The Pizza Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online

problem. Just a little blackout. Just sit tight. I have a couple of flashlights and emergency lamps right here. Nothing to worry about.”
    Jessie peeked out the restaurant window. She expected to see the whole street in darkness. “It’s only the restaurant that lost its power,” she told Henry, who had just come back from his deliveries.
    â€œI know. Everything went black just as I came in the kitchen,” Henry said.
    â€œWhere’s Laurie?” Jessie asked. “Does she have any light in there?”
    â€œYou know, that’s the strange thing,” Henry said. “The lights went out just as I got here, but Laurie already had a flashlight in her hand when she came up the cellar stairs.”
    Even in the dim light Henry could see his sister’s eyes widen. “Why would she need a flashlight down in the cellar unless she knew the power was going to go off?”
    â€œJust what I was thinking,” Henry answered. “But you know what she said? That she heard a noise down there and grabbed a flashlight so she could go and check on it. Then she tried to blame everything on Nick.”
    â€œNick? I’m pretty sure he was out here when the power went off.” Jessie looked over toward the kitchen and saw Nick setting up the emergency lights. “You know, Henry, now I’m not so sure. We were so busy, I don’t really know where he was.”
    The customers grew restless. They wanted to go home.
    â€œListen, everyone,” Mr. Piccolo called out. “My helpers here, they’re going to wrap up your pizzas for you to take home. It’s take-out night for everyone. Nobody pays.”
    A few people clapped. The Aldens couldn’t clap. They knew this emergency was going to cost the Piccolos a lot of money.
    Mr. Piccolo went on. “On your way out, my good friend Benny Alden here will give you a coupon for free pizza when you come back to the restaurant. All right?”
    â€œAll right!” a few adventurous customers cheered.
    Nick came out with a stack of pizza boxes. Laurie handed everyone a spatula. Then they all went around to each table boxing up the unfinished pizzas. As promised, Benny handed out free pizza coupons.
    Mr. Piccolo sighed when the last person left. “What a night! We’ll have to get an electrician out here first thing in the morning to see what the problem is,” he said.
    â€œOr who the problem is,” Laurie muttered under her breath after the Piccolos went into the kitchen.
    In the low light, the children saw Nick glare at Laurie, but he said nothing. Shortly afterwards he left the restaurant with barely a good night.
    When Mrs. Piccolo came out of the kitchen, Violet noticed she was crying softly. “What is it?” Violet asked.
    Mrs. Piccolo took Violet’s hand and led her to the big white deep freezer. “My sauces. They will thaw out without electricity. The tomatoes are from our garden last summer. Special tomatoes for Piccolos’ sauce. We will lose more than money if we lose these frozen sauces.”
    Laurie Baker was the only one of the tired group who didn’t seem upset by this. “Well,” Laurie said, almost cheerfully, “you can teach me how to make some new batches. We don’t even need electricity for that. We can start tomorrow.”
    Mrs. Piccolo smiled at the young woman. “Ah, such a willing worker you are. But there are no fresh tomatoes at this time of year. The sauce would never be the same.”
    Before Laurie had an answer for that, Violet came up with a solution. “Benny, Jessie, Henry. Go get your jackets, boots, and hats and follow me.”
    â€œWhere are you going?” Laurie Baker asked suspiciously. “Nothing’s open at this hour. You’ll never find anyone with a freezer for all the frozen sauces and meats in here.”
    It was too dark for Laurie to see Violet’s ear-to-ear grin. “Oh, yes, we will!” she