Wrinkles seemed to like each other.
Jessie and Mr. Smith walked by the Bread Loaf Bakery. They asked Mr. Brooks if he had seen Grayson Majesty.
“You mean he’s missing?” asked Mr. Brooks.
“I’m afraid so,” answered Mr. Smith. “His leash was cut. We’re afraid he was stolen. And Roxanne won’t help us look.”
Mr. Brooks was silent. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t think Roxanne stole Boxcar or Grayson,” he said.
“What made you change your mind?” asked Jessie.
“Roxanne is just too good a person to steal a dog,” Mr. Brooks replied. “She came to my shop at lunch and we had a long talk. She told me she would never steal a dog. I believe her. That’s why I made cookies and lemonade for the class.”
After the Bread Loaf Bakery, Jessie and Mr. Smith visited five more stores and talked to six people on the street. Then they reached Clip and Yip.
Mr. Smith tried to open the door, but the store was closed. “Why isn’t Clip and Yip open?” he asked. “How can I bring Wrinkles here if the store isn’t open?”
“I don’t know why it’s not open,” said Jessie. “It was open yesterday, when we took Watch in for grooming.”
At the end of an hour, all the searchers met in the Dog Gone Good parking lot. They checked inside the building to see if Grayson had returned. He hadn’t.
Mrs. Servus was very sad. “Please don’t worry,” said Jessie. “We will help you find your dog.” She told Mrs. Servus that she and Henry and Violet and Benny could make a poster of Grayson and put it in store windows.
Mrs. Servus gave them a picture of Grayson Majesty and Jessie wrote down all the information about him.
“You can say that he has blue eyes,” said Mrs. Servus. “That might help somebody recognize him.”
“Okay,” said Jessie.
As the children walked out to their bikes, Mr. Kovack came from behind the building.
Mr. Kovack looked at the Aldens. “You kids probably wonder why I’m still here.”
“Yes,” said Henry. “You said you had a meeting.”
“I’m still here because a stolen dog is more important than a meeting,” said Mr. Kovack. Then he walked away.
“Maybe he never had a meeting,” said Henry. The others nodded. It was hard to tell when Mr. Kovack was telling the truth.
When the Aldens got home they put their bikes away and fed Watch. Then they made another Lost Dog flyer. They printed out fifty copies.
Benny took a flyer and looked at it. “I wish we knew who stole Boxcar and Grayson,” he said.
Violet looked at the flyer, too. She noticed something. “Boxcar and Grayson both have blue eyes!” she said.
“That’s true,” said Henry.
“Do you think it means something?” asked Jessie.
But no one had the answer to that.
CHAPTER 6
Notebook Time
“You are all very quiet,” said Grandfather at dinner.
“Yes,” said Mrs. McGregor. “I’ve never heard you all so quiet.”
“Henry,” said Grandfather, “tell me what you’re thinking about.”
“Scissors, clippers, and knives,” answered Henry as he buttered a slice of bread.
Grandfather looked at Henry. “Please explain why,” he said.
“They can all cut through a leather leash,” answered Henry. “I want to know if each cut looks different.” Henry cut a piece of steak and looked at the knife cut. “Maybe Watch has an old leash that I can experiment on,” he said.
“I have an old leather belt,” said Grandfather. “You can use that.”
“Thanks!” said Henry.
“And what about you?” Grandfather asked Jessie. “You aren’t thinking about scissors, clippers, and knives, are you?”
Jessie shook her head. “I’m thinking about whom dogs will go with.”
Violet asked Jessie what she meant.
“Well,” explained Jessie, “take Watch. If Roxanne asked him to do something, he would. If Mr. Brooks gave him a bread bone, Watch would follow Mr. Brooks. And if Ms. Wilson gave him a doggie treat, he would go with her.”
“I like Mr. Brooks,” said Benny. “He makes