Game Store Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online

“That’s okay, Jessie. I have nothing to hide. I do have a key to both stores. In fact, I have a key to all the stores here. I need to be able to get in in case there’s an emergency. But I don’t know the combinations to any of the safes.”
    “I hope you don’t think we were accusing you,” Jessie said. “We’re just trying to gather information.”
    “I know,” George said. “And I appreciate that you kids are trying to find our robber.”
    “I just wish we were having better luck,” Henry said.
    That night the Aldens returned to the Game Spot at seven o’clock as planned. Queenie had gotten to the paint store and picked up all the colors they had requested. She had also bought a wooden table and four chairs for the Kids’ Korner.
    “I couldn’t find tables and chairs in bright colors,” Queenie explained. “Are you still willing to paint these?”
    “Absolutely,” Violet said. “We can use the tables and chairs to bring out the colors in the mural.”
    “That’s a wonderful idea,” Queenie said. “I’m really pleased with the job you kids are doing.”
    “Thanks,” Violet replied. “We’re having fun, too.”
    “Well, I can see you don’t need me, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be working in the backroom,” Queenie said.
    “Okay,” Jessie said.
    The children got their paint and supplies. They spread out dropcloths below where they were working. Then they got busy. Jessie and Violet did some small brush work around the mural. Benny and Henry worked on the table.
    “What do you think, Benny?” Henry asked. “Red or yellow?”
    “Yellow,” Benny replied. “With a blue lightning strike down the middle.”
    “That sounds good!” Henry said. He opened a can of yellow paint and started stirring.
    It was so quiet in the store that night that Queenie had put on a radio for background noise. Every now and then the children would sing along with a song they recognized. But other than that, they worked straight for the next hour.
    “Whew!” Jessie wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. “I’m ready for a break.”
    “Me, too,” Henry said. He and Benny had just finished painting the table yellow. They’d need to let the paint dry before adding the blue lightning strike.
    It was starting to get dark outside. The streetlights in the parking lot had come on.
    “Shall we go wash our hands and get a snack?” Jessie asked. Mrs. McGregor had packed them some cheese and crackers and lemonade in case they got hungry while they were working.
    “Sure,” Violet said.
    One by one, the children took turns washing up in the small bathroom in the back, then they went to sit down at the large table in the front of the store.
    “The mural is almost done,” Violet said. “And I don’t think it’ll take very long to paint those chairs. We’ll probably just need to come in one more time to finish all that up.”
    “Hooray!” Benny said. “I can’t wait until the Kids’ Korner is done!”
    “I bet Jessie can’t, either,” Henry said. “She’ll be in here all the time playing Word Master.”
    Violet and Benny nodded their agreement.
    But Jessie didn’t seem to be paying much attention to what they were saying. She was staring at something out the window.
    “What are you looking at, Jessie?” Violet asked. It was getting dark outside, so it was hard to see anything.

    “I don’t know,” Jessie replied, her forehead pressed against the glass. “I thought I saw someone moving around in the bushes in front of that sign out there, but I’m not seeing anything now. Maybe I was mistaken.”
    The others all pressed their hands to the window and peered out into the darkness, too.
    “I just saw something, too,” Henry said.
    “So did I,” Benny said. “It looks like there’s someone hiding in the rose bushes. I think they’re reaching up and taking letters off the sign.”
    “Let’s go!” Henry leaped to his feet. “Maybe we can catch our letter thief in the