“What should we do?” asked Violet.
“Let’s keep walking,” said Henry. “But not so fast.”
The four children began to walk down the street, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.
Jessie glanced quickly over her shoulder. “He’s still there.”
“Why is he following us?” Benny asked.
“I don’t know, Benny,” Jessie answered.
“Why don’t we ask him?” suggested Benny.
Jessie looked down at Benny. Suddenly she smiled. “You know, Benny, that’s not a bad idea. I think we should ask him.”
“Oh, Jessie!” gasped Violet. “Really?”
“What could happen? It’s the middle of the day and we’re on a street in the middle of town,” Jessie pointed out sensibly.
“You’re right,” said Henry.
The four stopped again and looked at one another.
“Okay,” said Jessie, “let’s go.”
The Aldens turned around and began walking back toward the man who was following them.
For a moment, he stood in the middle of the sidewalk as if he didn’t know what to do. Then abruptly, he turned and began to run.
“Come on!” shouted Jessie. She jumped on her bicycle and began to pedal after the stranger. The other children did the same.
But it was no use. The man turned up a narrow alley, leaped over a low fence, and disappeared.
The Aldens stopped by the fence, breathing hard. After they’d gotten their breath, they turned around and went back the way they’d come, heading for Dr. Scott’s office.
“Did anybody recognize him?” asked Henry.
Nobody had. It had been hard to tell anything about the mysterious stranger. He’d been too far away, and even though the day had gotten hot, he was wearing a hat, a coat, dark glasses, a scarf, and baggy pants. They couldn’t even tell whether he was fat or thin!
“Maybe he has something to do with Spotzie,” said Jessie thoughtfully.
“But what?” asked Violet.
“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “I’ve just got a funny feeling.”
The Boxcar children walked in silence for a while, thinking about what Jessie had said.
The Aldens kept a careful watch for the mysterious stranger all the way to Dr. Scott’s office, but he never reappeared. When they got to the veterinarian’s office, her assistant said, “Dr. Scott is very busy right now.”
At that moment, Dr. Scott walked out to the waiting room with a girl holding a small dog with a bandage on its paw.
“And make sure she stays off that paw,” Dr. Scott said.
“Thank you, Dr. Scott,” said the girl. She and the dog went out.
Dr. Scott saw the Aldens and greeted them. “So you have a cat now, too?” she asked, seeing the sign Violet was holding.
“Oh, no,” said Violet. “The cat belongs to someone else. We’re just helping find her.”
“You can put the sign up on the wall over there.” Dr. Scott pointed. “I’ll keep an eye out for her, too. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” said Henry. “By the way, Dr. Scott — has anyone else been in looking for a missing cat? A spotted one like Spotzie?”
Dr. Scott shook her head. “No one.” A man came into the waiting room with a large, shaggy dog bouncing at the end of a leash. “Well, I need to get back to work. Good luck again.”
The Aldens put the sign up on the wall and went back outside.
“Lunchtime?” said Benny hopefully.
“Not quite, Benny,” said Jessie. She looked back over her shoulder, but the mysterious stranger had not reappeared. “We need to go see if Mr. Woods has a picture of Spotzie. That would help our search.”
The Aldens rode their bicycles over to Mr. Woods’s house. This time, when they got there, Mrs. Valentine opened the door when Henry knocked.
She smiled. “Hello,” she said. “Come in.” She led the way to the kitchen. A short young woman with lots of curly red hair was sitting at the kitchen table.
“This is my niece, Whitney,” said Mrs. Valentine. “Whitney, these are the Aldens: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”
“How nice,” said Whitney.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” said Henry politely.
“I just made some cookies,” said Mrs. Valentine.
“Cookies? I like cookies,” said Benny.
Mrs. Valentine laughed. “I know you do, Benny. Mrs. McGregor has told me. Maybe you’d like some cookies now?”
“Yes, thank you,” said Benny, promptly sitting down at the kitchen table.
Everyone laughed. While Henry helped pour milk into glasses, Jessie and Violet joined Benny and Whitney.
“We’ve been looking for Spotzie,” Jessie told Whitney.
“Oh yes. Mr. Woods’s cat. I’ve been hearing about her from my aunt. Any luck?” asked Whitney.
“Not yet,” said Henry as he gave each of the Aldens a glass of cold milk. “We’ve made some signs and put them up at the animal shelter and at Dr. Scott’s veterinary office and around town.”
Mrs. Valentine put a plate of cookies warm from the oven in the middle of the table, and she and Henry sat down, too. “It’s very strange that the little cat disappeared like that off the front porch,” Mrs. Valentine said.
“Maybe a dog came by and chased her off the porch while Mr. Woods was inside,” suggested Whitney.
“A dog! We never thought of that,” said Henry. “We thought she might have seen something and chased it and gotten herself lost somehow.”
“An interesting theory,” said Whitney, with a little smile. “You children are real detectives, aren’t you?”
Benny didn’t seem to notice Whitney’s amused smile. “Yes,” he said, reaching for another cookie. “We’ve solved a lot of mysteries. Do you want to help?”
“I’m kind of busy,” said Whitney, raising her eyebrows. “I’m afraid you children will have to solve the mystery without my help.”
Jessie’s face turned red at Whitney’s tone, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to Mrs. Valentine. “We were wondering if Mr. Woods had a photograph of Spotzie. We want it to show to people.”
“I’m sure he must,” said Mrs. Valentine. “He’s not home right now, but I’ll asked him when he returns.”
“Thanks,” said Henry. “Well, it’s time we were getting home.”
The Aldens thanked Mrs. Valentine for the cookies and milk and said good-bye to Whitney.
“Nice meeting you, children,” said Whitney. “Good luck with your little mystery.”
The Alden children rode their bicycles slowly home.
“I don’t think Whitney thinks we can solve the mystery,” said Jessie. “She’s nice, but she treated us like we were babies.”
“Yes, but won’t she be surprised when we do find Spotzie,” answered Henry.
“Then she’ll know we’re real detectives,” said Benny.
“Yes, Benny,” said Jessie. “But even more important, Spotzie will be back home.” |