Chapter Six
“Excuse me,” Eric said as he hurried past the two waiters.
“Excuse me,” Cam said.
They went down the few steps to the lower level of the restaurant and to their table. Mrs. Shelton was holding and feeding Howie.
“Our meals are coming,” Eric said.
The two waiters came to the table with French toast and three tunas.
“Yummy,” Diane said as she held a small pitcher over her toast and covered it with syrup.
The twins got syrup on their faces and clothes.
When they were done eating, Roger brought them dessert menus.
Eric’s parents and Grandpa Shelton ordered tea and cookies. Cam, Eric, and Donna asked for ice cream.
“I don’t want ice cream,” Diane said. “I want a big piece of chocolate cake.”
After Roger left, Diane told her sister, “The chocolate cake has gooey chocolate cream inside. That’s what my friend Carol told me. She’s been here lots of times.”
Grandpa stood.
“This is when I planned to give you a special gift. It was my grandfather’s gold watch. The watch was his graduation gift to my father. It was my father’s graduation gift to me. Ben, it was going to be my gift to you. I don’t have the watch to give, but I’m still very proud of you.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Mr. Shelton said, and hugged his father.
Roger brought the desserts.
“Yummy,” Donna said after she tasted her ice cream.
Diane poked her cake with her fork.
“Hey, there’s no chocolate cream.”
Roger took a small pad from the pocket in his apron.
“You asked for chocolate cake,” Roger said. “That’s chocolate cake.”
“Where’s the gooey cream?”
“There’s no cream in the regular chocolate cake,” Roger told Diane. “It’s in the chocolate mousse cake.”
“Moose! My friend didn’t say there’s a moose with horns in the cake. She said it had cream.”
“It’s a different kind of moose,” Roger explained. “It’s not spelled the same.”
He smiled. “I’ll change it for the one with cream.”
Roger took Diane’s cake away.
“Names and spelling are important when you order food in a restaurant,” Mrs. Shelton told Diane.
Cam put down her spoon.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered to Eric. “Names are important.”
“Of course names are important. My name, Eric, means ‘mighty one.’”
“A name can solve this mystery. A name can help us get back Grandpa’s things,” Cam said. “I remember exactly what Harry and his mother look like. I just have to remember the name they called out when Dr. Guterman gave out the diplomas.”
