Mystery of the Stolen Sword by Charles Tang Read Free Book Online

strange,” Violet said. “Maybe we should ask Mr. Ambrose how he knows Veronica.”
    But when they turned around to look at Blake Ambrose, the author had vanished.
    “How did we miss him?” Henry was surprised. “He was just here.”
    Jessie looked over at the author’s table. The remains of his tuna sandwich lay on his plate. The newspaper he had been reading was neatly folded beside his place setting, and he had left money on the table to pay for his meal.
    “He sure comes and goes quickly,” Jessie remarked. “I think it’s interesting that Veronica knows him. That may be an important clue.”
    “You mean because Veronica works on the farm?” Violet asked.
    Jessie nodded. “Veronica could be giving Blake information about the secret passageway and what’s in it.”
    “That’s true,” Henry agreed. “But we really don’t have any evidence that Blake is involved in these burglaries. All we know is that he’s nosy.”
    “And he knows Veronica,” Jessie repeated as she pulled her notebook out of her backpack. She added Blake’s name to her list of suspects.
    When the Aldens were finished, they paid for their lunch at the counter and bought a bag of assorted doughnuts to go. (Benny made sure they were mostly chocolate ones.) Then they walked back to the library to get their bicycles.
    Once on the road, Benny was sure he kept seeing the same large blue car not too far behind them. Henry noticed it, too, and wondered if they were being followed.
    By the time the Aldens reached the store, the car had disappeared. They never saw the driver.

CHAPTER 8
The Antique Store
    “G oodness, I had no idea that letter was stolen. That’s dreadful!” the owner of the antique store exclaimed. Mrs. Holmes was a round, short woman with wiry gray hair. “I would never knowingly sell stolen merchandise,” she told the Aldens. “I must call the police about this.”
    “Mrs. Holmes,” Jessie said gently, “do you remember who brought the letter in?”
    The owner sighed and looked around her store. “I have so many things in here,” she said wearily. “It’s hard to keep track of who brings in what. I buy most of my things at yard sales and auctions, but I don’t believe that’s where the letter came from. I wish I could remember more. I really do. And I must apologize to Seymour.” Mrs. Holmes was wringing her hands.
    “That letter would have come in recently,” Henry pointed out.
    “Well, we don’t know that for sure,” Jessie reminded her brother. “Seymour doesn’t exactly know when the letters were stolen.”
    “True,” Henry agreed. “But we think it was within the last month or so.”
    “Seymour is also missing a stamp collection and a sword dating from the Civil War. You don’t have anything like that around, do you?” Henry asked.
    Mrs. Holmes shook her head. “Good heavens, no. That I’m sure of. I just wish I could remember more about the letter. If you’ll give me a few moments, I’ll check my files. Perhaps I can find some record there.”
    “Sure, we’ll just look around your store awhile,” Violet offered. “You might even remember more while we’re here.”
    “I’ll certainly try to,” Mrs. Holmes assured her. “I just wish I kept better records of things.” The owner vanished behind a large oak desk and started rummaging through some cardboard boxes that served as her filing cabinets.
    Henry walked over to a pile of newspapers. Jessie looked at some old glass vases in a cabinet. Violet and Benny went to a corner where there were some old toys: dolls, wooden blocks, and rocking horses.
    “These are such old toys,” Violet said as she lifted a doll’s dress to inspect her petticoat.
    “Those are the best kind,” the owner muttered. She sat on the floor surrounded by scraps of paper. “Oh, this is useless,” she said sadly. “I’m never going to find anything in this mess.”
    Violet came over to her. “Mrs. Holmes,” she began, “do you remember buying the