Book 1-Alex Bishop and the North Side Detectives

Continue Alex Bishop and the North Side Detectives

     The door suddenly opened and there stood an old woman of around 70 something, smiling at them.  Her hair was silver white and she had intelligent looking blue eyes that twinkled behind her spectacles.  She wore a white apron over a flowered blue dress.

     "Come in, come in."  She said delightedly.  Alex, Dawn, Lee and Fletch stepped over the threshold  into an airy kitchen.  There was a wonderful aroma coming from the oven.  Fletch was sniffing the air with a dreamy look on his face.

     The old lady ushered them into a cozy living room that housed a fireplace in one corner.  Lace doilies set on every stand in the room, and white lace curtains hung at the windows.  "Sit down please."  She said sweetly.  The teens took seats on the long sofa and then looked interestedly around the room.

     Pictures of children and or grandchildren decorated the upright grand piano in the corner opposite the fireplace; a floor to ceiling, length of the wall book case stood behind a card table that had a half finished puzzle resting on it's surface.

     After a few minutes and just as their hostess was taking her seat in an old rocking chair, she suddenly stood and squeaked, "Oh, I'll be right back."  And out of the room she went.  Alex, Lee, Dawn and Fletch looked confusedly at each other.  But Alex thought, old she might be, but she certainly had a lot of energy to run from the room like that.

     The lady entered the room again in just a couple of minutes toting a tray of chocolate chip cookies in her wizened hands and laid them in the center of the coffee table in front of the sofa.  "Have one."  She said, taking one for herself and sitting down in the rocker that she had abandoned a few minutes ago.

     "I pride myself on my cookies."  She said with a wink.  "My name is Violet Books."  She added, her blue eyes twinkling.  Alex introduced himself and the others, and then Dawn quickly swallowed the cookie she was chewing and proceeded to tell Mrs. Books why they were there.  When Dawn was finished she asked, "Do you remember that case?"

     "Ah, yes."  She said, her finger to her lips and her eyes beginning to tear.  "That was around ten years ago in August, wasn't it?"  The teens nodded.  Alex wondered what the sudden tears in her eyes were about.  "I was on vacation when that terrible thing happened."  Alex, Lee and Dawn glanced over at Fletch, who had a very smug look on his face.

     "What day and time did you leave on your trip?"  Alex asked her.  "That evening about 8:00."  She said rocking faster.  "You didn't see anyone on the street  before you left, did you?"  Dawn asked hopefully.  "As a matter of fact I did."  Mrs. Books said, putting down her half eaten cookie.

    Alex, Fletch, Dawn and Lee looked at her expectedly, their faces full of excitement.  "What did you see?"  Alex asked eagerly.  At Alex's question, everyone took out their spirals and pens and had them poised to write.

     "Well, around 5:30, I saw Mr. Wells open his door...." Fletch started to say something but the others shushed him. ...."A lady was standing on the doorstep of Mr. Wells house, and he let her in.  About a half an hour later when I again walked past the living room window, I saw a man walking up the sidewalk to Mr. Pile's door.  A few seconds after that my microwave went off and I hurried to the kitchen to get my dinner."  She ended, picking up her cookie and taking a bite.