Ice Cream Mystery Read Online Free Page A

payment,” Grandfather said.
    “We didn’t think you’d think it was such a good idea to eat ice cream so close to dinner,” explained Benny.
    “Noooo, I don’t. But I guess you won’t do it again,” Grandfather said.
    “No,” said Violet. “Not even to solve the mystery.”
    Grandfather nodded. His four grandchildren had told him all about what had happened at the Ice Cream Barn. He knew if anybody could find out who had placed the fake order, it was them.
    “Will you be going to the Ice Cream Barn tomorrow?” he asked.
    “Probably,” said Henry. “Then we can look for more clues.”
    “But I don’t think we’re going to eat as much ice cream,” said Jessie. “Even Benny has had enough for a while!”
    But the Aldens didn’t go to the Ice Cream Barn the next morning. Instead they did a few errands for Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor. They mailed letters for Grandfather. They took Mrs. McGregor’s books back to the library. Then they stopped by the bike shop to put air in Benny’s bicycle tires.
    That was when Violet noticed that the poster she had put up in the front of the bike shop wasn’t there.
    She stopped. She looked at Henry. “Didn’t we put a poster up right over there, yesterday afternoon?” she asked.
    Benny looked, too. “Yes,” he said. “Where is it?”
    “It isn’t there,” said Jessie.
    “Maybe the owner of the store took it down,” said Henry.
    “But he said we could put it up,” Violet reminded him.
    They went inside. As soon as he saw them, Louis, one of the store’s owners, smiled and said, “More posters today?”

    “No. I mean, yes, maybe,” said Jessie. “Because the poster we put up yesterday isn’t there. Did you take it down?”
    “No,” said Louis in surprise. He called over his shoulder to a woman repairing a bicycle. “Thelma, did you take that ice-cream shop poster down?”
    “Nope,” Thelma answered.
    “Okay, thanks,” said Jessie. They turned to go. Then Jessie turned back. “If we bring another poster, may we put it up in the window?” she asked. “On the inside?”
    “Sure,” said Louis. “No problem.”
    But there was a problem, the Aldens soon realized. Most of the posters they’d put up the day before had been taken down. Only the shops where they’d put posters on the insides of the windows still had posters up. And many of the places where they’d left stacks of fliers had no fliers left, either.
    None of the store owners knew what had happened to the posters or the fliers. No one had seen them disappear.
    “Maybe different people picked up all the fliers one at a time,” said Violet doubtfully.
    “I don’t think so,” said Henry. “We put out too many fliers to be taken in one day. I think whoever took all the posters got rid of all the fliers they could find, too.”
    “Someone who doesn’t like the ice-cream shop,” Benny said.
    Jessie nodded in agreement. “And we need to find out who.”
    “But now we’d better put up more posters,” Violet said. She added, “And put out more fliers.”
    “Good idea. Let’s go,” said Henry. “And while we’re at the Ice Cream Barn, I think we need to talk to Brianna.”
    “Why?” asked Benny.
    “Because she knows something she’s not telling us. It might be a clue,” said Henry.
    “Back for more ice cream today?” Katy called cheerfully as the Aldens came through the front door of the shop. She was serving a double scoop to one of two boys, while a familiar-looking thin blonde woman in sunglasses was poking at an ice-cream sundae in the corner. As Jessie glanced over, the woman slid a small notebook out from under her napkin and wrote something on it before hiding it under her napkin again.
    “Not yet,” said Henry. “We thought we’d put up a few more posters and hand out some more fliers.”
    “Great,” said Katy. “We have another big boxful out in the barn. Brianna’s out there. She can show you.”
    The Aldens found Brianna outside the barn. She had a