Chocolate Sundae Mystery Read Free Page B

as long as you don’t peek when I put in the secret ingredients that make the parlor’s ice cream so special.”
    The Aldens nodded.
    “Good,” Mr. Brown said approvingly. “You see, I promised Mr. Richards I would never give away his secrets.” Mr. Brown paused. “You children wouldn’t be willing to come help us for the next couple of weeks?” he asked hopefully. “You’ve been such a big help tous already.”
    The Aldens all looked at one another. They were all thinking the same thing. “We’d love to,” Jessie finally answered for them.
    Mr. Brown grinned. “Good, come by in the morning. We open around nine o’clock.” The Aldens nodded.
    “And before you go, let me give you some ice cream to take home to your family — on the house,” Mr. Brown said. He pressed a gallon of freshly made peach ice cream into Henry’s arms.
    “What does ‘on the house’ mean?” Benny whispered to Violet.
    “It means we don’t have to pay for it,” Violet explained. “He’s giving it to us as a present.”
    Benny smiled. “I like presents like that.”
    “Good,” Mr. Brown said as he opened the door for the children. “See you tomorrow.”
    Watch was waiting patiently outside, in the shade.
    “Oh, Watch, I hope you weren’t too lonely,” Benny said as he untied the dog’s leash from the tree.
    “I visited him when things got a little slow in the kitchen,” Henry said. “Lots of people stopped to pet him. He seemed to be all right.”
    On the way home, Benny skipped down the sidewalk. “I can’t think of a better place to work than the Ice Cream Shoppe,” he said happily. “Wait until we tell Grandfather!”

CHAPTER 4
The Disappearing Ice Cream
    T hat evening, the children’s cousins Joe and Alice came for dinner. They brought their seven-year-old daughter, Soo Lee, with them. Joe and Alice had adopted Soo Lee from Korea.
    “I can’t believe you’ll be working in the Ice Cream Shoppe,” Alice said as she passed the salad to Jessie. The Aldens were all seated at the long dining table. “We’ll make sure to visit you there, won’t we, Soo Lee?”
    Soo Lee swallowed a bite of her meatloaf and nodded. “I like ice cream,” she answered, looking a bit sadly at the pile of green beans on her plate.
    “I hope you come when I’m working behind the counter, Soo Lee,” Benny told his cousin. “I’ll put lots of sprinkles on your ice cream.” Benny knew Soo Lee liked chocolate sprinkles almost as much as he did.
    Soo Lee smiled and took a bite of her green beans. She was pleased to find they didn’t taste too bad.
    “There’s just one thing that worries me a little,” Grandfather said as he poured himself some lemonade from the big red pitcher.
    “What’s that, Grandfather?” Henry held his fork in midair.
    “Well,” Grandfather said as he handed the lemonade pitcher to Violet, “don’t you think it’s strange all the old help quit at once?”
    “Well, yes,” Henry admitted. “I’m hoping we can find out why when we’re working there.”
    Grandfather’s blue eyes twinkled. “I’m sure you will,” he said. Grandfather was very proud of the way his grandchildren had solved so many mysteries in the past. They had helped many people. Maybe now they could help the Ice Cream Shoppe.
    The following morning, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny were up early. They ate breakfast with their grandfather at the round table in the kitchen.
    “We’ll expect you back for dinner with an appetite,” Mrs. McGregor teased the Alden children as they hurried out the front door.
    “Oh, we’ll be working too hard to eat much ice cream,” Benny assured her. The others laughed.
    The Aldens decided to ride their bicycles to the Shoppe.
    “Spring is my favorite time of year,” Violet said to Jessie as they pedaled along the flower-lined streets. Violet’s bicycle was purple, her favorite color. It matched the lilac trees that were now in full bloom.
    When the Aldens arrived at the Shoppe, they