Great Bicycle Race Mystery Read Free Page B

out and searched all around the big old white house. Henry checked the basement door just in case someone had moved the bike in there for a joke. But the door was locked from the inside, just as it always was.
    Soo Lee suddenly cried, “Look!” She pointed to a slash of red on a large rock near the edge of the woods behind the Aldens’ house.
    “Is it blood?” gasped Benny.
    “No,” said Soo Lee. “I think it’s paint.”
    Henry raced over, with Jessie and Violet close at his heels. He stooped and examined the red mark. “You’re right, Soo Lee. It is paint.”
    “And it’s exactly the same color as your bicycle,” added Jessie.
    “If the scrape is on this side of the rock, whoever took the bike was probably going in that direction,” said Violet, pointing toward the woods.
    “Maybe the thief made a getaway through the woods?” asked Soo Lee.
    “Then I guess we’d better look for more clues in the woods,” Henry said.
    “Let’s spread out about five or ten feet apart,” Jessie suggested. “That way we can cover more ground.”
    “Good idea,” said Henry. “If anybody sees anything, shout.”
    “I will. Really loud,” Benny said.
    The Aldens began to search the woods. They crunched through the leaves and pushed aside branches. Benny and Watch found two rusty tin cans and an old pop bottle. Violet found a tattered plastic bag caught in some bushes. She and Benny put the cans and the bottle in the bag to throw away later.
    Just when they were about to give up, Violet called out, “I see something red. Over there by that big tree.”
    Henry squinted in the direction she was pointing. “You’re right, Violet,” he called back. “Let’s go.”
    He and Violet pushed through the bushes. A moment later, Jessie, Soo Lee, Benny, and Watch heard Violet wail, “Oh, no!”
    “Let’s go!” shouted Jessie, and led the rest of the search party to Henry and Violet.
    They all stopped and stared in stunned silence at what lay in the small clearing beneath the big old oak tree. It was Henry’s bike—or what was left of it.
    “Who would do such a thing?” Soo Lee asked.
    “I don’t know,” said Henry in a choked voice.
    The tire on the rear wheel was flat, and several of its spokes were broken. The paint was scratched and scraped. Dirt clogged the gear wheels and bike chain. The chain itself was snapped. The bottom of the front fork, which held the front wheel on the bike, was bent.
    “Oh, Henry,” said Violet. “I’m so sorry about your bike.”
    “Me too,” said Henry.
    “Maybe whoever took it ran away in such a hurry that it got all beaten up in the woods,” said Soo Lee.
    Jessie said, “Well, whoever took this bike didn’t seem to care what happened to it.”
    “Maybe we can get it fixed,” said Benny. “Let’s take it to Greenfield Wheels.”
    “I guess we can try,” said Henry.
    With Jessie’s help, Henry carried the bike out of the woods. They told Grandfather what had happened and he called the police to report the theft. Then they all walked slowly into town. As they walked, they tried to figure out what had happened.
    “Maybe it was Ms. Whatney and her driver. Ronald, that was his name,” said Violet. “Maybe they wanted to keep us from riding in the race.”
    “It could be,” said Henry. “After all, it’s Ms. Whatney who wants to buy Eagle Mountain.”
    “And she knows where we live,” Benny added.
    “And Ronald the chauffeur even asked about our bikes,” said Soo Lee.
    “Maybe it was one of the people who were so mean to us when we were raising money,” said Violet.
    “Like that guy who made fun of Henry’s bike in front of our lemonade stand,” said Soo Lee.
    “Or the man at the card shop who told us he hoped we’d all have flat tires,” Benny said.
    Henry sighed. He said, “It could be any of those people, I guess. But it doesn’t really make sense and we don’t have any proof.”
    “When people do mean things it usually doesn’t make sense,”