"The mayor might cancel the parade?" Henry exclaimed.
"Why? Does he think that threat on the website was serious?
Or did Mr. Fleming talk him into canceling the parade?"
Jackson shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't hear it from the mayor.
I was talking to Miss Bishop. She's the one who told me."
"How did she hear about it?" Henry asked.
"I'm not sure. I couldn't talk to her for very long because I had to leave for a meeting."
Jackson checked his watch.
"Speaking of which, I've got to get inside or I'll be late."
He hurried into the newspaper office.
Henry thought about what Jackson had just said.
Should Miss Bishop be a suspect?
She seemed determined to win the contest for best float.
She seemed especially interested in beating Mrs. Sweet.
Could Miss Bishop be the one who'd tampered with Mrs. Sweet's float?
Then Henry remembered the threatening website message.
Why would Miss Bishop do something like that?
If she wanted to win, it didn't make sense for her to try to shut down the whole parade.
Henry started walking his bike down the sidewalk.
The jewelry store was up ahead. He decided to stop in and talk to Miss Bishop.
A little bell over the door jingled when Henry entered the jewelry store.
Nobody was inside except Miss Bishop.
She was wiping a display case with a rag.
"Oh, hello, Henry," she said.
"Did you come to buy your mother a diamond necklace?"
Henry smiled politely as Miss Bishop laughed at her own joke.
"No, sorry," he said.
"Our lemonade business doesn't make quite enough money for that."
"Too bad." Miss Bishop smiled, and then sighed.
"I could really use some new customers. Business has been slow this summer."
"Oh," Henry said. "That's a shame."
"Yes, that's why I decided to enter a float in the parade this year," Miss Bishop said.
"I thought it would be good publicity.
And if I win the popular vote contest, I'll get to be on TV.
That's like winning a free ad for my store."
"You must be worried about the mayor canceling the parade then," Henry said.
"What?" Miss Bishop looked alarmed.
"The mayor is canceling the parade? Who told you that?"
"Jackson, the reporter from the newspaper," Henry said.
"He said you told him that."
"I told him no such thing!" Miss Bishop exclaimed.
"He must be thinking of someone else. Do you think it's true?
Why would the mayor cancel the parade?"
Henry wasn't sure what to say for a moment.
He was confused by Miss Bishop's reaction.
She seemed very surprised and upset.
"Was Jackson here talking to you earlier?" Henry asked.
Miss Bishop nodded.
"Yes, he stopped by a few minutes ago, and we had a nice chat.
I was telling him about my business problems."
"And you didn't say anything about the parade?" Henry asked.
"I did mention the parade, but I didn't say anything about the mayor canceling it," Miss Bishop said.
"I told Jackson that I was hoping my float would bring me more customers.
And that if it didn't, I might have to shut down my store."
"Oh." Suddenly Henry had a brainstorm. "I bet I know what happened.
You told Jackson you might have to shut down your store.
But Jackson thought you were talking about the mayor shutting down the parade."
"Hmm." Miss Bishop looked unsure. "That seems odd.
But Jackson did seem to be in a hurry. Maybe he wasn't listening closely."
As Henry left the store, he wondered if Jackson had really misunderstood Miss Bishop's comment.
The young reporter was always looking for exciting news stories.
What if he was the one trying to get the parade shut down?
That would definitely give Jackson an interesting story to write about.
Henry thought some more about his theory as he biked toward Maggie's house.
Jackson could have posted that threatening message on the website just as easily as anyone else.
He could have broken into Mrs. Sweet's shed.
And he was definitely the one spreading the rumor about the parade being canceled—either by accident or on purpose.
When Henry reached Maggie's house, Maggie and Cole were putting away their craft supplies.
"What took you so long?" Maggie asked Henry.
"It's dinnertime. We'll have to finish the float in the morning."
"Sorry," Henry said.
"I ended up doing a little extra investigating on my way home from the auto shop."
He told his friends about his trip to town.
When he explained his theory about Jackson being the culprit, Cole looked worried.
"If Jackson is a suspect now, we can't count on him to solve the mystery," he said.
Henry nodded. "You know what that means," he said.
"We'll have to solve it ourselves!"