The Mystery of the Traveling Tomatoes Read online

  “That’s the man at The Applewood Café,” said Benny. “The one who said we were noisy.”

  Jessie nodded. “The one who chewed with his mouth open.”

  “His name is Fenster,” said Violet, remembering. “His aunt said he volunteers on the Special Events Committee. It sure looks like a fun job.”

  “There’s Chief Morgan,” said Benny. The photo showed the chief of police keeping the crowds on the sidewalk. Behind him, a line of elephants led the circus parade down Main Street. “The March of the Elephants,” said the caption. Behind the elephants, the hands of the giant city hall clock pointed straight up.

  “This picture was taken at noon,” said Violet. “The newspaper articles say the bank was robbed at twenty minutes after noon.”

  Henry tugged his bottom lip, thinking.

  “What if the circus and the bank robbery are connected?”

  “How?” asked Jessie.

  “What if the robber knew the whole town would be on Main Street watching the circus parade? That would be a great time to rob a bank.”

  The last photo showed circus workers setting up big tents in Pleasant Valley Park in the background, the people in yellow shirts helped Police Chief Morgan put up ropes to hold back the crowd.

  “We should ask Chief Morgan about the robbery,” said Henry. “He always remembers everything.”

  Benny laughed. “Just like an elephant.”

  Chief Morgan was the Aldens’ friend and every Saturday he played chess in the park. The next day the children biked along the path, coasting around the playground. As they rode, they noticed the man with a metal detector searching under the monkey bars. Jessie remembered that he had been at the Café the day before.

  At last, the Aldens found Chief Morgan at one of the cement chess tables. He played chess with an elderly man.

  “Checkmate!” whooped the man. The chief laughed. “Good game, Cesar.” Then he saw the children ride up. “Cesar, I’d like you to meet the Aldens. Their grandfather, James Alden, is one of my oldest friends. Children, this is Cesar Canton.”

  One by one, each child shook the older man’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” they each said in turn.

  “Likewise,” said Cesar. The two men began setting up their chess pieces for the next game.

  “We were wondering,” Henry said to Chief Morgan, “if you can tell us about the bank robbery. We can wait until you finish your game.”

  “Go ahead and talk,” said Cesar, standing. “These old legs of mine would enjoy a nice stroll around the park.” Leaning on his cane, he walked off toward the rose garden.

  The children gathered around Chief Morgan. “You know,” he said, “I can’t help feeling that the bank robbery was a little bit my fault.”

  “Your fault?” said Henry.

  The chief sighed. “The armored car driver, Noah Gabriel, is a friend of mine. It’s because of me he was late picking up the money from the bank.”

  “What happened?” asked Violet.

  “Well, Noah always keeps exactly the same schedule,” said Chief Morgan. “Every day at noon, he picks up the bank’s money. Then he drives the money to the AAA Armored Car Company vault. Then he goes to lunch.”

  “But he didn’t do that the day of the robbery,” said Jessie.

  “Right, that was my fault,” said Chief Morgan. “The Events Committee asked the police to close Main Street for the circus parade. I knew Noah had to drive across Main Street on his way to and from the bank. I didn’t want my friend to have to sit and wait in his armored car for an hour until the parade passed by.”

  “It’s boring to sit and wait in a car,” agreed Benny.

  The chief sighed. “So, I called Noah. I told him he should eat lunch before he picked up the money from the bank. That way by the time he finished eating, the parade would have passed by. Then Noah could drive across Main Street without having to wait.” Chief Morgan looked sadder than ever. “I was just trying to do a good deed. Instead, I gave the thief enough time to rob the bank and make his getaway.”

  Cesar returned from his walk. “It’s great to be outdoors,” he said, setting his cane next to the chessboard. “I can’t stand being cooped up in my daughter’s apartment all day.”

  “Cesar was a farmer,” explained the chief. “But farming is hard work. A few months ago, Cesar’s daughter had him sell the farm and move in with her.”

  “Now I live fifteen stories up in the sky,” said Cesar, waving his cane in the air. “You can’t grow anything in the sky.” The old farmer winked at the children. “The sky is for the birds. Humans should live near the soil.”

  “I love dirt!” said Benny.

  “We help in The Applewood Café’s garden,” Jessie explained. “We grow tomatoes and cucumbers and watermelons and potatoes and—”

  Cesar’s eyes twinkled, “It’s good that you like growing things.”

  “Come help us,” said Violet. “There’s always plenty of work to do.”

  Cesar shook his head. “My daughter won’t let me garden anymore,” he said. “She worries the work is too hard. But I thank you for asking.” He turned to the chief. “Would you like another chance to try to beat me?”

  “You bet,” said Chief Morgan.

  The children biked to the playground and stopped to swing. “Chief Morgan looked so sad,” said Violet. “It’s awful that he thinks the robbery was even the tiniest little bit his fault.”

  “Maybe we can figure out who robbed the bank,” said Benny. “That would cheer him up.”

  Jessie leaned far back, pumping her legs, swinging as high as she could. “What if the thief was someone from the circus?” she called to the others. “Just like Henry said. While everyone watched the March of the Elephants, he could have robbed the bank, then slipped back into the parade. No one would have noticed.”

  “And the circus left town a week later,” said Violet. “That could explain why the thief and the money were never found.”

  “But it doesn’t explain the armored truck,” said Henry. “It’s easy enough to hide stolen money on a circus train. But where could he hide an armored truck?”

  They pumped their swings higher and higher. They watched as the man with the metal detector moved to the soccer field. He wore big headphones, listening as he swung the long metal wand back and forth along the ground.

  “That looks like fun,” said Benny.

  “They sell that same metal detector at Hamu’s Hardware,” Henry said. “Maybe Mr. Hamu will let us try it.”

  The children slowed their swings and jumped off.

  “And while we’re on Main Street,” Jessie said, “we can ask the shop owners if they remember anything about the day of the bank robbery.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Invisible Airplanes

  Henry led the way through the aisles of Hamu’s Hardware. It was his favorite place to buy nails, tools, paint, and other building supplies. He knew where to find everything. “Here they are,” he said, stopping in front of a display of metal detectors.

  A gray-haired man with twinkling eyes came over. “And what are the Aldens building today?” asked Mr. Hamu.

  “Benny wants to try that metal detector,” said Henry, pointing to one.

  Mr. Hamu lifted it off the shelf. “Model X332,” he said. “The best one made. Very expensive. I only sell one or two a year.” He put the headphones on Benny’s ears. He showed Benny how to swing the detector slowly back and forth over the ground. Then he took coins out of his pocket and rolled them down the aisle.

  Benny moved the detector toward a coin. “I hear clicks,” he said. He moved closer. “The clicks are getting faster.” He moved the detector right over the coin. “It’s buzzing!”

  While Benny hunted down the coins, the others asked Mr. Hamu what he remembered about the day of the bank robbery.

  “I remember the circus parade,” Mr. Hamu said. “All our customers went outside to watch. So we closed up shop and watched it, too. We didn’t hear about the ba
nk robbery until later.”

  Benny brought the detector back. “Thank you for letting me try this,” he told Mr. Hamu. Then the Aldens said good-bye and left.

  “Let’s go talk to the other shop owners about the robbery,” said Violet. “Maybe we’ll find a clue.”

  The children went next door to Cora’s Costumes. The owner, Cora, was helping a customer try on a king’s costume. Cora was dressed like Little Bo Peep. She also wore a curly clown wig that was all the colors of the rainbow.

  “May I help you?” asked Cora.

  “We’re wondering what you remember about the day of the bank robbery,” said Henry.

  “Oh, my dears, we were much too busy that day to notice anything.” She handed the king his crown. “The circus was in town, so people were throwing circus parties. We were mobbed by people renting costumes—clowns, animals, fire-eaters, lion tamers—simply mobbed.”

  The children’s luck was no better as they walked in and out of all the shops up one side of Main Street and down the other. None of the storekeepers or customers remembered anything about the robbery. All anyone remembered was the circus parade.

  The children’s last stop was Witlin’s Watch Works. They parked their bikes in front of a tangle of tomato plants. Instead of nice neat rows, the plants grew wild in the soil outside the shop. Overripe tomatoes had fallen from the vines and splattered on the ground. “Be careful,” warned Benny. He was still sore from slipping on the tomatoes in the garden. “Those things are dangerous.”

  Inside the watch shop, the sour-faced woman and her nephew Fenster stood at the counter. Fenster held up a wide watchband that had two small watches on it. “I like this,” he said. “See, I can set each watch to a different time.” He turned the watch stems. “There, I set the top watch on Greenfield time and the bottom watch for Paris.”

  “Why Paris?” asked his aunt.

  “It’s just an example,” snapped Fenster. “I was mentioning a place that has a different time than here. Right now, it’s six hours later in Paris.”

  “You already have twelve watches in your top dresser drawer,” said his aunt.

  Fenster scowled. “Why are you always going through my things?”

  “Someone has to straighten properly,” the aunt said. She noticed the Aldens. “I see you children have cleaned up nicely,” she said, plucking a speck of dust from Jessie’s sleeve.

  Fenster tried on the watch and frowned.

  “This band is too tight,” he said.

  “I can fix it for you in a week,” said Mr. Witlin.

  “That’s too late,” said Fenster. “I need it Tuesday.”

  “All right.” Mr. Witlin measured Fenster’s wrist. “The watch will be ready at three o’clock Tuesday.”

  Fenster took out a fat roll of bills and counted out the money for the watch. “Tuesday three o’clock,” he said, turning abruptly, nearly bumping into the children. He gripped his aunt’s arm. “Come on,” he said, rushing her out the door, “I have to get to work.”

  The children asked Mr. Witlin what he remembered about the day of the robbery. But, like everyone else, he was watching the parade while the bank was being robbed.

  Back outside, Jessie said, “It really does seem like the thief planned the robbery to take place during the parade.”

  “We haven’t asked in that shop,” said Benny, leading the way to the ice cream shop next door.

  But the owner was no help. “Those elephants were huge,” he said. “And those clowns were so funny …” He only remembered the circus as well.

  The Aldens wondered what to do next. Benny pressed his nose against the glass display window. “As long as we’re here, we could have some ice cream!” he said.

  The children gave their orders. Benny had vanilla in a cone. Jessie ordered strawberry and vanilla. Violet decided to try the rainbow sherbet, and Henry had a taste for rocky road. Then they sat at one of the tables outside the shop to enjoy their treats. A woman at the next table fed ice cream to her toddler.

  Benny finished his cone before it could melt. “We’ll never solve the robbery case,” he said, popping the pointy bottom of the cone into his mouth. “No one saw anything.”

  “We can’t give up,” said Violet. “We’ve just begun.”

  Henry borrowed Jessie’s notebook and took out a pen. “All right,” he said, “what are some things we know about the day of the robbery?”

  As Jessie, Violet, and Benny recalled what they’d learned, Henry wrote it all down. Soon he had a list of facts:

  The March of the Elephants led the circus down Main Street at noon.

  The bank was robbed at 12:20.

  The thief dressed like an armored car driver

  The thief disguised himself to look like the driver, Noah: He wore a bushy moustache.

  He wore big dark sunglasses.

  He drove a silver van that looked like Noah’s armored car.

  Then the children thought of other things that might be true:

  Noah was a big man, so the thief was probably a big man.

  “He could have walked on stilts to look taller,” said Benny. He thought of Spooky the Scarecrow. “And maybe he stuffed straw in his clothes to look bigger.”

  “That’s an interesting idea,” said Jessie. “But I think people in the bank would notice a stilt-walking straw-padded man.”

  Henry nodded. “Let’s try to think of some other things that might be true about the thief.” He wrote them down:

  The thief might live in Greenfield because: He knew what the driver looked like because he disguised himself to look like Noah.

  He knew that Noah always greeted the bank guard the same way.

  He knew what time the driver always made his pick-up.

  Finally Henry wrote down a list of questions:

  How did the robber know that Noah would be late that day?

  Where did the thief get an armored car? Did he steal it?

  Where did the robber hide his armored car until he was ready to rob the bank?

  Where did he drive it after he robbed the bank?

  Why didn’t anyone remember seeing the fake armored car?

  It was quiet for a moment as Henry finished writing the list.

  “Pay-pay! Pay-pay!” squealed the toddler at the table next to them. “Pay-pay!” he yelled, laughing, pointing at the sky. The Aldens looked up. A jet plane flew high overhead. They could barely hear it.

  “He always hears the airplanes,” his mother said.

  “That’s amazing,” said Violet.

  The mother smiled. “Actually, we all hear the airplanes. But as we grow up, we get used to the sound and we stop paying attention. Airplanes are new for babies, so they notice. But, for us, it’s as if the airplanes are invisible.”

  “Birdy, birdy,” squealed the toddler, pointing to a nearby tree. Sure enough, two birds sat chirping on a branch. Again, the children hadn’t even noticed the birds before.

  As the Aldens rode their bikes home, Henry braked to a sudden stop. “I think I know why no one saw the robber’s armored car the day of the robbery. It was as invisible to them as that airplane and the birds were to us.”

  “How can a big silver truck be invisible?” asked Benny.

  “It wasn’t really invisible,” Henry explained. “But people are so used to seeing that same truck on that same street at that same time, they don’t pay attention.”

  The children rode their bikes through the park. Workers in yellow shirts set up tents for Sunday’s 5K Healthy Heart run. The whole Alden family had signed up. Henry, a very good runner, would run the 5K, which was a little over three miles. Jessie, who had been practicing running each day, was going to try it, too. Violet and Benny signed up to walk with the One Milers. Their housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor, Grandfather, and their dog, Watch would join the Simply Strollers. They would walk around the park until the runners returned.

  “Look,” said Benny pointing across the park. The man with the metal detector crouch
ed under the baseball bleachers. He dug around in the dirt with a small shovel. Then he picked up a small object, brushed it off, and tucked it into a vest pocket. “I wonder what he found,” Benny said.

  Next, the Aldens stopped at the fountain for a drink. Nearby, all the Greenfield Special Events Committee members were working hard, except Fenster. He leaned against a tree, eating a candy bar. “Pull that tent rope tighter,” he shouted. “No, no, the other rope. And, you over there …”

  “Fenster and his aunt sure are bossy,” said Benny.

  “There is a nice way and a rude way to ask someone to do something,” said Jessie, who did not like Fenster’s way at all. “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” Mrs. McGregor liked to say. Although Jessie never understood why anyone would want to catch flies at all.

  Violet always tried to find something nice to say about a person, “One good thing about Fenster,” she said, “is that his committee does put on wonderful events. They brought the circus to town, and now they’re putting on the race.”

  But even as she said this, Fenster crumpled his candy wrapper and tossed it on the ground. Then he walked toward a tent, yelling instructions.

  Without a word, Violet rode over, picked up the red wrapper, and tossed it into a garbage can. Few things made Violet angry. But littering was one of them.

  At dinner that night, the children told Grandfather about their search for clues to the robbery.

  “No one saw the armored car,” Henry said. “At least they don’t remember seeing it. But maybe they were so used to it that they just didn’t notice.”

  “Like airplanes,” said Benny, “and birds.”

  Jessie told Grandfather about the toddler who noticed everything. “But is it possible to find something that’s invisible?” she asked.

  Grandfather thought this over. “Yes, I think you sometimes can. For example, you can’t see the wind. But you find it every time you fly a kite or hear leaves rustling on the trees.”

  Henry twirled his fork in his plate of spaghetti. “Maybe instead of looking for the robber’s armored truck, the police should have looked for a place big enough to hide it,” he said.