Free Spy Game by Gertrude Chandler Warner

CHAPTER 1
An Offer to Help
    “Look!” cried six-year-old Benny. “Watch is sniffing out clues.”
    Benny was drawing a picture of his dog, Watch.
    Ten-year-old Violet looked over at her little brother’s drawing. “I can see that,” she said with a smile. “He’s following a trail of footprints.”
    The real Watch was curled up nearby in the grass. He enjoyed looking for clues but he liked naps, too.
    “Dogs make very good detectives,” added Jessie, who was twelve. “That’s a great idea for a T-shirt, Benny.”
    The youngest Alden held up his picture. “You really think so?”
    Henry gave Benny the thumbs-up sign. “I bet your design wins first prize!” he said. At fourteen, Henry was the oldest of the four children.
    It was a sunny afternoon and the Aldens—Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny—were sprawled out on the grass in the backyard. Their favorite mystery book series was holding a contest. The best design to go on the front of a T-shirt would win a copy of the latest Detective Club book—autographed by the authors themselves, Mila Jones and Jake Winston.
    “That’s a great design, too, Violet!” Jessie was admiring her sister’s drawing of a girl looking through binoculars.
    “Thanks, Jessie.” Violet was sorting through a pile of broken crayons. “I just need a crayon to color the girl’s headband.”
    Henry held out a purple crayon. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
    “How did you know?” Violet asked.
    “Oh, just a hunch,” Henry said. Everyone knew that purple was Violet’s favorite color. She almost always wore something purple or violet.
    “I’m almost done, too.” Henry was adding a big X to mark the spot on his treasure map drawing.
    Jessie looked over her own drawing. “I’m not sure what color to make my clubhouse.”
    “How about red?” said Benny.
    This made Jessie smile. “Red like our boxcar?” She thought for a minute, then picked up a red crayon. “Sounds good to me.”
    After their parents died, the four Alden children had run away. For a while, their home was an empty boxcar in the woods. But then their grandfather, James Alden, found them, and he brought his grandchildren to live with him in his big white house in Greenfield. And the boxcar had come along, too. Now it had a special place in the backyard. The Aldens often used it as a clubhouse.
    “I sure hope we win,” said Benny.
    “The Detective Club books are very popular,” Violet reminded her little brother as she gathered up the crayons. “The publishing company will probably get thousands of entries.”
    “That’s true,” said Jessie. “Mila Jones and Jake Winston write great mysteries.”
    “Will you read another chapter tonight, Jessie?” Benny asked. The children were in the middle of The Twisted Clue, the latest in the Detective Club series.
    “Sure, Benny,” Jessie said. “We all want to know what happens next.”
    There was nothing the Aldens loved more than a mystery. They’d solved many of their own.
    “I sure could use a cold glass of lemonade,” Henry said.
    “I’ll second that!” Benny jumped to his feet. “Know what else would hit the spot?”
    “Mrs. McGregor’s chocolate chip cookies?” Henry guessed. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, Benny.” The youngest Alden was known for his appetite.
    But Benny wasn’t listening. He was already racing full-speed across the lawn, with Watch close behind.
    In the kitchen they found Mrs. McGregor having a cup of tea with her good friend, Mrs. Dawson.
    “Perfect timing!” Mrs. McGregor smiled at the children. “Still warm from the oven,” she said, holding out a plate of cookies.
    “Pull up a chair and join us,” Mrs. Dawson invited them. “It’s been way too long since I’ve seen the Aldens.”
    Jessie was wondering about something. “Are you still working at the Penner place, Mrs. Dawson?” She was pouring lemonade into three tall glasses and one cracked pink cup. It was Benny’s