Amazing Mystery Show by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online

ticket booth. It read: OPENS AT 10:00.
    But Benny wasn’t giving up so easily. When he noticed somebody in the booth, he tapped on the window.
    The young man inside looked up in surprise. “We’re closed!” he shouted.
    “We lost something,” Jessie shouted back. “Do you mind if we go inside for a minute?”
    The young man opened the window. “I’ve already checked everything out,” he said. “There was nothing left behind.”
    “Could we just take a quick look?” Violet asked in her soft voice. “It’s something that means a lot to our little brother.”
    “Fine.” The young man let out a sigh. “Just be quick about it.”
    “Wow!” Benny said, as they walked around the course. “I feel like a giant in this place.”
    “I know what you mean, Benny,” said Henry, slapping at a mosquito on his neck. “It’s like every landmark’s been shrunk down to dollhouse size.”
    There was every landmark from Elfreth’s Alley—a street lined with tiny shops and homes—to a miniature version of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
    When they spotted the Liberty Bell on the eighteenth hole, Violet giggled. “It looks like you can putt right through the crack in the bell,” she noted. “How funny is that, Jessie?”
    But Jessie didn’t answer.
    “Jessie?” Violet gave her sister a little nudge.
    “There it is!” Jessie cried. She pointed to a miniature landmark nearby. “That’s Independence Hall.”
    They all turned to see a small brick building with a white steeple. “It sure looks like the building in the photo,” agreed Henry.

    “Then where’s my special cup?” Benny asked as they hurried over. “That’s what I want to know.”
    “It’s here somewhere, Benny,” Violet assured her little brother. But a part of her wasn’t so sure.
    “Maybe it’s inside the building,” Jessie suggested after some quick thinking.
    “Let’s check it out!” Henry was already kneeling down by the pint-sized building. He tugged gently on the front door and it swung open.
    Everybody held their breath as Henry stuck his hand into the opening and patted all around.
    “Anything there?” Benny asked in a hushed voice.
    “Ta-daah!” cried Henry. When he turned around to face them, he had a cracked pink cup in his hand. Standing up straight, he held the cup out to his little brother. “I think this belongs to you, Benny.”
    The youngest Alden was all smiles as they made their way back to the hotel. “I’ll never let it out of my sight again,” he said. “Not ever!”
    “One thing’s for sure,” said Henry. “Andy’s looking more and more suspicious.”
    Jessie nodded. “I know what you mean,” she said. “He certainly knew Violet was getting film developed.”
    “Maybe he went back to the photo shop this morning,” Henry concluded, “and slipped an extra picture into our envelope.”
    “I don’t think Andy’s the nice person he pretends to be,” Violet admitted reluctantly.
    “Not if he was trying to distract us,” Jessie agreed.
    Henry added, “This time, his plan didn’t work.”
    Benny agreed. “We found my cracked pink cup just like that!” he said with a snap of his fingers.
    The Aldens looked at each other. Would they find the last gold coin just like that?

CHAPTER 9
The Strange Riddle
    “Don’t open the box just yet, Jessie,” Andy was saying. “One more minute and we’ll be set to go.”
    While the Aldens waited on an empty bench, Violet whispered, “Did you see Fiona’s reaction when Benny walked into the lobby?”
    Next to her, Jessie nodded. “She couldn’t take her eyes off his cracked pink cup.”
    “It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Violet sighed. “It’s hard to know what’s really going on.”
    “Are you ready now?” Benny called out to Andy. The youngest Alden was wiggling with suspense.
    “Ready!” Andy called back, propping his camera up on his shoulder.
    With a quick motion, Jessie flipped open the lid of the wooden box and removed a small sheet of