“I’m just thinking about that man we saw today at the factory…Mr. Whipple. Something about him seemed a little suspicious.”
Her mother laughed. “Kate, to you everyone looks suspicious.”
Kate giggled as she leaned back against the pillows. “I guess you’re right. Maybe I’m letting my imagination run away with me.” She thought about that for a few moments, but eventually her eyes grew heavy. Kate drifted off to sleep
A Suspect!
Early the next morning, Kate’s cell phone rang. She reached for it, groaning because she was still so sleepy. Who could possibly call at such an early hour? She recognized Alex’s number and answered with a shaky, “H–hello?”
“Hello, Kate? It’s Alex.”
“You sound wide awake.”
“I am.” Alex giggled. “I checked my email when I got in last night and found one from McKenzie. She sent me a link to a website.”
“Oh?”
“I think you’re going to be very interested in this because it involves an employee from the Twisted Twins factory. Remember that man, Mr. Whipple—the pretzel twister?”
“Sure.” Kate yawned and stretched, then sat up in the bed, trying to come awake.
“Remember how Penny and Candy said he’d been working for them for over twenty years? Well, he must work for the Bender brothers too.”
“No way.”
“Yes, I stumbled across a photo of him from some online article. It was taken about a week ago at the Bender pretzel factory in front of one of their machines. The picture was a little fuzzy, but I’m sure it’s the same man.”
“Can you send me a link to the article?” Kate asked, now fully awake. “I want to read it. And I’d love to see the picture.”
“Of course,” Alex responded. “Better yet, get dressed and come to my hotel room. I’ll show you on our computer. I’m really sure it’s the same man. And tell your parents that my mom and dad want to meet for breakfast at eight o’clock in the restaurant downstairs.”
“Okay.” Kate ended the call. She bolted from the bed and opened her suitcase, tearing through it to find an outfit to wear.
“Is everything okay, Kate?” her mom asked, then yawned. “It’s pretty early.”
“Yes, everything’s fine. Sorry to wake you up. But Alex invited me to go to her room for a few minutes. And her parents want to meet us for breakfast at eight o’clock.”
“Sounds good to me.” Her mother yawned again. “Just call me on my cell phone, and we’ll meet you down there.”
“Okay.” Kate took a fast shower, then slipped into her clothes. All the while, she thought about what Alex had said. So, Mr. Whipple worked for both companies. Either that, or he was a spy!
“Hmm.” She sighed, realizing that right now he just seemed like an ordinary older man who worked two jobs.
A few minutes later, she arrived at the room Alex shared with her parents. She stood next to her friend as they looked over the website.
“I’m pretty sure that’s him,” Kate agreed, staring at the photo.
“Yes. And do you notice that he’s shaking hands with the man in the Bender Bakery shirt?” Kate asked. “Very odd.”
“Definitely. They must be friends or something.”
“So, do you think Candy and Penny suspect him?” Alex asked. “I think they really trust him. Remember how Candy talked about how long he’d been at their company?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure they think he’s a faithful employee,” Kate said. She sighed. “Or maybe we’re just letting our imaginations run away with us. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for this…and for what happened at the factory.”
“True.” Alex shrugged. She turned off the computer and stared at Kate. “But how will we know for sure?”
“There’s only one way,” Kate said. “We have to go back.”
Alex looked shocked at this idea.
“But the first round of judging is at noon today,” she said. “You don’t want to miss that, Kate. You’ve waited a long time for this day. You don’t need anything to spoil it.”
“We’ll get back in time.” Kate looked at her watch. “I hope.”
“Kate, it’s too risky. It takes an hour to get there.”
“We won’t miss anything. I’m sure my dad will take us. He gets excited when I’m on a case. And this time we’ll take Biscuit with us. He’s good at snooping out the scene of a crime.”
“It will be just like Scooby Doo,” Alex said. “He can help us solve the crime!”
“He’s great at it,” Kate said.
“Of course we don’t even know for sure that a crime has been committed,” Alex added. “But if you’re sure we’ll be back in time, I guess it will be okay.”
A few minutes later the two families met in the restaurant for breakfast. As they settled in at the table, Kate explained their predicament, telling her father everything they suspected.
“There’s only one way to know for sure if the Twisted Twins are being sabotaged, Dad,” she said. “We have to go back…right after breakfast.”
He gave her a curious look.
“You’re sure you want to leave the competition long enough to do this, Kate? This is your big day.”
“Yes. We’ll come back by noon. That’s when they announce the finalists in the competition.”
“What if you don’t find out anything while you’re there?” Kate’s mom asked. “Then you’ve wasted a trip.”
Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I only know that we have to try. I have the strangest feeling that there’s more to this story than meets the eye. And we want to figure it out.”
“But we also want to be back in time to watch Kate win the big prize,” Alex said with a sparkle in her eye.
Kate felt her cheeks turn warm with embarrassment.
“We don’t know if I’m going to win anything or not,” she said. “And besides, today is only the first round of judging. They’re narrowing the list. They won’t name the actual winner till tomorrow’s luncheon.”
“True.” Alex nodded. “But it’s still more important to be here today for the first round of judging than at a pretzel factory, mystery or no mystery!”
Kate nodded. She didn’t want to let anyone down, but she knew in her heart she needed to go back to the pretzel factory. Surely they would get back in time.
Kate talked her father into driving them back to the Twisted Twins factory, promising they would only stay for half an hour. He reluctantly agreed and before long, the three of them were on the road with Biscuit.
This time, Kate paid more attention to the Amish farms in the distance, pondering how different her life was from the children she saw playing here. She thought about Emma and Rachel and wondered if one of the houses they passed belonged to the girls’ families. What were their lives like when they weren’t at Hershey for a competition?
Kate didn’t have much time to think about all of this. Before long, they arrived at the pretzel factory.
“Where would you like to go first?” her father asked.
In the distance, Kate saw Mr. Whipple walking toward the back of the building in the drizzling rain. He was carrying something small.
“Dad, if you don’t mind, I’m going to follow him and see what he’s up to.”
She grabbed her digital camera and reached for Biscuit’s leash. “Come, boy.”
“Do you need his special digital collar?” her father asked.
“Yes, please.” She reached into her backpack and came out with the special collar and snapped it on Biscuit. At once his tail began to wag. “I think he must realize we’re trying to solve a mystery. See how excited he is?”
Kate grinned, then scratched Biscuit behind the ears. “Good boy!”
“You’re switching out his collar?” Alex looked confused.
“Yes,” Kate explained, “but it’s not what you think. It’s no ordinary collar. It has a tiny built-in microphone that
transmits to this receiver.” She held up the tiny black receiver and smiled. “So, if I want to hear something a suspect is saying, I send Biscuit to him or her and I can hear every word through the microphone.”
“Very cool.” Alex nodded. “Maybe his collar will record something we need to hear!”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
When Kate had the collar in place she attached Biscuit’s leash and put her mirrored sunglasses on. They might come in handy. Then she and Alex headed off on their way.
“Be careful honey, and keep your cell phone with you,” her father called out. “I’ll be right here watching.”
“Thanks, Dad!”
She and Alex got out of the van and slipped across the front of the parking lot, following Mr. Whipple. When he approached the side of the building, Kate tiptoed a bit closer, finally deciding to hide behind the dumpster. Biscuit let out a little growl and she shushed him.
Small drops of rain fell on Kate’s head and she wished she’d brought her umbrella. Still, it was hard to hide with a big umbrella in your hand!
Alex elbowed her. “Kate, look at him. He’s acting really weird. He’s hiding on the side of the building to make a phone call.”
“Yes, that is strange.” Kate squinted to get a better look. “I wonder who he’s calling.”
Alex’s face lit up with excitement. “Maybe he’s calling the Bender factory. Maybe he’s sharing secrets or something. I saw something like this in a movie once.” She started describing what she’d seen, but Kate found it hard to concentrate because she was so busy watching Mr. Whipple.
Kate’s imagination began to run wild. “Maybe they’re telling him how to sabotage the machines to keep the pretzels flat so they can put Candy and Penny out of business for good.”
Alex put her finger over her lips as Mr. Whipple walked back by, still talking to the person on the other end of the phone. Kate heard him mutter something about having a secret, but couldn’t make sense of it. The raindrops began to fall a bit harder now and Mr. Whipple moved to the side door of the factory then disappeared inside.
Kate and Alex tiptoed to the window. Thankfully, an awning covered them and they were safe from the rain here. However, the window was very high, which presented a real problem. Biscuit tried to jump up, but didn’t make it.
“It’s too tall,” Alex said. “I can’t see inside.”
“Hmm.” Kate looked around, finally discovering a large wooden crate next to the dumpster. She dragged it over to the window and then climbed on it. “Okay, I can see now.” Rubbing at the dirty window, she tried to make out the shape of the man inside.
Alex joined her on the crate. “Is that Mr. Whipple?” she asked, rubbing the dirt away. “It’s hard to tell.”
“I think that’s him. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that no one else is in the room while he’s working?” Kate asked. “And he’s messing with the machine that was broken yesterday.”
She turned backwards and looked into the mirrored sunglasses, which were slightly magnified. “Yep! It’s him!”
“Very odd,” Alex said. “And very suspicious.”
“Especially when you think about what he just said on the phone about a secret.” A shiver ran down Kate’s spine. She hadn’t come to Amish country to wind up solving another mystery! She’d come to enter the Young Inventors’ Festival. Yet here she stood, up to her eyeballs in clues and feeling that usual tug on her heart to figure things out.
Why, oh why, was her life never easy?
“What do we do next?” Alex asked with a puzzled look on her face.
“Hmm.” Kate paused and pulled off her sunglasses. “Well, I guess we’d better get inside out of the rain. Let’s go in the shop. I want to ask Penny and Candy some questions. And maybe…” She grinned. “Maybe I can talk them into giving us another tour.”
“Like the one we took yesterday?” Alex asked.
“No, a private tour to places that others don’t get to go.” Kate nodded. Yes, if only they could get inside the factory…maybe, just maybe, they could figure this out. In the meantime, they’d better get out of the rain before they ended up soaking wet!
A Private Tour
Kate’s heart was still racing as she and Alex walked to the door of the pretzel shop.
“Want me to wait out here with Biscuit?” Alex asked, looking at the No PETS ALLOWED sign.
Kate shrugged. “Sure. I’ll ask Penny if we can look around inside.” She entered the busy shop and paused to shake off the rain. In the distance, she saw Penny and Candy, who both looked a little tired. Still, the sisters smiled when they saw her. Kate waved as she drew near.
“Welcome back, honey,” Penny said, after waiting on the other customers. “What brings you back so soon? Hungry for more pretzels?”
“Just wondering how things are going today,” Kate said. “Couldn’t stop thinking about the pretzel problem last night so we decided to come back.”
“We?” Penny looked around.
“Alex is waiting outside with Biscuit, my dog,” Kate said.
“Ah, I see.” Candy’s brow wrinkled.
“So, what did you find out about the machine?” Kate asked. “Is it broken?”
“No, it’s the strangest thing,” Penny said. “Bud…er, Mr. Whipple, tested the machine and said it’s working perfectly. The temperatures are just right and the oven is working fine too. We’re so puzzled. Don’t have a clue why the pretzels are going flat. And as you can see…” she pointed to the near-empty glass case. “We’re almost out of the pretzels that were made before this fiasco hit.”
She sighed. “This has created quite a problem for our business. If this goes on much longer, we’ll lose a lot of customers.” She looked at her sister and shrugged.
“And if we lose business, you know what that means…” A sad look passed over Candy’s face. “It will mean folks will be going to Bender Bakery to buy their pretzels.”
“Don’t get worked up, sister,” Penny said, forcing a smile. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
“I sure hope not,” Candy said. “We don’t want Bender Bakery getting any of our customers, now do we?”
“We want to help you figure this out,” Kate said. “But it might require a little snooping.”
“Snooping?” Candy gave her a curious look. “What do you mean?”
“Alex and I would like to look around,” Alex said. “See if we notice anything suspicious.”
“No children allowed in the factory,” Penny said as she shook her head. “Company policy.”
“Oh, we don’t want to go into the factory,” Kate explained. “Just wanted to look around in the offices and down the hallway here.” She pointed to their left. “Would that be okay?”
Candy shrugged. “I suppose so. I’m headed back into the factory because we have someone coming to check it out. You girls be careful.”
“Okay. Is it all right to bring my dog inside?”
“Just don’t bring him in the shop where we sell pretzels,” Candy said. “Or any of the places where pretzels are made. That would violate the health code.”
“I won’t,” Kate promised. She went outside and gestured to Alex. “They said it’s okay to look around. Let’s go in the side door, though. We can’t bring Biscuit into the shop.”
“Okay.” Alex nodded and clutched Biscuit’s leash, following Kate.
Kate led the way back into the building, avoiding the shop at the front.
“Where are we going, again?” Alex asked.
“I just want to check out the offices,” Kate said. “I have a strange feeling about something…”
She and Alex walked down a long, narrow hallway with Biscuit sniffing the whole way. Kate snapped a few pictures with her tiny digital camera.
“Maybe he’s hot on the trail of something,” Kate said as the dog paused to play with a few cobwebs in the corner. He snatched up a piece of an old pretzel and chewed on it.
“Or maybe he’s just
hungry.” Alex laughed. “Bringing Biscuit might not have been the best idea we’ve ever had. He likes to eat everything in sight!”
“Nah. He’s going to help us solve this case…just watch and see.” Kate nodded, then reached down to pat the dog on the head.
The girls tiptoed down the ever-darkening hallway until they came to a door with no sign on the outside.
“What’s on the other side of that door?” Alex whispered.
“Hmm. I’m not sure. I’ve never been down here before.” Kate eased the door open. It made a loud creaking sound. As soon as the door was open, a mop fell out and whacked her on the head.
“Ouch!”
Biscuit let out a little whimper, thinking she was hurt.
“I’m okay, boy,” she told him. “Just a little bump on the head.” She turned to face Alex as she pointed inside the closet. “Looks like this is where they keep the cleaning supplies.”
“What about this one?” Alex pointed to another door.
Kate tapped on the door. When no one answered, she gently pushed the door open and they both stepped inside.
“Hmm. It’s really dark in here, but it looks like a storeroom of some sort.” She squinted. “Look, Alex. Bags and bags of flour. This is where they store the supplies used to make the pretzels.”
Biscuit began to sniff, then let out a loud puppy sneeze.
“Not now, boy!” Kate said. “This isn’t a good time to be allergic!”
Off in the distance, she heard footsteps. Kate peeked out of the door then whispered, “It’s Mr. Whipple! He’s coming this way.”
“Quick. Hide behind the boxes.” Alex rushed behind a large stack of boxes and Kate followed her, keeping a tight hold on Biscuit’s leash.
Kate tried to steady her breathing and prayed her eyes would adjust to the dark. A couple of seconds later, the door creaked open and a sliver of light from the hallway flowed into the room. Biscuit began to make a soft growling sound and she shushed him right away. Thankfully, he quieted down.
Kate held her breath and looked at Alex. She could hear Mr. Whipple muttering something about flour. Then he said something else she couldn’t quite understand. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed the high-powered microphone on Biscuit’s collar was picking it up.
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