“You want to know more about the bank robbery?” asked Ms. Connelly, the head librarian.
“Yes,” said Henry. “We’d like to read articles written the first few days after the robbery.”
“Back in a jiffy,” she said as she went into a room behind the front desk. It was well known around Greenfield that the Alden children loved a good mystery. They often used the library to track down clues.
Moments later, Ms. Connelly returned with an armload of newspapers. “These came out the week of the robbery,” she said. “Let me know if you need more.”
The children spread out on the carpet in the children’s reading corner. Each of them took a newspaper to read. “BRAZEN BANK ROBBERY,” read the headline of Violet’s paper.
“This article says the silver armored car pulled up to the bank at its usual time,” Violet said as she read. “The driver walked in, gave his usual greeting, picked up the bags of money, and left. An hour later, the real driver walked in.”
Jessie held up her newspaper. “Here’s a photo of the real driver,” she said. A large man stared at the camera. He had a bushy black moustache. Long black sideburns stuck out of his driver’s cap. He wore big sunglasses. The label under the photo said “Noah Gabriel, armored car driver.”
While the other children searched the newspapers for articles, Benny looked at the news photos. Although the six-year-old could read many words, most newspaper stories still seemed hard to understand. Suddenly, he saw words he understood very well. “The circus comes to town,” he read aloud.
“Benny that was great!” said Jessie. “Can you read more?” They all listened as Benny sounded out the story about the Spectacular Shayna Circus arriving in Greenfield.
One photo in the paper showed animals, clowns, and performers arriving in colorful circus railroad cars.
“Our boxcar doesn’t look anything like these,” said Benny.
It was true. The Aldens’ boxcar wasn’t nearly as fancy. They’d discovered it when they had been alone in the world. After their parents died, they ran away to live on their own. They feared they would be found and sent to live with their grandfather, who they had never met. They thought he might be mean to them. The children found shelter in an old railroad car in the woods. It quickly became their home, and they lived there happily until Grandfather found them. When the children saw how nice he was and how much he loved them, they went to live with him in Greenfield. Later, as a surprise, Grandfather had their boxcar brought to their backyard so they could play in it anytime they liked.
Benny looked at the picture of the circus train. He turned to Violet, who was a wonderful artist. “Maybe you could paint our boxcar to look like these circus train cars. Maybe you could—”
“Look!” Henry pointed at the date on Benny’s newspaper. “The circus came to town the same day the bank was robbed!” He opened Benny’s newspaper to a special circus section. In one, five people in bright yellow shirts stood under a sign that said, Greenfield Special Events Committee welcomes the Spectacular Shayna Circus. Four of the people greeted the circus ringmaster. The fifth person stood smiling and waving at the reporter’s camera. It was a young man.
“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.”
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