Cupcake Caper (2 page)

Benny popped his head up. “You’re right! Her cupcakes are the best ever!”

Mama Tova didn’t look worried at all when the children said goodbye. In fact she said, “I wish Mr. Kandinsky luck. The Tova family recipe has won every cupcake contest for years. The Tovas have baked for kings and queens and princes.” Mama Tova straightened her apron.

“You know, I do feel like a king when I eat one of your cupcakes,” Benny told Mama Tova. “Know what else?”

“What?” she asked.

“I’m glad you are going to keep the secret ingredient a secret.” Benny smiled big at Mama Tova and she smiled right back at him.

After dinner that night Jessie took Watch for a walk. They were walking towards the park when Watch began to bark. “What’s going on, boy?” she asked the dog, trying to calm him down.

A woman was coming through the park carrying a pink cake box. She walked quickly. She looked odd because her skin, clothes, and hair were completely white.

That woman looks like a ghost!
Jessie thought, even though she did not believe in ghosts. She believed that there was an explanation for everything.

Watch barked again, then pulled his leash free from Jessie’s hand.

“Oh no!” Jessie called, rushing after the dog. “Stop! Watch! Stop!”

But it was too late. Watch ran over to the woman, and in his excitement he knocked her to the ground.

“Oh dear,” the woman said, scrambling to get up and gather her pink box, which had fallen.

The “ghost” woman turned out to be Mrs. Waldman from Sweets. She was covered head to toe in baking flour!

“I’m so sorry about Watch,” Jessie told her. “Here, let me help you up.”

“My cupcakes?” Mrs. Waldman asked, anxiously pointing at the box. “Are they all right?”

Jessie snatched the box up before Watch could get to it. She peeked inside. There were four cupcakes, each one uniquely decorated. They looked just like Mama Tova’s cupcakes!

“They’re fine,” Jessie said, handing the box back to Mrs. Waldman. “The frosting smeared a little bit, but they are still very pretty.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Mrs. Waldman said, brushing some of the flour off her dress. It puffed around her in a white cloud.

Jessie coughed. “Wow! That’s a lot of flour!” she exclaimed.

Mrs. Waldman looked down at herself. “Yes, it was a very long, messy day at work. I’m headed home now to clean up.” She shook off a bit more of the flour. And then, very quickly, she hurried away.

The next morning the Aldens’ home telephone rang and Grandfather answered it. Who could be calling so early? Jessie wondered. She heard Grandfather say, “Oh, no!”

“Who was that?” Jessie asked when Grandfather had hung up the phone.

“That was Mama Tova. Something terrible happened at the shop last night,” he said.

Jessie gasped. Violet hurried over to hear more.

“Someone broke into Sweets and made a mess last night,” Grandfather said. “Mama Tova said the shop is a mess! There’s baking flour everywhere.”

“That is strange,” Henry said.

“We should go to Sweets,” Violet suggested. “Maybe we can help clean up.”

“Good idea,” Grandfather said. “We can bring some brooms and dustpans. And a mop and a bucket.”

The Aldens loaded the cleaning supplies into Grandfather’s car. Watch jumped in the back seat with them.

At Sweets, Jessie tied Watch outside near Mama Tova’s brightly colored flower boxes. Then the children went inside to see the damage.

Henry shook his head. “This is awful,” he said to Jessie.

It looked like someone had turned the entire shop upside down. The tables were knocked on their sides, and the flower vases had spilled. Some of the paintings were on the floor. A light dusting of white flour covered everything.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Mama Tova said to the Alden children and Grandfather. “I don’t know who possibly could have done this, but the police are investigating.”

She pointed to a police officer standing in the corner, talking to Mrs. Waldman. “That’s Officer Montag,” Mama Tova explained. “She’s interviewing everyone who might have seen something suspicious.”

“I wonder if Mrs. Waldman told her about the flour,” Jessie said, glancing over at the police officer.

“Mrs. Waldman?” Mama Tova said. “Flour? What do you mean?”

“I saw Mrs. Waldman last night,” Jessie said. “She was covered with flour.”

“Does Mrs. Waldman ever do any of the baking?” Henry asked Mama Tova.

“No,” Mama Tova said. “Because of the secret ingredient, I do it all.”

“Hmm,” Jessie said as she pulled a black spiral notebook out of her patchwork purse. Jessie liked to write things down so she could think about them later. “Do you have any idea who might want to mess up Sweets?” she asked Mama Tova.

“I really don’t know.” Mama Tova shook her head and sighed. “Officer Montag thinks that the person who did this must have been looking for something in particular. That’s why everything is torn apart.”

“Were they looking for money?” Benny asked.

“I don’t think so, because none of it is gone,” Mama Tova said. “I’ve checked all around the shop and as far as I can tell, nothing is missing.”

“Are you sure?” Henry asked.

“All that happened here was that someone made a mess,” Mama Tova said. “I wish I knew who would do this and why.”

“Maybe we can help,” Henry suggested. “We are good at solving mysteries.”

“I’d be grateful,” Mama Tova said. Then she went to speak to the police officer.

The Aldens walked over to a quiet corner of the shop. Jessie opened a clean page in her notebook and wrote SUSPECTS at the top. Tapping her pencil, Jessie asked the others, “Any ideas?”

Violet spoke up. “I don’t know
who
would mess up the shop but I think I know
why
.”

“Go on,” Henry said. “Explain.”

Violet pointed all around the shop. “Remember when Mama Tova told us yesterday that she hid the secret ingredient for her cupcakes under the flower?”

“Someone must have overheard,” Henry said. “And they messed up all the shop’s flowers looking for the recipe.”

“I bet you’re both right!” Jessie said. “Maybe Mr. Kandinsky should be our first suspect.” She wrote down the BakeMart owner’s name in her notebook.

“Is it because Mr. Kandinsky wants the cupcake recipe and Mama Tova won’t sell it to him? So maybe he tried to steal it?” Benny asked.

“That’s right, Benny,” Henry said.

“And then there is Mrs. Waldman and the mysterious flour,” Violet said. She remembered Jessie’s story. “I think she should be the next suspect.”

“Mrs. Waldman also had four of Mama Tova’s cupcakes in a box, but nobody is ever allowed to buy more than one cupcake at a time at Sweets. Or take them home. That makes Mrs. Waldman even more suspicious!” Jessie said. She wrote down Mrs. Waldman’s name.

“Should we tell Officer Montag what we know?” Benny asked.

“Not yet,” Henry said. “So far we aren’t really sure about anything.”

“We could talk to Mrs. Waldman right now,” Benny said. “We just saw her talking to the police.”

But when the children looked around, Mrs. Waldman was gone. She had left the shop.

“We’ll have to talk to her tomorrow, I guess,” Violet said.

Jessie agreed, shutting her notebook. “We shouldn’t tell the police anything until we have more clues about who is trying to steal the recipe.”

“We need to solve this mystery before the thief steals the recipe for real,” Benny declared.

At lunch the next day, Grandfather had an announcement to make. “Mama Tova called a little while ago. She wants us all to come to Sweets before the store opens.”

“Did something else bad happen?” Benny asked.

“No,” Grandfather said. “She wants to thank you for helping her clean up yesterday, Mama Tova is going to make some special cupcakes.”

Benny jumped up and ran out the door. A minute later, he stuck his head back inside. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked his brother and sisters.

Henry laughed. “We’re coming, Benny.” He stood and began clearing the table. “We have plenty of time to clean up from our lunch and still get to the store when it opens.”

“Oh. Right.” Benny grabbed as many dishes as he could carry from the table and quickly took them in one huge stack to the sink. When he came back for a second load, Violet had to grab her carrot sticks before her plate disappeared.

“Okay,” Benny said, returning to the table. “Dishes are in the sink.” He looked at his family. “Can we wash them later? After the cupcakes?” He rubbed his belly. “My stomach can hear the cupcakes calling me.”

Everyone giggled.

“Grab your jackets,” Grandfather told the children. “You can ride your bikes over. I’ll wash up and meet you there.”

Benny gave Grandfather a big hug. “Thanks!” he said, and rushed out of the house.

Jessie grabbed her notebook on her way out the door. She hoped Mrs. Waldman would be at the cupcake shop too. There were some questions she wanted to ask.

“Why is there dirt all over the sidewalk?” Jessie asked Violet as they parked their bikes in front of Sweets. The pavement was covered with crumpled flowers and dirt.

Violet stared at the mess. “It can’t be!” she cried. “It looks like someone dug up Mama Tova’s beautiful flower boxes.”

“Oh no!” Benny exclaimed, getting off his bicycle. “It
is
another mess!”

Alicia came out of the store just then. She was holding a shovel. “Oh,” she said when she saw the Aldens, “What are you doing here?”

Benny said, “Mama Tova invited us to a little thank-you party she was having at the shop today. She said to come before the store opened.”

“I didn’t realize Mama Tova was coming to the store early today,” Alicia said, looking down at the dirt. “I was walking by the shop, on my way to the bookstore when I saw this big mess. So I went inside and got a shovel so I could start cleaning it up for her.”

Henry said, “We can help, too.”

“Mama Tova should know what happened.” Jessie said. “I think we need to go call her.” She and Violet went to use the phone. Benny and Henry and Alicia started to pick up the flowers, hoping some of them could be saved.

“I’m glad Grandfather taught us how to plant flowers,” Benny said, looking at a wilted marigold’s roots.

Henry smiled. “Maybe you’ll be a gardener when you grow up.”

“I don’t think so,” Benny said, shaking his head. “I would rather be a chef. I’ll make steak, and baked potatoes, and delicious desserts, and then
more
steak!”

“Mmmm. I’ll come eat at your restaurant every day,” Henry said, grinning at his brother.

Mama Tova arrived with Jessie and Violet. She was carrying a bag of soil and a watering can.

Grandfather pulled up in his car at the same time.

“The girls just told me about the mess,” Mama Tova said. “I brought some supplies.” She set down the soil and picked up one of her torn plants. “So sad,” she said, inspecting it closely. “I don’t understand why someone would dig up my flowers!”

“I’ll go fill the watering can,” Alicia said, and rushed off behind the building.

“We think we know why someone would dig them up,” Jessie said, taking out her notebook.

“Remember when you told us that the secret ingredient for the cupcakes was under the flower?” Henry reminded Mama Tova. “We think someone overheard you and now they’re searching for your recipe.”

“They are looking under all your flowers!” Benny added.

“Flowers?” Mama Tova said. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “I don’t understand. And what does this have to do with the mess from yesterday?”

“I know!” Jessie exclaimed. “Someone heard you say where the secret is kept, but they didn’t know if you meant f-1-o-w-e-r, like plants and decorations, or f-1-o-u-r, as in the white powdery stuff for baking.”

“Flower or flour?” Mama Tova wondered aloud. “Well then, now I see why someone tore up all my decorations and spilled my baking flour everywhere, too. Goodness me, I can’t let them get my family recipe! What am I going to do?”

“We are here to help,” Benny said. “We’ll clean up today and also to find out who did this.”