The Clue in the Recycling Bin (6 page)

Grandfather phoned the police.

“Somebody was trying to get into our house,” said Violet.

“But Watch chased the burglar away,” said Jessie. She petted Watch. “Good dog,” she said. “Good dog.”

Henry looked at the screen door, which was still locked on the inside. “Look,” he said. “Somebody started to cut a hole in the screen door.”

“Watch heard him and chased him away,” said Benny. “We are lucky to have Watch.”

“We are also lucky to have a strong door between the screen porch and the house,” said Grandfather. “I don't think the burglar could have gotten into our house.”

Henry grabbed a flashlight from a shelf and opened the screen door.

“What are you doing?” asked Grandfather.

“The ground is wet,” said Henry. “I'll bet the intruder left a lot of footprints.”

The children and Grandfather and Watch all stepped onto the sidewalk that led up to their screen porch. It didn't take long for Henry to find a trail of footprints.

One set came toward the screen porch. “That's where he—or she—came up to the house. See how close the footprints are to one another?” asked Henry. “The intruder was walking slowly and quietly.”

“Look,” said Violet, pointing to a second set of footprints. “Those footprints are going away from the house. They're far apart from one another.”

“That means the intruder was running away,” said Jessie. “Let me get my notebook.”

“Does Jessie want to take notes?” asked Grandfather.

“No,” said Henry, “she wants to look at a drawing.”

In a minute Jessie was back with one of her new notebooks. She flipped it open, and the children stared at the first footprint drawing she had made.

“No,” said Violet. “These footprints are not the same as the first ones we found outside the recycling center.”

Jessie flipped the page. “But these footprints are
exactly
the same as the second ones we found outside the recycling center —the ones outside the Other Stuff bin.”

Henry, Violet, Benny, and Grandfather all looked at Jessie's second drawing.

“What does it mean?” asked Grandfather.

“I'm not sure, but I have a hunch it means that somebody wants something that was in the Other Stuff recycling bin,” said Henry.

CHAPTER 7

One Solution

T
he next morning, the children had a plan. After breakfast they got on their bikes and pedaled to Tío's Tacos. There they bought six bottles of Doo-Dah Tea: three mint-flavored and three raspberry-flavored.

When they reached the recycling center, they saw Ethan working in the same corner he had worked in before. Once again he was raking up leaves and grass clippings.

When Kayla saw the Aldens, she told them that the recycling center had been broken into again.

“This is so frustrating,” Kayla said. “There was no real damage except that the bags of leaves and grass clippings are all broken open. Thank goodness Ethan showed up to volunteer this morning.”

The children looked at one another and nodded their heads.

“We know who is breaking into the center and crushing the bags of leaves and grass clippings,” Jessie said to Kayla.

“You do?!” Kayla seemed surprised. “Who?”

“We think the person who's doing it wants to tell you himself. And he will, very soon,” said Henry.

Kayla looked confused. “Well, okay,” she said.

Violet took two bottles of tea out of her bike basket. “Would you like a bottle of tea?” she asked Kayla.

“Oh yes,” said Kayla. “Thank you.”

And then, to the surprise of the children, Kayla chose a mint-flavored Doo-Dah Tea.

Kayla walked into her studio and the children stood by their bikes for a moment.

“Well,” said Jessie at last. “That's a surprise.”

“Yes,” said Violet. “Yesterday Kayla drank raspberry-flavored tea, but today she chose mint.”

“Let's offer Ethan the same choice,” said Henry.

The Aldens walked over to where Ethan was raking leaves and grass. They said hello and offered Ethan Doo-Dah Tea.

“No, thanks,” said Ethan.

“Kayla is upset,” Henry told him. “She's worried about the fact that somebody is getting into the center and opening the bags of leaves and grass.”

Ethan shrugged. “She shouldn't be upset, not really. I'm here to clean everything up.”

“We would like to show you something,” Jessie said to Ethan. “Can you come outside with us for a few minutes?”

Ethan shrugged again, but he put his rake aside. “Sure,” he said.

The five of them walked through the gate of the recycling center. Henry led the way. They turned right, then right again.

“Stop,” said Henry. They had reached the place just outside the fence from where the bags of leaves and grass were stored.

“The ground is wet,” said Jessie. “We're all leaving footprints.”

“So?” said Ethan.

Jessie pointed to footprints ahead of them. They were very fresh. The left and right prints were far apart from one another. Both the left and right prints pointed toward the fence.

“Somebody was here before us,” she said. “He left footprints, too.”

Ethan didn't say anything.

“Look at your footprints,” said Henry to Ethan.

Ethan looked down.

“They match those footprints,” said Henry, pointing to the prints ahead of them.

Ethan didn't say anything.

“We know what you're doing,” Violet said softly.

Ethan shook his head. “Okay,” he said. “You're right, those are my footprints. But I'm not really breaking into the recycling center.”

“Why are you jumping over the chain-link fence?” Henry asked.

“For fun,” said Ethan. “And for training. It's fun and I can keep in shape. I take a running start, jump over the fence, and land on the soft bags of leaves and grass. Nobody knows I can do it except me! And every time I do it, I come in and clean up.”

“But when you land on the bags, they break open,” said Jessie. “Leaves and grass fall out, and the recycling center looks messy.”

“But I come in and clean everything up,” Ethan repeated.

“Your kind of fun upsets people,” said Violet. “It upsets Kayla because she thinks somebody wants the recycling center to fail.”

Ethan looked down at his feet. “Yeah,” he said, “I know it's not right. But I was trying to make it right by cleaning up after myself.”

The children waited, giving Ethan a chance.

Finally Ethan spoke. “I'll stop doing it,” he said. “I guess I have to tell Kayla.”

“We'll go with you if you want,” said Jessie.

When they walked into Kayla's studio, Henry noticed that she was busy with a soldering torch.

Kayla set the soldering torch aside and removed the magnifying lens she wore on a headband.

“I'm sorry,” Ethan said to her. “I won't do it again.”

Kayla looked confused. “Huh?” she said.

“I've been jumping over the fence and landing on the bags of leaves and grass clippings,” said Ethan. “I'm sorry.”

Kayla just stared at him.

“I came in and cleaned up each time I did it,” Ethan explained.

“Yes,” said Kayla at last. “But all those opened trash bags upset me. I thought somebody didn't like me. I thought they didn't like the recycling center.”

“I'm sorry,” said Ethan. “I won't do it again.”

“But what upsets me even more is that you tipped over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” Kayla said. She frowned at Ethan. “You didn't help clean that up.”

Ethan looked shocked. “But I didn't do that!” he shouted. “I didn't turn over the Dumpster!”

“Ethan is telling the truth,” said Jessie. “He didn't turn over the Dumpster.”

Kayla frowned. “You mean to say that two people have been breaking into the recycling center?”

“Yes,” said Henry. “And the break-ins aren't the only crime to solve.”

“They aren't?” asked Kayla. “What else is there?”

Jessie spoke. “Somebody robbed Jonah's Jewelry Store three weeks ago. They stole a bag of diamonds.”

“Diamonds?” Kayla seemed nervous. “I don't know anything about diamonds.”

Jessie thought Kayla's comment was strange.
Nobody is accusing her of taking the diamonds
, thought Jessie
. Why does she act guilty?

“We think that the diamond theft and the second break-in here might be connected,” Jessie explained.

“No,” said Kayla, standing up. “That's ridiculous. There's no connection between the robbery and the recycling center.”

The Aldens and Ethan watched as Kayla shoved all her pieces of metal and sparkling glass into a drawer. Then she shut the drawer and locked it.

“You kids might be able to figure out who turned over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” she said. “I hope you do. But you won't be able to solve who stole the diamonds.”

“We will solve it,” said Henry.

“No,” said Kayla. “If the police haven't solved it, you won't, either.”

The children turned to leave, but Kayla stopped them. “Wait,” she said. “This morning I found something in the Other Stuff bin: something just for Violet.”

Kayla rummaged around under one of her benches, then pulled out something wrapped in plastic. Kayla removed the plastic and thechildren saw a large piece of beautiful purple cloth.

Kayla handed the cloth to Violet. “Somebody left this brand new cloth in the Other Stuff bin.”

Violet held the cloth, which shimmered with flecks of gold. She saw that there were thin gold-colored threads woven through the cloth. “It's so pretty,” said Violet. The cloth felt very soft and smooth in her hands.

Violet smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I don't see how anybody could give away something purple.”

CHAPTER 8

The Bottom of the Boots

T
he children stood just outside the gate to the recycling center. Ethan had gone back to work on the bags, and Kayla was in her studio.

“We know that Ethan didn't climb the fence and tip over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” said Violet.

“Because his footprints don't match the smaller set of footprints,” said Jessie.

“And because Ethan could
jump
over the fence,” said Benny. “But the person who tipped the Dumpster had to
climb
over.”

“We need to find out whose footprints match the second set,” said Henry. “Then we need to find out why that person tipped over the Dumpster.”

The children stood there and thought.

“We need to see the tread marks on Mrs. Wickett's shoes, on Chad's shoes, and even on Kayla's shoes,” said Jessie at last.

Her brothers and sister agreed.

“Look!” said Benny, pointing across the street. “I just saw something bright red. I think it's Mrs. Wickett's boots!”

The Aldens crossed the street and walked into Mrs. Wickett's yard. They walked around the back, where Benny had seen something red. There was Mrs. Wickett, kneeling in her garden. She wore an old jacket and pants and her bright red boots.

“Oh, hello,” she said when she saw them. “What a nice surprise.”

The children said hello.

Benny noticed that the bottom of Mrs. Wickett's boots were facing out, so he bent down to look at them.

As soon as she saw what Benny was doing, Mrs. Wickett scooted around so that Benny couldn't see her boots. Then she stood up.

“Why don't we all go and sit on my front porch?” she said. “I'm done gardening for the day.”

Once everybody was settled on the front porch, Mrs. Wickett offered them lemonade. All four children accepted.

“This is delicious,” said Violet as she sipped her glass of lemonade.

Mrs. Wickett smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I made it myself.”

Then Mrs. Wickett sat in a wicker chair. “Well,” she said, “what has Kayla decided to do about all the recycling that people leave alongside the sidewalk?”

“We don't know,” said Jessie. “She hasn't said.”

“We think Kayla should leave the center open until midnight,” said Henry. “But she won't. She says she's worried about people breaking into her studio.”

“Kayla makes lovely jewelry out of junk,”said Mrs. Wickett, sipping her lemonade. “She brought some of it to Jonah's Jewelry Store and asked Mr. Jonah if he would sell it.”

“Kayla told us about that,” said Violet. “But Mr. Jonah said no.”

“That's right,” Mrs. Wicket said. “Mr. Jonah doesn't like jewelry made out of recycled metals and glass. I'm afraid he said some very insulting things to Kayla.”

“When was this?” asked Henry.

“Oh, a few weeks ago. A day or two before the robbery,” Mrs. Wickett answered.

The children looked at one another.

“Mrs. Wickett,” said Jessie, “do you want the recycling center to fail?”

Instead of answering, Mrs. Wickett sipped her lemonade and stared across the street at the recycling center. Finally she spoke. “Recycling is a good thing,” she said. “But bags of recycling outside the recycling center are not a good thing. I just don't know.”

“Somebody climbed over the fence and tipped over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” saidHenry. “Did you do that?”

“My word!” exclaimed Mrs. Wickett. “You children do ask direct questions, don't you?”

Henry waited for an answer.

“No, I did not,” Mrs. Wickett replied.

“We found footprints outside the fence, where somebody climbed over,” said Jessie. She took out her notebook. “I made a drawing of the footprints.”

Mrs. Wickett didn't say anything.

“May we see the bottom of your red boots?” Henry asked.

Mrs. Wickett stood up. “No, you may not!” she said.