Free The Chocolate Fudge Mystery by David A. Adler Page B

he looked in and said, “Maybe the paper money bands are at the bottom.”
    Cam rolled up her sleeves and dug into the bag.
    “What’s in there?” Eric asked.
    “More garbage.”
    Cam pulled out a few soda cans, some paper plates, an orange juice carton, and a cereal box.

    “Super Sweet Wheats!” Eric said. “And the box top is still attached.”
    He tore the top off the cereal box. “I can send this in and get a Super Sweet Wheats watch,” he said. He put the box top in his pocket.
    Cam shook the bag again. She reached in and took out a large envelope. It was empty.
    “Nothing but garbage,” she said. Then she put it all back in the bag.
    Cam put the lid on the can. She was about to roll down her sleeves, when she smelled her hands.
    “Yuck! Now my hands stink! If I roll down my sleeves, my shirt will stink, too.”
    Cam stretched her hands out. She told Eric she was keeping her smelly hands away from the rest of her. Then Cam said, “I just don’t understand it. That woman looked so guilty and mysterious.”
    “Oh, everything is a mystery to you,” Eric said as they walked past the Miller house. Eric kicked two rolled up newspapers out of the way as he and Cam walked up the front path of the yellow house next door.
    Eric rang the front doorbell. He waited. Then he rang it again. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer.
    “There’s probably no one at home,” he said.

    Cam nodded. “Look at these newspapers. It looks like no one has been here for a while.”
    They each picked one up and looked at it. Eric read the headline, “Ding, Dong! Four-Alarm Fire Blazes On.”
    “Mine says that, too,” Cam said. “These newspapers are from last week.”
    She dropped the paper and walked toward the back of the house. Eric ran after her and asked, “What are you doing now?”
    “I still think that woman with the dark glasses was up to something and I want to find out what it was. We first saw her walking along the side of this house. Maybe there’s a shortcut back here or maybe some secret hideaway.”
    “Oh, stop talking about that woman,” Eric said, but he followed Cam.
    All the windows of the yellow house were closed and the shades were down. Cam lifted the lids of the two garbage cans that were along the side of the house. Both were empty.
    Cam walked ahead. Then she stopped. She held out her hand and Eric stopped, too. She put her finger in front of her mouth so that he would be quiet. They listened.
    They heard the sounds of coins and keys jingling. Someone was walking behind them and was getting closer.
    Jingle.
    Jingle.
    “What should we do?” Eric asked.
    Cam looked across the backyard. It was surrounded by a metal fence.
    Jingle.
    Cam whispered, “Let’s run around the back of the house to the other side and then out.”
    Jingle.
    Cam and Eric started to run. Whoever was following them started to run, too.
    “Stop! Stop running right now!” someone called out.

Chapter Four
    C am and Eric stopped running. Cam held Eric’s hand and they slowly turned around.
    “What are you doing here? I told you that I had to be able to see you from my car at all times.”
    It was Cam’s father.
    “You’re standing on someone’s private property,” he said. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
    “Did you see that woman with the dark glasses?” Cam asked. “She looked mysterious to me. She was walking back here. I just wanted to find out what she was up to. She may have been involved in a crime.”
    Mr. Jansen was holding a book. He showed it to Cam. “Do you see this? If you want to solve crimes, do what I do. Read a mystery. It’s safer. Now let’s get out of here.”
    Tinkle.
    Tinkle.
    Someone or something was moving nearby.
    “Watch out!” Eric called.
    He jumped to get out of the way of a black-and-white cat. A small bell was tied around its neck. The cat leaped onto the back porch and poked its head into a cardboard box.
    “Let’s go,” Cam’s father said.
    The cat pulled