The Mystery in the Snow (5 page)
“The stars on the boot must be indented â sort of like cookie cutters,” he said.
“So the snow packs into them and drops out later,” Jessie concluded.
“Pete did it,” Benny said.
“You can't be sure, Benny,” Violet said. “There could be other people with boots like that.”
“He left the dining room early, didn't he?” Benny argued. “And I saw him out here.”
Henry was surprised. “You saw him?”
Jessie asked, “When?” and Violet, “Where?”
Benny pointed toward the back of the lodge. “He was just going around that corner when we came out here.”
“You're sure it was Pete?” Henry asked. “It's pretty dark out here. Could it have been someone else?”
Benny shook his head. “It was Pete's shadow,” he said.
“Pete's shadow?” Violet repeated.
“If it was only a shadow, Benny, you can't be sure it was Pete,” Jessie said.
“Let's go back to the lodge, and think this through,” Henry suggested.
“I'm too upset to think,” Benny said.
“Are you too upset to have dessert?” Violet asked.
Benny sighed. “I suppose I could eat a little.”
Henry chuckled. “That's our Benny,” he said.
Benny found his teammates Jason, Alan, and Debbie in the lounge. He told them what had happened, but he didn't mention Pete. They raced outside to see for themselves.
Pete was not in the lounge or the dining room.
“He's probably hiding,” Benny decided.
The Aldens picked up their dessert plates from the front table and sat down to eat. Watch lay down at Jessie's feet.
“Why would Pete do such a thing?” Henry wondered aloud.
“He's angry because he has to be timekeeper,” Violet said.
“But he's on
Freddy
'
s
team,” Jessie reminded them. “Wouldn't he want to get back at her?”
“Maybe he ruined their snow sculptures, too,” Benny put in.
That was possible. They decided to check.
“But first,” Benny suggested, “we should all have a second piece of pie.”
Jason, Alan, and Debbie came rushing up to the Aldens' table.
“We know who did it!” Jason told Benny.
Benny looked up at him. “So do I,” he said.
“That dog of yours,” Jason said.
The Aldens looked at each other in disbelief.
“Watch did it all right,” Debbie said.
“What makes you think that?” Henry asked.
“The tracks,” Alan said.
“We saw dog tracks,” Debbie added.
“It had to be Watch,” Jason concluded. “He's the only dog here.”
Watch lowered his head and scooted under the table.
W
atch destroying the snowpeople? The idea made Henry laugh.
“Watch wouldn't do that,” he said.
Benny was angry. “He
didn
'
t
do it,” he said. “He was in the lounge the whole time.” Benny reached under the table and patted Watch's head.
“Then how'd the tracks get there?” Jason challenged.
“We took Watch with us when we went out to see your snow sculpture,” Violet explained.
“He went wild,” Jessie added. “He ran around sniffing and barking. He knew something was wrong.”
“If Watch didn't do it, who did?” Debbie asked.
“I'll bet Watch knows,” Benny said.
“That's silly,” Jason said.
“He's right,” defended Violet. “Dogs' noses are sensitive. Watch must have picked up the scent. He knows who did it.”
“A lot of good that does us,” Jason said.
“Did you see any other tracks out there?” Benny asked. He wanted to know if they had seen Pete's boot prints.
“There were tracks all over the place,” Alan said.
“Lots of different tracks,” Jason put in.
Benny's eyes widened. The only tracks he had seen were Pete's. “Whose were they?” he asked.
Henry laughed. “They were probably ours, Benny.”
“Oh, right,” Benny said. “I forgot about that.”
Jason sank to a chair. “What're we going to do now?” he asked. “We don't have a chance of winning.”
“The judging isn't until tomorrow afternoon,” Jessie said.
“But there's so much work,” Jason argued.
Debbie sighed. “At least the forms are there. They weren't destroyed.”
“And we have all morning to work,” Alan said.
“Why don't we meet early?” Benny suggested.
“That's a good idea,” Debbie agreed.
“Before breakfast,” Alan said.
“
Before
breakfast?” Benny repeated. He hadn't meant
that
early.
“It's the only way we have a chance of finishing,” Alan argued.
Alan was right, they finally decided.
The Aldens took their plates to the kitchen. Then, they went to check on the other snow sculpture. Watch padded along beside them.
Freddy's snow builders had not made much progress. It was hard to tell what the sculpture would be. But it was easy to see that no damage had been done to it.
Benny still thought that Pete was guilty.
“But Pete's angry at
Freddy
,
not Jimmy,” Jessie said, repeating her earlier doubt.
“Maybe he's acting,” Violet suggested. “Maybe Pete is only pretending to be angry at Freddy.”
“Why would he do that?” Henry asked.
“To throw everybody off the track,” Violet said.
Benny shook his head. “I don't get it.”
“Suppose Pete really wants Freddy's team to win, but he doesn't think they have a chance,” Violet explained.
“He might do anything to make sure the team wins. Is that what you're saying, Violet?” Jessie asked.
Violet nodded. “If he acts as if he doesn't care about his team, no one will suspect him.”
“If Pete had a plan like that, he would have remembered to cover his footprints,” Jessie said.
“And what about the missing keys and the flat tires?” Henry said. “I think they're all connected.”
“Let's go back to Benny's snowpeople,” Violet suggested. “We might see something we missed.”
At the site, Watch ran this way and that, sniffing as he had before. Benny searched for Pete's boot prints, but they were gone, covered over by other tracks.
“Our evidence has disappeared,” he said.
Watch stopped beside a large chunk of snow. He sniffed. He scratched.
“What is it, Watch?” Jessie asked.
The dog kept scratching at the snow. Finally, he grabbed something orange, green, and yellow in his mouth, trotted over, and dropped it at Jessie's feet.
“It's a glove!” Violet identified.
“It's
Freddy
'
s
glove!” Jessie said.
T
he Aldens trudged back to the cabin silently. Each was deep in thought. Finding the glove in the snow near the smashed sculpture was a shock. It belonged to Freddy; that much, they knew. But they weren't sure what it meant.
In the cabin, Jessie put Freddy's glove on the table. Henry made a fire. Violet and Benny changed into their flannel pajamas. Then, they all settled close to the fireplace.
Finally, Benny spoke. “Now, we have two clues.”
“Pointing in different directions,” Henry said.
“Pete could have put Freddy's glove in the snow to make it look like
she
did it,” Violet said.
“If he did that, wouldn't he remember to cover his tracks?” Henry said. He shook his head. “I don't think he did it. His prints don't mean any more than Watch's do.”
“Do you think Freddy did it?” Benny asked.
Henry shrugged. “I don't know.”
“She wants to win, that's for sure,” Violet said.
They had all heard Freddy's conversation with Jimmy. She thought Jimmy's team was better. “Something has to be done to even things out,” they remembered her saying. Perhaps ruining the snowpeople was her way of doing just that.
“She came in late to supper,” Jessie remembered.
“And she was looking for her glove,” Benny added. “She could have smashed the snowpeople while we were eating.”
“If I had just done that, and my glove was missing, I'd go back to look for it,” Henry reasoned. “I wouldn't tell everyone I'd lost it.”
Benny yawned. “We'll never figure this one out,” he said.
“What we need's a good night's sleep,” Jessie said.
“Yes,” Violet said. “Tomorrow they're judging the snow sculptures, and then come the ski races.”
“We'll make a fresh start in the morning,” Henry said.
Benny awoke at dawn. He dressed quickly and quietly, then slipped four apples into his pockets and started out. Watch followed him.
“All right, boy,” Benny whispered. “You can come with me.”
Outside, Watch took off on the run, his short tail wagging.
“Wait up!” Benny called. He hurried along the path behind foggy bursts of his breath.
Alan, Debbie, and Jason were already hard at work. They had repaired one snowperson and were working on another.
“What should
I
do?” Benny asked.
“You can patch Debbie's arms,” Alan answered.
Benny grinned. “Her arms look fine to me,” he joked.
They all laughed.
They worked well together, much faster and better than they had the day before.
When they were half finished, Benny remembered how hungry he was. “Who wants an apple?” he asked.
Everyone did. They stood back to admire their work, and munched the crisp, tart apples.
“What will we do at breakfast time?” Jason asked. “We can't leave our snow sculpture alone.”
Alan nodded. “That's right. Someone might come along and wreck everything again.”
“We can take turns guarding,” Debbie suggested.
Benny broke off a piece of apple and gave it to Watch. “I have a better idea,” he said. “We can leave Watch here. He's a good guard dog.”
That decided, they got back to work.
At breakfast, Benny asked Violet, “What did you do with Freddy's glove?”
“We brought it with us,” Violet answered. “Jessie has it.”
“We're going to give it back to her,” Henry said.
“We won't have any evidence then,” Benny objected.
“The glove doesn't really prove anything, Benny,” Jessie said. “And we might be able to tell something from the way Freddy reacts when we give it back to her.”
They were on their way out the lodge door when Freddy came in with members of her team. Her smile melted when she saw the Aldens.
“Oh, Benny,” she said, “I just heard about what happened yesterday. I'm really sorry.”
Benny didn't respond. He didn't think she was at all sorry.
Jessie pulled the glove out of her pocket. “Freddy, we found this. I think it belongs to you.”
Freddy took the outstretched glove. “Great!” she said. “Thanks.”
“Don't you want to know
where
we found it?” Benny asked.
Freddy shrugged. “If you want to tell me,” she answered.
Benny opened his mouth to speak, but Henry spoke first. “It was in the snow,” he said.
Freddy nodded. “It wasn't in here,” she said. “It had to be outside somewhere.”
Violet said, “We found it near â ”
“I'm sorry â I've got to go,” Freddy interrupted. “I just remembered we have some planning to do.” She added, “Victory speeches,” and then she hurried away.
B
y mid-morning, Benny's team had finished their work.
“We did it!” Alan said. He smiled at the finished snowpeople.
Even Jason smiled. “I never thought we'd get done.”
Benny walked around the four snowpeople. “They're good, all right,” he said. “But will anyone know they're supposed to be us?”
Everyone agreed he had a point. The snow statues needed something more.
Jason took off his baseball cap and set it on top of his snow self. “How's that?” he asked.
“Perfect!” Debbie exclaimed.
“I have an extra pair of glasses in my room,” Alan said. “I could use those.”
Debbie didn't know what to add. Finally, she came up with an idea: skates. “I'll put them beside her,” she said.
It was Benny's turn. He tried to think of something that no one but he would have. “Oh, I know,” he said at last. “My pink cup. It's back at our cabin.”
Alan ran off to his room for his spare glasses, and Benny went back to the cabin for the cup. With those things in place, their sculpture was complete.
Benny and Jason smoothed away their footprints. Alan and Debbie took the water buckets back to the kitchen.