Free Boxcar Children 68 - Basketball Mystery by Charles Tang, Gertrude Chandler Warner

Opening Day, trophy or no trophy.”
    “Wait a moment,” Mr. Alden called out when he noticed a letter for Tipper in the mailbox. “Here’s a letter for you.”
    “What an odd envelope.” Tipper tore it open. “It’s written in big block letters without a return address.” She unfolded the sheet of notebook paper inside. “Goodness!” she cried. “Listen:
    “ ‘ Your trophy is safe. You will find it at the sports center on Opening Day .’”
    Tipper’s face grew pale. “Do you know anything about this?” she asked Buzz.
    “Why are you asking me?” Buzz wanted to know. He started the car up. “Let’s not talk about this now. I don’t want to ruin our visit with Great-Aunt Nora.”
    “Leave the note with us,” Jessie whispered. “Maybe we can figure it out.”
    Tipper gave Jessie the note. After the twins drove off, Soo Lee and Benny held the piece of paper up to the sunlight.
    “No fingerprints,” Benny said. “But know what? If we find out who writes like this, maybe we can find Tipper’s missing trophy.”
    Soo Lee didn’t mean to giggle, but she couldn’t help it. “I write in big letters! But I don’t know all my letters yet.”
    The Aldens laughed over this, though Tipper’s missing trophy was no laughing matter.
    The Aldens spent the next day decorating the sports center with balloons and streamers. They made signs showing where the celebrations were going to be. They set up the tables and chairs for refreshments. And the whole time they worked, they kept their eyes open for Tipper’s trophy.
    “I just went into Mr. Fowler’s office to ask about the folding chairs,” Henry told Jessie and Violet when he saw them putting up posters on a bulletin board.
    “While Henry was talking, Soo Lee and I peeked on his desk,” Benny whispered. “But we didn’t see any pieces of paper like Tipper’s letter.”
    “He writes with eensy-weensy letters,” Soo Lee added. “Not big, giant letters. We peeked in the closet, too, but there were only old paint cans in there.”
    Jessie smiled. “Good work, you two. I just hope whoever wrote that note is right — that the trophy will be here tomorrow. But I sure would like to find it ahead of time.”
    “Hey, Aldens,” the children heard Tom Hooper call out when he saw them. He set a messy stack of papers on the floor. “Here, use some double-sided tape, Jessie. That works better than plain tape for putting up signs.”
    While Tom helped Jessie, Soo Lee and Benny pretended to pick up something from the floor.
    “Thanks,” Tom said when he saw Benny and Soo Lee gathering up his papers. “So long, now. Just throw the tape in my tool-box when you’re done, Jessie. It’s in the office closet with my painting gear.”
    “Tom didn’t have any paper like that note,” Benny whispered after Tom left. “And he has little bitsy handwriting, too.”
    When the Aldens went to the office, Courtney was talking on the phone.
    Jessie held up the roll of tape. “Don’t hang up. We’re just putting this back in Tom’s toolbox.”
    By this time Courtney had hung up the phone. “Fine, just shut the office door when you leave. And don’t touch anything on this desk.”
    So they didn’t. Instead, Benny and Soo Lee tried to see if any paper on Courtney’s desk matched the paper the mystery writer had used.
    “Nope,” Benny said, looking over but not touching anything.
    Outside, a cleaning person was pushing a cart down the hall.
    “Look what fell off.” Henry picked up a sheet of paper with red marker letters on top. “It’s an old practice schedule for the Blazers. It says, ‘ Give to Buzz .’ ”

    Jessie looked over Henry’s shoulder. “It’s the schedule Buzz was supposed to get for the first practice. I guess Mr. Fowler forgot to give it to Buzz. Maybe the mix-up wasn’t on —”
    “On purpose!” the Aldens heard Mr. Fowler say. “So that’s what everybody thinks? That I made things hard for Buzz Nettleton?”
    The Aldens didn’t