Spy in the Bleachers (6 page)

• Whenever Cody Howard comes to bat, Emma stands up and shouts and waves her hat. This could be a signal to Cody.

• She was talking to Carlos Garcia about Reese Dawkins, the catcher.

• She received an envelope from Carlos Garcia.

“Emma is doing a lot of suspicious-looking things,” said Violet.

“Maybe the things she’s doing are
too
suspicious,” said Henry.

“What do you mean?” asked Benny.

“Well,” said Henry to his younger brother, “if you were stealing signs, wouldn’t you try to hide it?”

Benny thought about this. “I would never steal,” he said. “But a person who steals tries to hide it.”

“Emma doesn’t seem to hide what she’s doing,” said Violet.

“Let’s go to our last suspect,” said Henry.

“Winn Winchell,” said Jessie as she wrote the name. “The team mascot.”

“Also known as Wheelie,” Benny said.

The others laughed.

The children spent a long time discussing Wheelie. Jessie wrote the list.

Wheelie

• Wheelie receives envelopes from Carlos during the game. Maybe Wheelie and Carlos are working together to steal signs.

• Wheelie has a very clear view of the catcher’s signals.

• Wheelie makes motions each time Cody Howard is at bat. Sometimes he holds his nose, sometimes he holds both hands out to the side.

• Wheelie seems to want money. He seems to want fans to pay for autographs.

• Benny and Henry saw an envelope with money in it fall out of Wheelie’s pocket.

“This is a tough mystery to solve,” Violet said. “All three people look guilty.”

Henry stood up and paced around. “I wish we had been able to figure out who the spy was today.”

“Me, too,” said Benny. “But all three of them did the same things they always do.”

“I am very sad,” said Violet. “We don’t have a name to give Mr. Tanaka tomorrow morning. That means the spy will continue spying. And that means the Cogs will lose tomorrow’s game.”

“But,” said Henry, still walking back and forth, “I think we can tell who’s
not
guilty.”

Jessie nodded. “Yes. Who do you think is innocent, Benny?”

“Emma.” said Benny. “Because she doesn’t hide what she’s doing.”

“Very good,” said Jessie with a smile.

“I think Emma is innocent, too” said Violet. “And I think I know why she wears different clothes. We can ask her tomorrow.”

“Then we will have two suspects,” said Jessie. “Carlos and Wheelie.”

“We will
i-so-late
one of them,” said Benny. “Like when I had the measles.”

Henry sat back down. “This will be the most important decision we make,” he said. “If we isolate the right person, nobody will be there to give stolen signs to Cody Howard.”

“That means the Cogs will have a fair chance to win the game,” said Jessie.

“We can think about this while we sleep,” said Violet. “In the morning we can decide who to isolate.”

The others agreed.

“There’s one more thing we can do,” said Jessie.

“What’s that?” asked Henry.

“We can get two autographs. I’ll get one, and Benny can get the other one.”

“Good thinking,” said Henry. “The autographs will help us.”

The next morning the children went to Cogwheel Stadium with Grandfather. They arrived so early they had time to play in the ballpark outside the stadium. As soon as they saw cars arriving for the game, the Aldens put away their bats and balls.

Just inside Cogwheel Stadium, they waited for Emma Larke to show up. “I wonder what Emma will be wearing today?” said Benny.

They saw her coming through the turnstile. Today she was wearing a Cogs baseball cap, an orange Cogs baseball shirt, and white baseball pants.

“I thought Emma hated the Cogs,” whispered Jessie.

“Emma looks very sad,” said Violet.

Henry said hello and asked Emma if they could talk to her.

“Talk?” said Emma. “What about?”

Before Henry could start asking the questions they needed to ask, Benny blurted out, “Why are you wearing a Cogs uniform?”

Emma started to cry. “I’m a Cogs fan, really I am. I should have been rooting for them all along. And now,” she said, crying harder, “the Cogs won’t win the pennant. It’s all my fault!”

“How is it your fault?” asked Jessie.

“I rooted for Cody Howard,” said Emma, “just because I was so mad at Reese Dawkins! And look what happened—every time I cheered for Cody, he hit a home run! Or a triple! If only I hadn’t cheered for him.”

Emma wiped tears from her eyes. “It’s all my fault,” she repeated.

“It’s not your fault,” said Henry, “unless you were telling Cody which pitch was coming.”

Emma stopped crying and looked at Henry. “Huh?” she said. “You mean like in sign stealing?”

“Yes,” said Jessie, “that’s what we mean.”

Emma looked at the Aldens without saying anything. She seemed to be thinking. “Do you mean somebody is stealing signs and giving them to Cody?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Henry, “that’s what somebody is doing.”

Suddenly Emma’s eyes grew wide. “So you think I’ve been stealing signs?”

“Are you?” asked Jessie.

“No!” shouted Emma, who was now angry. “Why do you think it’s me?”

“You wear a lot of different hats,” said Benny. “And you wave them around when Cody comes to bat. Then he gets a big hit.”

Emma became silent. The children waited for her to speak, but she didn’t say anything. Finally Henry asked, “Why do you stand up and wave your hat whenever Cody is at bat?”

“I want to explain,” said Emma, “but I can’t.”

“Why not?” asked Henry.

“Because it involves another person,” said Emma. “Somebody I shouldn’t be talking about.”

“That’s okay,” said Violet. “I know what you mean.”

Emma stared at Violet. “You do?”

Violet smiled shyly. “Yes,” she said. “The other person is Simon Brock.”

All sadness vanished from Emma Larke’s face. Her eyes lit up. She smiled happily. “Do the four of you
know
Simon Brock? I saw you
sitting right next to him
two games ago!”

“Yes, we know Mr. Brock,” Jessie replied. “We know that he’s a movie producer.”

“Shhhh!” warned Emma, putting her finger to her lips. “Mr. Brock doesn’t want anybody to know who he is. He wants to watch the games without being bothered.”

“That’s true,” said Henry, “but how do you know that?”

“Oh,” said Emma, twirling a lock of her hair around a finger, “I read film magazines all the time. I’ve seen photos of Simon Brock, so I recognized him in line one day. And,” she said, “I could tell by how he dresses that he doesn’t want people to know who he is. You know, the baseball cap pulled low, and the dark sunglasses.”

“I know why you wear different clothes every day,” Violet told Emma. “I know why you stand up and wave your hat.”

Emma looked at Violet and smiled. “I believe you
do
know,” she said.

“You want Mr. Brock to notice you,” Violet said. “You want to be a movie star.”

“Yes!” shouted Emma, clapping her hands together. “I want Simon Brock to see that I can act many different roles. One day I was an average fan. The next day I was a Southern lady. Yesterday I was a gangster! And today I’m a diehard Cogs fan.”

Emma changed from happy to worried.” Do you think that Mr. Brock has noticed me?” she asked.

“Yes,” Henry answered. “He has definitely noticed you.” Henry did not tell Emma that Simon Brock suspected her of being the sign stealer.

“Oh!” shouted Emma. “That’s wonderful!” She became quiet and looked at Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. “Do you think … do you think that you could introduce me to Mr. Brock?” she begged.

“Sure,” said Jessie, “if you answer one question for us.”

“Okay,” Emma said. “What question?”

“We saw Carlos Garcia slip an envelope into your purse two days ago,” Jessie explained. “What was in the envelope?”

Emma Larke blushed. “Oh, that,” she said. “That was a note from Carlos asking me for a date.”

“Thank you,” said Henry. “We’ll introduce you to Mr. Brock, but first we have a meeting with Mr. Tanaka.”

“Emma Larke looked guilty,” said Jessie as the four of them walked to the owner’s office. “But she
isn’t
guilty. So now we’re down to two suspects.”

“But if Carlos wrote a letter asking Emma for a date, maybe he’s innocent, too,” said Violet.

“Maybe,” Henry replied. “But remember that Carlos also gives envelopes to Wheelie. We don’t know what’s in those envelopes.”

When the children entered Mr. Tanaka’s office, they found him walking back and forth, back and forth.

“At last!” he said when he saw them. “Who’s the spy?”

“It’s not Simon Brock,” Jessie told him. “And it’s not Emma Larke.”

“So,” said Mr. Tanaka. “Is it Carlos Garcia? Or is it Wheelie?”

“We can’t prove which of them is the spy,” said Henry.

Mr. Tanaka sat in his chair and put his head in his hands. “Then it’s all over,” he moaned. “The Hatters will win.”

Henry shook his head. “No. We have a plan to prove whether the spy is Carlos or Wheelie.”

Mr. Tanaka looked up. “You do?” he asked, studying the children.

“Yes,” said Jessie. “In order to prove which one is the spy, we have to separate them. We have to stop either Carlos or Wheelie from being where they can see the signs.”

“And where Cody can see the spy,” added Violet.

Mr. Tanaka thought about this a while. “It’s a good plan,” he said. “Which one should we take out of the bleachers?” he asked.

“We’ve talked about this,” said Henry, “and we think Wheelie should leave the bleachers.”

“Hmmm,” said Mr. Tanaka, rubbing his chin. “I will invite Winn Winchell to sit with me in the owner’s box today. In fact, I will
insist
that he sit with me.”

“That’s good,” said Henry. “Do you have another person to play Wheelie?”

Mr. Tanaka looked at him. “Yes,” he said,” I certainly do.”

“Good,” said Jessie. “But if Cody Howard hits a home run the first time he comes to bat, you must act fast.”

Mr. Tanaka nodded. “Excellent plan,” he said. “If Cody hits a home run, then the spy is Carlos. I will have Carlos removed from the bleachers immediately, so that he won’t be able to signal to Cody for the rest of the game.”

Mr. Tanaka picked up his telephone and spoke to his assistant. “Have Winn Winchell come to my office,” he said. “Immediately!”

In less than five minutes, Winn Winchell walked into the owner’s office. As he walked in, the Aldens walked out.

Violet and Benny hurried to their seats in the bleachers. They sat behind Emma once again.

“Hi,” said Emma, turning around. “Where are Henry and Jessie?”

“Jessie is getting an autograph,” said Benny. “I’m going to get one, too.”

“It’s fun to get autographs,” said Emma. “Whose autograph do you want?”

Benny looked all around. “I want Carlos’s autograph,” he said.

Emma laughed. “Carlos will be
thrilled
that you want his autograph, Benny!” She looked around. “Is Henry getting an autograph, too?”

“No,” said Violet. “Henry is sitting in a different seat today.”

“Oh,” said Emma. “Well, I hope it’s a good seat. I wouldn’t want him to miss this game. The Cogs
must
win.” She pounded the arms of her chair.

Violet and Benny looked all around, taking in the sights and smelling the hot dogs. Soon Jessie arrived.

“Got it!” she said, showing them a score card. Jessie tucked the scorecard into her pocket. “I’m hungry,” she said, looking around. “And here comes Carlos.”

Jessie bought hot dogs for Violet, Benny, and herself. She paid Carlos and gave him a tip. “Thanks,” said Carlos. “Where’s Henry?”

“Oh, he’s around here somewhere,” said Jessie. She didn’t want to say where he was.

Suddenly Benny jumped up. “It’s Wheelie!” he shouted, pointing down to the field. The big, fuzzy, orange mascot ran across the field, tossing rolled-up T-shirts to the fans.

“Wheelie!” shouted Benny. “Up here!”

Emma smiled at Benny. “I didn’t know you liked Wheelie so much,” she said.

“I love Wheelie,” replied Benny.

Just then the mascot threw a rolled-up T-shirt toward their seats. The large cotton bundle came right at Emma. But Emma ducked at the last minute, and Benny caught the T-shirt.

All the fans applauded Benny. “Nice catch!” they shouted.

Benny was very excited. He unwrapped the T-shirt and held it up. Wheelie’s picture was on the front.

“I’m going to ask Wheelie to autograph my shirt,” said Benny.

Jessie and Violet smiled.

Emma frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. “Wheelie doesn’t seem to like to autograph things.”

Down on the field, Wheelie was jumping up and down. He pumped both arms into the air. He spread his fingers in a
V
for victory. And then Wheelie did cartwheels all the way back to his special door.

The Cogs fans went wild. They applauded long and loud. “Go, Cogs, go!” they shouted. “Cogs will win! Cogs will win!” Of all the fans, Emma Larke shouted the loudest.