"Calm down, please, Mr. Fleming. Come with me." Mr. Beck stood up.
"You kids should run along."
The secretary led the older man away. Henry and Maggie wandered outside.
"That was weird," Maggie said. "Mr. Fleming seemed really mad.
Maybe he's the one who made the threatening comment on the website!"
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Henry frowned.
"But why would he steal Mrs. Sweet's candy?
And if he left that comment, why would he delete it if he's still mad?"
"I don't know," Maggie said. "We should tell Jackson about this, though.
Maybe he can figure it out." She looked at the town clock.
"It's getting late. We need to finish our float."
"Okay, let's go," Henry said.
"We'll tell Jackson about Mr. Fleming the next time we see him."
They walked back to the lemonade stand. Nathan was there with Cole.
Henry and Maggie quickly told them what they'd found out during their trip into town.
"I know Mr. Fleming," Cole said when they finished. "He lives on my block."
"Is he always that cranky?" Maggie asked.
Cole shrugged. "Yeah, he's pretty cranky.
But my mom says he's like a yappy dog. His bark is worse than his bite."
"Do you think he could have left that nasty website comment?" Henry asked.
"Or stolen Mrs. Sweet's candy?"
"I doubt he'd steal anything," Cole said. "I don't know about the comment."
Maggie looked restless.
"If you guys want to keep talking about this, let's do it while we work on our float," she said.
"Nathan, can you watch the lemonade stand?"
Nathan agreed, and The Lemonade Detectives headed into Maggie's house.
Her father was in the backyard putting gasoline into the lawn tractor.
"Are you ready for tomorrow, Dad?" Maggie asked.
"Almost." Her father scratched his head. "There's just one problem.
I've looked everywhere, but I can't find the hitch pin."
"What's a hitch pin?" Cole asked.
"It's the part that attaches our float to the tractor," Henry explained.
"We'll definitely need it for the parade tomorrow.
Maybe I should go over to Newman's Auto Shop and get another one."
"Good idea, Henry." Maggie's dad pulled some bills out of his pocket.
"This should be enough money to buy a new one."
Soon Henry was biking to the auto shop.
When he arrived, a fancy black convertible was parked out front.
Its hood was up, and Mr. Newman was looking at the engine.
"Hi, Mr. Newman," Henry said. "Isn't that the mayor's car?"
Mr. Newman nodded.
"He dropped it off for a tune-up so it will be ready for tomorrow's parade."
Henry told Mr. Newman what he needed. Mr. Newman pointed inside.
"My daughter is in the office," he said. "She'll help you."
"Thanks." Henry went inside.
He immediately recognized the girl in the office.
"Oh, hi, Jade," he said. "I forgot that Mr. Newman is your dad."
"Yeah, lucky me," Jade muttered. She sounded grouchy. "What do you want?"
Henry told her. Jade grabbed a hitch pin out of a bin behind the counter.
"Thanks," Henry said, handing her the money.
"By the way, Snake told me your band had to drop out of the parade. Sorry about that."
"I'm not sorry," Jade snapped.
"Snake's the one who wanted to sign up for the parade.
He thought being on TV would help our band get famous."
Just then Mr. Newman entered.
"What's taking so long?" he asked Jade with a frown.
"You're supposed to be helping me with the mayor's car.
I need to drop it off at the high school parking lot by the end of the day."
"The high school parking lot?" Henry said. "Why are you taking it there?"
Mr. Newman shrugged. "That's where the parade starts.
I suppose the mayor wants it waiting there for him when everyone gathers for the parade tomorrow afternoon."
"I'll be out to help you in a minute.
I'm waiting on a customer," Jade told her father, waving toward Henry.
"Well, stop gossiping about your silly band and finish up," Mr. Newman said.
"Maybe you'll be a rock star someday, but for right now you have a job to do."
"Whatever," Jade muttered. "Here's your change, Henry."
She shoved some coins at Henry and then stomped out of the office with a scowl.
Soon Henry was back on his bike, heading for home.
As he passed the newspaper office, he saw Jackson near the entrance.
"Hi there!" Henry called, stopping his bike.
"I'm glad I ran into you. Something weird happened a little while ago."
He told Jackson about Mr. Fleming's visit to the mayor's office.
Jackson nodded. "Yes, I already heard about that," he said.
"I also just heard that the mayor is seriously thinking about canceling the parade!"