“You said the inspectors were looking for smugglers,” Henry said. “We thought someone might be bringing the jewels in on a boat and putting them in the bear for someone else to pick up.”

  “We set a trap!” Benny blurted. He told Mr. Valencia how they’d put ink in the bear’s hidden compartment.

  “That was very clever,” said Mr. Valencia. “Eric, would you please hold out your hands?”

  Mr. Pruett held out his hands. They were clean.

  Mr. Valencia frowned, but Henry explained. “That means he did not try to get the jewels out of the bear. He might have put them in the bear before the storm.”

  “Eric, do you have anything to say?” asked Mr. Valencia.

  Mr. Pruett sighed. “The children are right. Maybe it’s for the best. I’ve been sick with worry the last few days.”

  “Is that because you thought the storm had washed away the bear, along with the jewels you put there?” asked Jessie.

  Eric Pruett nodded. “I brought the jewels in on my boat. I bought them in Central America. I did not steal them! But I didn’t declare the jewels when I brought them into the country. I didn’t pay the taxes.”

  “That’s why you didn’t leave the harbor before the storm,” said Henry. “You didn’t want to have your boat inspected.”

  “You took a big risk,” said Mr. Valencia. “You’re lucky your boat wasn’t destroyed or lost at sea.”

  “I know,” said Mr. Pruett. “That storm scared the pants off me. When my boat washed up and that bear went missing, I thought I’d lose everything. I wanted to make a little extra money, not lose it.”

  “You came to Ms. Freeman’s in the middle of the night, didn’t you?” said Benny. “You were looking for the ice-cream bear!”

  Mr. Pruett nodded glumly.

  “We heard you ask George Williams for money,” said Henry. “Was he the person you were delivering the jewels to?”

  “I never knew who picked up the jewels,” said Mr. Pruett. “I just left them in the bear. The buyer would leave the money in the same place the next night. I thought Mr. Williams might be the buyer. He has that fancy shop.”

  “We don’t think Mr. Williams is part of this,” said Henry.

  Mr. Pruett shrugged. “All I know is the person’s code name. That’s another reason I thought it might be Williams. He’s from Georgia.”

  “What is the code name?” Jessie asked.

  “The buyer goes by Savannah,” Mr. Pruett said. “That’s a city in Georgia.”

  The children looked at one another. Savannah was also the name of a person. A person who had been acting very strangely.

  Benny grinned and said, “Did we just solve the mystery?”

  CHAPTER

  Cleaning Up Clues

  “We need to talk to Savannah,” said Jessie. “She might be at the ice-cream shop now.”

  Mr. Valencia nodded. He turned to Mr. Pruett. “The inspectors need to know about this. Do you want to tell them, or should I?”

  Mr. Pruett stood up. “I’ll do it.”

  “That will be better for you,” Mr. Valencia said. “You’ll have to pay the import taxes and a fine. If you cooperate, you might stay out of jail.”

  “That’s the best I can hope for now,” Mr. Pruett said. “I’m glad all this is over. Trying to get easy money was the hardest thing I’ve ever done!”

  The two men went to find the inspectors. The children headed back to the ice-cream shop. Sarah was behind the counter. She wore yellow rubber gloves that came up to her elbows. Grandfather and Ms. Freeman sat at a table with a stack of paper between them.

  “Good news,” Grandfather said. “The generator isn’t broken.”

  “That’s right,” Ms. Freeman said. “The vandal just removed a piece. The mechanic has replaced it. He’s doing a tune-up. We should have power soon.”

  “Hooray!” said Benny. “Then we can bring the ice cream back. We’ll have to sample each flavor to make sure it’s still good though.”

  “We have another job to do first,” Henry said. “We need to talk to Sarah—or should I say ‘Savannah’?”

  Sarah glanced at the children. “Since we can’t open yet, I’m cleaning the food-prep area,” she said, turning away and scrubbing the sink.

  “This is important,” said Jessie. “Can you stop a minute?”

  Sarah frowned like she might want to argue. Finally, she put down her sponge and slowly came around the counter. Her rubber gloves were still on.

  “I like your necklace,” said Violet. “Are you wearing any of your homemade bracelets today?”

  Sarah shook her head. “Not while I clean.”

  “Can we see your hands?” asked Henry.

  Sarah took a step backward. “I told you I’m not wearing any bracelets. There’s nothing to see.”

  “What’s this all about?” Ms. Freeman asked.

  Sarah pulled out a chair and sat with a deep sigh. “The children know. You set up that trap, didn’t you?” She slowly peeled off her gloves. Purple marks dotted both of her hands.

  “You are the other smuggler!” Benny said.

  Ms. Freeman gasped. “What?”

  “It’s true,” Sarah said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “We saw piles of jewels in Eric Pruett’s ship,” said Henry. “He went to talk to the inspectors.”

  “Why don’t you tell us your part of the story?” Violet said kindly.

  “It all started after the big storm two years ago,” Sarah said. “My cottage was badly damaged. The storm tore off part of the roof. Water got inside. I had to tear out the carpets. It took months to fix the roof.”

  “I didn’t know the storm hit you so bad,” said Ms. Freeman.

  “Lots of people had it worse,” Sarah said. “Everyone was busy. Everyone had bad things happen. I didn’t want to ask for help or money, so I needed to make more money. I set up my online jewelry business, The Ice Box. But it’s hard to make much that way. If I got the stones cheaper, that would save money.”

  “You arranged for Eric Pruett to smuggle the jewels,” Henry said.

  “I heard he needed money too,” said Sarah. “His boat is big enough to get to other countries to buy the stones. It’s small enough for him to run it without a crew.”

  “He says he didn’t know who got the jewels,” said Jessie.

  “That’s right,” said Sarah. “I contacted him online. I used my jewelry business name, Savannah. I was afraid to have him know who I really was. I simply told him to bring the jewels at night and put them in the bear statue. I got here early in the morning so I could collect the jewels. I pretended I was wiping down the bear statue. Nobody noticed what I was really doing.”

  “What about the security camera?” Ms. Freeman asked. “I don’t usually look at the recordings. I just want them in case we had a problem overnight. But you couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t check.”

  “I got a delivery every two weeks,” said Sarah. “On those days, I made an excuse to stay late and turned off the shop’s power before I left. That way I could be sure the security cameras wouldn’t work. In the morning, I got here early and turned the power back on. If you noticed that the camera didn’t record some night, you’d blame a power surge.”

  “That’s why the ice cream was soft some mornings,” Ms. Freeman said. “It got runny on nights you turned the power off.”

  Sarah nodded. “The power was only off for a few hours. The ice cream didn’t melt enough to go bad. But on the night of the storm, I was expecting Eric Pruett to drop off jewels. I realized the storm might shut down the power to all these buildings. Then the backup generator would turn on. The security camera would go back on as soon as it had power again. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “You broke the generator?” Ms. Freeman asked. She sounded hurt.

  “I didn’t break it,” Sarah said. “I took a piece off to make sure it wouldn’t work. I thought I could fix it as soon as I’d picked up the jewels. Then the bear went missing. I didn’t know what to do! I was afraid to put the power back on. Once the camera was working, I wouldn’t be able to get the jewels.”

  Ms. Freeman took out a handkerchief and blew her nose. “I wish you’d told me about your money problems.”

  Sarah bowed her head. “I didn’t want to ask for any favors. I wanted to take care of the problem myself. Instead, I made a mess of things. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused.”

  “People in this town look out for one another,” Ms. Freeman said. “You should have trusted us to help you.” She reached over to pat Sarah’s purple-stained hand.

  Sarah looked up with tears in her eyes. “I made a lot of mistakes. It’s time to take responsibility. I’ll turn myself in and face the consequences.”

  Just then, the shop lights turned on. Equipment started humming.

  “We have power again!” Ms. Freeman said.

  “Hooray!” said Benny. “We should celebrate with ice cream. Sarah should have some before she has to talk to those inspectors.”

  Grandfather smiled. “Don’t forget, the ice cream is over at the fish market.”

  Benny’s nose wrinkled. Fish was one flavor that did not sound good—even to him.

  The shop door opened, and Mr. Williams entered. “Hello, folks,” he said. “My lights came on next door. I guess you got the generator going.”

  “That’s right,” said Ms. Freeman. “Now we can get back in business.”

  “About that…” Mr. Williams trailed off. He looked down at his feet.

  Ms. Freeman sighed. “George, I know you don’t like this place.”

  He shook his head. “No. No,” he said. “I’d like to apologize. I should not have been so hard on you. I thought this street didn’t have room for The Stylish Sailor and your ice-cream shop. That was selfish.”

  He smiled at the children. “Seeing how you kids helped out after the storm made me realize that. Y’all brought this town together, and you don’t even live here. It made me take a hard look at what I’ve done since I came to town…Anyway, I wanted to apologize.”

  Mr. Williams offered his hand to Ms. Freeman, and she shook it.

  “Do you want to help someone?” Violet asked. “Sarah makes beautiful jewelry. You could sell some in your store.”

  Mr. Williams looked at Sarah’s earrings. “Did you make those?”

  Sarah nodded. “I’ve been selling them online.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Mr. Williams said. “I bet I can get a lot more for them in the shop than you make online. Stop by sometime, and we’ll work out a deal.”

  “I will.” Sarah smiled. “Once I get some things straightened out.”

  “I also wanted to give you kids something as a thank-you,” said Mr. Williams, handing a bag to Henry. “It’s a scarf for your housekeeper. I hope she’ll enjoy wearing it. And I hope seeing it will remind you of how you helped this town.”

  “So you like the bear outside now?” Jessie asked.

  “Well, I may not go that far.” Mr. Williams grinned. “But I am happy things are getting back to normal. Even if ‘normal’ means silly statues and kids with sticky hands.” He waved and left the store.

  Sarah stood up and said, “I should go find the inspectors.”

  “I’ll come with you,” said Ms. Freeman. “Don’t worry, we’ll survive this too.”

  Violet pulled the bag of jewels out of its hiding place. “You can take these. We weren’t sure where to turn them in.”

  “While you do that, we can start moving the ice cream back here,” said Henry.

  “No rush,” said Ms. Freeman. “It will take a couple of hours for the big freezer to get cold again.”

  “Good,” said Benny. “We have something very important to do first.”

  Violet frowned. “Did we forget part of the mystery? We found the ice-cream bear. We are turning in the jewels. We know who brought them to Port Elizabeth. We know who sold them. I can’t think of anything we missed.”

  “You’re forgetting the most important thing of all!” Benny said. “We haven’t had lunch.”

  They all laughed. “Lunch it is,” said Grandfather. “We’ll move the ice cream back here this afternoon.”

  “Thank you all,” said Ms. Freeman. “Later today, I’ll give you my thank-you gift.”

  Benny bounced in his chair. “Is it ice cream?” he asked.

  Ms. Freeman grinned and nodded. “It’s a big bowl with a scoop of every kind of ice cream I serve,” she said. “I’ll bet even you won’t be able to finish it.”

  Benny’s eyes got huge. “I can’t wait to try!” He grinned. “We didn’t get to see the whole tall ships festival. We didn’t have power for days. But this week had mysteries, helping people, and ice cream. Who needs power when you have all that?”

  Turn the page to read a sneak preview of

  SECRET ON THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR

  the new

  Boxcar Children mystery!

  It was a sunny day in early May. The trees were alive with birdsong, and the Alden children were hard at work in their front yard. Henry raked grass clippings into a large pile in the middle of the lawn. Then he tilted down a garbage can so his younger brother, Benny, could scoop them inside.

  Near the front steps, Violet wore a pair of purple gardening gloves and used a spade to dig a row of evenly spaced holes in the dark soil of the garden beds. Her sister, Jessie, carried trays of flowers from their grandfather’s car around to the front of the house, carefully stepping around their dog, Watch, who lay snoozing in the sun. The plastic containers held snapdragons, geraniums, and pansies.

  “I just love spring,” Violet said as she wiped a spot of dirt off her cheek with her forearm. She gazed at the collection of peach, red, yellow, pink, and white blossoms.

  “Me too!” Jessie said. “It’s the most colorful season—that’s for sure.”

  “I love getting outside after being cooped up all winter,” Henry added. As the oldest of the Alden children, at fourteen, he was getting stronger every month, and Grandfather appreciated his help with all the outdoor chores.

  The Aldens hadn’t always spent their days this way. After their parents died in a car accident, the four children were supposed to go live with their grandfather right away. But they had been afraid he would be mean and that they wouldn’t like living with him. So instead, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny had run away to the woods, where they’d found an abandoned boxcar and made it into a home. They’d discovered Watch in the woods too and had made him part of their family.

  When Grandfather Alden found them, the children realized he was not mean at all! They were excited to move into the house he lived in with his housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor. Of course, Watch came along too, and Grandfather Alden set the boxcar up in his backyard for the children to use as a playhouse. Now they loved living in a neighborhood.

  Back in the front yard, Benny suddenly leaped to the side and sent his armload of grass clippings fluttering back down to the lawn. He covered his face and then peeked out through his fingers at something buzzing near his head. “Bees are the only bad news about spring,” he said.

  “Don’t bother that bee, and he won’t bother you,” Jessie said. She was twelve and very sensible about things that worried some children, especially Benny. “Pollinators are a very important part of the ecosystem,” she added. “If we didn’t have bees, we wouldn’t have honey.”

  “Not only that,” Henry added, “but seeing bees is a sign. Mrs. McGregor learned that from her aunt in Ireland. When you see bees buzzing around your house or near your windows, it means a visitor will soon arrive. And you should never try to kill the bee, because that means the visitor will bring bad news.”

  Benny thought this over while he stood very still, watching the black-and-yellow creature zoom past his face. He didn’t like the idea of the bee being a sign. Soon the buzzing stopped. He waited another moment to be sure the bee was gone and then used the rake to gather the fallen clippings. The work seemed to go fast when he thought about good things—like the famous honey cake Mrs. McGregor liked to make in the summer.

  “Is anybody else getting hungry?” Benny asked.

  Henry smiled and looked at his watch. “It is almost lunchtime,” he said. “Maybe we should head inside and wash up.”

  Just as he was leaning the rake up against the front porch, a white van pulled up in front of their house.

  Benny’s eyes went wide, and he looked at Henry. At the same time, they both said, “A visitor!”

  “Hello, children!” called Ms. Singleton, getting out of the van. Ms. Singleton was the mail carrier assigned to the Aldens’ neighborhood. Like most mail carriers, she wore navy blue shorts, but on her feet were bright-pink hiking boots. She also wore a pink scarf tied inside the collar of her blue work shirt.

  “You are earning your keep today, I see,” Ms. Singleton said when she saw all the work the Aldens had done on the yard.

  “We don’t mind,” Jessie said. “Especially on such a beautiful day.”

  Ms. Singleton shuffled through a pile of mail she held under her arm and pulled out a catalog and two letters. “Not too much today,” she said, then tapped the letter on top. “But this one looks pretty official.”

  Jessie took the mail. The return address on the letter said County Courthouse, and there was an official-looking seal stamped below marked Urgent. “We were just about to go inside for lunch,” she said. “We’ll make sure Grandfather sees this.”

  “You picked a good time to go inside,” Ms. Singleton said, pointing to the eastern sky. An enormous gray cloud was moving in. Soon it would cover the sun and bring a soaking spring rain. “I’d say that’s a bad sign.”

  “Yikes!” Henry said. “Might be a good afternoon for reading a book.”

  The children waved good-bye to Ms. Singleton. “I wonder why she said that the cloud was a bad sign,” Violet said. “A cloud is just a cloud…isn’t it?”

  Inside, Jessie ran straight to Grandfather’s study, with the letter in her hand. Seeing the words about the courthouse had made her nervous. “This just came for you, Grandfather,” Jessie said. “You aren’t in trouble, are you?”