At the top of the aisle, Henry and Jessie went in one direction. Violet and Benny went in the other. They hoped to find Mr. X before he left the ballpark.
But ten minutes later, neither group had found Mr. X.
“What should we do now?” asked Violet when they all met up again.
“Let’s go outside,” answered Jessie.
So they left the stadium, which was still crowded with fans. Unhappy fans, because the Cogs had lost three games in a row to the Hatters.
The Cogs had to win the last two games. If they didn’t, they would lose the pennant race to the their biggest rival.
“There he is,” said Benny. He pointed to a souvenir stand.
Mr. X stood there, holding three different kinds of Cogs baseball caps.
“Hello,” said Jessie.
Mr. X turned. “Why, hello,” he said.
“We need to talk to you about the sign stealing,” said Henry.
“Sure,” said Mr. X. He chose one of the hats and paid for it. “Let’s step out of the crowd,” he said. He led them to the shade of a tree.
“What made you decide that signs are being stolen?” Jessie asked him.
“That’s easy,” replied Mr. X. “It’s clear to anybody who knows baseball well. Cody Howard knows which pitch is coming next. He waits for just the right pitch. Then he hits a triple or home run and the Hatters win the game.” Mr. X looked at them closely. “Why are the four of you so interested?” he asked.
“We’re working for Mr. Tanaka,” Jessie explained.
“We told Mr. Tanaka we had three solid suspects,” Jessie explained. “Plus one not-so-likely suspect.”
“That was you,” Henry added.
“Me?!” Mr. X said. “Why me?”
“Because you’re always taking notes at the game,” said Violet. “And then you speak into your headphone.”
Mr. X smiled. He pulled out his notebook and wrote in it. Then he spoke into his headphone.
“New idea,” he said. “Four kid detectives try to discover who’s stealing signs.”
Mr. X looked at the Aldens. “You all look trustworthy,” he said, “so keep what I’m telling you a secret. My name is Simon Brock. I’m a movie producer.”
Henry nodded. “We know,” he said. “When we mentioned you as a suspect, Mr. Tanaka told us who you are.”
“So,” said Simon Brock, “I’m off the suspect list because I’m a movie producer?”
Jessie shook her head. “No,” she said. “You’re off the suspect list because you can’t see the catcher’s signs. And Cody Howard can’t see you when he’s at bat.”
Simon Brock laughed and spoke into his headphone. “The kid detectives are very smart,” he said. “They solve the case.” He smiled. “You’re giving me great ideas for a new movie,” he told them.
Henry nodded. “We just want to know why you think Emma Larke is stealing signs.”
“Who?” asked Simon Brock.
“Emma Larke,” said Violet. “Yesterday she was wearing a lavender dress. You pointed to her and said she was stealing signs.”
“Right!” said Mr. Brock. “I didn’t know her name. Yes,” he said, “she’s the one who’s stealing signs.”
“Why are you so sure?” Henry asked again.
“She’s so easy to see,” explained Mr. Brock. “She calls attention to herself. She wears very different clothing each day.”
“Did you see Emma do anything today that made you think she was stealing signs?” asked Violet.
Mr. Brock rubbed his jaw. “She did the same things she always does,” he said. “She stands up when Cody Howard comes to bat. She shouts something. She waves her hat. Then Cody hits a home run or a triple. That might mean something, but I don’t know what.”
“Neither do we,” confessed Henry. “We wanted to figure out who the spy was today. But we still have the same three suspects.”
“Who are the other two?” asked Simon Brock.
“We don’t want to say,” Violet explained.
Mr. Brock nodded. “Spoken like true detectives,” he said. Then he sat down on a bench. “This is serious stuff,” he said. “The Cogs must win both of the last two games. If there’s anything I can do to help you, just let me know.”
“Why so glum?” Grandfather asked at dinner.
“We haven’t discovered who the spy is,” explained Violet. “At today’s game we watched all three very closely. But we couldn’t tell which one was stealing signs.”
“All three do things when Cody Howard is at bat,” Henry explained. “Things that could be signals.”
“We promised Mr. Tanaka we would help,” said Jessie. “But we’re getting nowhere.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” said Grandfather. “You are all very good thinkers. You must be getting somewhere.”
“If we could just rule out one of them,” said Henry. “Then we would be down to two suspects.”
“But we still wouldn’t know which of the two is the spy,” argued Jessie.
“We can’t guess,” said Violet. “That wouldn’t be fair.”
“But if we had only two suspects, we could isolate one,” said Henry.
“I-so-late?” asked Benny. “What does that mean?”
“Remember when you had the measles?” Jessie asked Benny. “You had to stay home. Nobody could come visit you. You were isolated so that other people wouldn’t catch the measles from you.”
Benny looked confused. “Are we going to put a suspect where nobody can see him?” he asked.
Henry laughed. “Something like that,” he said. “If we can down to two suspects, we can put one of them where Cody Howard can’t see him.”
“Yes!” said Jessie excitedly. “Let’s make a list of all the clues after dinner. I’m sure if we think hard, we can figure out who is innocent.”
“That would leave us with two suspects,” said Violet.
“Let’s make our list right away,” said Benny, looking around. “Right after dessert, I mean.” |