TBC 122: The Spy in the Bleachers by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner [Warner, Gertrude Chandler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781453229118
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2011-03-19T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

Back to the Bleachers

That night, Grandfather and the children ate dinner at the inn where they were staying. After dinner, the children talked in their room.

“Winn said the envelopes he gets don’t have money in them,” said Benny. “But Henry and I saw money fall out of an envelope in his pocket.”

“Yes,” added Henry. “There were lots of one-hundred dollar bills in the envelope. I don’t think anybody would pay a hundred dollars for a Wheelie autograph.”

“Me, neither!” shouted Benny.

“We didn’t know that Reese Dawkins used to be Emma’s boyfriend,” said Jessie. “I think she wants him to fail at his job as catcher.”

“We didn’t know that Carlos wants to be the Cogs catcher,” added Henry. “He also wants to see Reese fail.”

“Mr. Tanaka was very upset when we mentioned Mr. X,” said Violet. “I wonder why.”

“Wheelie was making fun of us,” said Benny. “It’s not nice to make fun of people.”

“You’re right, Benny, it’s not,” said Jessie.

“Tomorrow is the third of the five games,” Henry said. “Tomorrow we have to figure out which of our suspects is the spy.”

The next morning the children walked straight to the owner’s office.

“We would like to help you again today,” they told Mr. Tanaka.

“Thank you,” he said, “but I think the best way you can help me is to find the spy. So I would like you to spend all the time you need doing that. Where would you like to sit today?”

The Aldens had talked it over the night before. They told Mr. Tanaka that they needed to sit in the bleachers. He handed them tickets to the same four seats they’d had the first day.

“Before you go,” said Mr. Tanaka, “there’s something I must tell you.”

The children waited.

Mr. Tanaka cleared his throat. “Yesterday I did not tell you something—something I should have told you. It is about the man you call Mr. X.”

“What about him?” asked Violet, who could see that Mr. Tanaka was having trouble talking about this.

“Mr. X is really Simon Brock. Do you know who Simon Brock is?”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny all shook their heads.

“He’s a famous movie producer,” said Mr. Tanaka. “He grew up in Clayton. For three summers, he was batboy for the Clayton Cogs. Now he likes to come back each summer and watch the games. He’s a big Cogs fan.”

“We could tell that he likes the Cogs,” said Henry. “But why did he want us to call him Mr. X?”

“Simon Brock doesn’t want to be recognized,” explained Mr. Tanaka. “He’s afraid that if anybody knows who he is, they’ll bother him. So many people want to be movie stars, they might not let Mr. Brock watch the game in peace.”

Jessie nodded. “What is Mr. X—I mean, Mr. Brock—doing with a notebook and headphone?” she asked.

“Oh, that,” laughed Mr. Tanaka. “He told me he’s working on an idea for a new movie. Whenever he gets an idea, he writes it down. Or he records it by talking into his headphone.”

“Wow!” said Benny. “He must be working on a baseball movie!”

Everybody looked at Benny.

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