09 The Clue at Black Creek Farm by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

outbuilding sorting tomatoes, and as we walked along the path to the orchard, a tractor passed us, hauling a trailer filled with buckets of cherries.
    Bess let out a little moan. “Seeing all those delicious fruits and veggies at the farm stand reminded me how hungry I am,” she said.
    â€œWe’ll have to grab a snack on our way out,” I suggested.
    â€œMaybe,” Bess said, turning her attention to the cherry orchard that we were approaching. Rows of trees stretched back toward the horizon, many with laddersleaning against them and farmworkers standing on rungs near the tops, picking cherries and placing them in buckets that hung from the branches. The cherries were bright scarlet, shiny in the midday sun. They contrasted nicely against the emerald-green leaves of the tree. I wasn’t even that hungry, but the sight of them made my mouth water. “Or maybe,” said Bess, “I’ll just grab a sample.”
    She ran up to the closest tree and leaned up as far as she could, plucking a trio of cherries from a low branch. “Mmmmm,” Bess murmured, popping one into her mouth. But almost immediately, her mouth puckered.
    â€œUgh!” she cried, spitting the chewed-up cherry into her hand.
    â€œYup,” a female voice suddenly spoke up from behind me. I turned to find the same young girl we’d seen working in the kitchen at the Black Creek buffet. She looked amused. “Those are sour cherries.”
    Bess spat out the juice onto the grass. “Why would anyone grow sour cherries?” she asked.
    The girl laughed. “They’re not so sour when you bake them into a pie or cook them into jam with lots of sugar,” she said. “They’re just not so tasty right off the tree. Anyway, can I help you? I’m Lori.”
    I smiled. “Hi, I’m Nancy, and my hungry friend’s name is Bess. You might remember seeing us at the Black Creek Farm dinner the other night.”
    Bess’s cheeks blushed nearly the color of the cherries. “Hi,” she said. “I don’t usually steal cherries.”
    Lori nodded. “I believe you,” she said, very seriously. Then we all laughed.
    â€œI’m here because I wanted to ask you about what’s been going on at Black Creek Farm,” I said.
    Lori’s expression turned solemn. “You mean what happened at the buffet the other night, with Julie getting sick?” she asked. “That was terrible.”
    I exchanged a glance with Bess. She’s acting like she doesn’t know about the vandalism. But was it an act?
    I held up the pair of blue sunglasses I’d found in the greenhouse. “Um, do you recognize these?”
    Lori’s eyes flashed with recognition. “Sure. Thoseare mine. I must have left them at the farm yesterday morning.”
    I handed them to her. “Where were you working yesterday?”
    Lori took the sunglasses and put them on top of her head. “Kind of all over. I was picking sweet potatoes, and then I was in the greenhouse for a while.”
    â€œDid you notice anything unusual at the greenhouse?” I asked. The vandalism we’d seen that day was certainly unusual . But also, if she was behind it, I expected to see a flash of discomfort cross Lori’s face—the realization that her crime had been discovered.
    She just looked at me blankly, though. “Oh, the door was unlocked,” she said after a few seconds. “That’s a little weird, because Sam usually locks it.”
    â€œDid you lock it when you finished?” I asked.
    Lori shook her head. “I was worried maybe he’d left it unlocked for a reason,” she explained. “Like he or Bob had forgotten their keys. So when I was finished working in there, I left the door unlocked.”
    Hmmmm. I glanced at Bess, who raised her eyebrows at me.
    â€œAnd it seemed . . . totally normal when you left?” I asked.
    Lori looked like she