Free The Chocolate Fudge Mystery by David A. Adler

Chapter One
    C am Jansen’s father looked up. He was sitting in his car and reading a mystery novel. He was also waiting for Cam and her friend Eric Shelton. They were selling chocolate fudge bars and rice cakes to raise money for a local charity.
    Mr. Jansen saw Eric look at a sheet of paper. He’s trying again, Mr. Jansen thought. I hope this time he can remember his speech.
    Eric Shelton put the paper in his pocket. Then he turned to Cam and said, “Good morning or afternoon. We’re here to ... to ... to ... Oh, I can’t remember what to say.”
    Cam said, “Let me try.”
    Cam put the shopping bag she was carrying on the sidewalk. She took a chocolate bar and a rice cake from the bag. Then she closed her eyes and said, “Click.”
    Cam smiled. With her eyes still closed, she said, “Good afternoon. We’re here to raise money for Ride and Read. We bring homebound elderly people to our local library. By buying this chocolate fudge bar or this rice cake, you will help us with our work.”
    Cam opened her eyes.
    “You got every word right,” Eric said. “I’ve been studying and studying that speech and I still can’t remember it. How long did it take you to memorize it?”
    “I looked at it once, blinked my eyes and said ‘Click’ and I knew it.”
    Cam has what people call a photographic memory. She remembers just about everything she sees. It’s as if she has photographs stored in her brain. Cam says “Click” is the sound her mental camera makes when it takes a picture.

    Cam’s real name is Jennifer Jansen. When she was very young, people called her “Red” because she has red hair. But when they found out about her amazing memory, they began calling her “The Camera.” Soon “The Camera” was shortened to “Cam.”
    Cam and Eric walked up the front path of a small brick house. There was a large broom next to the front door. Eric moved it aside and rang the doorbell. An old woman with curly white hair, wearing a long, frilly apron, came out.
    “Good afternoon,” Cam said. “We’re here to raise money—”
    “Good afternoon,” the woman answered.
    Cam started her speech again. “Good afternoon. We’re here to raise money for Ride and Read.”
    “That’s wonderful,” the woman said. “Ride and Read is a fine program. Sometimes they take my husband to the library.
    Now, don’t say another word. I want my husband to meet you.”
    Then she called, “Jacob. Jacob!” Her husband, an old man with rosy cheeks and a bushy white mustache, came to the door.
    The woman introduced her husband and herself to Cam and Eric. “This is Mr. Jacob Miller and I’m Mrs. Janet Miller.”
    “My name is Jennifer Jansen,” Cam said, “and this is my friend, Eric Shelton.”
    The woman told her husband, “These children are raising money for Ride and Read.”
    “Good afternoon,” Cam said. Then she waited. She expected to be interrupted again. When Mrs. Miller didn’t say anything, Cam went on.
    When Cam had finished her speech, Mr. Miller smiled. “What you’re doing is nice, but I don’t eat candy and I’ve never tasted a rice cake.”
    “What about me?” Mrs. Miller asked. “I love chocolate. And anyway, it’s for charity. We’ll take two of each.”
    Eric gave her the chocolate fudge bars and rice cakes. Mrs. Miller paid Eric. He put the money in an envelope.
    As Cam and Eric went to the next house, Eric said, “That was easy.”
    A man and woman were running toward them. They were looking straight ahead and swinging their arms as they ran.
    “Let me talk this time,” Eric said. “I think I can remember what to say.”
    Eric took a chocolate bar and a rice cake from the shopping bag. When the runners were a few steps away, Eric smiled and said, “Good afternoon. We’re here to raise money ...”
    The runners didn’t stop.
    “Hm,” Eric said. Then he pointed to a woman who was walking along the side of the yellow house next door. She was wearing a long blue raincoat and dark