Mystery of the Melting Snowman by Florence Parry Heide Read Free Book Online

teapot. He was smiling and wrapping it in tissue paper.
    Dexter paid for his cactus plants. “Better watch these,” grinned Tom. “They bite. Anyway, they prickle.”
    They said good-bye. “See you later,” called Tom as they were leaving. “My parents are coming tonight. They love kids and they never see any. They’ll be here all day tomorrow. Why don’t you come on over? Dad would love to tell you all he knows about cactus plants.”
    “Sure,” said Dexter.
    They walked in the snow to the Temples’ house. As soon as the door had closed behind them, Dexter gave a war whoop.
    “What’s that about?” asked Cindy.
    “I’m so tired of whispering,” he shouted. “It’s great to talk out loud again.”
    “I hear you’re back,” called Mrs. Temple from upstairs. “And I’d bet my whole free day that you have another mystery!”
    “You’re right, Mom,” called Cindy.
    “We’ve got a billion things to talk about,” Jay told Dexter and Cindy. “You two watch the red house and I’ll fix some sandwiches. I’m dying of starvation.”
    “Good,” said Cindy. “I’d rather watch than fix.”
    In a moment Cindy and Dexter saw Alex Baxter leave the Wellington house, his long black coat and wide black hat etched against the white snow.
    She and Dexter watched him stride to the end of the street and walk around the barricade. Then he climbed into the green car with the crumpled fender. In a moment he was gone.
    “It’s funny,” said Cindy. “I was so sure he was a bad guy. And all along he was a detective trying to prove that Jenny and Tom were the guilty ones.” She stared outside. “I still don’t believe it,” she decided. “I believe it with my head, but I don’t believe it in my bones.”
    Dexter sighed. “Your bones!”
    Jay came in with a platter of sandwich fixings.
    “And mugs of soup!” said Cindy. “Thank you, Jay!” In a few minutes they had finished lunch. Many people were going in and out of the red house. People were coming out with their arms filled with packages.
    “The sale seems to be doing all right,” said Jay. “They must be making money.”
    “We have to watch sharp to see if one of those people leaving the house is Tom. He could be disguised,” said Dexter.
    “He couldn’t be disguised as a very little, very old lady,” said Jay.
    They were still watching when Mrs. Temple left with the Tates for Chicago.

Chapter 7
The Warning Fails
    C INDY WAS LEAFING through her notebook for the tenth time. “It’s funny,” she said, “that Alex Baxter is letting Jenny and Tom sell Mrs. Wellington’s things. He knows they’re guilty. Why doesn’t he stop them now?”
    “Because a detective has to have proof,” said Jay. “That’s what he was telling us.”
    “And the iron dog is proof,” said Dexter, pushing his glasses up on his head.
    “Right. And we have the iron dog,” said Jay.
    “But he doesn’t know we have it,” said Dexter. “Nobody knows but us.”
    “And nobody should know,” said Cindy. “We have to be able to prove how it got into the snowman before we let Alex Baxter know we have it. Otherwise, we’re not helping at all.”
    Suddenly Jay clapped a hand to his head.
    “You’ve thought of something!” said Dexter.
    “I’ve thought of my paper route,” answered Jay. “Just as things start happening, I’ll be off on my paper route! Delivering papers when I should be solving mysteries.”
    “Call Travis Hackworthy,” suggested Dexter. “Ask him if he’ll sub for you.”
    So Jay called Travis and arranged for him to deliver the afternoon papers for his route.
    Cindy was writing in her notebook. “If we can prove once and for all that Tom Foster stole the iron dog and hid it in the snowman, we can really help Alex Baxter. Here’s what we know so far: Tom Foster helped the Maxwell kids with the snowman. We know that because of the sunglasses and the scarf. He sent Amy and Randy into the house for a carrot. That’s when he could have