Read Finders Keepers Mystery for Free Online

it.”
    The man’s eyebrows went up. He reached out, picked up a small mirror on a nearby table, and turned it over to look at it. “Was it?” he said, putting the mirror down. “I must have missed it.”
    “We’ll show you where it is,” Henry said, stepping back and holding the door open.
    “No, no, that won’t be necessary,” said the man, going past with his odd, bouncy step. He bounded down the steps and around the corner down the hall. Henry and Violet had to move fast to keep up. They barely made it to the kitchen before the back door slammed shut behind the odd visitor.
    “How strange,” said Violet.
    “Yes,” agreed Henry. “And I don’t think he really was looking for the bathroom.”
    Violet and Henry locked the door carefully behind them and headed back to the yard sale.
    People were everywhere. But the bouncy man was nowhere to be seen.
    “Where have you been?” Jessie cried as they walked toward her. She was kneeling, pulling boxes from beneath a table. “We need to put the rest of these books out on this table. And Lina needs someone to be the treasurer while she takes a break. And — ”
    An elderly couple interrupted her to ask the price of a lamp.
    “I’ll help with the books,” Henry said.
    Violet nodded. “I’ll give Lina a break,” she said. She added in a lower voice, “We can tell them about the bouncy man when the yard sale is over.”
    By noon, most of the things were sold, and Lina’s cash box was fall of money. People still kept coming, though, and asking about the treasure.
    At last, Henry made a sign that said YARD SALE OVER, put it on the fence, and shut the gate tight.
    “I think we can begin counting the money,” Lina said.
    “Let’s put everything we didn’t sell into a box and just give it away,” said Benny.
    “Good idea,” said Lina. “We can leave the box outside the gate.”
    Henry picked up a big cardboard box and walked to the nearest table.
    “I’ll help,” said Benny. He hurried over to the table and scooped a deck of cards and some magazines into the box. At the next table, they piled in some small, chipped dishes.
    At the third table, they found a woman with curly red hair kneeling by a box of old clothes.
    “Oh!” said Benny when he saw the woman.
    The woman looked up and smiled. “How much for this box of old clothes?” she said.
    “We were going to put it all in our free box,” Benny said. “The yard sale is over.”
    “I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but I couldn’t leave work,” the woman said. She looked down at the box. “Free is good, but let me at least pay something. Do you think two dollars is fair?”
    “Sure,” said Henry. “You can pay Lina. She’s over there.”
    “I’ll do that,” the woman said, with a smile. She had brown eyes that crinkled at the corners. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to look through a couple more boxes.”
    “Okay,” said Benny.
    Henry and Benny finished filling their box and left it outside the gate under a sign that said FREE . Then they walked back to the table where Lina, Jessie, and Violet stood. The red-haired woman was still there, too. She had the box of old clothes propped on one hip. An old basket stood at her feet.
    Benny looked down at the basket. It was full of cut-up bits of clothes and torn rags.
    “Are you buying that, too?” he asked.
    The woman nodded and smiled. “I can use the scraps,” she said. She paused, then said, “So, is this all that you’re selling?”
    “Well, for the time being,” said Lina. “I still have rooms of furniture I need to go through, and a few other things to sort out.”
    The woman studied Lina, then glanced down at the basket, as if she might be about to say something in reply. But she didn’t.
    “I could help you carry the box and the basket to your car,” Henry offered.
    “No, no, no, thank you. I’m strong from all the lifting I do at my store,” the woman said.
    “Store?” said Benny.
    “I’m Coral Weaver,