The Cupcake Caper Read online

  “But maybe I’ll make a terrific cupcake,” Benny said as he carefully wrote his name. Jessie and Violet peered over his shoulder, looking at the other names.

  “Maybe,” Gretchen said. “But I am certain that the top prize will be mine!”

  When they moved away from the desk, Violet told Jessie, “I think you should put Gretchen on the suspect list, okay?”

  “Why?” Jessie asked, opening her notebook to the right page. “Is this about the necklace?”

  “No,” Violet said, “I think she’s suspicious because Gretchen said she has a plan to win the contest.”

  “Maybe stealing the recipe is her plan?” Jessie asked. “Then again, how could she know where it is hidden? She wasn’t at Sweets when Mama Tova told us it was under the flower.”

  “It’s possible that someone who was there told Gretchen about it,” Henry said.

  “And then Gretchen made her plan?” Benny asked.

  Violet shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Speaking of recipes,” Henry said. “We are going to need one for Benny to use.” He looked over at Benny, who was quickly finishing samples from the last tray in the room. In three minutes, he’d managed to taste every single kind of bread!

  “It was a great idea to enter Benny in the contest,” Jessie said. “Now we have a real reason to be there. It’ll make checking things out a lot easier.”

  “Yeah,” Violet said. “But where are we going to find a cupcake recipe that Benny can make?”

  “I’ll find one,” Jessie said. “There are plenty of good recipes on the internet.”

  Just before the children left the BakeMart shop Mr. Kandinsky came in.

  “The contest is now officially closed,” he told Gretchen with a twitch of his moustache. “There can be no more entries.” Mr. Kandinsky took the list from her, gave it a quick glance, folded it and slipped the page into his pocket. “I look forward to tasting your cupcake on Saturday, Gretchen.”

  She smiled at him. “It’ll be the best one there, I’m positive.”

  “I entered the contest, too!” Benny said, rushing up to Mr. Kandinsky. “I’m so excited.”

  “What kind of cupcake are you making?” Mr. Kandinsky asked, bending down to talk to Benny.

  Benny looked at Jessie, who looked at Henry. They all turned to Violet.

  “Chocolate Surprise,” Violet said. She’d made up the flavor on the spot.

  “The cake part will be chocolate, but there will also be a surprise inside!” Benny said, clapping his hands at the idea.

  “Sounds delicious,” Mr. Kandinsky said. “I’ll look forward to tasting your entry too.” He stood up and prepared to leave the room. “Mama Tova better learn to make something else, because soon, my cupcakes will be the best sellers in town!”

  Back in the car, Jessie asked Grandfather if they could head over to Mama Tova’s shop instead of going straight home. “The contest is only two days away,” she told him. “We need to come up with a plan!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Questions for Mrs. Waldman

  When Grandfather dropped off the Aldens at Sweets, Alicia, Mrs. Waldman, and Mama Tova were busy getting ready for the day’s business.

  Outside the store, on the sidewalk near the newly planted flowers, Jessie took out her notebook. “I think we should review our suspects and then come up with a plan to stop this thief.”

  “Our first suspect is Mr. Kandinsky,” Henry said.

  “He wants an excellent cupcake for his factory,” Violet said. “But I don’t really think he’s the one trying to take the recipe. If he was going to steal the recipe, he wouldn’t need to have a cupcake contest.”

  “I see your point.” Henry replied. “Mr. Kandinsky isn’t entering any cupcakes in the contest himself.”

  “Sounds like he’s not a suspect anymore.” Jessie drew a line through Mr. Kandinsky’s name as Henry asked, “Who’s next?”

  “Mrs. Waldman,” Jessie said. “It’s still very suspicious that she had flour all over her when I saw her that night. Maybe we’ll understand it a bit better after we talk to her about it.”

  Mrs. Waldman was standing near the cash register in the shop.

  “Excuse me,” Jessie said as they all approached. “You know how we’re helping Mama Tova figure out what happened here at the shop?”

  “Yes, she told me. How can I help?” Mrs. Waldman asked. She was dressed for work. The flower on her hat bounced a little each time she spoke.

  “Jessie saw you covered in flour the other night,” said Henry. “We were wondering why.”

  “Oh, that,” Mrs. Waldman said with a smile. “It was my wedding anniversary that night and I wanted to bring my husband some cupcakes as a surprise.”

  “But Jessie said that you were carrying a box of Mama Tova’s cupcakes,” Benny added. “Her rules say that no one is allowed to take cupcakes home.”

  “Those weren’t Mama Tova’s cupcakes. They were mine.” Mrs. Waldman laughed.

  “They looked just like Mama Tova’s,” Jessie remarked. “I peeked in the box.”

  “Well, that’s quite a compliment!” Mrs. Waldman smiled. “Mama Tova taught me how to decorate them. I practice all the time. I can finally get my cupcakes to look like hers, but sadly, they don’t taste quite as good. No one will ever make cupcakes as wonderful as Mama Tova!”

  Mrs. Waldman led the children into the kitchen. “I was all set to make the cupcakes from my own recipe, of course, and I ran out of flour.” She pointed up to a high shelf. “The extra bags are kept up there.”

  Benny raised his eyes and said, “It’s very high up. Do you have a ladder?”

  “I couldn’t find one,” Mrs. Waldman said. “So I stood on these crates.”

  There were some wooden boxes beneath the shelves with the words Woosterville Sasparilla on them.

  Mrs. Waldman stepped onto the crate, saying, “I climbed on top and reached up to the shelf and—”

  “The bag of flour fell on you!” Jessie exclaimed as she figured out what had happened.

  “Exactly!” Mrs. Waldman said. “I was so upset. I was already running late and now, I had a big mess to clean up. I decided to make the cupcakes first and then sweep up.”

  She went on. “Lucky for me, Alicia was still at work. She knew I was nervous about getting home before my husband did, I had told her that I wanted everything to be set up when he walked in. Alicia said she had a party to go to, but it wasn’t until later. So she said that she’d take care of cleaning up as an anniversary present to me. That girl is an absolute sweetheart.”

  Mrs. Waldman climbed down off the crate. “I packed up the cupcakes,” Mrs. Waldman said, “and I hurried home. That’s when I saw you.” She pointed at Jessie.

  It was Benny’s turn. He got onto the crate, but instead of stepping off nicely like Mrs. Waldman, Benny jumped high, arms spread like a superhero. “Wheee!” he cried out as he landed. Then Benny said, “Cross her off, Jessie. Her story makes sense. I declare that Mrs. Waldman is no longer a suspect!”

  Jessie put a line through Mrs. Waldman’s name.

  “Whew,” Mrs. Waldman said with a grin. “I hadn’t realized I was even on a list, but I’m thrilled to be cleared.” She glanced around and saw Mama Tova scurrying about the shop putting flower vases on the tables. Mrs. Waldman said, “I better go. Mama Tova needs my help.”

  Mrs. Waldman left the kitchen.

  Jessie checked her suspects list. She said, “Well, now there are only two suspects left: Pauly and Gretchen.”

  “Pauly is more suspicious than Gretch—” Henry began, as Mama Tova came into the kitchen. She closed the door behind her and then shut a long black privacy curtain over the kitchen window.

  “Everyone must leave the kitchen. Now,” Mama Tova told the children.

  “Why? What’s going on?” Benny asked, taking one last leap from the wooden crate.

  “If I don’t get the cupcakes made soon, I won’t be able to serve my customers today.” She shook her
head in amazement. “I can’t believe it, but there’s already a line forming in front of the shop!”

  “Already?” Jessie asked. “The shop doesn’t open for at least another hour.”

  “Wow!” Violet said. “The line is starting earlier and earlier every day. I remember when it was good enough to get here fifteen minutes before opening. Now you have to come a whole hour early!”

  “By next week, we might need to bring sleeping bags and stay all night,” Benny said, giggling.

  “Crazy, isn’t it?” Mama Tova said, as she scurried around the kitchen, gathering bowls and measuring spoons. “I feel like a star. This is a dream come true for me. A busy shop. People waiting outside to buy my cupcakes!” She suddenly stopped hustling and sighed. “I just never imagined that someone would be trying to steal my recipe. That’s the bad part of my success.”

  Benny rushed over and gave Mama Tova a hug. “Don’t worry,” he told her.

  “But how can I not?” Mama Tova asked, clearly worried. “I’m so nervous. What will happen to my shop if someone succeeds in stealing the recipe? I would lose my customers, just like Mr. Kandinsky threatened. Then all my dreams would be shattered.”

  “Hang on! I got it!” Henry exclaimed.

  He looked around the kitchen with excitement. “Jessie said we need a plan. And I just figured out what to do. I know how we can stop the thief.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Setting the Trap

  The next day, Mama Tova’s shop was crowded as usual.

  “Don’t say anything yet, “Henry whispered. Benny, Violet, and Jessie were sitting at a small table in the center of the room, waiting for their cue. Henry was at the next table. He had a plan.

  “I want there to be lots of people in the shop when Mama Tova comes over to talk to us,” Henry told Jessie.

  “You mean just like the day we were here and she said that the recipe was under the flower?” Violet said.

  Henry kept an eye on the door. “Yes,” he replied. “Just like that. I am hoping that the same person who heard Mama Tova that day will hear her now.”

  The little bell on the door chimed and three more people squeezed into the shop. It was so packed that it was hard to move around and the tables were full.

  “I think there are more people here now than the other day,” Jessie told Henry. “Maybe you should start.”

  Henry agreed. “Okay. When I stand up, that’s the cue for action. Mama Tova will come out of the kitchen, and then you start talking to her. Got it?”

  “We got it the first million times you explained,” Benny told his brother.

  “Sorry,” Henry said. “I’m just a little nervous. It’s my idea after all. I want this to work.”

  “It will,” Violet said. “It’s a good plan, Henry.”

  Jessie noticed that a few customers were taking their dishes over to Alicia, ready to leave the shop. “You’d better get rolling.”

  Henry stood up and yawned.

  Mama Tova immediately came out of the kitchen. She’d been waiting there, watching Henry. She greeted the other customers as she slowly made her way around the shop. Henry had told her not to come straight over to them. She had to act the same way she did every day.

  “How was your cupcake?” she asked a small boy. She smiled at him and moved closer to the table where Jessie and Violet were sitting with Benny.

  “And how are you today?” she asked Benny.

  “I’m terrific,” Benny said. The Aldens had lined up early to come inside. Mama Tova had offered to sneak them in, but they’d refused. They had to make sure it looked like business as usual in the shop.

  “Why haven’t you eaten your cupcake yet?” Mama Tova asked Benny.

  Everyone else had finished their treat. But not Benny. He kept looking at his, turning it around and around in his hand, smelling the chocolate cake part.

  “I’m trying to decide the best way to eat it,” Benny explained to Mama Tova. “I could lick off the frosting and then eat the cake part alone.”

  “That sounds like a good approach,” Jessie said.

  “Or,” Benny went on, “I could peel off the paper and eat it from the bottom up.”

  “Cake first, icing last,” Violet licked her lips. “That’s the way I like to go.”

  “Or,” Benny kept going, “I could jump in from the side and make certain that every bite has both cake and frosting.”

  “I see your problem,” Mama Tova said with a laugh. “How are you ever going to decide?”

  Benny shook his head. “I just don’t know …”

  Henry had told his brother and sisters to start the conversation before he stepped forward. It was his turn now.

  “Mama Tova,” Henry said in a loud voice, much louder than his normal tone.

  “Yes?” Mama Tova turned to look at him, just like they’d practiced.

  “Your cupcakes are so delicious!” Henry was talking very clearly, so anyone nearby could listen in if they wanted to. “Won’t you please tell us the secret ingredient?”

  “I just can’t do that!” Mama Tova said. “The recipe has been in my family for centuries. But,” she paused and then leaned in towards Henry, as if she was going to tell him a secret. “I’ll give you a clue—the recipe is hidden under the flower!”

  It was the same thing she’d told them before.

  The children looked at all the decorations and laughed. Just like they’d also done before. But this time, Mama Tova added, “I have flowers here in the shop and in the window box. But I also have a whole garden in the back.”

  “Hmm,” Henry said. “Sounds like you have a lot of good places to hide the recipe!”

  “Ah yes,” Mama Tova said. “My secret cupcake recipe is locked in a very special box. It is hidden away next to a wooden bench. Under a flower. Where no one will ever find it.”

  Mama Tova gave Henry a big wink and returned to the kitchen to finish frosting the final tray of that day’s cupcakes.

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet hoped the thief had heard the conversation. As for Benny, he finally started eating his cupcake in tiny little bites, from the top down, enjoying every last taste.

  That evening the children held a meeting in the boxcar to discuss the recipe trap.

  “The fake recipe is locked in a little tin box. We did a good job hiding it,” Violet said. “We hid it beneath a pot of daisies, right behind the bakery.”

  “Henry found the best location,” Benny said, grinning at his brother.

  “Thanks,” Henry said. “I wanted to make sure the recipe was waiting exactly where Mama Tova described.

  “I bet the thief didn’t know about Mama Tova’s little garden behind the shop,” Violet said. “But ever since Mama Tova mentioned it in the store today, now everyone knows.”

  “We are counting on someone who overheard us to steal the fake recipe,” Henry said. “I hope the thief will think it’s the real one.”

  “Well, we know I chose a recipe, then changed it around, adding a top-secret-thief-catching ingredient!” Jessie grinned.

  “Do you think you added too much chili powder to the recipe?” Violet asked Jessie. “I wonder how it will taste.”

  “Nobody will want to eat a whole one,” Jessie said.

  “Bleech,” Benny made a squished-up face. “I bet they taste gross. We will catch the thief for sure!”

  A few minutes later, Grandfather knocked on the boxcar door.

  “Come in,” Henry called out.

  Stepping inside the car, Grandfather said excitedly, “Mama Tova just called.”

  “Really?” Benny’s eyes went wide. “What did she say?”

  “Someone sneaked into her courtyard and dug up the box,” Grandfather said. “The fake cupcake recipe has been stolen!”

  CHAPTER 8

  The Contest Begins

  “There’s nowhere to park,” said Grandfather as he drove around the BakeMart lot. “It looks like the whole town of Greenfield turned out for the contest today.”
/>   In front of the factory, a huge white tent had been erected. Balloons, posters and colorful banners made the event look like a carnival. There was even a clown wandering around, blowing bubbles.

  “I am so excited,” Benny said, staring out the car window. “Oooh. There’s a band playing!” Benny began bouncing up and down in his seat.

  “Careful, Benny,” Henry said as Grandfather pulled up in front of the tent. “You don’t want to tip your tray.”

  “I’m being very careful.” Benny had a platter full of cupcakes on his lap.

  Benny was proud because he’d done most of the work to make the cupcakes by himself. “I cooked like a real chef!” he said happily, tightening his grip on the tray. “I hardly needed any help at all!”

  “I know!” Jessie said, with a huge smile. “You did great.”

  “Thanks for the recipe,” Benny said to Jessie. And to Violet he said, “I am glad you showed me how to measure ingredients.”

  But the biggest helper was Henry. He’d opened and closed the oven, so Benny didn’t burn himself. “You’re the best brother!” Benny said.

  “I can’t wait until Mr. Kandinsky tastes my Chocolate Surprise cupcakes.” Smacking his lips together, Benny said, “I am certain he’s going to love them.”

  The surprise in the Chocolate Surprise was all Benny’s idea. After the cupcakes had cooled, Benny had cut them open and hidden a gummi worm inside each one.

  “There are going to be two cupcake surprises today!” Jessie said. “Benny’s sweet delicious ones, and the recipe thief’s super spicy ones.”

  “I know we are here to catch a thief,” Benny said. “But I’d also like to have my cupcakes picked as the best. That would be amazing,” he admitted.

  “You have a very good chance of winning,” Henry told Benny as Grandfather stopped the car to let the children out.

  Before driving off, Grandfather said, “The parking is so bad, I’ll go pick up Mama Tova so she doesn’t have to search for a space too. We will meet you inside.” Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed toward the tent.