasped Jessie. “Oh my gosh! This is Tuesday. This is the day we water the garden.”

  Watering was one of the most important garden chores. It was also the most fun. And the work would keep the children busy. Maybe, by the time they finished, they’d find out what the detectives had found in the robber’s van.

  CHAPTER 10

  The Scarecrow’s Surprise

  The Aldens finished watering the plants and turned off their hoses. Mrs. Shea carried a pitcher of lemonade out to the garden. The children joined her and the twins in the shade of a large oak tree. Henry leaned back on his elbows and looked at their garden. Spooky the Scarecrow smiled his crooked smile.

  “What do you use those green bags for?” asked Henry.

  “Green bags?” said Mrs. Shea.

  Henry pointed at the scarecrow. “Like the one we used to make Spooky’s head.”

  “I thought you found that bag in the alley,” said Mrs. Shea.

  “We did,” Benny explained. “But the metal detector man had bags just like that. He found them in your garbage cans, too.”

  Mrs. Shea shrugged. “David and I don’t use them. I have no idea where they’re from.” The twins began fussing, and she took them inside for their naps.

  Henry went over and walked slowly around the scarecrow, staring at its head. Suddenly, he reached up and ripped the head right off Spooky’s body.

  “Henry!” cried Violet. “I worked hard stitching that head to Grandfather’s shirt.”

  “Sorry,” said Henry, bringing them the scarecrow head. He set it on the ground. “Don’t these look like letters?” asked Henry.

  Behind the mouth and eyes that Benny had drawn, they could make out faint letters:

  r enf eld B n

  Violet ran to her bike bag and brought back a black marker. The others watched as the young artist slowly traced over the letters. Then she filled in the faded letters:

  Greenfield Bank

  “This is the bank’s money bag!” said Jessie.” The thief must have buried the money right here after the robbery.”

  Benny jumped up. “We’ve been gardening on top of bags of stolen money?”

  “That’s explains why your tomatoes were moving,” said Henry. “The thief hid the money under our plants. Then he dug them up when he needed the money. He put your plants back so no one would know.”

  “I knew,” said Benny.

  Henry smiled. “That’s because you kept a measuring chart.”

  Violet capped her pen. “After he dug up a bag, the thief took the cash out and tossed the bag into the garbage.”

  “Why didn’t he take all the money with him after the robbery?” asked Jessie. “Why did he hide it here and just dig up a little at a time?”

  “Maybe it’s like our bank accounts,” said Benny. “We put our money in the bank to keep it safe until there’s something special we want to buy.”

  Jessie hugged her little brother. “Benny, you’re a genius! That’s exactly what our garden is. It’s the robber’s bank! For some reason, he can’t take the loot home.”

  Benny laughed. “Maybe he’s afraid someone will steal it. Get it? Steal from the stealer?”

  “Or,” said Henry, a knowing smile on his lips, “maybe he’s afraid someone will find it. Maybe he lives with someone who is very nosey. Someone who goes through his drawers and his closet and—”

  “Fenster!” the others shouted.

  “He is big,” said Benny, “like the thief.”

  “And he seems too lazy to work,” said Jessie, “but he has money to buy expensive watches.”

  “You’re wrong,” said Violet. “It can’t be him. Remember, we saw his photo in the newspaper. The day of the robbery, Fenster was at the circus train with the other Special Events Committee members. It was noon on the city hall clock.”

  “That was at the beginning of the parade,” said Henry. “The robbery was twenty minutes later. Fenster could have left right after the picture was taken. He could have robbed the bank.”

  “I’m not sure,” said Violet. “He would have to rob the bank, drive back to Duffy’s, tear the panels off his van, and nail them upon the windows. Then he would have to bury the money in our garden. And he’d have to do all that and still make it back to the park by the time the March of the Elephants got there.”

  “Maybe he didn’t make it back in time,” said Jessie. “Does anyone remember seeing Fenster’s picture at the end of the parade?” No one did.

  “We need to look at those newspaper photos again,” said Violet. “Let’s go back to the library.”

  The Aldens spread the newspapers out on a library table and studied the pictures in the special circus section.

  “Look for the people in the yellow shirts,” Jessie said. “Let’s see if Fenster’s with them.”

  “Here’s a photo taken at noon,” said Violet. “I can see the City Hall clock in the background!” In the photo, five people in yellow shirts greeted the circus parade. Fenster stood right in front, grinning at the camera.

  “But I can’t find him in any of the photos taken later on, in the park,” Jessie pointed out. In those pictures, the children could find only four people in yellow shirts.

  “I think Fenster is using the circus as his alibi,” said Henry. “He made sure the newspaper photographer took his picture. If people think he was at the circus all day, then they won’t think he robbed the bank.”

  “But can we prove that he wasn’t at the circus later?” asked Jessie. “He wasn’t in the other photos, but the police will need more proof than that.”

  “What about the day of the 5K race?” asked Violet. “The Events Committee was in charge of that. Everyone in town was there, including the Sheas. Was Fenster at the race, or was he at The Applewood Café digging up money he hid under Benny’s green peppers?”

  The children clicked to the Greenfield Gazette website and typed 5K race. Hundreds of photos were posted. They couldn’t find Fenster in any of them. “This still isn’t real proof,” said Jessie.

  The children grew quiet. It wasn’t enough to suspect someone. Maybe the detectives would find Fenster’s fingerprints in the van.

  “Oh, dear,” said Violet. “What if he’s getting ready to make his getaway?”

  “What makes you think that?” Henry asked.

  “Benny’s onions,” said Violet. “They were dug up, just like the tomatoes and peppers. But the onions were left scattered all around. At first, Fenster was trying to put things back, and hide the fact that he was digging up the garden. But now he doesn’t care … because he’s taking off.”

  “He wasn’t at the park to help his committee take down the tents,” agreed Jessie.

  “And he talked about France,” said Benny
. “How he liked French restaurants.”

  “Fenster bought that watch with two faces,” said Henry. “The one he could set for Greenfield and for Paris.”

  “And the vending machine man said someone bought all the Chili-Billy Bars,” said Benny. “Someone going on a trip.”

  “Do you think he’s already escaped?” asked Violet.

  Henry looked at his watch. It was nearly three. “Mr. Witlin told Fenster to pick up his new watch at three o’clock today. Maybe it’s not too late. Maybe we can still stop him!”

  As they rushed out, Violet told the librarian to call the police. “Tell them to go to Witlin’s Watch Works on Main Street.”

  “And,” shouted Benny running after the others, “tell them to hurry!”

  The children’s hearts pounded as they pulled up alongside Witlin’s Watch Works. Careful to stay out of view, they climbed off their bikes and quietly leaned them against the jungle of tomatoes growing on the side of the shop. They peeked into the store window. Fenster stood at the counter. “He’s trying on his new watch,” whispered Jessie.

  “He’s all dressed up,” said Violet, “the way Grandfather dresses when he’s going on a trip.”

  “We have to stall him until the police arrive,” Henry said.

  Jessie noticed a taxi waiting at the curb. She noticed the splattered tomatoes all along the sidewalk. She had an idea.

  She ran around to the driver’s side. “Are you waiting for a big man in the watch shop?” she asked the driver.

  “Yup,” the cabbie said.

  “Are you taking him to the airport?”

  “Yup. His suitcases are in the trunk,” the cabbie replied.

  “Well,” Jessie said, “if you bring those suitcases to the police station right now, you will receive a very large reward. A reward for helping lead to the arrest of a bank robber.”

  The taxi driver peered at Jessie and then at the other children. “You’re James Alden’s grandchildren, aren’t you?”

  “We are,” said Jessie.

  “Well, there’s not a more honest man in town,” he said. “I reckon you are every bit as honest as your grandfather.” He held up his cell phone. “Want me to call the police?”