Tree House Mystery by Gertrude Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

talk about you.”
    Uncle Max looked unhappy. “The diner isn’t doing very well,” he said. “But that’s not your worry, it’s mine.”
    “It’s mine,” said Sammy. “I want to worry about you, Uncle Max.”
    “Thank you, Sammy,” said Uncle Max. “I suppose I ought to close the diner and work at something else. But I do love to cook and see people eat.”
    Mrs. Beach said, “Then you should not close the restaurant, Max. People ought to do the things they like to do. Never mind just working for money.”
    Benny looked around. He said, “I think people like to eat where it’s bright. It seems dark here.”
    Jeffrey added, “Maybe a new name would help. We used to go to the Jumping Jack Restaurant in New York just because we liked the name. The food wasn’t as good as yours.”
    Jessie said, “I think people have forgotten about your place because they don’t use this road much any more. You need to do something special to make them want to come.”
    “I could try a new name,” said Uncle Max. “And I could put in more windows myself.”
    The Beaches and the Aldens talked about the restaurant until lunchtime. Then John Beach found out what delicious food his brother could cook. He and his wife had a chicken salad, but all the children had hot dogs.
    When Henry and Mr. Beach started to pay Uncle Max, he said, “Oh, no! You are invited to lunch.”
    Henry said, “No. It is silly for you to take in eight people for nothing.”
    “My grandfather wouldn’t like it if we didn’t pay,” Benny said.
    Uncle Max had to take the money.
    When they were riding home, Jeffrey said, “Let’s go right up to the room and hunt around again. We might find something we missed.”
    “And I haven’t even seen it,” Henry said.
    “Nor I!” Jessie added.

CHAPTER 8
    Mrs. McGregor’s Clue
    J essie and Henry looked around the little room that Violet, Benny, and the Beach boys had found. It looked brighter and not as spooky in the afternoon light. The big rocking horse still had some of its gay colors.
    “How shall we begin?” Sammy asked.
    Henry said, “Suppose you two boys take the bed. Look at everything. Don’t miss a thing. Take off all the bedclothes and the mattress.”
    Sammy said, “I know. Maybe there’s something hidden in the mattress. Come on, Jeffrey.”
    “Be careful,” Jessie warned. “These things are old and some of them may break.”
    Henry said, “Violet and Jessie can take the desk. Benny and I can look at the rest of the room.”
    Jeffrey and Sammy pulled the bed away from the wall. They took the blanket off. They shook the pillow. They pulled the sheet back and looked at the mattress.
    After a few minutes Jeffrey said sadly, “I guess there aren’t any clues here.”
    “Put the things back then,” suggested Violet.
    Just as Sammy was putting the pillow down he looked at it and stopped. “We didn’t see this before! Look, there are letters here on the pillowslip.”
    Everybody came over to look. In tiny cross-stitch embroidery there were two letters, W and C.
    “The C must stand for Carver,” Jeffrey guessed. “But what about the W?”
    “Think!” said Benny. “Maybe the W stands for the little boy’s first name. It could be Walter or William.”
    “Or Wally,” said Sammy. “Come on, maybe we can find something else.”
    Violet and Jessie took out every drawer of the desk. They were all empty. Violet put her hand into the empty spaces for the drawers to see if she could find a secret drawer. But there was nothing to find.
    Jessie was looking at the top of the desk. “Look at this—here are some letters carved on the desk with a knife. It isn’t very plain. Let’s see. Here is a W and this must be an I.”
    Violet looked too. “There are two L’s and a Y,” she said.
    “WILLY!” everybody shouted at once.
    “I bet the little boy was named Willy Carver,” said Sammy. “That goes with the initials on the pillowslip.”
    Benny and Henry had looked all around the