Boardwalk Mystery (3 page)

“You kids have been working very hard,” Mr. Hanson said. “Why don’t you go get some dinner on the boardwalk? We can set up the ghosts in the haunted house when you get back. There is a wonderful pizza place called Mack’s. I will write down the directions for you.”

Mr. Hanson walked toward the ticket booth. Will was there. He looked bored. There were no customers buying tickets yet.

“Will, where is the black marker? I need to write something down for the Aldens,” Mr. Hanson said.

Will stood up. He patted the counter. “I don’t know. It was here earlier. I guess someone took it.”

Jessie suddenly remembered something. She pulled the marker from her pocket that she had found in the house of mirrors. “I have a marker,” she said. “You may have this one if you like.”

Will narrowed his eyes at Jessie. “That looks just like our marker.” He turned toward his father. “You better watch these kids, Dad. You don’t know very much about them.”

Jessie’s face flushed. “I found that marker in the house of mirrors,” she said.

Mr. Hanson held up his hands. “Will, please don’t say such things. I trust the Aldens.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” Will walked out of the ticket booth. He pointed to Jessie and Benny. “I saw those two talking to Bob Cooke and Mrs. Reddy earlier today. Who knows what they were plotting?” Then Will stomped off down the boardwalk. Benny noticed something odd about Will’s sneakers as Will walked away. They had the same red splatters on them as Wendy’s shoes.

“Don’t mind Will,” Mr. Hanson said. “He and Wendy have had a hard time moving here to Oceanside. They miss their friends in Colorado. They haven’t been themselves lately.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed down the boardwalk toward Mack’s. Jessie was still upset at Will’s accusation. The children found Mack’s without any problem. The smell of baking pizza wafted over the boardwalk.

“Hello!” called a friendly man in a white apron. “Are you the Aldens? Carl Hanson just called to tell me how hard you have worked today. I saved the best booth for you.”

“Thank you so much,” Jessie said.

The children slid into a booth. On the side of the restaurant that faced the ocean, there was no wall. A fresh ocean breeze blew through the restaurant.

“I’m sorry that Will accused you,” Henry said to Jessie and Benny. “That was wrong of him.”

Jessie explained how she and Benny had run into Mr. Cooke. She told Henry and Violet about the argument between Mr. Cooke and Mrs. Reddy.

“Do you think Mr. Cooke or Mrs. Reddy could be causing the problems at Hanson’s Amusement Pier?” Violet asked.

“It is possible,” Jessie said. “Mr. Cooke wants Mr. Hanson to fail. Mr. Cooke wants to buy Hanson’s Amusement Pier so that he can own the most amusements on the boardwalk.”

Jessie pulled out a notepad. When the Aldens were faced with a mystery, Jessie liked to keep notes. Many times her notes helped solve the mystery. Jessie wrote Mr. Cooke’s name in her notepad. She wrote down the things he had said.

“What about Mrs. Reddy?” asked Benny. “She seems angry at Mr. Hanson.”

“That’s true, Benny,” Jessie said. She added Mrs. Reddy’s name to her list. “Mrs. Reddy thinks that Mr. Hanson is ruining the amusement pier. The amusement pier was owned by her family for a long time. She seems to want it back.”

“I don’t understand why she sold it,” Violet said.

“She told Mr. Hanson that she wanted to retire,” Henry said.

Jessie continued to write. She looked thoughtful. “But Leslie, the lady from the tramcar, said that Mrs. Reddy was upset about why she had to sell the amusement pier.” “That’s true,” Henry agreed. “I wonder what she meant by that.”

Just then Mack delivered a large, hot pizza with bubbling cheese to their table. A boy followed him with four glasses of ice-cold lemonade.

“Wow!” Benny cried. “This pizza looks great! I think I could eat the whole thing by myself.”

Mack introduced the boy with the lemonade as his son, Hunter. Hunter had soft brown hair and a dark tan. He looked like he was a few years older than Henry.

“Pleased to meet you,” Hunter said. “Are you kids here on vacation?”

“Yes,” Henry answered. “And we’re helping out at Hanson’s Amusement Pier, as well.”

“That’s very nice of you,” Hunter said. “Mr. Hanson can use all the help he can get. His kids, Will and Wendy, don’t seem to like to work. And they’re not very friendly.”

Mack shook his head. “They’re just having hard time. They moved here from far away and left all their friends behind.”

“Then they should make new friends here,” Hunter said. “There are lots of great kids in Oceanside.”

“Maybe you should invite them surfing with you,” Mack suggested.

“Surfing? Are you a surfer?” Benny asked. “I would like to surf too!”

Hunter smiled. “I do like to surf. You might be a little small to surf, Benny. But I could teach you how to boogie board.”

Benny hopped out of his seat. He turned to Jessie. “Can I boogie board? Please? Can I go now?”

Hunter laughed. “I’m sorry, Benny, but I have to work right now. But maybe I can take you another day.”

“Thanks!” Benny said.

The children began eating the delicious pizza. Benny was so excited about boogie boarding that he almost dropped his slice of pizza. Some of the red sauce squirted onto his T-shirt. Violet tried to clean it off with her napkin.

“It won’t come off, Benny,” Violet said. “We’ll have to wash it when we get home.”

Benny looked down at the red stains on his shirt. It reminded him of something. “Now my shirt looks like Will’s and Wendy’s shoes,” he said.

Jessie thought for a minute. Benny was right. She did remember seeing red stains on the twins’ shoes. She pulled out her notepad. She added Will’s and Wendy’s names to her list. She told Henry and Violet about the red liquid that was spilled on the walls of the house of mirrors. Benny explained about the words written in black marker. He also told how he had seen someone in blue pants running away through the maze.

“Jessie,” Henry said. “Is that the marker you found in the house of mirrors?”

Jessie looked down at the marker in her hand. “Yes, it is. I suppose that I was so upset at Will’s accusation, I forgot to put it back on the counter.”

“Look at what is printed on the side of the marker,” Henry said.

Jessie turned the marker on its side. She read out loud, “Captain Cooke’s Amazing Amusement Pier.”

The children were surprised.

“I have another clue for your notepad, Jessie,” Benny said. “Mr. Cooke was wearing blue pants.”

“You are a good detective, Benny,” Violet said. “But I think that Will was also wearing blue pants today.”

Jessie wrote all the information down in the notepad.

“It’s getting late,” Henry said. “We promised Mr. Hanson that we would come back to help set up Violet’s ghosts in the haunted house.”

“Yes,” Jessie agreed. “But perhaps we should take a look around Captain Cooke’s pier first.”

C
aptain Cooke’s pier was smaller than Hanson’s, but there were many exciting rides there.

“Look!” Benny cried. He pointed to a very large pirate ship. The ship rocked high into the air, back and forth.

There were also games where people could win prizes. One booth had a big wall filled with balloons. People threw darts and tried to pop the balloons.

“Can I try that?” asked Benny. “It won’t take long. Please?”

Henry laughed. “Sure, Benny,” he said. “Let’s see if you can win a prize.”

Henry paid the man in the booth. The man handed Benny three darts.

Benny rubbed his hands together. He was excited. He reached back and threw his first dart very hard, but he missed. The dart stuck into the corkboard wall.

“Almost, Benny!” Violet said. “You’ll get the next one.”

Benny took aim again. He threw his second dart and it hit a small yellow balloon. But the balloon did not pop!

The man in the booth whispered to Benny. Benny looked confused, then he nodded. He aimed for a big red balloon down in the corner. He let the dart fly. It hit the red balloon and there was a loud pop!

“You did it, Benny!” Violet cried.

A green ticket fluttered to the ground. The man in the booth picked it up and handed it to Benny. “Looks like you are a winner!” he said. The man smiled and gave Benny a long rubber snake.

“Cool!” Benny showed his snake to his brother and sisters. “It looks so real! Do you think I can scare Grandfather with it?”

Henry laughed. “Maybe you can.”

The children were so busy looking at Benny’s prize that they did not see Mr. Cooke walk toward them. He was carrying a folder and some papers. He stopped at the dart-throwing booth.

“I see you have come to the better amusement pier,” Mr. Cooke said. “Did you get tired of all the broken rides at Hanson’s?” Mr. Cooke spoke very loudly. He spoke like he was an actor on a stage. People on the boardwalk turned and looked at him.

“Not at all,” Jessie said. “And the rides at Hanson’s are not broken. We are just on our way there right now.”

The man in the dart booth was counting money. He handed the bills to Mr. Cooke. Mr. Cooke took a paper out of his folder.

“Be careful over at Hanson’s,” Mr. Cooke said. “They have been having so much trouble with their rides, it might not be very safe over there.”

“We are sure that it is perfectly safe,” Henry said.

The man in the dart booth held out his hand. “I need a receipt for the money, Mr. Cooke,” he said.

Mr. Cooke put his hand into each of his pockets. “I know,” he said. “But I can’t find my marker.”

“Is this your marker?” Jessie asked.

Mr. Cooke took the marker from Jessie’s hand. He started to nod, but then he stopped,as if he was remembering something. He looked at the marker, then stared at Jessie. “There are a hundred markers with my name on them on this boardwalk,” he said. “I give them out for free. They are a good advertisement. You can find them everywhere.”

“Well, I found your marker at Hanson’s pier,” Jessie said.

Mr. Cooke signed the receipt for the man in the dart booth. “I’m not surprised you found it at Hanson’s. Like I said, those markers are everywhere.”

Mr. Cooke handed the marker back to Jessie. “You can keep this as a souvenir,” he said. “It is probably not the one I lost.” Then he quickly walked away.

The Aldens were running late. They hurried toward Hanson’s pier. But very soon they heard a familiar recording. “Watch the tramcar, please! Watch the tramcar, please!” “Hello, kids!” Leslie waved from behind the wheel of the bright yellow tram. “Why don’t you jump aboard? Are you headed to

Hanson’s?”

“Yes,” Jessie said. “Thank you so much!” Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny took the front seat right behind Leslie.

“So how do you like Hanson’s pier?” Leslie asked.

“It’s wonderful,” Jessie answered.

Leslie nodded her head. “I knew you would enjoy it. The Reddy family added many great rides over the years. They built it up into the best pier on the boardwalk.”

“Do you mean Mrs. Reddy’s family?” asked

Violet.

Leslie slowed the tramcar. She picked up two families with small children. “That’s right, Violet,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Reddy and their son, Paul, ran the pier for many years.”

Violet hesitated. “Do you mind if we ask why the Reddy family sold the pier?”

“Not at all. It is not a secret.” Leslie started up the tram again. “Mr. Reddy was a wonderful man. But he died five years ago. Paul helped Mrs. Reddy run the pier. He is a good son and he helped for several years. But Paul did not like working at the amusement pier. He is an engineer. He got an offer for a very good job in California. He moved away and he lives in California with his family.”

“It is a shame that he lives so far away,” Violet said.

“Mrs. Reddy tried to run the pier by herself,” Leslie said. “But it is a big job and she has a very sore leg. Paul and all of her friends encouraged Mrs. Reddy to sell the pier and to retire. She was very sad that her son did not carry on the family business.”

The tramcar slowed to a stop in front of Hanson’s pier. “Here we are, kids!” Leslie said. “Have fun tonight!”