The Mystery of the Soccer Snitch (7 page)

“That is quite an honor,” Grandfather said, “but I am not sure how Jessie will feel about it. Yes… yes…I will talk to her.”

“All right, then,” he said. “Goodbye.” He hung up the phone.

Jessie came into the room. “Grandfather?” she asked. “What is it?”

“That was Coach Olson,” Mr. Alden said. “He is still working on the investigation. He says the investigation will not be complete until the police figure out who broke the window, but meanwhile, he believes all the things in the letter about Kayla are true. He thinks the honor should go to Jessie, who he says is much nicer and more nurturing of her teammates. So what he wants to do, when the police figure out who broke the window, is suggest to the committee that Jessie should be invited to Brazil as a child mascot instead.”

Jessie and Benny looked at each other.

“I told him it was an honor,” Grandfather said quietly.

“Of course it's an honor!” Jessie said, recovering from her surprise enough to speak. “Going to Brazil to see the international tournament would be amazing! But I can't possibly go! I just don't think it's fair to Kayla! This will be so humiliating for Kayla. It's wrong to give it to me instead.”

“Coach Olson doesn't think so,” Grandfather said. “He said the committee wants the mascot to be someone who sets a good example for the sport, not just plays well.”

“It just isn't right,” Jessie said.

“If that's how you feel,” Grandfather said, “We can tell Coach Olson not to nominate you because you don't want to accept.”

“I'll think about it,” Jessie said.

After the children finished their homework, Jessie called a meeting so they could look at their clues.

“We have to get to the bottom of this,” she said. “I will not be able to accept the invitation to be mascot as long as it looks like someone has it in for Kayla.”

“People are wrong about Kayla,” Violet said. “Kayla is a nice person. I know she is. People just don't understand her. I don't think she cares that much about soccer. I think she only plays because her parents want her to.”

“I will tell you what I'm wondering,” Henry said. “I am starting to wonder if Coach Olson is behind this. It's clear Kayla's mother and Coach Olson don't like each other much. It's also clear Coach Olson doesn't like Kayla. And Jessie is his favorite. I've heard kids say that.”

“You think Coach Olson wrote the letter?” Jessie asked. “I can't believe a coach would do that. Anyway, why would he write an anonymous letter? Why wouldn't he just call the committee and say Kayla should not be mascot because she sets a bad example?”

“Maybe because he doesn't want Kayla's family any madder at him,” Henry said.

“But why would Coach Olson write a letter from the library computer?” Jessie asked. “Wouldn't he know about the automatic save function?”

“Maybe he wants people to think a kid did it,” Henry said.

“I just can't believe it was Coach Olson,” Jessie said. “I think it was one of the girls on the red team. Maybe Ashley or Danielle or someone who is staying quiet.”

“What about that broken window?” Benny said. “Probably the same person who wrote the letter also broke the window so Kayla would be blamed, right?”

“It sort of looks like that,” Henry said.

“Coach Olson would never break a window,” Jessie said.

“I agree with that,” Henry said. “So maybe it wasn't Coach Olson after all.”

“We need to figure out who broke the window!” Benny said. “Then we might have a clue who wrote the letter!”

The others nodded in agreement.

“We don't have any real clues at all about the broken window,” Henry said. “Do we?”

“None,” Jessie said. “Maybe fewer clues than who wrote the letter.”

“What do we know about the window?” Henry asked. “Was there anything at all unusual?”

They were all silent. “The only thing I can think of,” Jessie said, “is when we went to look at the broken window, the air conditioner was blowing. I guess that means someone was inside and turned it on.”

“Also it was a very old window,” Henry said. “The wood was splintered and the glass was a murky color.”

Suddenly Benny said, “Maybe it's like putting ice in hot coffee!”

The others looked at Benny, puzzled.

Seeing their expressions, Benny said, “Putting ice in hot coffee can break glass if the glass is too thin! Just ask Mrs. MacGregor!”

The children went to find Mrs. MacGregor, who said, “Yes, indeed. That was silly of me. The ice in the hot coffee broke the glass. I should have known that glass was too thin.”

“I wonder if the same thing can happen with windows,” Henry said. “Remember Beck said something about having to be careful with these old windows in the summer.”

“After dinner,” Jessie said, “let's go ask him.”

After dinner all four children walked the five blocks to Mr. Beck's house. He lived in the part of town where the houses were mostly painted white, with clapboard sides and picket fences in front. The lawns and flower beds were neatly trimmed. Mr. Beck's white van was parked in his driveway. Beck Handyman Service was printed in red and blue letters.

“Looks like he's here,” Jessie said.

“I want to ring the doorbell!” Benny shouted. He liked ringing doorbells.

“If you keep shouting like that,” Violet said, smiling, “we won't have to ring the doorbell!”

Benny ran to the door and rang the doorbell. He rang it a second time. He was about to ring the bell a third time when Jessie ran and caught his hand and said, “Benny! That's enough!”

Mr. Beck opened the door and smiled at the children. “Look who's here! All four Alden children! What can I do for you?”

“We have a question,” Henry said. “On Saturday when you were working at our house, you said you have to watch out with these old windows in the summer. What did you mean?”

“The windows in your house were getting tight and hard to open,” he said. “Old windows are fragile and can break easily.”

“What would you think if an air conditioner was running on a very hot day,” Henry said, “so the air inside was very cold…could that make a window break?”

“Extreme temperature changes are very bad for old glass,” Mr. Beck said. “Very cold inside, and very hot outside? Yes, that could cause a spontaneous break. Why?”

“Spontaneous!” Benny cried. “Like putting ice in hot coffee! The glass can break!”

“Exactly,” said Mr. Beck.

“The air conditioning was running in the old Gerry's General Store building,” Henry said. “The police think it was vandalism. People are blaming Kayla. But maybe the old window broke because of the cold inside and hot outside.”

“I read about that broken window in the newspaper,” Mr. Beck said. “The newspaper didn't say anything about an air conditioner running.”

“The air conditioner was definitely running,” Jessie said. “I'm surprised Mrs. Leob didn't mention that to the police. I wonder why it was on.”

“That was an old building,” said Mr. Beck. “The air conditioner was probably old, too. It probably just went haywire. Turned on by itself. The windows got icy cold, the sun beat down, and wham, the window broke.”

“Perhaps we should tell the police,” Violet said. “They might not know the inside was freezing and that extreme temperature changes can cause old glass to break.”

“I will do that,” Mr. Beck said. “I will head over there right away. They can investigate to see if that was what broke the window.”

The children thanked Mr. Beck. They all said goodbye.

When the children were back on the sidewalk heading home, Jessie said, “It's nice to know the broken window probably wasn't vandalism. The problem is, we're no closer to figuring out who wrote that letter and caused Kayla all these problems.”

Violet said, “At least people will stop blaming Kayla for the broken window.”

“I was really starting to think Ashley had broken the window,” Jessie said. “She kept acting strangely about the golf ball.”

“Maybe there is still a clue there,” Henry said. “There was something strange about all those golf balls on the floor of the store. Why don't you just ask her what she knows about the golf ball? You're the team captain, after all. The ball was used to trip a team member. You have a good reason to ask her.”

“All right, I'll ask her tomorrow,” Jessie said. “Maybe there still is a connection between the golf balls and the letter writer, even though I can't imagine what the connection can possibly be.”

That night, long after the rest of the family was asleep, Violet heard Jessie tossing in her bed.

“Are you awake?” Violet whispered.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “I'm thinking about Kayla. Why are you awake?”

“I keep thinking about Kayla, too,” Violet said.

The only light in the room came from a small night light in the bathroom just down the hallway. There was just enough light so Violet could see the outline of her stuffed animals on the shelf near her bed.

“I would love to be an international soccer mascot,” Jessie whispered. “But not like this. Not because someone else is having bad fortune.”

“I know what you mean,” Violet whispered back.

“If we don't get to the bottom of this,” Jessie said, “I'll have to say I don't want to go.”

Just then, words popped into Violet's head: Things aren't always as they seem.

Violet's teacher had said that once. Violet agreed completely that things were not always as they seemed. For example, a lot of people disliked Kayla. A lot of people were jealous of Kayla, too. So it seemed like someone who didn't like her and was jealous of her wrote the mean letter. But maybe that wasn't what happened at all, Violet realized.

She thought about the golf balls. Because golf balls were found inside Gerry's General Store, and because Kayla had a golf ball in her hand, so it seemed like there was a connection between Kayla and the broken window. But what if there was more to the story?

Violet knew that sometimes, with mysteries, the clue is where something doesn't quite feel right.

For Violet, the part that didn't feel right was Kayla's attitude toward soccer. She didn't seem to even like soccer. Who would have thought that?

Everyone criticized Kayla for not being a team player. But if she didn't even like soccer, no wonder she wasn't a good team player.

Violet put her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. Jessie's breathing was so deep and steady, Violet knew she had fallen asleep. Violet still felt puzzled, but she felt comforted as always by the nearness of her sister. Soon she, too, fell asleep.

CHAPTER
9

A Confession

The next morning, at school, lots of Jessie's classmates came to congratulate her on being asked to be mascot.

Jessie said thank you, always adding, “But I don't think I'll go. I don't think it's fair to Kayla.”

“I'm sure you'll go, Jessie,” Danielle said coldly.

Jessie turned to look at Danielle, astonished.

“Everyone keeps thinking I wrote that letter,” Danielle said, “because I don't like Kayla. Here's what I wonder. I wonder if Jessie wrote the letter because she knew Coach Olson likes her best, so she knew she'd get to go to Brazil as mascot!”

“I did not write that letter,” Jessie said, horrified.

Just then, Ashley walked over to join them. “Maybe it was Jessie who wrote the letter!” Ashley said.

Jessie folded her arms across her chest and looked at Ashley. “Tell me about that golf ball Danielle used to trip Kayla,” Jessie said. “What do you know about it?”

As before, the mention of the golf ball had a strange effect on Ashley. She looked quickly away and didn't say anything. She rocked on the balls of her feet, as if she wanted to run away.

No doubt, there was something going on with Ashley and that golf ball.

“It's okay,” Jessie said gently. “You can tell me. I don't think you broke the window. Something seems strange, though, about the whole thing. A bunch of golf balls were found inside the store. Danielle used a golf ball to trip Kayla. Then people started blaming Kayla for breaking the window when I know she didn't.”

Ashley had a pained, guilty look on her face. Jessie suspected Ashley was about to make a confession. She was thus surprised when Ashley cried, “I didn't break the window either! I promise.”

“I know you didn't,” Jessie said. “Mr. Beck, the handyman, knows about old windows. He said it probably broke by itself.”

“Well, good, because I didn't break the window,” Ashley said.

“Then why do you act strangely every time someone mentions the golf ball?” Jessie asked.

Ashley narrowed her eyes. A moment passed. Then another. Jessie thought Ashley was about to say something mean. Instead, she said, “I was walking to practice on Wednesday, and I went by the old store. The window was broken and inside were some golf balls. I reached in and picked one up. While we were waiting for practice, Danielle and I were rolling it back and forth.”

“I see,” Jessie said. “The truth is that you stole the golf ball.”

Ashley looked horrified. “It was just laying there! It didn't belong to anyone! The store was abandoned! It really wasn't stealing!”

Jessie didn't answer.

“It wasn't,” Ashley said. Then she softened and looked genuinely frightened. “Was it?”

“It was stealing,” Jessie said. “Why did you take it?”

“It was just sitting there inside the window. I don't know. I shouldn't have.”

“Just go put it back,” Jessie said.

“I would, but Kayla still has it. I can't ask her for it back. She'll wonder why I'm asking. Then she'll figure out I stole it, then she'll tell everyone I stole it to get back at me for being mean.”