Rock 'n' Roll Mystery (5 page)

“I sure did,” Jessie answered. “And did you see what the van looked like?”

“It was white,” Benny said, “with a blue stripe.”

“Just like the one Zoey told us about!” Violet said.

“That's right,” Henry nodded. “I think that was our thief.”

When the children returned to the Greenfield Four's rehearsal studio, they told the band everything they'd found out.

“I'm glad my keyboards turned up,” said Amy. “But who is this man in the beret?”

The other members of the band shrugged. “We have no idea,” Karen said. “I suppose we'll have to let the police figure it out from here.”

Later that afternoon the children went to the Greenfield Diner to meet Grandfather for dinner.

“When we told the band about the man with the beard and the beret, they said they had no idea who he was,” Jessie said.

“And aside from the keyboards,” Violet added, “everything else is still missing.”

“We told the police what he looked like,” Henry said. “Maybe that will help.”

“Perhaps it will,” Grandfather said.

The Aldens ate quietly for a few minutes. It was a busy night at the diner, filled with good smells and the sound of people talking. Whenever the Aldens came here, they always sat in the same place—a large booth by the front. It was quiet and cozy. One of the things Benny liked about it was that it was right by a big window. He could see everything that was happening on Greenfield's main street.

He got up on his knees to look outside. He was chewing on another chicken finger when he noticed a van parked across the street. He stopped chewing. He remembered what Zoey had said about the van the thief was driving.

“Look!” Benny said. “A van! A white one with a blue stripe!”

Everyone, including Grandfather, got up to see.

“Oh my goodness, Benny's right!” Violet said. “That's exactly like the one we saw!”

“Did you see anyone get in or out of it, Benny?” Henry asked.

“No, no one,” Benny said.

Grandfather paid the check quickly, and soon the Aldens headed outside to look over the van.

Benny was right—it looked just like the one they saw earlier. It was white, with a thick blue stripe down each side, and it was dirty, dented, and rusty.

“I'm going to take a look in the window,” Henry said. Carefully, he walked around to the back window and peered inside. He was hoping to see the Greenfield Four's stolen instruments.

Instead, the back of the van was filled with wood and tools—saws, hammers, drills, and jars full of nails and screws.

“What's in there?” Violet asked. “Any guitars?”

“No,” Henry replied, disappointed.

“Can I help you?” said a voice from behind them.

The Aldens turned to find a man about Grandfather's age standing on the sidewalk. He was dressed in jeans, a plaid flannel shirt, and leather work boots. His clothes were covered sawdust. The children could tell that the man was a carpenter. He looked at them with a friendly but puzzled expression.

Grandfather stepped forward and shook the man's hand and introduced the children.

“I'm sorry, sir,” Jessie said, “we didn't mean to snoop.”

“We were looking for some musical instruments,” Violet added.

The carpenter smiled. “Ah, well, I used to play a harmonica pretty well when I was your age, but that's about it.”

“No, sir, we were looking for some stolen instruments,” Henry replied. He and the other children explained everything that had happened so far.

“And the thief was driving a van exactly like this one,” said Jessie. “Just our luck that there are two of them.”

“Oh, there are many vans like this around here,” the carpenter said. “It's a rental.”

“A rental?” Benny asked. “What's that?”

“It means I'm borrowing it,” the carpenter replied. “My own van is being fixed right now, so I'm renting this one from a place called Drive-It-Yourself. They have lots of vans just like this.”

Jessie's eyes widened. “The thief must have rented a van from the same place!”

The others were nodding. They all thought the same thing.

The next morning was bright and beautiful, perfect for the Greenfield Music Festival. As Grandfather drove past the fairgrounds, the Aldens could see the crowds beginning to gather. They spotted a truck from the television station in the parking lot. Even from the back seat of the car, the children could sense the excitement in the air at the Greenfield Music Festival.

“We'll be there soon,” Jessie reminded the others.

“But first we have to go to the van rental place to help the police, right?” asked Benny.

“Right,” said Grandfather. “I called my good friend Officer Weiss last night, and he's meeting us there. He thinks you've discovered an important clue about the thief's van. Now the next step is to find out more about the person who rented the van.”

“Who just might be the same man we talked to at the festival yesterday morning,” Henry added. “And maybe someone who works at the Drive-It-Yourself counter will remember him, too.”

The Drive-It-Yourself Car Rental Agency was a tiny place on a quiet road. The parking lot was filled with cars, trucks, and vans—and they were all white with blue stripes.

The children went inside. The office was brightly lit and very neat. And, just like the cars and trucks outside, the walls had been painted white, with a large blue stripe. It ran around the entire room.

Grandfather waved to Officer Weiss, who was standing at the front counter. He was speaking to a woman there. The gold name tag on her shirt said that her name was Barbara. She looked up and smiled at the children.

“Don't tell me one of you wants to rent a truck!” she said, chuckling.

The children laughed. “No, ma'am,” Henry replied. “We're trying to catch the person who stole the Greenfield Four's instruments.”

“Oh, yes. Officer Weiss just told me what happened. How awful,” she said. “And I certainly do remember renting a van to a man with a beard and a black beret.”

“Do you remember anything else about him?” Jessie asked.

“Let's see … I remember that he seemed very nice,” Barbara said. “I also remember that he was having trouble with his eyes.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“He kept blinking and rubbing them,” Barbara told him. “When I asked if he was okay, he said it was just allergies. But he took his glasses off before filling out the rental form, which I thought was strange. Most people put their glasses on when they fill out forms.”

“I remember him blinking a lot, too.” Violet said. The others nodded. “But what kind of a clue is that?” she added.

“It doesn't sound like a very good one,” Henry whispered.

Barbara had turned back to Officer Weiss. “Here's the form he filled out to rent the truck” she said. “It says his name is Mr. Fred Parker.”

“Does it say where he lives?” the police officer asked.

“Right here in Greenfield,” Barbara told him. “On Carteret Street.”

Jessie spoke up just then. “Excuse me, but that can't be right,” she told Officer Weiss. “There's nothing on Carteret Street but the shopping mall.”

“Hmm,” said Officer Weiss. “That's right. I'll have to check, but I think Mr. Parker may have given us a fake address.” He shook his head. “It figures.”

“Can't you catch him when he brings the van back?” Benny asked.

Barbara shook her head. “We have many different offices all over the country. If someone rents a car or a truck here in the Greenfield office, they can return anywhere else. Even somewhere as far away as California.”

“He could be anywhere by now,” the police officer said with a frown. “We'll alert other police departments. One way or another, we'll track him down.”

“Do you think you'll catch him before the Greenfield Four play tonight?” Benny asked, hopefully. “So that they can get their instruments back?”

“We'll try. Sometimes we're able to catch a thief right away,” Officer Weiss said. But the children could tell that even he didn't think the thief would be caught in time.

Later, the Aldens sat in their sunny kitchen, but their moods were not sunny. They had tried their best to find the person who had stolen the Greenfield Four's instruments, and now they were at a dead end. The phone book was open on the table. Henry flipped through the pages.

“Nope,” he said, “no Fred Parker. I'm sure the man who rented the van made up everything that he put on that form.”

Grandfather came in and sat down. “That's what Officer Weiss told me. I just got off the phone with him.” He took off his reading glasses and sighed. “I think you've done your best. Now we'll all have to wait until the police find this thief.”

Jessie looked at Grandfather's glasses on the table. They made her think of something. “Benny, remember when you tried on Grandfather's glasses last month?”

“Yes,” Benny said. “I thought they would make me see better. But they made me see worse! And they felt strange. They made my eyes go like this!” He blinked several times. Everyone laughed.

“That's very funny,” said Henry, “but what does that have to do with the mystery?”

“I think it's another clue,” Jessie replied. “Remember what the woman at Drive-It-Yourself told us? She said the man with the beret kept rubbing his eyes. And he was blinking a lot when he was talking to us at the festival yesterday, but we thought it was because of the bright sun.”

“But maybe it's because he doesn't really wear glasses!” Violet said. “So his eyes were bothered by the pair he had on.”

“Those glasses must have been part of a disguise,” Henry said. “It makes sense—if he didn't want anyone to know his real name or address, he probably wouldn't want anyone to know what he really looked like, either.”

“I think you're right,” Grandfather said.

“Now if only we knew what he really looked like,” said Jessie. “But of course, we don't.”

The Aldens couldn't remember the last time they had a mystery they couldn't solve.

The mood in the Greenfield Four's rehearsal studio wasn't much better. The Aldens had stopped by to listen to the band's last rehearsal before their big performance at the festival. The band had borrowed enough instruments to play their songs, but the sound still wasn't quite the same.

“Let's just try to do the best we can tonight,” Amy told the others after they finished the last song. “That's what's really important.”

Jessie nodded and turned to smile at her sister and brothers. Even though they hadn't found the thief, they were doing the best that they could, too. Henry, Violet, and Benny smiled back.

The band took a break—Dave got up to stretch his legs, and Amy and Alan sat at the folding table to go over their sheet music. Karen went to the piano and played around with a new song the band had written. And the Aldens began to look through Jessie's notebook to make sure there weren't any clues they had missed.

Jessie went over the list of everyone they had talked to. “Raymond the roadie, Danny Duellman, Tim from the music store, Zoey from the studio, the carpenter, and Barbara at Drive-It-Yours elf. I think they've told us everything they know,” she said.

“Yes,” Henry said. “Wait, what's this?” He pointed to two numbers Jessie had written down: 463534 and 463535. “I remember that first number—that's the security code for the studio. But what about the second number?”

“That's the old code,” Jessie said. “The one that Raymond said he'd changed to 463534—GRNFLD4. Wow, I forgot I'd asked him for the old number, too. It didn't seem very important at the time.”

Henry looked thoughtful. “Hmm. If the code they're using now spells out ‘GRNFLD4,' then the old code spells out—”

“‘GRNFLD5!'” Benny finished.

“For the Greenfield Five,” said Jessie. “Their old band name.”

“Maybe Raymond changed the code to go with the new name,” Henry said. But he wondered—
was that the only reason?

Violet had noticed a colorful binder on top of the piano. It said “Greenfield Four Photo Album” on the cover.

“Hey, that's neat. Can I take a look?” Violet asked Karen.

Inside were dozens of photographs, newspaper clippings, and old flyers, all carefully organized and set behind plastic sheets. Violet could follow the history of the band page by page.

When she was near the middle of the book, she stopped with a gasp. “Oh my goodness!” she said. The children gathered around.

Violet pointed to one of the flyers.
The Greenfield Five in Concert,
it read. There was a photograph of the band below the headline. The children knew all of the faces in the photo—except one.