"What are you talking about, Maggie?" Cole asked.
"Why would Mr. Tate steal his own flavor?"
"I see what Maggie's saying," Henry said.
"What if bubble gum banana swirl isn't really Mr. Tate's invention?
What if Mrs. Sweet came up with it first?"
"Mr. Tate could be trying to frame Mrs. Sweet by saying she stole it from him," Maggie said.
"He claims she doesn't want competition from the Dessert Den.
But maybe he's the one who's trying to steal customers!"
Cole shrugged. "I guess that's a pretty good motive.
But we just talked to Mrs. Sweet.
Wouldn't she have told us that bubble gum banana swirl is her flavor?"
"She's really nice," Maggie reminded them.
"Maybe she didn't want to get Mr. Tate in trouble.
Even if he is a dirty flavor thief!"
"I guess we should check out your idea, Maggie," Henry said.
"Like I said, good detectives follow up on every lead and theory."
Then he thought of another question.
"But if Mrs. Sweet invented bubble gum banana swirl, why didn't she tell Patty how she came up with the flavor?"
"Good question," Cole said.
"Usually she has a story to go along with all her flavors.
Like raspberry mint chip, for instance."
Maggie grabbed her bike.
"Just because Patty didn't know the story doesn't mean there isn't one," she said.
"Let's go back to the Sweet Shop and ask Mrs. Sweet!"
She raced off down the sidewalk. Henry and Cole followed.
As they rounded the corner, Henry saw Robby and some other kids sitting on the grass, drinking sodas.
"Wait!" he called to his friends.
He wanted to stop and ask Robby why he was so mad at Mr. Tate.
Plus, maybe one of the West Belltown kids had seen Mr. Tate do something suspicious.
But Maggie and Cole were too far ahead to hear him.
Henry shrugged and kept going. He waved at Robby as he passed him.
But Robby just stared back at him.
When they neared the Sweet Shop, Henry saw Mr. Moss standing outside.
He was painting the shop's window frame.
"Hello, kids," Mr. Moss said cheerfully.
"Are you here to get some ice cream?"
"Actually, we came to talk to Mrs. Sweet," Maggie said.
"I haven't seen her yet.
I just got here a few minutes ago myself," Mr. Moss said.
"I wanted to surprise her by getting started on this painting she asked me to do."
He held up his paintbrush and smiled. "She might be inside."
The kids left their bikes leaning against the lamppost and entered the Sweet Shop.
Patty was still behind the counter.
"Hi. Is Mrs. Sweet around?" Henry asked her.
"Sorry, no. She left half an hour ago to run an errand."
Henry was disappointed. They really needed to talk to Mrs. Sweet!
"We were wondering about something," he said to Patty.
"How long has bubble gum banana swirl been on the menu?"
"Hmm, let me think." Patty tapped her chin.
"I remember serving it on Monday afternoon.
Mrs. Sweet must have added it that morning."
"Monday?" Henry traded a look with his friends.
"Do you kids want to order anything?" Patty glanced outside.
"If so, you should probably do it now.
It looks like a whole crowd of customers just arrived."
Henry looked out the front window.
A van had just stopped by the curb outside.
A bunch of little kids were jumping out of it.
"No, thanks," he told Patty.
The little kids rushed in, along with a couple of adults.
As they clustered around the counter, Henry and his friends moved over to a private corner.
"Now we know how long Mrs. Sweet has had that flavor," Cole said.
"But we don't know when Mr. Tate invented it," Henry said.
"We need to find out when he painted his sign.
If it was after Monday morning, he's probably guilty.
But if it was before Monday, then he's innocent."
"He's guilty." Maggie sounded confident. "Let's go ask him."
"Do you think he'll tell us the truth?"
Cole wondered as they headed toward the door.
They had to stop a few times to dodge excited little kids.
Maggie shrugged.
"Why wouldn't he tell us the truth? He thinks we're on his side, remember?"
Outside the Sweet Shop, nobody was around. Even Mr. Moss had disappeared.
Cole looked around in confusion. "Hey," he said. "Where are our bikes?"
Just then Mr. Moss hurried into view from the alley between the Sweet Shop and the building next door.
He was holding a new can of paint.
"Hello again, kids," he said. "Did you find Mrs. Sweet?"
"No," said Maggie. "And now someone stole our bikes!"
"Wait!" Cole called. "I see them! Look—over there!"
Henry looked where Cole was pointing and gasped.
Their bikes were lying in a jumbled pile behind the van!