Mystery of the Empty Safe Read Online Free Page B

to eat them!” Benny added.
    Mr. Grayson smiled broadly. “It sounds like you kids have put a lot of thought into this party and come up with some great ideas—on very short notice!”
    He was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. “Excuse me,” he said, picking up the receiver.
    Hallie and the Aldens talked quietly while Mr. Grayson was on the phone. She was very excited about her birthday party now that she’d heard their wonderful ideas. Benny asked Hallie about the writing he saw on her cast. Hallie explained that her friends had written little get-well messages there. Then she pulled out some colored markers, and each of the Aldens signed her cast and drew pictures, too.
    As they were working, Jessie looked over at Mr. Grayson, who was still on the phone. His face was red and he looked angry. His voice sounded tense.
    She looked back at her drawing and tried to focus on it. But all of a sudden Jessie overheard Mr. Grayson say, “I’m sorry if you’re angry, but I’ve already hired the Alden kids. I don’t want to discuss this anymore.” And he quickly hung up the phone.

CHAPTER 4
A Mysterious Phone Call
    All the children looked over when they heard the receiver bang down.
    “Who was that, Dad?” asked Hallie.
    “Oh, nobody,” Mr. Grayson said.
    “You sounded upset,” Hallie said.
    “We’ll talk about it later,” Mr. Grayson answered.
    Jessie knew it was none of her business. Still, she wondered what had made Mr. Grayson so angry.
    “It wasn’t that magic lady again, was it?” said Hallie.
    “Magic lady?” her father said. “Oh, you mean the magician. Yes, as a matter of fact, it was.” He turned to the Aldens and explained. “When Hallie broke her ankle, I knew the skating party was out. So I quickly called the same magician we’d had last year. She changed her plans to fit us in at the last minute. But Hallie wasn’t too excited about having the same party she’d had last year.
    “Then Janet Woodruff told me about you kids, so I canceled the magician. She and her manager are pretty angry now. Anyway …” Mr. Grayson seemed eager to change the subject. Looking down at Hallie’s leg, he said, “What great drawings you made on Hallie’s cast!”
    “Doesn’t it look nice now?” Hallie asked.
    “We’d better get going—we’ve got to go to the party store and buy supplies,” Jessie said.
    “Great. Call and let me know how things are going,” said Mr. Grayson.
    “See you this weekend!” Hallie called as the Aldens left.
    On their way to the store, the Aldens talked about what had just happened at the Graysons’.
    “Do you think Mr. Grayson was talking on the phone to Cassandra the Great?” asked Violet.
    “He might have been,” said Jessie. “There aren’t that many magicians in town who entertain at birthday parties. And he said it was a woman.”
    “If it was Cassandra and she was really angry at us for taking one of her jobs, that might explain why she tore down our posters,” said Benny.
    “That’s right,” said Jessie. “Mr. Grayson said she’d rearranged her plans for him.”
    “I hate to think that someone is so angry at us,” said Violet. “We’re not trying to steal her business.”
    “No, we’re not,” Jessie agreed. “And even if we have gotten some of her jobs, that doesn’t make it right to tear down our posters.”
    “I was wondering …” said Benny.
    “What?” asked Henry.
    “What if it isn’t Cassandra who’s tearing down the posters?” Benny said.
    “Are you thinking of her manager?” Jessie asked.
    “Well, maybe he is,” Benny said.
    “It sounds as if you have another person in mind,” Violet said.
    “Yes,” Benny said. “Mr. Woodruff.”
    “Mr. Woodruff?” Jessie asked. “Why would he do something so rotten?”
    “Whenever we see him, he’s very rude to us,” Benny said. “And we saw him following us. What if he just doesn’t like us for some reason and he wants our business to fail?”
    “I guess