The Clue in the Recycling Bin

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  Henry spoke to the man in the golf cap. “We’re the Aldens,” he said. “I’m Henry, and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother, Benny.”

  The man frowned. “I’ve read about you Aldens in the newspaper. You’re the kids who think you can solve mysteries,” he sneered. “Ha!”

  “We know we can solve mysteries,” said Jessie. “You didn’t tell us your name.”

  The man glared at Jessie. “Chad Foster,” he grunted. Then he bent back down and began scooping things up and dumping them into the bin.

  “Are you a volunteer?” Jessie asked him.

  “Yeah. And I don’t have time to chat,” he said.

  Jessie thought Chad Foster was a very unfriendly man.

  Kayla looked at the Aldens and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say she didn’t know what Chad’s problem was.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said to the children. “May I split you up into two work groups?”

  “Sure,” said Henry.

  Kayla smiled. “Okay. Jessie and Benny, I’d like you to help Chad pick everything up and toss it back into the Dumpster.”

  “No!” shouted Chad, straightening up again. “I don’t need a bunch of kids around while I’m trying to work.”

  Kayla walked up to Chad. “I expect everybody who volunteers here to treat one another with courtesy. If you can’t do that, Chad, then you should leave right now.”

  Jessie thought that Chad looked shocked by what Kayla had said. He blinked twice, then looked at her and Benny.

  “Yeah,” he said at last. “All right. They can help.”

  “Good,” said Kayla.

  She smiled at Jessie and Benny. “After I show Henry and Violet what I’d like them to do, I’ll come back and see how you’re doing.”

  As Jessie and Benny began to pick up the scattered trash, Kayla took Violet and Henry back toward the entrance to Use It Again. She led them past the gate to the lawn. The large pile of bags and boxes that the children had seen when they arrived were scattered on the lawn and against the curb.

  “Usually I haul these in every morning as soon as I arrive,” Kayla said. “But this morning the first thing I saw was the overturned Dumpster. I stood there looking at it, and then this man—Chad—came in and said he’d like to help.”

  Kayla looked over her shoulder to where Chad, Jessie, and Benny were working. “I wish he were more friendly, but the center needs all the help it can get. Somebody doesn’t want the recycling center to be here.” As Kayla said this, she turned and looked across the street.

  Henry and Violet turned to see where Kayla was staring. They saw a woman standing on the sidewalk across the street. It was the same woman they had seen standing there yesterday. She was wearing bright red rubber boots, corduroy pants, and a jacket. Her hair was white. In one hand she held a small garden trowel. In the other she held a plastic bottle.

  Violet noticed that Kayla frowned at the woman, and that the woman frowned back at Kayla. Then the woman crossed the street and walked right up to them.

  “It’s past ten o’clock in the morning,” the woman shouted. “And your trash is still on the public sidewalk!”

  As she spoke, the woman shook her plastic bottle at Kayla.

  Violet noticed that it was a bottle of Doo-Dah Tea with a red label. Sometimes Violet drank Doo-Dah Tea. She knew that the red label meant the tea was raspberry flavored.

  “Mrs. Wickett, I’m sorry about this,” said Kayla. “Ever since you complained, I’ve been coming to work early just to move everything inside.”

  “Well, then why is the trash still there?” demanded Mrs. Wickett. Henry could see that she was very angry.

  Without waiting for an answer, Mrs. Wickett continued. “I’m going to report you to the mayor’s office,” she said. “I’m going to get this center closed down.”

  “Somebody has been breaking into the center and tearing open bags of trash,” said Kayla. “And tipping over Dumpsters.” Now Kayla was angry, too. “I think you’re the one who’s breaking into the center,” she said. “You’re the one who’s against recycling!”

  “What?!” shouted Mrs. Wickett. “Me, break into a recycling center? Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Henry watched as Mrs. Wickett unscrewed the top of her bottle and drank the rest of her raspberry tea. She screwed the top back on, then she carefully placed the bottle inside one of the open boxes. Henry noticed that the box she placed it in held other plastic bottles.

  “Recycling is a good thing,” Mrs. Wickett told Kayla. “But leaving trash on public sidewalks is a bad thing. Look at this,” she said, kicking a cardboard box. “When the center is closed, people leave their recycling outside the fence. When I leave for work each evening, all I see are bags of trash! When I come home at midnight, all I see are boxes of junk!”

  “But I explained—” Kayla started to say.

  “No!” shouted Mrs. Wickett. “I’m going to call the mayor’s office and complain!”

  Henry and Violet watched Mrs. Wickett stomp across the street and into her own backyard.

  “Wow,” said Henry. “Mrs. Wickett is one very upset person.”

  Violet looked at all the bags and boxes. “I can see why she’s upset,” said Violet softly. “There’s a lot of trash here.”

  “We’ll take it all inside and start to sort it,” Henry told Kayla. “But Violet is right,Kayla. Isn’t there any way you could keep the recycling center open until midnight so people can take their trash inside?”

  “No,” said Kayla firmly. “If I left the center open that late, somebody could break into my studio.”

  Kayla picked up two bags and carried them inside. Henry picked up a large box, and Violet picked up a smaller box.

  “I think Mrs. Wickett is the person who’s breaking into the center,” said Kayla as the three of them worked.

  “If she is, we’ll find out,” said Violet. “We will help you.”

  Kayla stopped to look at Violet and Henry. “You will?” she asked.

  “Yes,” said Henry. “We volunteer to help you sort recycled things, and we also volunteer to help find out who’s breaking into the center.”

  Suddenly Kayla smiled. “Okay,” she said. “You just might be the best volunteers ever!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Treasures from Scrap

  Jessie and Benny helped Chad pick up everything that had been dumped out of the Other Stuff bin. During the whole time they had helped, Chad had not spoken to them at all. Jessie noticed that each time she or Benny put something into the bin, Chad walked over and looked into the bin.

  Why is he looking at each thing we do? she wondered.

  Just as the three of them finished, Kayla arrived.

  She smiled. “Thank you. This looks neat and clean,” she said.

  “Where’s the rest of it?” asked Chad.

  Kayla looked confused. “The rest of what?” she asked.

  “The rest of what goes in this Other Stuff bin,” he said.

  “Oh,” said Kayla. “This is everything. There isn’t any more.”

  Chad shook his head. “There’s got to be more. You must have a second bin marked Other Stuff.”

  “No,” said Kayla. “We don’t. But you can help Jessie and Benny sort all the dropped-off bags and boxes into the right bins.”

  Kayla pointed to a stack of dropped-off recycling.

  “I can show you how,” Benny said to Chad. “We did the same thing yesterday.”

  Chad ignored Benny. “What happens to the things in the Other Stuff bin?” he asked Kayla. “Where do they go?”

  “Well,” said Kayla, “each morning I look through the bin and take out anything thatlooks like somebody might want it. I put it on the shelf that runs along the shed. Or underneath the shelf, if it doesn’t fit.” Kayla pointed to the shed.

  Jessie noticed that all the things that had been on the shelf and under it yesterday were gone. The shelf was empty.

  Chad looked toward the shelf
. “Then what?” he asked.

  “When people drop off their recycling, some of them look at what I have out there. Sometimes people take things home and reuse them. Yesterday, for example, I had an old caned chair out there. Somebody took it home with them,” said Kayla with a smile. “I’ll bet they’re going to weave new cane into the seat, and then they’ll clean the chair and refinish it. Then they’ll use it for years and years. Isn’t that wonderful?” she asked.

  “I think so,” said Jessie.

  “Yes,” said Benny. “Henry can fix things and make them work. He fixed my bike.”

  Chad stared at Benny. “Did your brother take the old chair?” he asked.

  “No,” said Benny, “but we saw it yesterday when we were here.”

  Chad looked at the shelf, then at the bin, then at Kayla. “What happens when this bin gets full?” he asked.

  “Trucks come twice a week,” Kayla explained. “Every Wednesday they take the glass, plastics, and newspapers. Every Saturday they take more glass, plastics, and newspapers. On Saturday they also take the cardboard and everything from the Other Stuff bin.”

  “You’re very interested in recycling,” Jessie said to Chad.

  He frowned. “I guess I am,” he said. Then Chad turned to Kayla again. “Where do the trucks take the bins?” he asked.

  “To a recycling plant in Watertown,” said Kayla as she turned to pick up a box of glass jars. “Benny and Jessie, can you show Chad how to sort the recycling?”

  Jessie took the box from Kayla. “Sure,” she said. “The glass bins are over here,” she told Chad.

  But Chad just stood there.

  Kayla went back to work in her shed. Jessie and Benny began dropping the bottles and jars into the correct bins.

  Benny stood on his tiptoes and looked into the bin for brown glass. Still, he could barely see over the top.

  Jessie laughed. “Here’s a wooden box to stand on,” she said. She turned the box over and put it down near Benny.

  “I see a plastic bottle,” said Benny. “It doesn’t belong with glass.”

  Benny stood on his tiptoes on the wooden box, but he still wasn’t tall enough to reach inside the bin.

  “Here,” said Jessie, “I can reach it.”

  She reached into the bin for brown glass and pulled out a plastic bottle. The green label read Doo-Dah Tea. Benny knew that the green label meant the tea was mint flavored. Benny took the bottle from Jessie and walked over to the plastics bin. He threw the bottle into the bin.

  “The bottle was in the wrong place,” Benny said to Chad. “Somebody threw plastic into the Dumpster for brown glass.”

  Chad suddenly looked interested. “What?” he asked. “What did you just say?”

  Benny repeated what he had said.

  “Hmmm,” said Chad. “That could be it. It could be in the wrong place.”

  “What could be in the wrong place?” Jessie asked.

  “Hmmm,” said Chad again. He didn’t say anything else.

  “Are you ready to help recycle now?” Benny asked.

  “No,” snapped Chad. “I have something else to do.”

  Jessie and Benny watched Chad walk away. He didn’t say good-bye to them. He didn’t say good-bye to Violet or Henry, either, when he walked past where they were working.

  “What a grump,” said Jessie.

  “Maybe he’s just hungry,” said Benny.

  Jessie laughed. “Oh Benny,” she said. “I don’t need a watch when you’re around, do I?”

  “Why not?” asked her brother.

  “Because when you’re hungry in the middle of the day, I know it’s time for lunch.”

  The children finished sorting recycled materials and rode their bikes home along the bike path.

  As they were pedaling, Violet heard footsteps behind them. She could tell they were the footsteps of somebody running very fast.

  Before Violet could even turn around to see who was running, she heard somebody say, “Hi Benny! Hi Violet! Hi Jessie and Henry!”

  It was Ethan. He waved his hand as he raced past them.

  Violet saw that today Ethan was wearing shorts and a tank top.

  “Ethan sure can run fast,” said Benny as he pedaled his bike.

  “Yes,” said Jessie. “I’ll bet he runs track. That looked like a track uniform he was wearing.”

  When they arrived back home, the children propped their bikes against the garage and walked into the sunporch. Benny patted the big green frog and looked up at his bull piñata, which Henry had hung from the sunporch ceiling.

  Mrs. McGregor was in the kitchen, reading the newspaper and drinking a bottle of tea.

  Jessie noticed that the bottle had a green label. It was mint-flavored Doo-Dah Tea.

  “What’s in the news?” Jessie asked Mrs. McGregor.

  “What’s for lunch?” asked Benny at the same time.

  Everybody laughed.

  “I’ll answer both questions after you all wash the recycling dirt off your hands and sit down. I’ve already set the table.”

  After the children had washed, Mrs. McGregor brought out a plate full of vegetables and another plate full of kebabs—small pieces of chicken on skewers. Finally, she gave each of the children a bowl of dipping sauce.

  “Chicken!” said Benny. “I love chicken.” He dipped a carrot into the sauce. “I love carrots, too.”

  “This is so good,” said Violet. “Thank you, Mrs. McGregor.”

  Mrs. McGregor smiled. “You’re welcome,” she said.

  “So,” said Jessie, pointing to the newspaper Mrs. McGregor had been reading, “what’s in the news?” All the Aldens loved to read and get information, but Jessie loved it the best.

  “Well,” answered Mrs. McGregor, “the police still haven’t caught the person who robbed Jonah’s Jewelry Store a few weeks ago. Somebody broke into the store around midnight, stole a bag of diamonds, and got away before the police arrived.”

  “Did the store have a burglar alarm?” asked Henry.

  “Yes,” said Mrs. McGregor, “but the thief must have moved very quickly—just like Benny is moving for more chicken!”

  Indeed, Benny was in the middle of piling more kebabs onto his plate.

  “If there’s food around, Benny will eat it,” Henry kidded.

  Then Henry also reached for more chicken. So did Jessie and so did Violet.

  “Maybe the thief was Ethan,” said Benny. “Ethan moves very, very fast!”

  Jessie explained to Mrs. McGregor who Ethan was.

  “So,” asked Mrs. McGregor, “what will you children be doing the rest of the afternoon?”

  “We’re going back to the recycling center,” said Violet. “We have a mystery to solve.”

  “A mystery?” asked Mrs. McGregor. “What kind of mystery can there be at a recycling center?”

  “Somebody is breaking in at night and opening bags of leaves,” Benny explained. He stopped eating long enough to make a big circle with his arms, to show how big the bags of leaves were. “And they tipped over a big Dumpster, too,” he added. “The one your frog came from.”

  “And my notebooks,” said Jessie.

  “And Benny’s piñata,” said Henry.

  After the children had eaten lunch and helped Mrs. McGregor with the dishes, they pedaled back to the recycling center. Everything at the center looked neat and clean. All the bins were lined up, and except for the bags of leaves and grass in the corner, all the trash was off the ground.

  “Mrs. Wickett should be happy with how neat this looks,” said Violet.

  “Yes, but we worked all morning to help sort the bags and boxes,” said Henry. “After the center closes, people start leaving more boxes and bags out on the sidewalk. That’s what gets Mrs. Wickett upset.”

  Jessie and Benny hadn’t met Mrs. Wickett, but Henry and Violet told them what had happened earlier that morning.

  “I wonder why Kayla won’t leave the center open at night,” Jessie said. “That way people co
uld bring their recycling inside.”

  “She said she doesn’t want people going into her studio,” said Violet.

  The center was very quiet. The children went to see if Kayla was in her studio.

  The door was open and Kayla was inside, reading the newspaper.

  “Oh, hi,” Kayla said when she heard them. She stood up quickly and spread the open newspaper across the top of a bench.

  Jessie noticed that Kayla had placed the newspaper on top of something sparkly.

  “I didn’t expect you again until tomorrow morning,” Kayla said.

  Jessie noticed that the page Kayla had been reading showed a picture of Jonah’s Jewelry Store. She’s reading the same article that Mrs. McGregor was reading, thought Jessie. The one about the stolen diamonds.

  “We can sort more recycling,” said Henry. “And we promised we would find out who’s breaking into the center.”

  “Oh.” Kayla frowned. “Well,” she said, “there’s no more sorting to do this afternoon.” She glanced at the newspaper she had spread across the bench. “I’m very happy with the work you did,” she told the children. “Ethan didn’t come in this morning, so I really needed the four of you.”

  “We saw Ethan today,” said Benny. “He was running.”

  “Yes,” said Kayla with a smile. “Ethan runs track and jumps hurdles. He goes to college on a track scholarship. He’s always training.”

  Suddenly Kayla clapped her hands. “You know what?” she asked the Aldens. “If you want, I can show you how I make jewelry from scrap. It’s my own little way of recycling.”

  “Yes, please,” said Violet. “I would love to see.”

  Her brothers and sister were also interested in seeing how Kayla made jewelry from scrap.

  “As you can see, my work space is very small,” said Kayla. “But I’m very organized.” She pointed to one end of her workbench. “That’s where I keep tin cans. I make pins and earrings from them. I also make mobiles, like that one.” She pointed to a mobile of five colorful airplanes. “Each of those planes is made from a tin can.”

  “Wow!” said Benny. “I like it!”

  Kayla smiled. “This pile contains small pieces of brass, copper, silver, and gold. You’d be surprised how much metal is thrown away. I use the small pieces to make rings or bracelets or key rings.”