TBC 120: The Vampire Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner [Warner, Gertrude Chandler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781453229095
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2011-03-19T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Three Suspects

Grandfather arrived for dinner just as Mrs. McGregor was setting a pot roast on the table.

“Smells great!” Grandfather said. “I’m sorry I’m late. My meeting lasted longer than I had thought.”

Just then, there was a loud clap of thunder, and the lights flickered off and on for a minute. Rain drummed against the side of the house. The children quickly closed all the windows.

“You got home just in time, Grandfather.” Violet spread her napkin on her lap. “One moment later and you would have been caught in the storm.”

“That’s true. My timing was perfect.” Grandfather smiled. “I’m glad my grandchildren are not out in this storm.”

During dinner, the children told Grandfather about the vandalism at Mr. Hudson’s home and the work that they had done to clean it up.

“That was very kind of you,” Grandfather said. “I wonder who would do such a thing?”

“We’ve been wondering the same thing, Grandfather,” said Henry.

Jessie spooned some warm applesauce onto Benny’s plate. “We think that whoever it is does not want Mr. Hudson to sell his house.”

Violet was thinking hard. She’d heard Josh on the phone the day before. She knew he had said something about selling the house. But she couldn’t remember what he’d said.

Grandfather shook his head. “I suppose the vandalism is why Mr. Hudson cut short his business trip.”

“Mr. Hudson is home?” asked Henry. “I thought so.” Grandfather passed the mashed potatoes to Benny. “But I could be wrong. Driving home this evening, I thought I saw Mr. Hudson walking down the street near the library. I called out to him, but he turned a corner and disappeared.”

After dinner, Grandfather went into his study to make some phone calls. Mrs. McGregor brought out an iced lemon cake and four plates.

“You brought home the lemon cake from the bake sale?” Benny clapped his hands.

“No, Benny,” Mrs. McGregor replied. “Someone bought that cake and donated twenty dollars to the library for it.”

“Twenty dollars! That must have been the biggest donation at the bake sale!” Violet smiled at Mrs. McGregor.

Mrs. McGregor’s face flushed red with pride. “I don’t know about that,” she said.

“I don’t think twenty dollars is enough.” Benny held out his empty plate. “I would pay one hundred dollars for your lemon cake!”

“That’s why I made another one for you when I came home.” Mrs. McGregor laughed. “And I’ll even waive the hundred–dollar fee!”

The Aldens each ate a big slice of the good cake.

“Do you think the man that Grandfather saw today was Mr. Hudson?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “If it was Mr. Hudson, why didn’t he say hello when Grandfather called out to him?”

“Maybe he didn’t hear Grandfather,” said Jessie.

“I thought I saw Mr. Hudson, too,” said Benny. “But now I know it wasn’t him.”

“How do you know? “Jessie refilled Benny’s glass with milk.

“The man I saw did not dress like Mr. Hudson. His clothes were old and not very clean. There was dirt on them and even some stains that looked like oil.”

Violet tapped her fork on the table, thinking.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.