Game Store Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

found MERRY and MARRY.
    “Hey, I see Queenie’s name,” Violet squealed. She pulled out the Q U E E N I E and the P O L K and lined them up in front of her.
    “What are you kids doing?” Carter asked, his jaw set tight.
    Jessie jumped. She hadn’t realized he was standing over her shoulder.
    “We’re trying to make words,” Benny said.
    “These are all the letters that have been taken from the sign out front,” Jessie explained. “We’re looking to see if there’s a message in here.”
    Carter’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you kids have work to do?”
    “Well … ,” Violet glanced nervously at the others. Carter was right; they were supposed to be painting. That was why they were here.
    Carter reached across the table and scooped up all their letter scraps into his hand. “You promised to paint the Kids’ Korner today,” he said, squeezing the scraps of paper in his fist. “So I think Queenie would really appreciate it if you got to work.”
    “Sure. Okay,” the children said as they stood up.
    Carter sprinkled the scraps of paper into the trash can, then went to the back room.
    “Why is Carter so mad at us?” Benny asked. “We’re just trying to help.”
    “You’re right, Benny,” Jessie said as she put a protective arm around her brother. “I don’t know why he got so mad.”
    Was he really worried about them keeping their promise to Queenie or was there another reason he was upset?

CHAPTER 8
A Perfect Match
    The next day, the Aldens decided to look at the missing letters again at home. They sat at the kitchen table. Once again, each of them had the letters A A E E E E E E I K L L M M N O P P Q R R S U and Y spread out on scraps of paper in front of them.
    “This is like playing Word Master,” Benny said. “Except we have more letters.”
    “It’s like a more challenging version of Word Master,” Violet said as she moved the letters around.
    Jessie kept a list of all the words they’d found in those letters. The list included QUEENIE, POLK, PLAY, ME, PLEASE, SAME, MAPLE, MERRY, MARRY, MY, PEARL, SALE, SEAL, MEAL, SPRAY, and YES. But so far the children hadn’t found any message in the words. And they still didn’t know how Queenie’s name might fit in.
    While they were working, Grandfather came into the room. “I’m afraid Mrs. McGregor isn’t feeling well this morning,” he said.
    “Oh, no,” Violet said with concern. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing serious,” Grandfather said right away. “She just has a sore throat. But I was wondering whether you kids would mind running to the drugstore to get some throat drops for her? She’s got enough for today, but if she’s still not feeling well tomorrow, she’s going to need some more.”
    “Sure,” Henry said, rising from his chair. “We’ll go right now.”
    “Let’s go to the drugstore at Crossroads Mall,” Jessie said. “Then we can see if any more letters have been removed.”
    “That’s a good idea,” Henry said.
    “Tell Mrs. McGregor I hope she feels better soon,” Benny told Grandfather on his way out the door.
    “I will,” Grandfather replied. “And if you’d like to stop in at the Game Spot and say hello to Queenie while you’re out, that’s fine. Just be home in time for lunch.”
    “We will,” Violet promised.
    The children hopped on their bikes and rode to the mall. The sign out front was blank again.
    “I hope that means nobody has taken any more letters,” Violet said.
    The children locked their bikes at the bike rack, then went inside the drugstore. They found Tony Silver standing at the counter talking with Bob, the same employee who had helped the Aldens a few days ago. A tool box sat on the floor beside Tony.
    “Hi, Tony,” Jessie said. “I didn’t see your truck out front.”
    “Oh, I’m parked around back.” Tony smiled at Jessie. “Bob here asked me to come and replace his safe.”
    “I just wasn’t sure my other safe was really secure,” Bob said. “All the robberies