He stepped aside and watched as the two of them each put four pieces of marshmallow in a single row on the belt. Then seconds later, another row. With the third row, he nodded his approval and walked away.
They put row after row on the belt. When a cheer went up, Jessica glanced at the end of the machine. Emily and Uncle Sal were working, so she knew their first chocolates had made it to the end of the line. The rest of their class gathered there to see.
“Whew. This is harder than I realized,” Sophie said. “We have to move more quickly, or they won’t have as many chocolates made today as they should.”
As she reached for more marshmallows, Jessica said, “Yes, it’s intense.” She lowered her arm, then realized she didn’t feel the movement of her bracelet on her wrist. “Sophie, do you see my bracelet? I know I had it when we began.”
When Sophie stepped back to check the area, Jessica said, “No, I don’t want to mess up this job. Keep moving, but keep your eyes open too.”
Jessica leaned back to check the floor as she set the next batch of marshmallows on the belt. Not there. She checked the tray they’d pulled the marshmallows from to see if her bracelet had dropped onto it. No.
A gasp made her turn in Sophie’s direction. She followed Sophie’s gaze to the belt as it entered the cooling area. A chocolate-coated lump rested beside the covered marshmallows.
Jessica’s heart sank to her toes. She whispered, “Uncle Sal will set it aside when it comes out.”
Sophie snorted. “And tell everyone in his family.” She grabbed four marshmallows and set them on the belt. When Jessica didn’t do her half, Sophie grabbed another four and added them to her row.
Jessica felt her face grow hot. “Maybe he won’t say anything.”
“Are you kidding? Who could resist a story about a chocolate-covered bracelet?”
Jessica stood still. “Tony will think it’s funny. Sophie, I’m going to be very embarrassed.”
Sophie grabbed more marshmallows. “I need you to keep up with our job right now. We’ll come up with a plan, a way to get to the other end of the enrober and be there when it comes out.”
“Sorry.” She set a row on the belt.
Uncle Sal called out, “Jessica, why don’t you take my place here. Mr. Pleckenpoll can work next to Sophie.”
Jessica began walking away, but leaned in and said, “If Emily doesn’t notice my chocolate-covered jewelry, I might be okay. Think of a diversion.”
At the other end of the enrober, Jessica copied Emily’s actions by checking the tops and bottoms of each piece of candy to make sure they were covered. Any that weren’t or had stuck together were set to the side. All the while, Jessica’s nerves stretched tighter and tighter. The time inside the cooling area should end in a minute or two for her bracelet.
Uncle Sal stood near Sophie, and Jessica saw her cousin speaking with him. A few seconds later, he took Sophie’s place, and Mr. P. hurried in Jessica’s direction, at least he seemed to be hurrying for an old man.
He said, “Emily, I’m here to take over for you.”
The woman stepped to the side. “It’s all yours. These smell so good that I’m excited about those samples Sal mentioned.” She headed toward Uncle Sal as the bracelet rolled out, along with many marshmallows, now completely covered in chocolate. Jessica grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket as smoothly as she could, hoping no one had seen her. She sneaked a peek at Mr. P.
He raised an eyebrow. “A snack for later?”
Knowing her face had to be bright red, she lifted her bracelet up and barely out of her pocket. “My bracelet fell onto the enrober.”
He chuckled. “That could be embarrassing. Your secret is safe with me.”
Whew! Mr. P. understood.
Sophie came over to work with Mr. P., so Jessica stepped to the side. Then Uncle Sal left the marshmallow loading area to Dylan and his mother after they’d watched for a minute, and he headed their way.
“Did you get a good idea of what this machine can do?” Uncle Sal asked her, Sophie, and Mr. P.
Jessica glanced at Sophie and saw that her cousin was fighting laughter. Mr. P. was grinning. A bracelet that could pass as dessert probably fit in the category of something Uncle Sal didn’t know the machine could do. He took over for Sophie, leaving her and Jessica to watch.
Jessica whispered, “I’m going to go to the restroom to get this out of my pocket before it’s had time to melt. Or melt more than it already has.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Sophie replied. “I want to tell you about something I saw.”
They told Uncle Sal that they were going to the ladies’ room and went on their way.
Once they reached it, Sophie checked under the stall doors to make sure no one was there while Jessica used hot water to rinse off her bracelet.
Sophie said, “Something strange happened right before we left. Mr. P. dropped a chocolate-covered marshmallow and bent over to pick it up.”
“So?” Jessica ran a paper towel under the water, then wiped chocolate out of her pocket. The paper towel came out almost clean.
“He moved like a young man, much faster than he usually moves.”
After checking her hair in the mirror and deciding it was fine, Jessica turned toward Sophie. “Maybe he felt young today.”
“When he glanced my direction and saw me watching him, he grabbed his side and made a small moan.”
Jessica noted this as something to tell Sheriff Valeska. She’d said to remember anything odd. “I don’t know why he’d do that. Keep watching him.”
Sophie nodded. “I’m going to. Now, we’d better get back.”
When they stepped out the door, Jessica saw a shadow around the corner. It stayed there a moment before moving away. Had someone followed them there?
The First Suspect
BACK IN THE FACTORY, Jessica watched everyone as they worked. No one looked suspicious. They all seemed to be who they said they were. But according to the sheriff, one of these people in the class or someone working here could be a spy.
When Jessica had checked her email on Uncle Lucas’s computer the night before to see if she’d received anything from her parents who were in another country for her father’s work, she’d also searched for information on people who stole secrets from businesses. It was called industrial espionage, she’d learned, because it involved a business—or industry—and those people were spying.
So, now she was looking for a spy. Not only that, but she was also a spy herself, because what else could you call someone who was watching people for the sheriff? She was a spy looking for a spy, and the worst part of it all was that she couldn’t tell Sophie.
At the end of the class, Uncle Sal gave each of the students a box with four pieces of chocolate in it. Dylan’s mother immediately put both of theirs in her purse. Jessica suspected he wasn’t going to get a bite of it.
Now she wondered what to do. She was supposed to watch everyone here and not get in trouble. But what if no one did anything suspicious in class but waited until afterward? How could she catch them? The only way she could think of was to follow them and see if they were who they said they were. That would be easier if Sophie knew what was going on. Jessica would have to be sneaky, and she didn’t like that.
As everyone gathered the things they’d brought with them, Jessica pulled Sophie aside, while keeping her eyes on her classmates.
“Sophie, since we don’t have a mystery, why don’t we get some practice and pretend? Let’s follow someone. We can improve our tailing skills.”
Sophie’s mouth dropped open. “That’s the sort of thing I would suggest, but you always try to talk me out of it.”
Jessica couldn’t argue with the truth. “You’re right, but it will give us something to do. And your mom isn’t expecting us for a little while, right?”
“Right. Let’s follow whoever leaves next.”
Sophie grabbed her backpack and Jessica picked up her purse as Emily went out the door. T
hey waited a minute, pretending that they were interested in pictures of chocolates on the wall, before leaving.
By now Emily was at the top of the hill that led down to Sweet Bites Chocolates. Jessica knew they didn’t need to hurry though because a thick forest was on both sides of the street, and she’d already passed the old, overgrown road that led to the shore. Unless Emily decided to go through the woods, which seemed unlikely because she wasn’t dressed for a hike, she had to continue on the road toward town.
Sophie said, “Let’s keep our distance but keep her in sight.”
Jessica was glad to have Sophie along. Her cousin knew how to be a detective.
“Do you know anything about her, Jessica? I only know her name.”
Jessica had been paying more attention than she usually would. She’d always liked people, and she was interested in their stories, partly because she enjoyed writing, but this morning she’d tried to hear everything everybody said. “Only that she’s visiting Pine Hill right now.”
“Well, that’s something anyway. I didn’t recognize her. But why would someone take a class and stay inside when they came to a place like Pine Hill?
Jessica laughed. “Maybe she’s like me and would rather be shopping.”
“But she can shop and do inside things like that anywhere. Why here?”
“Excellent question, Sophie. We’ll see if we get an answer by following her.”
Having reached the top of the hill themselves, they watched Emily take a right turn on the first street she came to. Sophie walked faster. “We’d better speed up.” The trees thinned out, and old brick houses started to appear beside the road. Every building in Pine Hill except the chocolate factory and Sophie’s house was brick, as far as Jessica could tell.
Most of the town was to the right, including the downtown area, the beach, the marina and, if you walked far enough, Sophie’s house. The only place Jessica remembered going to the left was the cemetery. And she hoped she’d never have to go there again.
When they turned onto another road with houses, this time with large trees overhanging the sidewalk, Emily was far ahead of them, but they could still see her.
“Whew! I’m glad she didn’t go into one of those houses, or we would have lost her.” Sophie did everything in a big way, including a pretend trailing of a pretend suspect. Jessica did hope that Emily was in the clear because she liked her.
“This is kind of fun,” Sophie said.
Emily turned right. “I feel like a real detective right now, Jessica. Thank you! I’m not missing mysteries as much. But we’ll have to be careful who we follow.”
“Does that mean we plan on following more people?” Having Sophie on board with her spying was a very good thing.
“I’d like to. Maybe tomorrow we can tail one of the other people in the class.”
Jessica laughed. “Maybe Mr. P., but he’s old enough that I don’t think he’s going to get into trouble.”
“I would guess that there are criminals who are young and some who are very old. But you’re right. Mr. P. seems like a nice guy. I’d like to have him as a grandfather.”
Toward the end of the street, Emily stopped. Sophie and Jessica darted behind one of the trees, which had fortunately been there as long as the houses had and was big enough around to hide the two of them. The girls peered around the tree, one of them on each side.
“She just stopped to tie her shoe,” Sophie said. “Now she’s on her way again.”
They watched her turn the next corner toward what Jessica was pretty sure was the marina, the place where all of Pine Lake’s boats were kept.
When they got to the corner, Emily was still ahead of them and in plain sight. By the time the marina came into view, woods lined the road again.
“I’m glad Emily’s still moving because I don’t see anything to hide behind here, do you, Sophie? She’d see us if we ran toward the forest.”
“Very true. We have to move fast if we need to find a hiding place.”
When they reached the marina, Emily suddenly stopped. Jessica couldn’t tell why until she sat down on a bench, one of many that were scattered about on Pine Hill’s wide sidewalks. She reached into her bag, pulled out a book, and opened it.
“Soph, we need to find a place to hide and in a hurry. She could easily look up from her book and see us standing here.”
Sophie turned in a circle. Halfway around, she said, “Over here! Behind this trash can.”
“Sophie, anyone who walks by or drives past us is going to think it’s crazy for two girls to be crouched behind a trash can.”
“Right.” She continued around the circle. “Plan B: there’s another bench that we passed a minute ago. If we sit on it, we’ll be far enough away from Emily that she probably won’t notice us, but we’ll still be able to keep an eye on her. Better?”
“Much better. And much more comfortable too.”
As they sat down on the bench a couple of minutes later, Jessica wished they had brought a book, as Emily had. “She could sit there for hours.”
“Tomorrow, we can bring books, and I’ll bring a little notebook to write in so we can take notes. What we learn about tailing people could be useful if we ever discover another mystery.”
Jessica hoped they weren’t in the middle of one right now. If the secret came out, would Sophie ever forgive her for not telling her?
“How much time do we have before we need to be at Great Finds?”
Sophie checked her watch. “We have about twenty-five minutes. I’d like to learn more about Emily today so we can tail someone else tomorrow.”
Emily rose to her feet when a boat came in, one that Jessica recognized as belonging to Captain Jack, the man who had taken them fishing once. Smiling from ear to ear, Emily closed her book and put it back in her bag. Then she walked slowly over toward the boat, which was pulling up into its spot at the dock.
Jessica and Sophie got up and walked closer.
A man waved to Emily from the boat. Once it had stopped, he jumped onto the dock. She ran into his arms, and he swung her up in the air. Captain Jack stepped off the boat and tied it up. Just when Jessica thought she and Sophie had gotten away cleanly without Emily noticing them, Captain Jack saw them and waved. He shouted, “Hello, lassies.”
Sophie whispered to Jessica, “Pretend we’ve been out on a walk. Act casual.”
They hurried over to his boat.
“What are you lassies up to on this fine summer morning? Any more mysteries?”
Sophie laughed, but Jessica could tell that it wasn’t her real, happy laugh.
“We’re taking a chocolate class right now,” Sophie answered for both of them. “Emily is in it too. Jessica and I had a little bit of time before we had to get over to her mom’s shop, so we were walking around.”
Jessica bit back a grin. It was the absolute truth. They were walking around.
The man with his arm around Emily, said, “You’re in the class with my wife?”
Emily nodded. “We had fun today, didn’t we, girls?”
“We did. Your husband should have been there too.”
He shook his head. “No! I’m here to fish. Emily doesn’t like to fish, but she’s happy to read a book. I was happy when she found out about the chocolate class because that was an extra special thing for her to do. We both get a vacation that we love.”
“Jessica, it’s time for us to get over to Mom’s shop.” To Emily, she added, “My mom owns Great Finds, the antique store on Main Street. If you get tired of reading, you can stop by.”
“I may do that.”
The girls waved good-bye and hurried away.
I See You
AT GREAT FINDS, SOPHIE stopped in front of the glass window facing the sidewalk. “Look,” she said.
“At what?” Jessica asked. “Your mom has quite a few things in the window.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “How many of them could be used to solve a mystery?”
Only one stood out. �
�The spyglass.”
Sophie nodded. “Exactly.” She pushed open the door to Great Finds and saw her mother dusting. “That’s your least favorite job at Mom’s shop, isn’t it, Jessica?”
“Yes. But it’s easy to do. It seems to go on forever though when I’m doing it.”
“Maybe she’s already taken care of most of it.” She went over to where her mother swept the feather duster over some teacups. “Mom! When did you get the spyglass?” Sophie pointed toward the window.
Mrs. Sandoval smiled widely. “I wondered how long it would take for you to notice. You do have good powers of observation. I can see that’s a skill that has helped you solve mysteries. To answer your question, I bought the brass spyglass when I was at an event last spring, and it arrived today. Would you like to see it?”
Sophie didn’t even speak up because she was sure her mother already knew the answer. They followed Mrs. Sandoval over to the window, where she took it out and set it in Sophie’s hands.
Sophie held up the spyglass and aimed it toward the window. “This is great!” She scanned the street through the lens.
“Mom, the moon is pretty full right now, isn’t it?”
“It is. You know your dad loves astronomy, and I remember him saying the other day that it was almost a full moon again.”
“So there would be enough light even at night to see through a spyglass. This would be a good night to go camping, wouldn’t it?” Sophie smiled brightly at her mother. “The place where we found the briefcase with the feathers has an amazing view of the lake.”
“Wouldn’t it be just as good to see the moon from your house, Sophie?” Jessica asked.
Sophie shook her head. “It would be more fun to watch the moon from a great spot like that one above Pine Lake.”
Her mother chewed on her lip. “It seems safe. You haven’t managed to get yourself in the middle of a mystery for weeks.” She paused. “There are two of you and that’s safer.”
The Chocolate Spy Page 3