Free Cam Jansen and the Mystery Writer Mystery by David A. Adler Page A

answer is ‘scrambled eggs.’” Then Danny asked his father, “Do you know Snow White’s father’s name? It’s Egg White. Now the yolk is on you, Dad. Do you get it? The yolk is on you.”
    “That’s enough jokes,” Danny’s mother said. “Let’s just hang up our coats.”
    “Wow,” Beth said as she, Cam, and their parents walked into the hall. “Danny’s father tells bad jokes, too.”
    “Welcome,” Dr. Prell, the school’s principal, said. “We have books for everyone. The book fair is in the gym.”
    The doors to the gym were open. Cam, Beth, and their parents went in. They stood there for a moment and looked at the many tables. On each was a pile of books and a sign so people would know what kind of books were on the table.
    “I’m looking for history books,” Mrs. Jansen told Cam. “You can look by yourself, but please don’t leave this room.”
    “I want to meet Jim E. Winter,” Cam said.
    Beth said, “Me, too. I love his mysteries.”
    “Stay with Cam,” Mr. Kane told his daughter. “I’m going to look at the biographies.”
    Children and their parents were looking at books. There were small children, too, running between and under the tables.
    “There he is,” Beth said, and pointed. “He’s in the back of the gym, right by the wall.”
    Cam looked across the gym. An old bald man with a white bushy mustache was sitting by a table at the far end of the gym. A long line of children were waiting for him to sign their books.
    “That man is bald! That can’t be Jim E. Winter,” Cam said. “I saw a picture of him with dark, wavy hair and a dark mustache.”
    Beth said, “You must have looked at an old picture of him.”
    “Yes,” Cam said. “It must have been a very old picture.”

    Cam looked at the many people waiting to meet Jim E. Winter. Each had a My Name Is Blake Mystery for him to sign.
    “Well,” Cam said, “I don’t care what he looks like. I don’t care how old he is. I just want to meet him.”

Chapter Two
    “I’m getting Jim E. Winter’s newest mystery,” Cam said. “I want him to sign it. Then I want to read it.”
    Cam looked at the many tables and signs in the gym. There were tables with easy-to-read books, biographies, cookbooks, mysteries, other fiction, and riddle and joke books. Danny and his father were at the riddles and jokes table.
    There was a table in the middle of the gym with books by Jim E. Winter. That’s where Cam and Beth went.
    Many children and their parents were there. Cam and Beth had to wait to get close to the table.
    Beth picked up a book. “This is number twenty-seven, My Name Is Blake and the Scary Movie Mystery ,” Beth said. “It’s the newest one.”
    Cam took a copy of The Scary Movie Mystery . Then she found a copy of Jim E. Winter’s first book, My Name Is Blake and the Diamond Rattle Mystery , and took that, too.
    “Hey,” Danny said, “look at all the joke books I found.”
    He had four books. His mother, Mrs. Pace, was with him.
    “My dad has even more,” Danny said, and pushed close to the table. “Now I’m getting a Jim E. Winter book.”
    Cam found another Jim E. Winter book she had not read. Now she had three books. She went to the end of the line to get her books signed. The line went down the middle of the gym. Beth, Danny, and Danny’s mother got on line right behind Cam.
    “This is a long line,” Danny said, “and I know just what to do so we don’t get bored waiting. I’ll tell jokes.”
    “Please don’t,” Beth told him.
    “Danny,” Mrs. Pace said, “save the jokes for Dad. He likes them.”
    Danny opened a joke book. He read a joke and laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to tell you this one? It’s really funny.”
    “Yes,” Beth said. “I’m sure.”
    “We’ll look for Eric,” Cam said. “That’s what we’ll do while we wait. He told me he would be here. I know he wants to meet Jim E. Winter.”

    Cam looked across the gym. It was crowded. Lots of people were