Grandfather arrived for dinner just as Mrs. McGregor was setting a pot roast on the table.
“Smells great!” Grandfather said. “I’m sorry I’m late. My meeting lasted longer than I had thought.”
Just then, there was a loud clap of thunder, and the lights flickered off and on for a minute. Rain drummed against the side of the house. The children quickly closed all the windows.
“You got home just in time, Grandfather.” Violet spread her napkin on her lap. “One moment later and you would have been caught in the storm.”
“That’s true. My timing was perfect.” Grandfather smiled. “I’m glad my grandchildren are not out in this storm.”
During dinner, the children told Grandfather about the vandalism at Mr. Hudson’s home and the work that they had done to clean it up.
“That was very kind of you,” Grandfather said. “I wonder who would do such a thing?”
“We’ve been wondering the same thing, Grandfather,” said Henry.
Jessie spooned some warm applesauce onto Benny’s plate. “We think that whoever it is does not want Mr. Hudson to sell his house.”
Violet was thinking hard. She’d heard Josh on the phone the day before. She knew he had said something about selling the house. But she couldn’t remember what he’d said.
Grandfather shook his head. “I suppose the vandalism is why Mr. Hudson cut short his business trip.”
“Mr. Hudson is home?” asked Henry. “I thought so.” Grandfather passed the mashed potatoes to Benny. “But I could be wrong. Driving home this evening, I thought I saw Mr. Hudson walking down the street near the library. I called out to him, but he turned a corner and disappeared.”
After dinner, Grandfather went into his study to make some phone calls. Mrs. McGregor brought out an iced lemon cake and four plates.
“You brought home the lemon cake from the bake sale?” Benny clapped his hands.
“No, Benny,” Mrs. McGregor replied. “Someone bought that cake and donated twenty dollars to the library for it.”
“Twenty dollars! That must have been the biggest donation at the bake sale!” Violet smiled at Mrs. McGregor.
Mrs. McGregor’s face flushed red with pride. “I don’t know about that,” she said.
“I don’t think twenty dollars is enough.” Benny held out his empty plate. “I would pay one hundred dollars for your lemon cake!”
“That’s why I made another one for you when I came home.” Mrs. McGregor laughed. “And I’ll even waive the hundred–dollar fee!”
The Aldens each ate a big slice of the good cake.
“Do you think the man that Grandfather saw today was Mr. Hudson?” asked Violet.
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “If it was Mr. Hudson, why didn’t he say hello when Grandfather called out to him?”
“Maybe he didn’t hear Grandfather,” said Jessie.
“I thought I saw Mr. Hudson, too,” said Benny. “But now I know it wasn’t him.”
“How do you know? “Jessie refilled Benny’s glass with milk.
“The man I saw did not dress like Mr. Hudson. His clothes were old and not very clean. There was dirt on them and even some stains that looked like oil.”
Violet tapped her fork on the table, thinking. “You’re probably right, Benny. Mr. Hudson seems to be a very neat person. I don’t think he would wear dirty clothes.”
Benny took a big gulp of milk. “He did look like Mr. Hudson, but it was probably just his white hair and mustache that confused me.”
“I wonder if the Bensons showed up to look at the house this afternoon,” Jessie said.
Benny wiped away his milk mustache. “I hope that Josh didn’t say anything about vampires to them.”
“Josh wouldn’t do that,” Henry said. “Not if he wants to sell the house for Mr. Hudson. Doesn’t he want everyone to be interested in buying it?”
This reminded Violet of something. Something important. Suddenly she remembered what Josh had said on the phone. “Maybe he doesn’t!” Violet said.
Henry, Jessie, and Benny looked very surprised.
“Why not, Violet?” asked Jessie. “Selling the house is Josh’s job.”
At last Violet told the others about the conversation she had overheard. “He told the person on the phone that everything was working out well. When Mr. Hudson came back from his trip, Josh would convince him to lower the price for the house.”
“That is very suspicious,” Henry admitted.
Jessie crossed her arms. “And Josh did act strange when he noticed us standing next to his car.”
“He knows all about the legend of the vampire,” Benny added. “Remember how he told us the whole story?”
“Maybe Josh is behind the vandalism,” Henry said. “He could be using scenes from the book to scare people away. If no one wants to buy the house, Mr. Hudson will have to offer it for a very low price.”
Violet nodded. “And the person who Josh was speaking to on the phone would get a great house for not much money. That would be so unfair!”
“Maybe if we read Mr. Hudson’s book, we can find more clues to this mystery,” Henry said. “We might be able to find out what Josh will be up to next.”
“If it is Josh, that is,” Jessie added. “But what if it’s Mrs. Fairfax? She doesn’t want the house sold either. And since she lives next door, it would be easy for her to cause the damage and sneak back home.”
“That’s true.” Violet folded her napkin. “And Mrs. Fairfax always hears us when we are at Mr. Hudson’s house. Don’t you think she would have heard the person who broke the flowerpots and wrote on the porch?”
“There is another suspect as well,” Henry said. “We shouldn’t forget about the man who ran into Benny at the library fair.”
“But what could he have to do with it?” asked Benny.
Henry looked thoughtful. “I don’t really know. But it is suspicious that he ran away from you when you called him by Mr. Hudson’s name. And don’t forget that he had your library book. He must have taken it from your backpack at Mr. Hudson’s while we were inside having lunch.”
“The book! It’s gone again! I can’t believe it!” Benny slapped the side of his head.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jessie.
“I left it on the kitchen table at Mr. Hudson’s house. I set it down there so I could pull up the rug to use to cover the words written on the front porch. Afterwards, I forgot to go back inside for the book.”
Henry laughed. “I think there is something mysterious about that book. It never stays in the same place.”
“Can we go get it?” asked Benny.
“I suppose we can,” said Henry. “But it will be dark soon. We can’t ride our bikes.”
Violet looked out the window. “The rain seems to have stopped.”
The children cleaned up their dessert plates and put the cake away. They each found a flashlight to take on their nighttime walk. The air was slightly cool and the storm clouds were moving away. A round, full moon shone over Greenfield. |