"Whew! It sure is hot today," Henry's friend Cole said.
"That's why we're getting ice cream, remember?"
Henry pointed to a shop just ahead.
It was called the Sweet Shop.
A board on the sidewalk outside listed the store's special flavors.
"Today's special flavors are raspberry mint chip and bubble gum banana swirl," Cole read aloud.
"Maybe I'll try bubble gum banana swirl.
No . . . Wait, I think I'll get marshmallow fudge. That's my favorite."
A bell over the door jingled when Henry and Cole entered the ice-cream shop.
Several people were waiting in line.
The woman behind the counter looked up when she heard the bell.
"Hello, boys," she said. "I'll be with you shortly."
"Thanks, Mrs. Sweet," Henry said.
Everyone in Belltown liked Mrs. Sweet and her homemade ice cream.
She had owned the Sweet Shop since Henry's parents were babies.
The shop never changed much, but the flavors did.
Mrs. Sweet was always inventing new ones.
Henry and Cole waited until it was their turn to be served.
"I'll try one scoop of raspberry mint chip in a cone, please," Henry said.
"Marshmallow fudge for me," Cole said.
"Coming right up, boys."
Mrs. Sweet picked up two cones and leaned into the cooler to get the ice cream.
Henry looked around. "This place is busy today."
"It sure is.
Hot weather always makes people want a nice cool treat!" Mrs. Sweet winked.
"But you must know that already. How's business at your lemonade stand?"
"Great," Henry said.
"That reminds me, we promised to bring back some ice cream for Maggie."
Cole nodded. "She wants a scoop of cherry vanilla in a cup."
Soon Henry and Cole were back outside with their ice cream.
"We'd better hurry," Henry said.
"We promised Maggie we'd be back soon to help with the customers."
"Yeah." Cole licked his ice cream, which was already starting to melt in the heat.
"Besides," he added, "Maggie will be mad if her ice cream melts before we get back."
Half a dozen people were clustered around the lemonade stand when Henry and Cole reached it.
Maggie saw the two boys coming.
"Hurry up, you two!" she called. "I can't do everything by myself!"
"Sorry. We tried to hurry." Henry ate the last bite of his ice-cream cone.
Then he handed Maggie her ice cream and grabbed a pitcher of lemonade.
"Who's next?" he called to the customers.
"I am," a familiar voice said.
"Dad!" Henry looked up and saw his father grinning at him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Are you writing a story about our lemonade stand, Uncle Kevin?" Maggie joked.
Henry's father chuckled. He was a reporter for the local newspaper.
"Nope," he said. "I'm just here for lemonade."
As Henry handed his father a cup, an older man arrived.
"Well, hello, Kevin," he greeted Henry's father.
"Mr. Moss!" Henry's dad smiled. "I've been meaning to call you.
You did a great job fixing our garage door last weekend."
"One lemonade, please," Mr. Moss said to Henry, handing him a quarter.
Then he turned back to Henry's father.
"I'm glad you're pleased with the repair job," he said.
"Speaking of garages, did you hear about Mr. O'Malley's new car?"
The two men wandered away with their lemonade, still chatting.
"Mr. Moss fixed your garage door?" Cole asked Henry.
"I thought he was an art teacher."
"He retired last year," Maggie told him. "Now he does odd jobs around town.
My parents hired him to paint our garden shed, and they said he did a great job."
She grinned. "Except he likes to chatter while he works about things going on around town."
"Mr. Moss loves to gossip," Henry agreed.
Cole looked around. "Whew!" he said.
"That's the last of our customers for right now."
"Yeah," Maggie said. "The lemonade stand has been really busy all day."
She glared at the boys. "Especially while you two were gone."
Henry grinned. "Having more customers means we make more money."
"That's true." Maggie looked happier. "I need all the money I can get.
I'm still saving up to enter the horse show at my barn.
And we're not making much from our detective business these days."
"True." Henry nodded. "We haven't had a new case in a few days."
Cole helped himself to some lemonade.
"You're right. Maybe we've solved all the mysteries in Belltown!"
"Maybe," Henry said.
Maggie looked worried. "I hope not. Entering that horse show is expensive."
"Here comes another customer." Cole pointed down the street.
"Who is it?" When Henry turned to look, he saw a young man he didn't recognize.
A moment later the man reached them.
But he didn't even glance at the lemonade.
"Are you the kid detectives I've heard about?" he demanded.
"Because I need someone to help me prove something—my ice-cream flavor was stolen!"