The next morning after breakfast, the children went to the kennel to help Jason bathe the dogs. But they were surprised to find the building locked up tight. When they knocked on the door, there was no answer.
“Jason must not be here yet,” Henry said.
The children sat down by the front door of the kennel to wait for him.
After several minutes, Jessie asked, “Where do you think he is? He’s usually here first thing in the morning.”
“Maybe he’s just running a little late,” Benny said.
The children waited a few more minutes before Violet said, “I think something might be wrong.”
“Let’s go to his room and see if he’s there,” Henry suggested.
When the children got to Jason’s room, he was just about to leave. He looked upset.
“Hi, Jason. Is everything okay?” Jessie asked.
“No, actually everything is not okay,” he said angrily, letting the children into his room. “I’ve spent the whole morning looking for my key to the kennel and I can’t find it anywhere. I was just on my way to Mrs. Carter’s office to borrow hers.”
“When was the last time you used your key?” Violet asked.
“Last night, around dinnertime. Then I left it in this box on my desk, like I always do.” Jason lifted the top of the box so the children could see that it was empty.
“Maybe if we helped you look, we could find it,” Henry suggested.
“I really need to get over there and feed the dogs,” said Jason. “But if you want to stay here and look, that would be great.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind us going through your things?” Jessie asked.
“Not at all!” Jason said. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
Jessie recalled the conversation they’d overheard the day before and all the strange things that had been going on at the school, and she wondered if that was really true.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find it,” said Violet as Jason left.
The children looked everywhere in Jason’s room. Jessie looked under the bed. Violet searched the closet. Henry looked behind the chair and lamp. Benny searched the bookcase.
“Do you think it might have fallen in the wastebasket?” Benny asked, standing beside a small basket with a few crumpled pieces of paper inside.
“Maybe,” said Jessie.
Benny poked through the crumpled papers. “Hey, I think I’ve found something,” he called out suddenly.
“The key?” asked Henry.
“No . . . but I think it’s a clue,” said Benny.
The others came over to see what Benny was holding. “I know you aren’t supposed to read other people’s letters, but this was in the trash and I couldn’t help seeing what it says . . .”
“What is it, Benny?” Jessie asked.
Benny held out a crumpled piece of pink paper with the name Charlotte Davis printed at the top in gold letters.
Jessie took it and read the note aloud. “Meet me tonight at eleven o’clock at Joe’s Restaurant. It’s important I speak to you. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Is there a date on it?” Henry wanted to know.
“Yes. It was written yesterday,” said Jessie.
“I wonder what was so important,” Violet said.
“And why she didn’t want him to tell anyone,” said Benny.
“Do you think Jason and Mrs. Davis are plotting something?” asked Henry.
“It certainly does sound like it,” Jessie said.
“Maybe that’s who he was talking to yesterday on the phone,” said Violet.
“We can talk about this later,” Henry said. “For now, we’d better look for Jason’s key.”
The children resumed their search. They looked everywhere, but they didn’t find the key.
“Well, I guess it’s not here,” said Jessie.
“We might as well go tell Jason,” Henry said.
The children were taking one last look around the room when suddenly Violet ran to the window.
“What is it?” asked Benny.
“Look!” Violet said.
“All I see is the other wing of the building,” said Jessie.
“That’s just it!” Violet said, her voice excited. “That’s the wing our rooms are in!”
“But what does that matter?” asked Jessie.
“That’s our window right there!” Violet said, pointing. “See, there’s my paint set on the windowsill!”
The others looked. Just as Violet said, in the window across the way they could see a paint box resting on the sill.
“That’s neat! Our room is right across from Jason’s!” Benny said.
“Don’t you get it?” asked Violet. “Last night, when we saw the strange light, it was here! In this room!”
“You’re right! We’d better get going, though,” Henry said, “or Jason is going to wonder what’s happened to us!”
The children hurried to the kennel, where Jason had already started washing the dogs. A German shepherd stood in a large tub of water. Jason was rubbing the dog’s black and tan fur with shampoo, making big soapy suds.
Jason looked up when the Aldens entered. “Did you find my key?” he asked hopefully.
“No, we didn’t,” Henry said.
“We looked everywhere,” Jessie added.
Jason shook his head and sighed. “Thanks for trying. I can’t imagine what could have happened to it. I guess I’ll have a copy made from Mrs. Carter’s.”
“What can we do to help you with the dogs?” asked Violet.
“Cleo is ready to be rinsed,” Jason said, handing Violet a hose. “Why don’t you do it, and then Benny can towel her off. I hope you don’t mind getting wet, Benny. Cleo usually shakes water all over me when I dry her.”
“Great!” Benny said with a laugh.
Violet took the hose and began to spray the lather off of the German shepherd’s back. Cleo shook, and sprayed water all over a laughing Benny, who stood by with a fluffy white towel.
“Meanwhile, Jessie and Henry can help me get another dog started,” Jason said.
Following Jason’s instructions, Jessie got another large tub and began filling it with water. Henry went with Jason to get a brown dog with a smooth, glossy coat.
“What kind of dog is that?” asked Benny. “It doesn’t have much fur.”
“This is Ali,” Jason said. “He’s a boxer. Because boxers are short-haired, they can be used for people who are allergic to animals.”
While Jessie and Henry washed Ali, Benny and Violet helped Jason wash another German shepherd.
Benny said as he reached for the bottle of shampoo, “What do you do at night, Jason? Do you go into town?”
Jessie gave Benny a sharp look. She knew what he was up to.
“Funny you should ask,” Jason said. “Last night was unusual. I got a note from Charlotte Davis — you know, Ginger’s former owner? She asked me to meet with her.”
“And did you?” asked Benny.
“Benny!” Jessie scolded. “Don’t be so nosy!”
A strange look passed over Jason’s face. “I drove all the way to Joe’s Restaurant and waited a long time, but she never showed up. It was after midnight by the time I got home.”
“I wonder why she didn’t show up,” said Benny. But before he could say anything more, Jason changed the subject.
That night, when the Aldens sat down for dinner, Jessie turned to Benny. “I can’t believe you asked Jason what he did at night!” she said.
“We wanted to find out if he’d met with Mrs. Davis, didn’t we?” Benny asked.
“Yes, but . . .” Jessie began. She sighed and took a bite of her hamburger.
“But what?” Benny demanded.
“I think what Jessie’s trying to say is that you have to be a little more tactful,” Henry explained, taking a sip of his milk.
“What does ‘tactful’ mean?” asked Benny.
“You have to be more careful of what you say to people, and not pry into their private lives,” said Henry.
“Well, anyway, I wonder why Mrs. Davis didn’t show up,” Benny said. He dipped a french fry in ketchup and looked at it thoughtfully before popping it in his mouth.
“That is odd,” said Jessie. “Especially since she said in her note that it was important.”
“Remember what else Jason said? He said he didn’t get home until after midnight. So he couldn’t have been in his room when we saw those lights,” said Violet.
“That’s right! That means someone else was poking around here,” Henry said. “I wonder what they were looking for.”
“The key!” cried Jessie. She looked around and realized that several people at the other tables were looking over at her. “The kennel key,” she said more quietly.
“But how did the person know that Jason wouldn’t be home?” asked Violet. Then her eyes lit up. “Unless — ”
“Unless it was Mrs. Davis! Maybe she sent Jason that note just to get him out of his room!” Jessie said. “That would explain why she never showed up at the restaurant!”
The Aldens were all very excited about what they’d figured out. It was always fun trying to put together clues.
“But why would Mrs. Davis want the key to the kennel?” asked Violet.
“There is another possibility,” said Henry. “Maybe Jason wasn’t telling us the truth. He seemed very uncomfortable talking about last night, and he immediately changed the subject.”
“Hey, there’s Anna,” said Benny. “Come join us!” he called to her.
Henry pulled over an extra chair so that Anna could sit down. Ginger lay down under Anna’s chair. Violet asked how her day had been.
“It was fine,” Anna said. “But I don’t know . . .”
“Is something wrong?” asked Jessie.
“No — not with me,” Anna said. “But during our afternoon lesson, Jason seemed to be acting strangely.”
“What do you mean?” asked Henry.
“He just seemed kind of . . . nervous,” Anna explained.
“I wonder why he’d be nervous,” Violet said.
“Oh, never mind,” said Anna. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
The Aldens looked at one another. They were all thinking the same thing. Was Jason up to something? |