Old Motel Mystery Read Online Free PDF

the children didn’t awaken until Benny sat up in bed and complained, “Henry! Water is falling on my nose!”
    Henry threw back his covers and hurried to Benny’s bed. He pulled the bed away from the dripping ceiling. “It’s the roof, Benny,” he said. “I heard Rolf tell Kay that he’d repair it tomorrow.” Without waking Jessie and Violet he tiptoed into the kitchen and found a pan to put under the leaky roof.
    Benny and Henry went back to sleep and didn’t open their eyes until the next morning.
    Henry suggested a swim before breakfast.
    â€œHurrah!” Benny said. “I love to swim!” He pulled on his swim trunks and ran to the pool. But he didn’t go in.
    Instead he rushed back to the motel. “The oranges,” he yelled. “Come, quick!”
    Henry raced outside, followed by Jessie and Violet, who were also in swimsuits. When they reached the edge of the pool, they halted. They were too stunned to move another step.
    There, before their eyes, three empty baskets and hundreds of oranges could be seen bobbing about on the clear water.

CHAPTER 6
    Oranges, Oranges, Oranges
    â€œT he prowler strikes again!” Jessie exclaimed as she jumped into the pool and grabbed one orange after another, which she placed on the edge of the pool.
    Benny, holding his nose, waded into the shallow end. He reached out and tried to catch an orange, but it rolled out of his hand.
    Henry and Violet captured oranges, one by one, and set them on the grass above the pool.
    â€œThe oranges will soon dry in the sun,” Violet said, jumping up and sitting on the pool’s edge. “I wish we could catch this prowler.”

    â€œThat’s the last one,” Henry said, getting out. “We’d better tell Kay.”
    â€œDo we have to?” Violet asked, a note of regret in her voice.
    Jessie jumped out, too, her wet skin glistening. “I agree with Henry,” she said. “Kay needs to know what’s going on at her own motel.”
    Violet breathed in deeply. “I suppose you’re right,” she said to Jessie, “but I’m afraid she’ll become discouraged and sell to the Adventure Hotel chain.”
    Just then Catherine appeared. She was dressed in white pants and a yellow top, and she wore a red scarf around her head. Her smile was puzzled. “What are you doing with all these oranges?”
    â€œSomebody threw them in the pool,” Benny shouted, climbing up the ladder at the shallow end. “And after we picked oranges all day yesterday!”
    Catherine’s eyebrows rose. “That’s strange,” she said, sitting in a canvas chair.
    Violet, her feet in the water, said, “It’s very strange!”
    Jessie vigorously dried down her brown hair. “We intend to find out who’s doing all these things to Kay,” she said.
    Catherine was silent. Too silent, Violet thought.
    â€œI’ll meet you back at the motel for breakfast,” Henry said. “I’ll run up and tell Kay the bad news.”
    Catherine rose. “I must go, also.”
    â€œAre you visiting the Seminoles today, Catherine?” Violet asked.
    â€œYes, I’ve almost completed my paper so I only need to visit them two more times.”
    â€œWhat do you write about them?” Benny asked.
    â€œI write about their habits and their camps,” Catherine answered. “You know, Benny, the Seminoles who lived in Florida in the nineteenth century were forced to leave and re-settle in Oklahoma. Some, under their great chief, Osceola, tried to fight, but when Osceola was captured they hid out in the swamps and they still live there today.”
    â€œWow,” Benny said. “You’re lucky, Catherine, to have Indian friends.”
    â€œI know, Benny,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I’d better leave. Lacota will be waiting for me at the dock.” She hesitated. “I’ll be