The next day, the Aldens decided to look at the missing letters again at home. They sat at the kitchen table. Once again, each of them had the letters A A E E E E E E I K L L M M N O P P Q R R S U and Y spread out on scraps of paper in front of them.
“This is like playing Word Master,” Benny said. “Except we have more letters.”
“It’s like a more challenging version of Word Master,” Violet said as she moved the letters around.
Jessie kept a list of all the words they’d found in those letters. The list included QUEENIE, POLK, PLAY, ME, PLEASE, SAME, MAPLE, MERRY, MARRY, MY, PEARL, SALE, SEAL, MEAL, SPRAY, and YES. But so far the children hadn’t found any message in the words. And they still didn’t know how Queenie’s name might fit in.
While they were working, Grandfather came into the room. “I’m afraid Mrs. McGregor isn’t feeling well this morning,” he said.
“Oh, no,” Violet said with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing serious,” Grandfather said right away. “She just has a sore throat. But I was wondering whether you kids would mind running to the drugstore to get some throat drops for her? She’s got enough for today, but if she’s still not feeling well tomorrow, she’s going to need some more.”
“Sure,” Henry said, rising from his chair. “We’ll go right now.”
“Let’s go to the drugstore at Crossroads Mall,” Jessie said. “Then we can see if any more letters have been removed.”
“That’s a good idea,” Henry said.
“Tell Mrs. McGregor I hope she feels better soon,” Benny told Grandfather on his way out the door.
“I will,” Grandfather replied. “And if you’d like to stop in at the Game Spot and say hello to Queenie while you’re out, that’s fine. Just be home in time for lunch.”
“We will,” Violet promised.
The children hopped on their bikes and rode to the mall. The sign out front was blank again.
“I hope that means nobody has taken any more letters,” Violet said.
The children locked their bikes at the bike rack, then went inside the drugstore. They found Tony Silver standing at the counter talking with Bob, the same employee who had helped the Aldens a few days ago. A tool box sat on the floor beside Tony.
“Hi, Tony,” Jessie said. “I didn’t see your truck out front.”
“Oh, I’m parked around back.” Tony smiled at Jessie. “Bob here asked me to come and replace his safe.”
“I just wasn’t sure my other safe was really secure,” Bob said. “All the robberies around here have me a little concerned. My store is the only one in the whole mall that hasn’t been hit.”
“Well, this is the sturdiest safe on the market,” Tony said. “I don’t think you’ll be having any trouble.”
“I hope not,” Bob said.
Tony leaned against the counter. “Do the police have any leads on these robberies?”
“It doesn’t sound like it,” Bob replied. “Whoever it is must be a real pro.”
“Did they check out that guy from the game store?” Tony asked. “What’s his name again? Carter?”
“Yes,” Henry said. “Carter Malone. But I don’t know that anyone’s really considered him a suspect.”
“I don’t know. I’ve seen him prowling around here at night,” Tony said. “I asked him what he was doing and he said he was just taking a walk. But who walks around the mall after it’s closed?”
“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.”
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