Boxcar Children 56 - Firehouse Mystery by Charles Tang, Gertrude Chandler Warner

Violet.
    “And that really tall speaking trumpet,” added Henry.
    “I’m going to go tell Mike and call the police,” Steve said, his voice angry. “It’s getting late, and you kids should be getting home. After all, the rally’s tomorrow, and you need to get a good night’s sleep. I’ll call you if the police discover any clues.”
    “Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?” Jessie asked.
    “Thanks, but I don’t think so,” Steve said.
    That night after dinner, the Aldens gathered in the boxcar to talk about the burglary.
    “I’ve been thinking. Do you suppose the burglary has anything to do with all the other stuff that’s been going on?” asked Benny.
    “I’ve been wondering that, too,” said Henry.
    “It certainly explains all the false alarms. Someone must have been trying to get the firefighters out of the firehouse so he or she could come in and steal the antiques,” said Jessie.
    “But what about the spilled paint and the trampled evergreens?” asked Violet. “How could those be connected?”
    The children all thought for a moment.
    Suddenly Henry gasped. “I know! Maybe the person has been trying to sneak in here all week. He or she might have tried the garage door first. Remember we left our paint cans right in the doorway?”
    “You think someone tried to sneak in at night, didn’t see the cans in the dark, and accidently knocked them over?” Jessie said.
    “Exactly,” said Henry.
    “But the paint couldn’t have just spilled out,” Violet pointed out. “Benny had put on the lids. Right?” She turned to her little brother.
    Benny squirmed uncomfortably. “Well, um . . . I started to. But then there was that fire alarm, and Steve said we could come with him to watch and . . .”
    “Benny,” Jessie said, “are you saying you didn’t put all the tops on securely?”
    “I’m not really sure,” Benny said uncertainly.
    Jessie sighed. “Try to be more careful next time. Anyway, we’ve got a bigger problem now.”
    “I’ve been thinking about the evergreens,” said Violet. “Those window boxes are in the side windows, and the ground was all scuffed up below them.”
    “That’s right!” Henry cried. “The person wasn’t after our evergreens — he was trying to get in through those windows. The window boxes just got in the way!”
    “That still doesn’t explain why Rebecca had our petition,” Jessie noted.
    “No, it doesn’t,” Henry agreed. “And speaking of Rebecca, remember how interested she was in the antiques? She kept looking at them whenever she was here — even today.”
    “And remember she made that detailed drawing of them, and then seemed embarrassed to talk about it,” Violet added.
    “She also said something about old things being valuable,” Jessie remembered.
    “I just thought of something else,” Benny said. “When we first came in to her studio, she was talking on the phone about making a lot of money.”
    “That’s right,” said Henry. “Maybe she was planning to steal the trophies and sell them.”
    “Henry, when you showed Ms. Lerner and Rebecca around, didn’t you say Ms. Lerner was interested in the antiques, too?” Jessie asked.
    “She was,” Henry recalled. “In fact, she was the one who told Rebecca that they were valuable in the first place.”
    “I think there’s someone else we’re forgetting,” said Violet. “Mr. Frederick.”
    “That’s right,” said Jessie. “He keeps showing up here, and it doesn’t seem that he’s telling the truth about writing a book on Greenfield’s historic buildings. He doesn’t know anything about our town’s buildings. Maybe he was really after the antiques.”
    The children heard the cuckoo clock striking in the house and knew that it was getting late.
    “Maybe tomorrow we’ll find some more clues,” Henry told the others as he led the way back to the house.
    The Aldens were happy to wake up to a bright winter morning that really wasn’t very cold. “This will be a