Mystery in the Mall Read online

  The young man shifted from one foot to the other. “As far as I know, that’s all of it,” he answered. Then he dropped the screwdriver he’d been holding. When it started to roll down the gangplank, Benny raced to catch it before it fell into the water.

  “Thanks,” the young man told Benny. “Good catch.”

  Finally the inspectors drove off in a government car they had parked on the dock.

  The young crewman watched the car pull away. He yelled down at the Aldens. “Hey, you have to leave, too. Tourists aren’t allowed on this loading dock.”

  The children looked at one another. The docks were open to anyone.

  “He’s not very nice to us,” Benny complained. “And I even caught his screwdriver.”

  Jessie checked her watch. “I guess we should get going. It’s almost ten o’clock. I wonder if some of the shipments they just unloaded are going to the mall.”

  The children started to walk away. Benny turned around to wave at the crewman. But the crewman didn’t wave back. He was busy lifting up some kind of trapdoor from under a huge coil of rope. The young man pulled out some boxes, counted them, then put them back under the trapdoor. He looked around, then threw the rope over the door. From where the Aldens were standing, there was no way of telling that the crewman had a secret hiding place. The customs inspectors had missed it completely.

  CHAPTER 3

  Look Who’s Minding the Store

  “What are you sniffing, Benny?” Jessie asked when the children stepped inside the mall.

  Benny kept his nose in the air and didn’t answer Jessie right away.

  “I know. Benny’s sniffing for caramel corn, right?” Henry asked.

  Benny made a face. “How come I don’t smell any? Yesterday I did.”

  Jessie pointed to the huge clock in the middle of the food court. “It’s morning. People eat breakfast, not caramel corn, in the morning.”

  “Shucks,” Benny said. “Mrs. Frye said there would be caramel corn at Penny’s shop. Let’s go look there.”

  The mall wasn’t too busy yet. The shopkeepers were setting up for the day. They rolled up their security gates. Some of them set out pushcarts of small items to sell in front of their stores. Cleaning people pushed mops and brooms to make the mall spick-and-span for the day.

  “Look who’s coming down the hall,” Violet said to the others.

  “Uh-oh,” Henry said. “Hap Merchant doesn’t look too glad to see us here.”

  Hap looked puzzled, then annoyed when he noticed the Aldens. “I thought you kids would be sightseeing today. I left a message for you with Mrs. Frye. Did you come here to shop?”

  “We’re going to see Penny Block,” Henry told Hap. “Mr. Bolt wants us to work for her, remember?”

  Hap didn’t look at all pleased to hear this.

  “Well, I’m the mall manager, and I’m sure Mrs. Block doesn’t need a bunch of children running around like little monkeys.”

  “We wouldn’t do that.” Jessie hoped Benny wasn’t going to make one of his monkey faces while she was trying to be serious.

  At that moment, an older woman with wild curly red hair and wearing a bright purple blouse and funny eyeglasses came up to the children. “You’re the Aldens, right? Mr. Bolt called me last night and told me to keep an eye out for two boys and two girls. Here you are, and just in time. One of my shipments is down on the dock. I need a strong young person to bring the boxes into my storeroom.”

  Hap tried to say something, but Penny Block was like a runaway train. “Anyway, if you haven’t guessed already, I’m Penny Block. We can get acquainted while we work. I have a list a mile long if you children are ready to work. Let me show you my shop.”

  Before Hap could squeeze in a word, Penny rounded up the Aldens. The group went off, leaving Hap behind.

  Penny’s Emporium was designed to look like a seaside shop on a boardwalk. In one corner stood a tall tank of helium for blowing up balloons. In another area, a camera was set up to take pictures of people who stuck their heads through a funny pirate cutout. A caramel popcorn machine took up another corner.

  “The rest of the shop is for souvenirs,” Penny continued. “If any of you is good with your hands, I could sure use you to wrap gifts for our customers.”

  Violet was too shy to say anything, but Jessie spoke up for her. “Violet is the best one in our family for wrapping presents.”

  “Then you can be my chief gift wrapper, Violet,” Penny said. “I had a feeling you were the one for that.”

  “What am I the one for?” Benny asked.

  Penny Block laughed. “Why, our caramel machine, of course. I need a careful boy to scoop the caramel corn into boxes. Folks come in here all day for Penny’s Caramel Corn. My husband, before he died, always told me the way to bring folks into a shop is to sell something that smells good. They’ll come in for that and go out with a Hope Harbor teapot or a dish towel. And he was right.”

  “Mrs. Block, have you ever seen a coconut painted like a monkey? Mrs. Frye told me you might sell them,” said Benny.

  “I know just what you mean, Benny. I’ll keep an eye out for them at the gift show I’m attending this afternoon.”

  “Great! Thanks a lot,” said Benny.

  “What can Jessie and I do?” Henry asked.

  Penny pulled out a pad of paper. “A lot, if you aren’t afraid of work. I need somebody to be in charge of taking pirate photos. They’re very popular souvenirs with tourists. Jessie, you would be good to sell souvenirs from my pushcart in the mall area. That gets people to stop in front of my store. Henry, you’re my gofer. Go for this. Go for that. Is that okay with you?”

  “I’ll go for it!” Henry joked.

  Penny showed Henry where to find the hand truck from the storeroom. She needed him to pick up some boxes at the warehouse.

  Just as Henry headed out the back door of the shop, a young woman came in. “Where are you going with that hand truck?” she asked Henry. “That belongs to this shop.”

  For a second, Henry was lost for words. “It’s ... uh ... well, Penny said I should ...”

  “Who are you?” the young woman asked. “Penny didn’t tell me anyone else was working here. I’m the store manager.”

  At that moment, Penny stepped into the storeroom. “Hello, Janet. I see you’ve met Henry Alden. You know how you said there was so much to do? Well, a miracle happened. Martin Bolt sent the Alden family to save the day. Henry, this is Janet Trainor.”

  The young woman ignored Penny’s introduction. “Mr. Bolt sent children to work here? That’s not going to be much of a help at all. I can’t work with children underfoot.”

  “Nonsense,” Penny said. “The younger ones have already started. Henry is on his way down to the warehouse to pick up a shipment that came in. You can go ahead, Henry. Now, come meet the other Aldens, Janet.”

  Benny was at the popcorn machine, carefully scooping caramel corn into boxes.

  “He’s going to make a mess!” Janet told Penny. “And why is that girl wrapping packages?”

  Penny was very patient. “Violet Alden is wonderful with her hands. I have her wrapping some of the gift plates. You know how much time that takes. Now you’ll have more time to wait on customers.”

  The young woman sighed deeply. “I guess I’ll go out and load up the souvenir cart, then. Wait! Where is it? I pushed it just inside the door last night before we closed.”

  Penny smiled. “Take a look out there. Jessie Alden already stocked it. I posted her out there to wait on customers who are passing by. You can cover the shop. I’m heading to the gift show at the convention center. I feel much better about leaving now that the Aldens are here to do all the little jobs.”

  After Penny left, Janet shadowed the children around the shop. She expected them to do things one way: her way. She rewrapped a package Violet had already wrapped perfectly. She stood over Benny to make sure he didn’t drop one kernel of corn. She checked up on Jessie, who had already sold several s
ouvenirs without anyone’s help at all.

  Soon Henry returned from the warehouse with a stack of boxes. “I’ll get a box cutter and open these if you want,” he told Janet.

  When the young woman saw the boxes, she grabbed the hand truck from Henry. “I’ll take those, thank you. I’m going to lock them up until I have time to match everything against the order slips.”

  Henry smiled. “I could do that if you—”

  Janet shook her head. “No, it isn’t as easy as it looks.” With that, she rolled the hand truck over to a storage closet and locked the boxes inside.

  The day passed quickly. At five o’clock, Benny tapped Henry’s elbow. “Is it time to go, Henry?” he asked. “Penny said we could leave around dinnertime. I like it here, but now I’m hungry.”

  “Sure thing, Benny,” Henry answered. “I’ll go find Janet. She’s in the storeroom again.”

  Henry found the young woman scrambling through the boxes he had delivered that morning. Janet wasn’t alone. Standing next to her was the dark-haired crewman the Aldens had met on the dock that morning.

  “Hey, aren’t you—” Henry began. Janet and the young man turned around suddenly, startled to see Henry standing there.

  “What are you doing here?” Janet asked, quickly shoving the boxes inside the closet again. “I was ... uh ... telling this man where the blue jeans store is. He wandered in here by mistake.”

  “Sorry.” Henry wondered why the crewman had come into the storeroom to get directions. “I just wanted to let you know my brother, sisters, and I are leaving as soon as Penny gets back.”

  Janet’s eyes were dark with annoyance. “You don’t have to wait until Penny gets back. I’ve covered the shop by myself before.”

  Henry backed away. Why was this young woman so grouchy all the time? “Okay,” Henry said. “Oh, well, there’s Penny now. I guess we’ll go.” He looked at the crewman again. “I just figured out where I saw you—on the freighter this morning, right?”

  The man turned away from Henry without answering. He opened the back door of the storeroom and left.

  Penny suddenly appeared in the doorway. “I’m back, and you won’t believe what I found out at the gift show, Henry. My supplier says there’s a whole shipment of novelty items on one of the ships in the harbor right now, including—guess what—coconut monkeys, coconut pirates, and coconut clowns! Once they’re unloaded in a few days, I’ll set aside one for Benny just as soon as I open the boxes.”

  Everyone was smiling at this good news, except for Janet.

  “What’s the matter?” Penny asked the young woman. “Don’t you think we could sell a lot of those? You look as if I told you we’d be selling dead bugs.”

  “Oh, it’s ... uh ... nothing,” Janet said. “I’ll unpack the boxes as soon as they get here.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Monkey See, Monkey Do

  The Aldens joined other strolling tourists on their way to the mall’s many outdoor restaurants. At sunset, people liked to come outdoors, look at the view, and eat outside.

  Jessie checked the directory of all the shops and restaurants in the mall. “Mr. Bolt said the Dockside Cafe is a good place. It has tables inside and outside.”

  “Look, Benny!” Henry said suddenly. “Those seagulls like to eat outside, too.”

  The Aldens watched screeching seagulls swoop down for french fries that people held out for them.

  “There’s a couple leaving soon,” the restaurant hostess told the Aldens when they arrived at the jam-packed restaurant. “You can have their table as soon as they leave and the busboy clears it.”

  The children studied the menu posted nearby.

  “I’m having french fries just like the seagulls, only I want mine on a plate,” Benny decided. “And chicken fingers and carrot sticks to go with the french fries.”

  While the other children decided what to have, Benny watched the couple. He hoped they weren’t going to order any more food. Luckily for Benny, they got up to leave.

  “Hey, it’s Janet,” Benny whispered to Jessie.

  The older children turned to look.

  “Right! And that crewman is with her again,” Violet noticed.

  Henry tried not to stare. “Put your heads down. I don’t want them to know we saw them. I forgot to tell you that the crewman was in the storeroom. Janet told me he was lost. Doesn’t it seem funny he’s having dinner with her now?”

  Jessie peeked, then looked away from the couple. “Did he say anything about seeing us on the dock this morning?”

  Henry shook his head. “That’s the thing. As soon as I mentioned it, he walked out the back way. Also, I was wondering why he went out the back of the store if he was lost.”

  “Your table is ready,” the restaurant hostess said, interrupting Henry. She led the children over to their table.

  “Goody,” Benny said, settling into his chair. “We’re right by the railing so we can watch the seagulls.”

  Violet laughed and pointed to the sky. “And the seagulls can watch you, Benny! Look how they fly over all these outdoor restaurants. Better watch your food when it comes.”

  Benny took one last look at the menu. “When my food comes, it won’t be on my plate long enough for the seagulls to get it.”

  Benny was right about that. He ate every bite of food and still had room for dessert. While he waited for his brownie sundae, he found a piece of paper under the saltshaker. “Hey, look.” He showed the note to the other children. “I wonder who left this. The handwriting says: ‘Checklist: Appt. SS Shop; Check all boxes. R.T.’”

  “If it said ‘J.T.,’ then I’d say that was Janet Trainor,” Jessie said, reading the note. “Well, a lot of people eat at this restaurant. I guess we’ll never know who R.T. is.”

  When Benny’s brownie sundae arrived, he stuck the note in his pocket and forgot about it. It was time for dessert.

  “That was a good dinner,” Henry said later after they paid their bill. “I have a couple of things to do. I’ll meet you all at Penny’s shop at nine o’clock. She’ll tell us whether she needs us tomorrow or the next few days.”

  Jessie pulled Henry away from Benny and Violet. “Where are you going? Are you going to snoop around down on the dock?”

  Henry shook his head. “No, even though I want to,” he whispered. “I’m going to see if I can find another coconut monkey for Benny. I feel rotten that I threw his out by mistake. There are so many shops around here with stuff from all over. Maybe there’s a chance I’ll find one. It could take a long time for Penny’s shipment to arrive.”

  Jessie smiled. “That would make Benny so happy. He hasn’t complained once. Well, good luck. We’ll meet you back at the shop around closing time.”

  “What are you and Violet whispering about?” a tired Benny asked when he caught his sisters giggling secretively. “And why won’t you tell me where Henry went?”

  “We can’t tell,” Violet said. “Now let’s do some more window-shopping.”

  An hour later, the children strolled back to Penny’s Emporium. Henry was already there and wearing a huge smile.

  “You beat us,” Benny said when he saw his brother.

  Henry held out a brown shopping bag. “I did more than that. Look inside.”

  When Benny looked down, he saw something round and brown and covered with hair. “My car bag with my monkey! Yippee! Did that garbage truck come to Hope Harbor, too?”

  Henry laughed. “Nope. Take a look inside. It’s not the car bag or exactly the same monkey as the one you lost, but it’s from Hawaii, or at least that’s what the store owner said.”

  Benny reached into the shopping bag. He felt for the rope handle and pulled up the coconut. “Ta-da!” He held the coconut next to his face and copied the same grinning face.

  “It’s close enough to the one you lost,” Jessie said. “Shake it.”

  “That’s exactly what I did,” Henry said. “It was the last one in the store. As soon as I saw it, I decided to buy
it. I made sure it rattled just like Benny’s lost one. Go ahead, Benny, shake away.”

  Benny shook the coconut. “Now I can make a racket with this one, too.”

  By this time, Penny had locked up the cash register. “Well, I’m awfully glad you found one. Who knows when the coconut monkeys I ordered will get unloaded?”

  Penny and the Aldens heard the storeroom door bang.

  Janet came into the shop area. She noticed Benny’s coconut right away. “Where did that come from?” She looked at Penny. “I thought you wanted me to open all your shipments, Penny, so that things wouldn’t get mixed up. If everybody does it, we won’t be able to keep track of our stock.”

  “Relax, Janet,” Penny told the young woman. “Henry found that one in another shop. He didn’t want to wait for our shipment. How was dinner at your mother’s?”

  Janet looked confused and didn’t answer right away. “Oh, it was fine. I just got back.”

  The Aldens looked at one another. They didn’t know whether to say anything. What if Janet had changed her plans and didn’t want to bother telling Penny? It wasn’t their business to keep track of where Janet ate dinner.

  Penny checked her watch. “Gee, look at the time. The security people will be coming by to scold me. All the shops must be locked up by nine-thirty.”

  Everyone heard a putt-putt sound getting closer. Hap Merchant drove a motorized cart right up to Penny’s shop. He flashed a spotlight into the store. “Closing time, Penny.”

  “We’re just shutting down, Hap,” Penny said. “We were having a little gathering for Benny. His brother found a present to replace something he lost.”

  When Benny heard this, he picked up his coconut monkey and shook it by the rope handle.

  “What a racket!” Hap said. “Rules are rules. It’s closing time. You kids need to go home. I’ll come back and take you to the parking garage, Penny.”

  Quietly now, Penny switched off all the lights to her shop. “No, thanks, Hap. I’m going to walk the children out and give them a ride home.” She pulled down the security gate. The last thing the Aldens heard was the click of the lock and Hap’s motor cart heading down the dark hallways of the mall.