Chocolate Sundae Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

cautioned. “Somebody may just have dropped their groceries. For all we know, this could be a jar of peanut butter.”
    “If that’s true, how come there’s no peanut butter or food around?” Benny wanted to know.
    “Good point,” Jessie said. “Benny did you hear anything else last night?”
    Benny looked thoughtful. “I remember waking up for a minute. I think I heard some boys talking but it seemed far away. Then I went right back to sleep.”
    “Did they sound like young boys or teenagers?” Violet wanted to know.
    Benny scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. “They were just boys,” he said. “Maybe about Henry’s age.”
    Before they left, the Aldens picked up more pieces of glass and carefully put them in Jessie’s handkerchief.
    “There,” Jessie said as she tied the handkerchief. “If we do find more parfait glasses in the Shoppe, we can see if the glass looks the same.”
    When they arrived at the Shoppe, the Aldens found Brian and Simone hard at work. Brian was helping Mr. Brown make sandwiches in the kitchen. Violet noticed that Brian had dark circles under his eyes, and his clothes were rumpled.
    Simone stirred some butterscotch sauce on the stove. She was wearing yet another new American T-shirt. This one had a pink background and pictures of different colored ice cream cones printed on it.
    “I wish I had a shirt like that,” Benny said with approval. “I could think about ice cream all day long.” Everyone laughed, except Brian. He mixed mayonnaise into a large bowl of tuna and yawned.
    “Brian, you’re looking very tired. Am I overworking you?” Mr. Brown asked. He said it teasingly, but he looked worried.
    Brian shook his head. “No, I was just up a little late last night,” he said as he squeezed some lemon juice over the tuna salad.
    Mr. Brown nodded. “Well, see how you’re feeling, my boy. Maybe you can leave early.”
    Brian shook his head. “No thanks,” he muttered. “I’ll be all right.”
    At lunchtime, Jessie, Brian, and Benny worked behind the counter while Violet and Simone waited on tables. Henry made sandwiches in the kitchen.
    “Mr. Brown, did you ever find those missing glasses?” Henry asked. He added pickles and potato chips to a plate holding a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.
    Mr. Brown shook his head. He stirred more sugar into the pot of caramel sauce he was cooking. “No, I never did, but I’ve been too busy to look more carefully,” he said.
    At the counter, Benny topped a strawberry sundae with whipped cream and a cherry. “Thanks, Benny,” Jessie said as she took the sundae from her brother and placed it in front of a man in a pin-striped suit.
    The man took a spoonful and made a face. “Oh, waitress,” he said. “Your whipped cream is sour!” The man pushed the sundae away from him.
    “I’m very sorry. I’ll make you another one with fresh cream from the kitchen.”
    “No, thank you,” the man answered. He shook his head. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
    Several other customers at the counter looked at Jessie and Benny in disgust. A woman in a blue smock dress eyed her chocolate milkshake suspiciously. “I don’t think I want to taste this,” she said. “There’s whipped cream on it.”
    Jessie nodded and took the drink from the woman. “Can I make you another one?”
    “No, thank you. I’ll just finish my sandwich.”
    By then, the customers sitting in the booths had also complained. Simone, Brian, Violet, Jessie, and Benny collected many ice cream dishes from unhappy customers. Only two people decided to reorder.
    When Benny went to get more whipped cream from the kitchen, he found the other jars had spoiled as well.
    “I don’t understand it,” Mr. Brown said. He frowned. “Those jars were all in the refrigerator.”
    “Did the power go off last night?” Henry asked.
    “I don’t think so.” Mr. Brown rummaged through the refrigerator. “If it had gone out, these cartons of ice cream would have melted.