(Mark originally wrote this for an English assignment)
Here’s my vocabulary short story. If you’re interested, the vocabulary words I had to use look like this.--Mark
The Mystery at Wimpy’s
By Mark Baker
"What a great meal," Trixie Belden sighed.
"Agreed," her brother Mart said.
"You would agree," their friend Di Lynch said, "since you are enthralled with food."
Trixie’s best friend Honey Wheeler jumped to his defense. "You know everyone of us loves Wimpy’s Hamburgers. But today I’m feeling nostalgic for Spider."
"That’s nostalgia when you use it as a noun." Mart loved big words and loved to show off his knowledge. "You used it wrong in that last sentence."
"Excuse me, Mr. English teacher." Honey gave a mock bow while grinning.
"Give it a rest, Mart. School’s over for the year." Trixie was always annoyed by Mart’s vocabulary.
The four teens were celebrating the first day of summer vacation with three other friends: Trixie and Mart’s oldest brother Brian, Honey’s older adopted brother Jim, and Dan Mangan. All seven belonged to the semi-secret club The Bob-Whites of the Glen and lived along Glen Road out of town. Because of this, they spent a lot of time together.
"I move we go to our house for a swim now," Jim said.
"Second," said Dan.
"Aye," everyone else voted.
They were just leaving when the proprietor of Wimpy’s, Mr. Craven, stopped them.
"Am I glad to see you," he said.
"Why?" Trixie asked.
"Because money has been disappearing from the cash register."
Trixie perked up, but Mart groaned. "Now we shall never enjoy a submersion in H2O because my younger sibling shall relentlessly pursue another mystery."
"I am not relentless; I am persistent," Trixie stated.
The Bob-Whites burst into laughter.
"Persistent and relentless mean the same thing," Brian explained when the laughter had died down.
"Oh." Trixie blushed. "But if Wimpy’s is in trouble, we’ve got to help or they won’t be around much longer.
Mart immediately got a pained look on his face. "No more Wimpy's?" he said with a melancholy note in his voice.
"If it keeps up, maybe," the proprietor said.
"Have you let the police know?" Jim asked.
"Yes, and Sergeant Molinson is working on it. I even have Rick, the manager, and Joel, the assistant manager, keeping their eyes open. However, I’d feel better if the Belden – Wheeler Detective Agency were working on it."
Mart’s sullen face didn't quench Trixie’s enthusiasm. "Tell us more," she begged.
"Hold on," Mart protested. "We voted 7-0 to go swimming. Why should we waste time on this gratuitous mystery?"
"You go ahead then," Trixie replied. "I'm staying here."
Dan said, "We’d better stay to keep Trixie out of trouble."
Mart was going to protest more, but Brian appeased him by saying, "We'll stay for an hour, then swim."
"Tell us what’s happening." Trixie was obviously excited.
"Well," Mr. Craven began, "money has been disappearing from the cash register. It started with about $5 every other day, but now it’s up to $20 every day. It’s been going on for three weeks now."
"Did you hire any new employees about that time?" Honey asked.
"Just two, David and Michelle," he replied. "Michelle is so docile. She makes French fries. David is my new cashier."
"Well, that gives David opportunity. What about motive?" Trixie was thinking out loud now.
"Not so fast, Trixie," Jim interrupted. "We all know that there are plenty of times when the cash register is unattended. You can’t try to pin it on him that easily."
"Both of them said they just wanted summer jobs for extra spending money," Mr. Craven said. "You’re welcome to talk to them if you want. Call me, Rick, or Joel if you need anything."
"So, whom shall we interrogate first, Ms. Sherlock," Mart sighed.
"David," Trixie answered resolutely.
"Hold on," Brian cautioned. "You know they won’t confess."
"I know," Trixie agreed with a disgusted tone to her voice. "I’m not that stupid. But we might find out something interesting."
Thanks to Honey’s tact, they started easy conversations with Michelle and David. When the subject of the missing money was brought up, both of the suspects seemed genuinely concerned.
"So, what did we learn in the last hour?" Mart asked. "We’ve learned about their families and how much they’re enjoying working here. Not one thing was suspicious at all. Can we go now?"
"Yes. A promise is a promise." Trixie was feeling despair.
Even though she’d agreed to go, Trixie was the last one out the door. She turned back for one last look and saw someone opening the cash register. She placidly walked outside and immediately told the others what she had seen.
"But who was it?" Di asked.
"She doesn’t know," Mart said, his vindictive attitude coming through loud and clear. "She’s just stalling so we will stay here."
"Just for that," Trixie retorted, "I’m not going to tell you who it was." Then she marched off to call Sergeant Molinson.
Sergeant Molinson gave her the usual "you’re just taking up my time" act until she told him what she’d seen. "I’ll be right down," he said.
As Trixie hung up the phone, she saw Mr. Craven walking toward her. His face was gaunt and there was a morose air about him. When he saw Trixie he went straight to her. "More money’s been stolen," he told her.
Trixie started to say, "I know, I saw…" was all she got out before Sergeant Molinson showed up. After double checking with Trixie, he went over and arrested Joel, the assistant manager.
"You," Mr. Craven exclaimed. "Why?"
"Shows all you know. I was supposed to become manager of this store. Then you bought out the previous owner and passed me over. I was hoping to make things look bad for this store and then take over and turn it around. I timed it so those new employees would divert suspicion from me." Joel turned to the sergeant. "Come on. Book me." They walked out.
As the Bob-Whites rode to the Wheelers' in the station wagon, Trixie felt glad that she had solved the mystery in a little over an hour.
The End