The Mystery at the Ballpark Read online

  Susan and her mother were right behind her, carrying napkins and paper plates.

  “Did you know your aunt was planning this?” Violet asked quietly.

  Susan looked a little embarrassed. “My aunt knew we were having a party to celebrate after the game, and she decided to bake a cake.” She paused. “I’m surprised she knew it was the Coach’s birthday. …”

  Violet didn’t say anything. Somehow, Mrs. Sealy always seemed to be in the middle of things.

  A little bit later, after the cake had been cut, Violet wandered over to Henry. He was standing next to the van, his hand on the door handle. “Is the baseball card still there?” she said, glancing at the inside of the van.

  Henry shook his head. “It’s gone,” he told her. “Just as I knew it would be.”

  “So the thief is right here!” It gave Violet a little chill to think that the thief was someone close by—someone so close she could almost reach out and touch him or her. She glanced around the field. Chuck was sitting next to Mr. Jackson in the dugout, eating cake, and Mrs. Sealy was talking to Coach Warren. Susan had been collecting signatures on a giant birthday card, and she made her way over to Violet and Henry.

  “We can give this to the coach just as soon as you two sign it,” she said. After Henry and Violet wrote their names, she headed for Coach Warren. Henry motioned for the rest of the Aldens to follow him.

  “We’d like to wish you a happy birthday, Coach,” Susan began. As Coach Warren took the card, Henry stepped forward.

  “And we have a little present for you.” To Violet’s amazement, he took a plastic-wrapped baseball card out of his pocket.

  “Why, thank you,” Coach Warren said. His face lit up when he recognized Joe DiMaggio.

  “How in the world …” Violet muttered.

  Jessie edged closer. “That’s the real card,” she said in a low voice. “Henry substituted a fake one in the glove compartment to catch the thief.”

  “What do we do now?” Violet whispered.

  “We spring the trap,” Jessie said simply. She moved quickly and stood between Susan and Coach Warren. “There’s something you need to know, Coach,” she began. “You know the series of thefts we’ve been having. …”

  The coach nodded sadly. “I had hoped all that was behind us.”

  “I’m afraid it’s not,” Henry said firmly. “In fact, someone tried to steal your birthday present today. The Joe DiMaggio card.”

  The coach fingered the baseball card. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive. That’s why we set a trap and substituted a fake card in the glove compartment of the van.” Everyone in the crowd was very still. Violet noticed that Chuck jammed his hands in his pockets, and Mr. Jackson looked worried. “And someone is holding the fake card right now. …”

  “But who would do such a thing?” Susan blurted out. She looked at her aunt, who was fumbling with her pocketbook.

  “I think it’s you, Mrs. Sealy,” Henry said quietly. “I saw you poking around the van earlier today. You had no reason to be there.”

  “This is ridiculous!” Mrs. Sealy blurted out. She clutched her pocketbook more firmly, and suddenly Violet realized that she had something to hide.

  “How dare you accuse my sister!” Mrs. Miller said. “What would she want with a baseball card? Look, I’ll prove it to you.” Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed Mrs. Sealy’s pocketbook and emptied the contents on a picnic table. “See, what did I tell you?” she said angrily. “Here’s a hairbrush, some tissues, a change purse, and …” She paused, shaken. A plastic-wrapped baseball card lay squarely on the table. “Oh, no!” she gasped.

  “And a baseball card,” Henry said. He picked up the card and showed it to the group. “Joe DiMaggio. Except this one’s not autographed.”

  Mrs. Miller looked astonished. “What’s going on?” she asked, turning to her sister. Mrs. Sealy didn’t answer, and stood with her arms folded across her chest. “Well, say something, Edna,” Mrs. Miller persisted. “How did this end up in your purse?”

  Mrs. Sealy hesitated for a moment, and then realized the game was up. “All right,” she said. Her voice was low and angry. “I took the card.”

  “And that’s not all you took, is it?” Jessie asked.

  Mrs. Sealy shook her head. “I took some other things as well.”

  “But why?” Susan looked as if she was near tears. “Why would you do such a thing?” Violet felt sorry for her. It must he terrible to think that your own aunt would try to destroy your team.

  “You know I wanted you to drop out of baseball,” Mrs. Sealy began. “I thought if enough bad things happened, maybe you’d get disgusted and stop playing. Or maybe Coach would disband the Bears, I don’t know …” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t suppose this makes sense to you.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Susan said. Her voice was shaky. “I love being on the team. And I never understood why you hate the game so much.”

  “Don’t you see?” Mrs. Sealy took a step toward Susan. “It takes time away from more important things. You could be a wonderful artist if you just spent more time painting. You’re wasting your time on this … baseball field.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell her how you felt?” Mrs. Miller asked.

  Mrs. Sealy looked vaguely at her sister. “I tried to … I guess I never believed it would sink in. I thought this way would be better.”

  “You made a big mistake,” Coach Warren said. “You’ve caused a lot of problems for us.”

  “I know. I see now that I was wrong.” She paused. “I’m really sorry, Susan. You probably don’t believe this, but I did it for you.”

  “But I wasn’t giving up my painting,” Susan said. Her voice was stronger now. “I’m still going to take lessons and paint every day in the off-season. I thought you knew that.”

  Mrs. Sealy shook her head and for a moment no one said anything.

  “It’s a big relief to know who did it,” Chuck said.

  “Did you take Jessie’s mitt?” Benny demanded. “And then try to trick her with a fake one?”

  “Yes, I took her mitt.” Mrs. Sealy looked embarrassed. “But I don’t know anything about a fake one.”

  “You don’t?” Henry looked suspicious.

  “She’s telling the truth,” Chuck said. “I felt so sorry for you, Jessie, that I tried to make you a new one. I guess I didn’t fool anyone.”

  “You did?” asked Jessie. Chuck nodded, embarrassed.

  “The new one still looked new,” Jessie explained,

  Benny turned to Mr. Jackson. “We were afraid maybe you were the one who switched gloves.”

  “Me?” Mr. Jackson looked surprised. “What made you think that?”

  “You always keep a saltshaker in the dugout …”

  “And salt can be used to make new leather look old,” Violet finished for him.

  Mr. Jackson laughed. “Well, I can explain the saltshaker to you. Hard-boiled eggs. I love ’em. Eat ’em all the time.” He grinned. “But what’s a hard-boiled egg without salt? Anyway, why would I want to hurt the team?”

  “You said you didn’t think girls should be on the team,” said Benny.

  “Well,” Mr. Jackson said, “I’m beginning to realize I was wrong about that. Very wrong.” He looked at Jessie and she smiled.

  “But I saw you snooping around the lockers one day,” Benny said. “You said they needed painting, but I knew they didn’t.”

  “Oh, that.” Mr. Jackson was embarrassed. “I have a little confession to make, Benny. I was trying to sneak Stockings back into your locker, but you caught me.”

  “Stockings! You found Stockings?” Benny was thrilled. He had his teddy bear back.

  Mr. Jackson nodded. “My little granddaughter picked him up, Benny. But I was afraid everyone would think I’d stolen the other missing things.”

  “What about the bat?” Susan said suddenly. “How come I ended up with Ann’s bat?”

  “I’m responsible for
that,” Mrs. Sealy said. “I thought that if they suspected you of taking it, they’d throw you off the team.”

  “Edna! That was a terrible thing to do,” Susan’s mother said.

  “I know.” Mrs. Sealy stared at the ground. She looked very sad.

  “Where’s my glove?” Jessie spoke up. “I hope you didn’t sell it!”

  “It’s in the trunk of my car,” Mrs. Sealy said. “We can get it right now.”

  They walked silently to the parking lot, and Mrs. Sealy opened the trunk of her car and handed Jessie her glove.

  Jessie thrust her hand inside it. She felt the little rough spot inside. This was the real glove from Aunt Jane!

  “I think I better leave now,” Mrs. Sealy said quietly. Everyone was watching her except Mrs. Miller, who had her arm around Susan.

  “Wait, there’s still something I don’t understand,” Jessie said. “What did you mean when you said that Coach Warren was in for the surprise of his life? I thought you and Mr. Jackson were plotting something.”

  “No, for once I wasn’t plotting anything,” Mrs. Sealy said. “Just a surprise birthday party.”

  “Something else is bothering me.” Nicole stepped out of the crowd. “Did you cut the cables in the van that day?”

  “Yes, I did.” Mrs. Sealy’s voice was so low Nicole could hardly hear her. “I wanted you to miss the first game of the season. I’ll pay for the repairs.”

  “I suppose you took the keys to my van, too,” Coach Warren said angrily.

  Mrs. Sealy nodded.

  “We thought you took them,” Jessie said quietly to Chuck.

  “And we thought you got lost on purpose, too,” Michael added.

  Chuck took off his baseball cap and ran his fingers through his hair. “No, I’m afraid I’m just lousy at directions.”

  “Who was that boy we saw you with in the store?” Benny asked. “He plays for the Pirates.”

  “Oh, that’s my little brother, Danny,” Chuck said.

  “You have a brother who plays baseball!” Jessie exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us about him?”

  “I was going to tell you about him when the season was over. I thought you might think it was kind of strange that he was playing for the other team.” He paused for a moment. “You see, Danny joined the Pirates way before I started working for Coach Warren.”

  “We’ve certainly cleared up a lot of things,” Henry said.

  “I’m really sorry,” Mrs. Sealy said in a small voice. “I just wanted Susan to quit the team.” She looked so miserable, everyone felt sorry for her.

  “Well, we all make mistakes,” Coach Warren said gruffly. “Maybe we should just forget this one.” Everyone was quiet while Mrs. Sealy started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

  “I’m glad that’s over!” Chuck said, letting out a long breath.

  “I’m glad that you figured out what was going on,” Coach Warren said to the Aldens.

  “I think we should try to put this behind us,” Chuck said.

  An hour later, the Aldens were celebrating with Michael and Nicole on the front porch of Grandfather’s house. Benny was hugging Stockings tightly. Violet looked at her little brother and smiled.

  “Things have a way of turning out all right, don’t they?” she said. They had solved the mystery, and she had even hit a home run!

  Jessie nodded. “Benny got Stockings back, and I got my autographed glove back.”

  “And we won the game!” Michael added. He remembered how exciting it had been.

  “Do you think Susan will be okay?” Nicole asked. “I really feel sorry for her.”

  “I think she’ll be fine,” Henry said. “She knows her aunt made a big mistake, but it’s all over with now.” It was a warm evening, and Mrs. McGregor’s garden was starting to bloom. “You know, we really did a good job today. We won the game and we solved another mystery.”

  “Another mystery?” Nicole asked curiously.

  “Do you mean you’ve done this before?” Michael piped up.

  Jessie laughed. “Many times.”

  “Wow,” Nicole said softly. “Can you tell us about them?”

  “Sure,” Benny told her. “But it’ll take a long time!”

  About the Author

  GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.

  Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

  When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

  While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

  Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

  The Boxcar Children Mysteries

  THE BOXCAR CHILDREN

  SURPRISE ISLAND

  THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY

  MYSTERY RANCH

  MIKE’S MYSTERY

  BLUE BAY MYSTERY

  THE WOODSHED MYSTERY

  THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY

  MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY

  SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY

  CABOOSE MYSTERY

  HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY

  SNOWBOUND MYSTERY

  TREE HOUSE MYSTERY

  BICYCLE MYSTERY

  MYSTERY IN THE SAND

  MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL

  BUS STATION MYSTERY

  BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY

  THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY

  THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY

  THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY

  THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING

  THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO

  THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY GIRL

  THE MYSTERY CRUISE

  THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST

  MYSTERY IN THE SNOW

  THE PIZZA MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY HORSE

  THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW

  THE CASTLE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE

  THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE

  THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL

  THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC

  THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH

  THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT

  THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN

  THE MYSTERY ON STAGE

  THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC

  THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK

  THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON

  THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE

  THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR

  THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE

  THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN

  THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR

  THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE

  THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY

  THE HURRICANE MYSTERY

  THE PET SHOP MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE
SECRET MESSAGE

  THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO

  THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO

  THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY

  THE SOCCER MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC

  THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER

  THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL

  THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY

  THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY

  THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY

  THE PANTHER MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS

  THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY

  THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY

  THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP

  THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN

  THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL

  THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK

  THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY

  THE POISON FROG MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE

  THE HOME RUN MYSTERY

  THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES

  THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME

  THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE

  THE HOCKEY MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG

  THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL

  THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY

  THE COPYCAT MYSTERY

  THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE

  THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN

  THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE

  THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE

  THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY

  THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP

  THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT

  THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY

  THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY

  THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY

  THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY

  THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE

  THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY

  THE RADIO MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST

  THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY

  THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR