Read Online Candy Factory Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner - Free Book Online

pointed out. “Don’t forget that.”
    Meg looked at the Aldens, then at Mrs. Winkles. “I didn’t do any of those things on purpose. Sometimes, when I try too hard, I make mistakes,” Meg confessed. “I was afraid to ask questions or ask for help, so I kept messing up. It got worse after all the Aldens showed up. They watched every single thing I did and asked a million questions.”
    Mrs. Winkles looked right at Meg. “That’s how you learn, Meg — by watching, asking questions, and paying close attention. You didn’t have to pretend you knew things you didn’t know. That just made your job much harder.”
    Meg looked miserable. “I was worried you’d fire me and give Tom my job. He seemed to know everything.”
    â€œWhy did you talk to Mr. Boxer on the phone so much?” Jessie asked.
    Now it was Meg’s turn to look angry. She turned to Mr. Boxer. “You kept calling me all the time as if you were still my boss. Sometimes I couldn’t think straight — I even forgot to put my gloves on when the inspector came. You made it so hard for me to keep my mind on my work.”
    Mr. Boxer didn’t look a bit sorry anymore, just impatient to get rid of everybody.
    No one budged until Henry noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Tom in all this?” he asked.
    â€œOutside,” Violet said. “He just left. Where are you going, Tom?” Violet called out the door.
    Henry moved toward the door as well. “If Meg isn’t the one who helped Mr. Boxer, then Tom must have something to do with all the problems.”
    â€œNot Tom,” Violet and Mrs. Winkles said at the same time.
    â€œThat guy?” Mr. Boxer said. “He’s just a snoop, always checking around here until I told him to stay away. Don’t worry, he doesn’t work for me. I could’ve used a smart guy like that, too. But he only wanted to work at Winkles — like it belonged to his family or something.”
    â€œThe briefcase!” Jessie smacked her forehead. “The initials on Tom’s briefcase said: T.W . Remember?”
    â€œLet’s get out of here and go find Tom,” Henry said, glaring at Mr. Boxer. “We’ve done what we came here to do.”
    â€œYou’re right,” said Mrs. Winkles. “I don’t think Mr. Boxer will be causing any more trouble.”
    The Aldens caught up to Tom out in the parking lot.
    Tom turned away from everyone. “Leave me be,” he said. “Not that I blame you for looking at me like that — like I hurt Mrs. Winkles’s business on purpose.”
    â€œDid you?” Violet asked. “Somebody put candy hearts with scary messages into Mrs. Winkles’s shipments. And mixed in Halloween ghosts with the sugar chicks.”
    â€œAnd somebody squished the little chocolate mice,” Soo Lee added.
    Tom looked completely confused. “I wasn’t that somebody.”
    Meg’s eyes widened. “It must have been Mr. Boxer again! One time I found him with some open boxes from other candy factories. He said the deliveryman dropped some shipments and candy fell out. But he was the only one who could have mixed up the Halloween candies with the candy hearts and eggs.”
    â€œAnd he must have been the one who put the hearts with scary message into Mrs. Winkles’s shipments,” said Henry.
    Violet smiled at Tom. “I knew it wasn’t you.”
    Violet’s words didn’t seem to make Tom feel any better. “I didn’t lie about the candy, but I wasn’t completely honest about something else,” Tom said miserably.
    â€œYou’d better explain what you mean by that,” Henry said.
    â€œI’ve often had the feeling you were holding something back, Tom,” Mrs. Winkles said. “What was it?”
    â€œAnd who’s T.W . anyway?” Benny asked. “Jessie saw that on your briefcase, but