Mystery of the Orphan Train by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

eyeing the popcorn. “Find any words yet, Sherlock?” he asked, passing the bowl of popcorn across the kitchen table to him.
    Benny shifted the letters around on the wooden tile-holder. “Well, it looks like I can spell APE.”
    “Way to go, Benny!” praised Violet. “And guess what? If you add the letter C, you can turn APE into CAPE. 55
    Benny broke into a smile. “Cool!”
    “You can even switch the letters around and turn CAPE into PACE,” Jessie pointed out.
    “I think I’ll stick with CAPE.” Benny shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth, then carefully placed his letters on the board.
    As Henry added up Benny’s score, Jessie said, “It’s funny, isn’t it?”
    “What’s funny about CAPE, Jessie?” Benny asked, raising his eyes.
    “It’s just… the last names are so similar.”
    Benny looked puzzled. So did Henry and Violet.
    “Ethan Cape and Thane Pace, I mean,” Jessie explained. “Their last names have exactly the same letters, only switched around.”
    “You’re right, Jessie. I never noticed that before.” Henry shrugged a little. “Just a coincidence, I guess.”

    But Jessie wasn’t so sure. On a hunch, she began fishing around in the bag of lettered tiles. While the others watched, she spelled out the name ETHAN on the scrabble board.
    Benny had something to say about this. “You’re not supposed to use a person’s name, Jessie. It’s against the rules.”
    “I don’t think this is part of the game, Benny,” said Violet, a finger to her lips.
    Jessie switched one letter around, and ETHAN suddenly turned into THANE.
    “Wow!” cried Henry, clearly startled.
    “I … I can’t believe it … .” Violet pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Their last names have exactly the same letters in them, too!”
    “That’s got to be more than a coincidence,” said Benny, his voice rising with excitement.
    “A lot more!” put in Henry, who couldn’t get over it.
    Jessie giggled. “One thing’s for sure,” she said. “Ethan Cape never met Thane Pace because—”
    “Ethan Cape was Thane Pace!” finished Benny.
    The Aldens looked at one another, stunned by their latest discovery.
    “That was good detective work, Jessie,” praised Henry.
    Benny suddenly looked up. “I helped, too.”
    Jessie smiled over at her little brother. “You sure did. You helped make the word CAPE.”
    “There’s something I don’t understand,” said Violet. “Why would Thane Pace change his name to Ethan Cape?”
    “I have a hunch we won’t know the answer to that,” Jessie said, “until we figure out the second rhyme.”
    The Aldens had a feeling they were very close to uncovering the truth.
    Late in the night, Violet awoke from a strange dream about following the Yellow Brick Road. In her dream, when she got to the Emerald City, she found it was ruby-red! She wanted to paint it green, but there wasn’t a drop of green paint in the land. The wizard said he had an answer to the problem. He told Violet, “Two make one.”
    Violet was still thinking about her dream as she lay awake in the dark. She couldn’t help wondering what it meant. And then it suddenly hit her.
    “Wake up, Jessie!” she whispered, sitting up.
    Jessie began to stir. “What …?”
    “I know the answer to the rhyme!” Violet said as she slipped out of bed.
    “What are you talking about, Violet?” Jessie asked in a drowsy voice.
    “Two make one/ a gem of a clue!” Violet recited. “Two colors make one, Jessie. Blue and yellow make green.”
    Jessie opened her eyes. “And an emerald is green!”
    Violet nodded. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
    “I think so,” said Jessie, throwing her covers back. “Let’s go check it out.”
    After waking Benny and Henry, the Aldens tiptoed downstairs. As they stepped into the front room, Violet stopped so suddenly that Henry almost bumped into her. Somebody was prowling around in the dark with a flashlight!

CHAPTER 10
A Long-Lost Letter
    Just as Henry