Henry stared at the stranger in surprise.
"Yes, we're The Lemonade Detectives," he told him.
"What do you mean, your ice-cream flavor was stolen?"
"I mean someone stole it!" the man exclaimed with a scowl. Then he sighed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," he said in a calmer voice.
"I'm just upset."
"Maybe we can help," Maggie said. "Tell us more about the case."
"My name is Mr. Tate. I'm getting ready to open a new business called the Dessert Den."
"The Dessert Den?" Cole licked his lips. "Sounds delicious!"
Henry thought the name of Mr. Tate's business sounded familiar.
Then he remembered why.
"The Dessert Den is in West Belltown, right?" he asked.
Mr. Tate nodded. "That's right."
"How did you know that?" Maggie asked Henry.
"My dad has been writing a series of stories about that part of town," Henry said.
"There was a bad fire there a long time ago, and the neighborhood got run down.
Now the town council wants to fix up the area and help new businesses open up."
"I know where you mean," Cole said.
"A lot of West Belltown is just empty lots now.
Some guys from my soccer team live there."
Henry nodded. "Dad says the people who live in West Belltown have been using the empty lots for all sorts of things.
They hold neighborhood barbecues there and play soccer and kickball, stuff like that."
Mr. Tate cleared his throat loudly, looking impatient.
"You kids are younger than I expected. Are you really detectives?"
"Yes," Maggie said. "We've solved lots of mysteries.
If anyone in Belltown can solve your case, it's The Lemonade Detectives!"
"Okay." Mr. Tate still looked uncertain.
"But I need this problem solved quickly.
The Dessert Den's grand opening is this Friday."
"Friday?" Cole cried. "That's tomorrow!"
"But don't worry, we can do it," Maggie said quickly.
"We've never failed to solve a case."
There was a sudden shout from nearby.
Henry saw a group of kids rushing toward them.
Several of the kids were carrying baseball gloves or bats.
All of them looked sweaty and tired.
"Here come some customers," he told his friends. "They look thirsty."
"Excuse us," Maggie told Mr. Tate.
"As soon as we take care of these lemonade customers, we can talk more about your case."
Mr. Tate checked his watch.
"I'm meeting a plumber at the Dessert Den in a little while.
There's a lot of last-minute work to do before the grand opening.
Why don't you come over to the shop when you're finished here?"
He hurried away before The Lemonade Detectives could answer.
By then the baseball players had reached the lemonade stand.
One of them was Henry's friend Nathan.
"One lemonade, please," Nathan said.
Henry and his friends poured lemonade for all the kids.
Most of them left after they got their lemonade, but Nathan sat down on the grass to drink his.
"We'd better get over to the Dessert Den," Cole told Henry and Maggie.
"Mr. Tate needs us to solve this case fast."
"We can't all go," Maggie said. "Somebody has to stay here to sell lemonade."
"Okay," Cole said. "You stay here, and Henry and I will go talk to Mr. Tate."
"No way!" Maggie complained.
"I stayed while you two went to get ice cream, remember?
It's somebody else's turn."
She looked stubborn. So did Cole. Henry thought fast.
"Hey, Nathan," he said. "Want to sell lemonade for us?
You can keep half of our profits."
"Sure!" Nathan said.
"What?" Maggie squawked.
Henry shrugged. "If you don't like my idea, you can stay instead," he told his cousin.
Maggie scowled. But finally she agreed to the plan.
"Let's take our bikes," Cole suggested. "West Belltown is pretty far away.
It's too hot to walk there today."
Once they reached West Belltown, they spotted the Dessert Den right away.
It was the only finished building on the main avenue.
The area around the Dessert Den was mostly covered in grass and weeds.
Some kids were playing kickball in one of the grassy lots.
"Look, there's my friend Emma," Maggie said. She waved and stopped her bike.
Emma and the other kids hurried over. Henry knew all of them from school.
"What are you guys doing in West Belltown?" asked a kid named Robby.
He was a year older than Henry and Cole.
"The guy who owns the Dessert Den wants to hire us to solve a mystery," Maggie blurted out.
Henry shot his cousin a warning look.
Detectives had to be careful when they were talking about their cases.
Robby's smile instantly turned into an angry scowl.
"Why would you want to help him? Nobody wants him here!
He should go back to wherever he came from and leave West Belltown alone!"