Mystery of the Melting Snowman Read Online Free PDF

He thought the box I was carrying held the iron dog. At least I think he did. But it was an old ugly vase, just the way Jenny Mayflower had said. Anyway, he said Jenny had stolen whatever was in the package.” She stopped to catch her breath.
    “Slow down, slow down,” said Jay. “Who’s Jenny Mayflower? Why did the man in black think she had stolen something? What’s going on? Start at the beginning.”
    Cindy quickly told them about meeting Jenny. About Jenny and Tom. About the scarf. “But I’m sure that Tom couldn’t have been doing anything wrong when he hid the iron dog in the snowman,” she said. “He may have been hiding it from someone. Maybe from this man in black!” She bit her lip. “We’ve got to find out something more. We can’t have him going around saying that Jenny Mayflower is a thief!”
    Dexter looked behind Cindy. “The man in black is in the dining room,” he said.
    Cindy turned around. As she watched, the man looked quickly around the room. Then he silently pushed open the swinging door and walked into the kitchen. It must be the kitchen, thought Cindy, right next to the dining room, and with a swinging door.
    “I’m going in there and ask him what he’s talking about,” announced Cindy. “I’ll just find out everything I can.” The boys started to argue with her, but she was already halfway across the room. Her heart thudded. What was she going to say to the man in black?
    Cindy pushed open the swinging door. She walked into the kitchen.
    It was empty.
    Where had he gone? The back door! Of course! He had got away after all. She ran over to the door and threw it open. There was fresh snow on the steps. No one had gone in or out of the door that day. She breathed a sigh of relief.
    But where was he? She looked around the kitchen. In addition to the back door to the outside there were two other doors. Would he be hiding in a closet? Why? Was he looking for the iron dog in the closets? She smiled grimly to herself. He’d never find it, not if he looked for a million years. He’d never guess it was under Cindy Temple’s bed!
    She listened again. And this time she was sure she heard a creaking. She stood for a moment in front of the door, and then she took a deep breath and flung it open.
    It wasn’t a closet after all. It was a door to steps that led upstairs. Cindy peered up the dark passageway, trying to see to the top. She put one foot on the bottom step and listened. What right had the man in black to sneak around Jenny’s house? She took another step up, then another. There was no railing to hold onto. The steps were steep and curving.
    Slowly she climbed up. One of the steps creaked noisily. She stopped and held her breath. There was no sound from upstairs, only the murmuring of voices from below.
    She came to the curve in the stairway and tried to look beyond the top step. It was too dark to see anything. She shivered. Maybe she should go back down and get the boys. But she had to find out what the man in black was doing. He was probably trying to steal something—and then he’d blame Jenny! Of course! Just thinking about it made Cindy angry.
    She reached the top step and stared ahead. There was a long hallway. It was too dark to see what was at the end of it from where she stood. There was only a faint light coming from an open door. She started to walk slowly down the hall. There were several other doors, all of them closed.
    She came to the one door ajar and glanced inside. Strange—she saw vases filled with flowers. The room looked ready for guests. But she tiptoed quickly past.
    And suddenly she saw that someone was standing at the end of the long dark hall. She caught her breath. It looked like Jenny.
    Cindy started forward. The figure at the end of the hall started forward at the same instant.
    “Jenny?” whispered Cindy. She stood still, waiting for an answer. The figure had stopped too. There was no sound, no answer.
    Was it Jenny? She had to find out. She