The Homerun Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

“I’m off to meet the town council. I’ll be back for supper.”
    â€œIs it okay if we look around town?” Henry asked.
    â€œOf course.” Grandfather gave him and Jessie some extra pocket money. “In case you want a snack.”
    â€œI will,” Benny piped up.
    Jessie put the money in her shorts pocket. Benny would never change!
    Just that morning, after eating breakfast in their house in Greenfield, Connecticut, they waved good-bye to Mrs. McGregor, the housekeeper, and Watch, their dog, then piled into the station wagon. Hours later, they reached Pikesville, New York, a small town on the Hudson River. James Alden had been invited by the town council for his expert business advice on improving life in Pikesville.
    â€œWhat a great summer day,” said Henry as they left the inn.
    The weather was perfect. But sunshine did little to perk up the dreary streets of Pikesville. Row houses marched one after the other, many in need of painting. Boarded storefronts added to the gloom.
    â€œIt’s not very pretty, is it?” said Violet.
    In fact, the town looked sad and neglected.
    Henry agreed. “It’s like it’s been forgotten.”
    â€œThat’s why Grandfather was asked to come here,” said Jessie. “He’s helped places like this come alive again.”
    Benny pointed to an old redbrick building in front of them. “What is that?”
    â€œLet’s find out.” Violet led the way down the broken sidewalk. They crossed a vacant lot overgrown with weeds to the front of the long, four-story building.
    Large double doors were framed by dozens of small windows. Wire screened the windows, but most of the panes were shattered.
    â€œIt’s a factory,” Henry figured out. “A very old factory of some kind.”
    Jessie tapped a piece of chipped brick from the sidewalk with her sneaker. “It was probably nice when it was first built.”
    Just then the children heard a roar from behind the factory. Kids were booing and cheering.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” asked Violet, but Jessie and the others were already heading toward the back of the building.
    They stopped in amazement at what they saw.
    The factory had been built in an L shape. Nestled in the angle of the L was a ballpark!
    â€œNeat!” Henry exclaimed. “What a great place to put a ballpark!”
    A high fence with faded posters peeling from its crooked boards backed up against the brick sides of the old factory. The third side of the ballpark was bordered by the street, the fourth by a weed-choked empty lot.
    Shaggy grass grew high in the outfield all the way up to the sides of the old factory. The infield was hard-packed dirt. A roofed grandstand had been built near the home base, where the corner of the empty lot met the road. The rest of the seats were splintery bleachers. Outside the foul line, beyond third base in the outfield, a rickety one-story clubhouse stood.
    Teams of boys and girls were playing. A few people sat in the grandstand.
    â€œLet’s watch,” said Jessie.
    They climbed into the bleachers and sat next to a man about Grandfather’s age.
    â€œWho’s playing?” Benny asked the gentleman.
    â€œThe team in blue shirts is the Hudson Half Moons,” replied the man. “That’s the home team. They’re playing the Catskill Eagles in the red shirts. Both teams are in the playoffs for the championship.”
    â€œWhat’s the score?” asked Henry.
    â€œThe Catskill Eagles are leading,” said the man, shaking his head. “I don’t know how they’re doing it. Our team is much better.” He pointed to a girl a little older than Violet sitting in the dugout. “That’s my granddaughter. Her name is Emily.”
    Emily had long brown hair worn in a ponytail pulled through her baseball cap.
    â€œWe’re the Aldens,” said Jessie. “This is my sister, Violet, and my