Dog-Gone Mystery (3 page)

“Yesterday Ms. Wilson gave us a twenty-percent-off coupon if we go have Watch groomed,” said Jessie.

“Does Watch need grooming?” asked Grandfather.

“Yes,” said Henry and Violet together.

“Maybe,” said Jessie at the same time.

“No! I don’t want Watch to look like a French poodle!” Benny joined in.

Grandfather and the children all laughed together. “Well,” said Grandfather. “We have a difference of opinion here.”

“Watch is looking a bit scruffy,” said Violet.

Jessie frowned. “Maybe just a tiny bit,” she admitted.

“But don’t worry,” said Henry to Benny. “Whatever we decide, we won’t let Watch look like a French poodle.”

The children rode their bikes to the second dog training class at Dog Gone Good. Watch ran alongside them.

Today there was a new dog and new owner in the class. The dog was reddish colored, with a droopy jaw and loose skin. The man had black hair cut very, very short. He stood straight and seemed to be studying all the windows and doors.

“Wow!” said Benny. “That dog has even more wrinkles than Wrinkles!”

“I heard that,” said the man as he walked up to them. “My name is Mike Kovack. My dog is named Christie. She’s a bloodhound.”

Mr. Kovack shook hands with each of the children as they told him who they were. Then he looked at Watch. “Nice dog,” he said. He squatted down and looked at Watch very closely.

Just then Roxanne walked into the large room. She wore a bright yellow shirt.

Benny stared at her.

Mr. Kovack noticed Benny. “What are you looking at?” he asked Benny.

“Roxanne’s hair,” answered Benny. “I love how red it is.”

“It’s dyed,” said Mr. Kovack.

“How do you know?” asked Benny.

“Look at the roots,” said Mr. Kovack. “You can always tell the true color by looking at the hair roots. Roxanne’s roots are dark brown.”

“Oh,” said Benny. Then he added, “I still like it.”

Mr. Kovack was about to say something, but just then Mr. Brooks walked in the door. All the other dog owners asked if Boxcar had been found. Mr. Brooks shook his head.

“I’m so sorry your dog ran away,” said Roxanne.

“Boxcar did not run away,” said Mr. Brooks in a loud voice. “My dog was stolen—right from your dog school.”

“No,” shouted Roxanne. “That’s not true!”

“Watch out!” Mr. Brooks warned. “Dogs have been stolen wherever Roxanne Sager works.” He looked at all the owners. “Your dog might be next.” Then he turned and walked out the door.

At dinner that night, the children talked about what Mr. Brooks had said. Had Boxcar run away, or had he been stolen? At breakfast the next morning, they were still talking about it.

“Boxcar would not run away from all that good bread,” said Benny, eating a second piece of toast.

“What did Mr. Brooks mean about Roxanne?” asked Violet. “Mr. Brooks said that dogs have been stolen wherever Roxanne worked.”

Jessie started to help Mrs. McGregor clear the dishes. “Where else did she work?” asked Jessie.

Grandfather smiled as he got up from the table. “I have a feeling this is all a mystery,” he said. “And I have an even stronger feeling that you four will solve it.”

Henry helped clear the rest of the dishes. “Let’s go talk to Mr. Brooks,” he said.

“Then to Roxanne,” said Violet. “We have to be fair.”

“Wait,” said Jessie. She put her hands in her front pockets, then in her back pockets. “Ah, here it is.” She showed them the coupon for twenty percent off at Clip and Yip. “Let’s do it,” she said. “Let’s get Watch groomed while we’re in town.”

Instead of taking their bikes, the children walked to town. They kept Watch on a leash. When they reached the Bread Loaf Bakery, Jessie didn’t want to tie him up outside the store. “I just don’t feel right leaving him alone,” she said. “Especially if somebody might be stealing dogs.” So Jessie stayed outside with Watch, and Henry, Violet, and Benny went into the bakery.

Nobody was behind the counter. A small silver bell stood next to a sign that said,
Ring for Service.
Henry rang the bell. The children waited, but nobody came.

“I hear voices,” said Benny.

The children listened. They heard two male voices. One of the men talking was Mr. Brooks. “Selling stolen dogs is easy money,” he said.

“That’s true,” said the other voice.

“I could get almost a thousand dollars for Boxcar,” said Mr. Brooks.

The children looked at each other. They knew it wasn’t polite to listen to other people’s conversations in secret.

“I think there’s a patio outside,” said Henry. “Let’s go see if Mr. Brooks is there.”

The three Aldens walked toward the back of the store and out an open door. A red brick wall enclosed a small eating area. A tree grew in the middle of the patio.

“Oh,” whispered Violet. “How beautiful.”

Mr. Brooks sat at a far table with Mr. Kovack. The two men did not see or hear the three children.

“I would steal the malamute next,” said Mr. Kovack. “Grayson.”

“Hello!” said Henry in a loud voice. He noticed that both Mr. Brooks and Mr. Kovack half-jumped out of their chairs.

Mr. Brooks spoke first. “Hello,” he said. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

“We rang the bell,” said Benny.

Mr. Kovack stood up. “I must be going. I just came in to get my free coffee for buying a loaf of bread.”

Henry saw that the table Mr. Brooks and Mr. Kovack were sitting at had papers and pens on it. But there was no bread or coffee.

Mr. Kovack stopped in front of the Aldens. “I know all about you,” he said. “You’re the children who have solved some mysteries. But you were just lucky,” he told them.

“We don’t solve mysteries by luck,” said Henry.

Mr. Kovack looked at them. “Do you think you solve them because you’re smart?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Jessie. “We think about things and we use logic to solve mysteries.”

“We’ll see,” said Mr. Kovack. Then he left.

“I didn’t know you knew Mr. Kovack,” Henry said to Mr. Brooks.

“I didn’t know him,” answered Mr. Brooks. “He came in and somehow we started talking about dogs.”

Benny wanted to say: You were talking about
stealing
dogs! But he kept quiet and listened.

Mr. Brooks asked where Jessie was. When they told him, he went outside and invited her and Watch into the patio. “Nice dog,” he said, patting Watch on the head. “Terriers are very popular dogs.”

“Mr. Brooks,” asked Henry, “why did you say that dogs have been stolen wherever Roxanne Sager works?”

“Because it’s true,” Mr. Brooks answered. “Did you know that she used to work at a dog training school in Elmford? And did you know that in three months, three dogs were lost or stolen from that school?”

“We didn’t know that,” said Henry, “but that doesn’t mean Roxanne stole the dogs.”

“And after that, she worked for two months in Northport,” said Mr. Brooks. “And one dog was stolen from that school.”

“How do you know all of this?” Jessie asked him.

“I just know,” said Mr. Brooks. “If you don’t believe me, you can find out for yourselves. Now I have some bread to take out of the ovens.”

Mr. Brooks went into the back of his store. The Aldens could see him. He was using a long wooden paddle to take loaves of bread out of brick ovens. The Aldens looked at one another. “I guess Mr. Brooks won’t say any more,” said Henry.

“Maybe we should buy some bread and get our free lemonades,” said Benny. “Then Mr. Brooks might talk to us some more.”

His brother and sisters laughed. “Nice try, Benny,” said Henry. “But the bread and lemonade will have to wait.”

“But we’ll use our other coupon now,” said Jessie. “The one for getting Watch groomed.”

The children left Bread Loaf Bakery and walked down the street to Clip and Yip. The store was open, and Candy Wilson was grooming a dog and talking to its owner.

The Aldens saw that the dog was the gray and white malamute, Grayson Majesty. Mrs. Servus watched as Ms. Wilson used a hair dryer on Grayson.

Henry noticed that the hair dryer slid back and forth on an overhead rail. Candy Wilson finished drying Grayson and hooked the dryer to the rail over her head. Mrs. Servus walked all around her dog, looking at him from head to toe. “Hmmm,” she said. “Grayson Majesty looks good. I may decide to come here once a month.”

Ms. Wilson unhooked Grayson’s leash from the overhead rail, then fed him a one-bite dog biscuit. When he finished eating it, she lowered the grooming table almost to the ground. “Come on, boy,” she said to Grayson, and he jumped off the low table.

“I hope you do bring Grayson in once a month,” she said to Mrs. Servus. “Your dog deserves the best grooming.”

Then the two women noticed the Aldens. The children said hello to everyone. Grayson and Watch touched noses, but Mrs. Servus pulled Grayson away. She walked to the counter to pay her bill.

While they waited, the Aldens looked all around Clip and Yip. Henry had already noticed the electric clipper and dryers hooked to the overhead rail. Now he noticed the steel washing tubs. Henry liked everything he saw. He thought Ms. Wilson could do a very good job with all her tools.

Jessie walked around the shop. She saw the flyer about Boxcar being lost. It was posted on a bulletin board, where everybody could see it.

Violet and Benny looked at all the fun things for dogs. Benny looked at rubber balls and things that Watch could fetch. Violet looked at bandannas. She thought Watch would look good with a lavender colored bandanna around his neck.

After Mrs. Servus left, Jessie said they had brought Watch in for a grooming.

“Wonderful,” said Candy Wilson. She bent down to pet Watch. She fed him a one-bite dog biscuit. Then she led him into one of the big steel tubs. The children watched as Watch got a bath. Ms. Wilson talked to Watch the whole time. Jessie thought that Watch was very calm—more calm than when he got a bath at home.

After the bath, Ms. Wilson gave Watch another one-bite treat, then led him to the grooming table and raised it. She hooked Watch’s collar to a metal arm that kept him from moving around too much. “Good dog,” she said as she petted him.

She looked at the children. “Now,” she said. “How would you like Watch to look?”

“Just like himself,” answered Jessie.

“Only neater,” added Henry.

“That’s easy,” said Ms. Wilson. “Terriers look neat to begin with. Are you sure you want Watch to look just like he does? I could change his looks a lot.”

“We like Watch the way he is,” said Violet.

“Okay,” said Ms. Wilson as she began to trim Watch’s fur with electric clippers. “Watch isn’t a show dog, is he?” she asked.

The children said he wasn’t.

“He looks like a healthy dog,” said Ms. Wilson as she worked. “And friendly, too,” she said. “Those are the best kinds of dogs, don’t you think?”

The Aldens agreed.

After Ms. Wilson finished trimming Watch’s fur, she took a pair of small clippers from her apron pocket. Then she carefully clipped Watch’s toenails. “There,” she said after she finished. She gave Watch a last treat, then lowered the table. “Watch looks great,” she said. “I’ll bet he’s never looked better.”

Henry, Violet, and Benny agreed. Even Jessie agreed. They paid for the grooming, using their twenty-percent-off coupon for a discount. “Be sure to come back again,” Candy Wilson said as they left.

“Watch looks really good!” said Benny once they were out on the sidewalk.

Watch pranced with his head high.

“Yes,” admitted Jessie. “Ms. Wilson did a really good job. And she was so good with Watch.”

“Dogs trust her,” said Violet. “She keeps them calm and happy.”

“That’s because she gives them doggie treats,” said Benny. The others laughed.

After such a busy morning, the children were glad to be back home. “You all look like you need a good lunch,” said Mrs. McGregor as Henry, Jessie, and Violet sat down to eat.

“Oh, my!” Mrs. McGregor said as she noticed Watch. “Whatever happened to Watch? He looks beautiful.”

“Watch was groomed today,” said Jessie. “Do you really like how he looks?”

“Oh, yes,” said Mrs. McGregor. “He almost looks like a different dog.” She looked around. “Where is Benny? It’s not like him to be late for food.”

Just then Benny came running in. “I’m not late, am I?” he asked, out of breath.

“What were you doing?” asked Jessie.

“I was looking all around our boxcar,” Benny answered. “Just in case Boxcar might be there.”

“What makes you think Boxcar would come here?” Jessie asked.

“Well, we lived in a boxcar when we ran away,” said Benny. “I thought Boxcar might do the same thing.”

“Thank you for checking,” said Jessie with a smile.

Mrs. McGregor put lunch on the table. The children passed around the tacos and toppings.

“I really hope Boxcar comes home soon,” said Violet. “He must be sad. Maybe he’s scared.”

“But if Boxcar was stolen, he can’t come home,” said Henry.

All through lunch, the children discussed whether Boxcar was lost or stolen. They even talked about it as they rode their bikes to dog training class. Watch ran alongside the bikes.

They parked their bikes in the bright yellow bike rack. Watch ran up to the door of Dog Gone Good and barked.

“I think Watch likes going to school,” said Benny.

Henry opened the door and they all entered Dog Gone Good. They almost walked into Christie, Mr. Kovack’s bloodhound. She was sitting by the door.

Mr. Kovack was bending down alongside Grayson. Henry looked around, but Mrs. Servus wasn’t in the room.
That’s strange,
he thought.

“Hi, Mr. Kovack,” said Benny, walking up to him. “What are you doing with Grayson’s collar?”

Mr. Kovack was holding Grayson’s leather collar. Then something fell out of Mr. Kovack’s hand and rolled around on the floor. “You dropped something,” said Benny. “I’ll get it.” Benny stooped down to pick up the shiny silver, but Mr. Kovack blocked his way.

“I’ve got it,” said Mr. Kovack. “Just a dime,” he said, putting it into his pocket.