The Aldens got up early the next morning to surprise Aunt Jane with a special breakfast. They discussed the mystery while they worked.
“I still can’t believe it,” Jessie was saying as she scrambled eggs in a large bowl. “Imagine finding a mystery in a fortune cookie!”
“I keep wondering where we should look first,” said Violet, who was washing strawberries under the tap. “When we get to town, I mean.”
Henry looked up. “Unless I miss my guess, the Rainbow’s End Jewelry Store might be a good place to start.”
The others stared at Henry. Slowly they understood his meaning.
“Oh!” cried Violet. “If a rainbow explodes, then — ”
“That’s the end of it!” finished Benny.
Henry nodded. “Exactly.”
Benny let out a cheer. It was always fun figuring out clues.
“And the jewelry store is right beside The Underground,” added Jessie.
Violet nodded. “And that means it’s not far from the Kowloon Restaurant.”
“Something sure smells good,” Aunt Jane said, walking into the kitchen.
“We made breakfast,” Jessie told her. “Come and have some.”
Aunt Jane pulled up a chair. “You certainly are the early birds today.”
“Well, the early bird catches the worm,” Henry said with a grin. He set a platter of crispy bacon on the table.
Smiling, Aunt Jane said, “I have a hunch you won’t be looking for worms today.”
“You’re right, Aunt Jane.” Benny’s eyes were shining. “We’ll be looking for clues!”
“We thought we’d ride into town after breakfast,” Jessie said as she dished up the scrambled eggs.
“If you don’t mind, Aunt Jane,” Violet was quick to add.
Aunt Jane didn’t mind at all. She knew the Aldens were never happier than when they were tracking clues. “Just beware of exploding rainbows and twisting tigers!” she said. She sounded serious, but there was a teasing twinkle in her eye.
After breakfast, when the dishes had been washed and put away, the Aldens set off on the bikes their aunt kept for them. As they pedaled along the dirt roads, Violet looked over at Jessie, who was riding beside her.
“Don’t you just love the sweet country air?” she asked.
Jessie took a deep breath and nodded. “I can smell dried grass and wildflowers.”
When the Aldens arrived in town, they put their bikes in a bike rack. Then they walked the short distance from the parking lot to Elmford’s Main Street. The children had visited Aunt Jane so many times, they knew their way around the little town very well.
Henry’s gaze took in the tidy little shops that lined both sides of the street. “Let’s check out the Rainbow’s End Jewelry Store.”
“Rainbows can’t really explode,” said Benny as he fell into step beside Henry. Then he frowned a little. “Can they?”
Henry shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Rainbows just fade away,” said Violet.
Benny was still busy thinking. “And there’s no such thing as twisting tigers, right?”
“Right,” said Jessie. “Somebody just has a good imagination.”
Violet had a thought. “Maybe the jewelry store has a brooch or a necklace with a twisting tiger or a colorful rainbow on it.”
“Could be,” said Henry.
As the Aldens neared the jewelry store, a voice behind them said, “Well, look who’s here!”
The children turned around and saw Dottie coming up the stone steps from The Underground. She looked at the Aldens curiously. “What brings you into town again so soon?”
Benny ran over to her, bursting with news. “We’ll be solving the fortune cookie mystery in no time, Dottie!” he said. “Henry figured out one of the clues already.”
Raising her eyebrows, Dottie said, “Well, imagine that!” She seemed delighted.
“We’re not really sure we’re on the right track,” Henry was quick to add. “But we think Benny’s fortune might be leading us to the Rainbow’s End Jewelry Store.”
“Would you mind if I tag along?” Dottie asked. “Maybe I can sniff out a clue or two.”
“We’d love to have you join us,” Violet told her, speaking for them all.
As they stepped inside the jewelry store, Benny suddenly spotted another familiar face. Martin Howard was staring through the glass countertop at the sparkling array of rings and watches. He seemed to be lost in thought.
“Hi, Martin!” Benny called out to him.
Suddenly Martin jerked his head around. “Oh!” He looked startled to see the Aldens. Then he caught sight of his business partner and his face turned bright red.
Dottie gave him a puzzled smile. “What are you doing here, Martin?”
The question seemed to catch him off guard. “What ... ?”
“I didn’t know you took an interest in jewelry.”
“I ... I was just looking at, um ... watches,” Martin stammered.
“Watches?” echoed Dottie. “But ... you already have two beautiful watches, Martin.”
“A person can have three watches, can’t he?” Martin cut in a little gruffly.
Jessie looked at Henry, but she didn’t say anything. She thought Martin seemed very nervous.
Just then, a woman in a blue business suit came out from the back room. She was carrying a tiny velvet box in her hand. “You’re going to love this, Martin,” she said. “It’s the most stunning — ”
Martin held up a hand. “No! No, I don’t want to see it right now!” His voice sounded tense. “I don’t have time to stand around looking at watches all day.”
The salesclerk gave Martin a peculiar look. “Watches? But I thought — ”
Martin’s forehead was beading with perspiration. “I, uh, I have to leave. Right now. I just remembered that I forgot something.” With that, he turned on his heel and rushed out.
The woman behind the counter let out a sigh. “For the life of me, I’ll never understand people!” Then she disappeared into the back again.
“What was that all about?” Henry wondered aloud.
Violet added, “Martin’s usually so friendly.”
“Always such a perfect gentleman,” Dottie agreed. “Goodness, he was acting as though he’d just been caught doing something wrong.”
Soon they forgot all about Martin as they set to work searching for exploding rainbows and twisting tigers. They looked carefully at all the displays of lockets and necklaces, brooches and bracelets, watches and rings, tie clips and earrings. But they found nothing that would help with the mystery.
Outside, Henry said, “I guess we weren’t on the right track after all.”
“Now what?” said Benny.
“Why not check out the other stores on Main Street?” Dottie suggested. Then, with a cheery wave, she dashed back to The Underground.
Nobody had any better ideas, so the Aldens continued down Main Street. “Anything unusual can be a clue,” Henry reminded them, “or an answer to a clue.”
They kept their eyes open, but there were no exploding rainbows or twisting tigers in any of the stores along the way. After a while, Benny stopped to watch a man wearing a red rubber nose. The man was in front of Albert’s Fruit and Vegetable Cellar handing out balloons to the customers.
Benny turned to Henry. “That clown’s handing out balloons.”
“That’s true,” Henry said, giving his brother a puzzled look.
“And the balloons are in every color of the rainbow!”
“Wait a minute!” said Henry. “You might be onto something, Benny. Balloons explode if you prick them with a pin.”
“Do you think the clues are leading us here?” Jessie asked in disbelief. “To Albert’s Fruit and Vegetable Cellar?”
“Anything’s possible,” said Henry. “Clowns are in the circus, and so are lions and tigers.”
“Let’s take a look around,” Violet suggested.
The Aldens searched through the shop once ... twice ... three times. They found oranges and apples, bananas and plums, turnips and potatoes, carrots and celery, onions and cabbages. But no clues.
When they stepped outside, the man in the red rubber nose offered Benny a balloon. But Benny just shook his head. “Thanks anyway,” he said. Then he walked away with his shoulders slumped.
“Never mind,” Jessie said, ruffling her little brother’s hair. “It was worth a shot.”
As they continued along the sidewalk, Violet suddenly spun around to face her sister and brothers. “I just thought of something! We need to go back.”
“Back?” echoed Henry. “You mean the way we came?”
Violet nodded. “Maybe Benny’s on the right track about the circus.”
“But, Violet,” said Jessie, “Elmford doesn’t have a circus.”
“There’s another name for it,” Violet told them. “For the circus, I mean.”
Henry, Jessie, and Benny stared at her. They looked totally confused. Then Jessie snapped her fingers in sudden understanding.
“Some people call the circus the big top!”
Benny scrunched up his face. “I don’t get it.”
“I think I do,” said Henry. “You’re talking about the Big Top T-Shirt Shop, aren’t you, Violet?”
With that, the children hurried back along Main Street. Inside the T-shirt shop, Benny made a beeline straight for the salesman. “Excuse me, please,” he said. “I was wondering if you have any shirts with exploding rainbows or twisting tigers on them.”
His brother and sisters exchanged smiles. They could always count on Benny not to waste time on small talk.
The salesman rolled his eyes. “Look, I just started this job today,” he said irritably. “I have no idea what’s here.” Then he turned his back on Benny and walked away.
Benny spoke in a small voice. “I tried to be polite.”
“You were polite, Benny.” Violet stepped up beside her brother and put a comforting arm around him.
“We can look through the T-shirts ourselves. It won’t take long if we split up,” Jessie suggested in her practical way.
Jessie and Violet set to work checking out the T-shirts on the shelves. Henry and Benny searched through the T-shirts piled on the half-price table. They looked and looked. But they didn’t find any T-shirts with exploding rainbows or twisting tigers on them.
At last, they stepped outside. “Looks like we struck out again,” Violet admitted.
Henry shook his head. “It’s a real mess in there,” he remarked. “No wonder that new salesman didn’t know what T-shirts they had.”
“What now?” Benny wanted to know.
Henry looked at his wristwatch. “Why don’t we figure it out over lunch?”
“Great idea!” cried Benny. He gave his brother the thumbs-up sign.
Soon they were all settled in a booth at the Elmford Coffee Shop. “Maybe we didn’t find any clues,” Violet said. “But at least we didn’t come away empty-handed.” She held up a shopping bag.
Jessie smiled. “Won’t Grandfather be surprised?”
“I can’t wait for him to see it,” added Benny.
As Henry passed out the menus, he said, “What could be a better gift for Grandfather than a T-shirt with ‘World’s Greatest Grandfather’ on it?”
When the waitress arrived, Henry ordered a toasted cheese sandwich and a cola. Jessie had a chicken sandwich, cole slaw, and milk. Violet chose tuna on a bun and lemonade. And Benny ordered a hamburger, fries, and chocolate milk. The waitress wrote down their orders and hurried away.
While they waited for their food, the Aldens turned their attention back to the mystery. “Isn’t it funny?” Jessie remarked. “The clues seemed to fit so many places.”
Nodding, Henry started adding everything up on his fingers. “First, there was the Rainbow’s End Jewelry Store, then Albert’s Fruit and Vegetable Cellar, and finally the Big Top T-Shirt Shop.”
“That seems weird,” said Violet.
Henry shrugged. “It’s amazing what you can talk yourself into.”
“What do you mean, Henry?” Benny wanted to know.
“Well ... ” Henry hesitated. “It turns out the clues weren’t really leading us to any of those places,” he pointed out. “Maybe we just made the clues fit because ... ” He paused for a moment to sort out his thoughts. “Well, because we wanted to believe there was a real mystery to solve.”
The corners of Benny’s mouth turned down. “You mean this isn’t a real mystery?” He looked crushed.
There was a long silence. In a quiet voice, Henry finally answered Benny’s question. “It’s beginning to look that way.”
Violet bit her lip. “I really don’t know what to believe.”
“I don’t, either,” put in Jessie. “But I guess it’s possible we got all worked up about nothing. Maybe Martin was right after all. Maybe the fortune was just some prank.”
Benny didn’t look very happy to hear that. The enthusiasm seemed to drain out of him.
No one said anything for a while. There was nothing to say. If the fortune was just a prank, then there wasn’t a mystery to solve.
As the waitress brought their food, Benny spoke up. “We can’t just do nothing, can we?” he protested.
Violet felt her brother’s disappointment. “Maybe we should check out a few more stores.”
“Okay, Benny,” Henry said. “We’ll go to all the stores.”
“We promise,” added Jessie.
Benny felt more cheerful after hearing this. “Maybe we can check out the ice cream parlor next,” Benny suggested, with a grin on his face. He dipped a french fry into ketchup. “And while we’re there, we can get — ”
“Ice-cream cones for dessert!” finished Violet, who couldn’t help laughing.
Jessie swallowed a bite of her sandwich. “Are you sure you’ll have room for dessert, Benny, after a hamburger and so many fries?” She smiled as she waited for her younger brother’s answer, even though she knew what it would be.
“I always have room for ice cream!” said Benny, who loved desserts. He turned to his brother. “Do we have enough money for ice cream, Henry?”
But Henry didn’t seem to hear Benny. He had spotted someone sitting at a nearby booth. It was Martin! He was sipping coffee and talking on a cell phone.
“Of course I’m not getting cold feet!” Martin said into the phone, sounding annoyed. “I’m telling you, there was nothing I could do. It all happened too fast.”
Henry put his finger to his lips. “Don’t look now,” he whispered to the others, “but Martin is here.”
One by one, the other Aldens peeked over to take a look. “You’re right, Henry,” Jessie said, trying not to stare.
Violet turned around slowly to take another glance. “I wonder why he looks upset,” she said in a hushed voice.
The children didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But from where they were sitting, they couldn’t help overhearing bits and pieces of the phone conversation.
“Don’t forget, you’re dealing with Drum Keller.” Martin was talking loudly now. “Even a hint of something fishy going on and it’ll ruin everything!”
Jessie held a forkful of coleslaw in midair. “Did ... did he just say something fishy was going on?”
“Yes,” Henry answered. None of them liked the sound of this.
Just then, Martin pocketed his cell phone, got to his feet, and walked out of the coffee shop. As the door closed, the Aldens leaned closer together and began speaking in low voices.
“Do you think something fishy really is going on?” Violet said in alarm.
“I hope not.” Jessie found it difficult to swallow. She put down her fork. “I really like Martin. He’s always been so nice to us.” She didn’t like to think of him doing anything wrong.
Henry took a sip of his cola. “He was acting weird in the jewelry store today.”
Jessie nodded. “He looked as if we’d caught him in the middle of something he wanted to keep secret.”
The four children fell silent for a while. They were all wondering the same things. Who was Drum Keller? And what on earth was Martin Howard up to?
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