Game Store Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

already had two cookies, Benny?” Jessie asked.
    “Yes, but I’m still hungry.”
    Violet laughed. “You’re always hungry.”
    “So?” Benny said.
    “Go ahead, Benny,” Grandfather said. “Then maybe we can divide up the letters for one more game.”
    “Okay,” Benny said, snatching the last cookie.
    Violet and Grandfather turned over all the letters and started handing them out.
    “Can we play in the Word Master tournament, Grandfather?” Violet asked.
    “I don’t know why not,” Grandfather replied. “I’m sure you’ll all do quite well.”
    In the middle of the second round, the phone rang. Mrs. McGregor picked it up. “Alden residence,” she said. “What? Oh, no!”
    The Aldens all turned when they heard the concern in Mrs. McGregor’s voice.
    “I’ll let you talk to James, Queenie,” Mrs. McGregor said. She handed the phone to Grandfather.
    “What’s happened, Mrs. McGregor?” Jessie asked.
    “Are there more letters missing from that sign?” Benny asked.
    “It’s worse than that,” Mrs. McGregor said, wringing her hands together. “I’d rather let your grandfather tell you about it.”
    So the children waited for Grandfather to get off the phone.
    “We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Grandfather said. Then he hung up.
    “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news,” he said as he stood up and reached for his coat. “The Game Spot is closed on Sundays, but Queenie went in anyway this afternoon to catch up on some paperwork. It’s a good thing she did. Otherwise she wouldn’t have known until tomorrow that … her store has been robbed.”
    The police were just leaving the Game Spot when the Aldens arrived.
    “Did they find anything?” Grandfather asked.
    “Unfortunately, no,” Queenie replied. Carter was standing right behind her. They both stepped aside so the Aldens could enter.
    “It’s just like what happened at the Java Café last week,” Queenie explained. “The store was locked when I came in. There’s nothing else out of place. The only thing missing is the money I had in the safe.”
    Queenie led the group back to the back room. A small metal safe sat in the corner. The door stood open, and the safe was empty.
    The Aldens wandered around the room looking for clues, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. There was no dirt or mud on the carpet. The papers piled on Queenie’s desk had been untouched. There was even a gold watch on Queenie’s desk that was still there. Piles of games and puzzles that hadn’t been put out for sale yet lined the shelves. Clearly, whoever had been back here had only been interested in one thing: the money inside Queenie’s safe.

    “What about fingerprints?” Henry asked. “Did the police find any fingerprints?”
    Carter shook his head. “The front door, the door to this back room and the safe had all been wiped down. Whoever came in here was wearing gloves.”
    “Somebody had to have had a key to this store and the combination to this safe,” Queenie said as she paced back and forth. “They unlocked the front door, walked back here, opened the safe, then left again, locking the front door behind them.”
    “Who could have done that?” Grandfather asked.
    “I don’t know,” Queenie replied.
    “What about that key you were missing the other day?” Violet asked. “Did you ever find it?”
    “I’m afraid not,” Queenie said.
    Carter frowned. “We probably don’t want to leave a spare key hanging on a nail in the back room anymore, Queenie. It was convenient for us, but anybody who went back there could have grabbed it.”
    “But nobody goes back there besides us,” Queenie said.
    “We’ve had all kinds of people back there this past week,” Carter said. “Workers and delivery people. Any of them could have taken it.”
    “But they would have had to know the combination to the safe to get into it,” Queenie said. “Remember, I changed it this week. The only people who knew the new combination