The Red Trailer Mystery

followed Miss Trask and Honey to a table. But before she could reach the table, a waiter with a huge tray of stacked soiled dishes cut directly in front of her. Trixie tried to turn, but people in line behind her had crowded too close, and the waiter’s tray crashed right into Trixie’s.
    Trixie winced as hot spaghetti skidded along her bare arms, and then the stack of soiled dishes toppled to the cement floor with a deafening crash. Somebody near Trixie screamed, and a man behind one of the counters yelled, "For pete’s sake, Jeff, that’s the second time this week You’re as good as fired."
    The waiter scowled and turned on Trixie, sputtering with rage. "It was all your fault. You weren’t watching where you were going. You’ll have to pay for the damage, you stupid little fool!"
    Trixie gulped guiltily. She had been lost in thought, but the waiter certainly had no business cutting right in front of her. "I'm sorry," she began, but both Miss Trask and the manager had hurried to the scene.
    "All right, Jeff, all right; clean up this mess," the manager said briskly.
    "We’ll pay for the damage," Miss Trask told him. "It wasn’t the girl’s fault at all," a man behind Trixie put in. "That waiter is a clumsy oaf."
    Jeff's face reddened, and he shook one fist threateningly as he shouted, "The customer’s always right, but I’m not going to pay for this wreckage. You can’t make me."
    Miss Trask slipped a bill from her purse, but the manager waved it away. "That’s very kind of you, miss," he said, "but I happened to see the whole thing, and the young lady was not in the least to blame " He added in an undertone to Jeff, "When you’ve cleaned up this mess, come into my office. I’ve had about all the complaints I can take about you."
    Jeff darted a malicious glance at Trixie, but then he set to work obeying the manager’s orders. Later, when things had quieted down, he passed close behind her chair on his way to the office. "I’ll get back at you for this," he hissed. "Just wait and see."
    Trixie flushed, and Honey said quickly, "Don’t pay any attention to him."
    "But I can’t help feeling guilty," Trixie said. "I’m not sure it wasn’t partly my fault I think I’d feel better if the manager let me pay for some of that broken china."
    "Very well," Miss Trask said. "Go and speak to him after dinner, but let’s eat now while things are hot."
    When she had finished her meal and her dessert of pie and ice cream, Trixie pushed back her chair. "You don’t need to wait for me. I’ll meet you back at the Swan."
    "I’ll come with you," Honey offered, and the two girls left the cafeteria together. They ran through the lobby to the offices in the back. Then Trixie knocked on the door marked MANAGER, and it was opened by the manager himself.
    "I’d like to pay—" Trixie began, but he interrupted her with a smile and an apology.
    "That man Jeff has a quick temper, but he is very much ashamed of himself. I’m sorry there was such an unpleasant scene. It won’t happen again."
    He bowed the girls out of the room and closed the door before Trixie could protest. "Well, that’s that," she told Honey. "But I don’t think Jeff is the least bit ashamed of himself. He’s as mad at me as he can be They walked out of a side door to the veranda and waited for a minute to let their eyes get accustomed to the darkness before starting down the steps. From the shadows under the trees on the lawn came the sound of angry whispering: "You fool! Watch your step or you’ll get fired."
    "I tell you, it wasn’t my fault," someone whined defensively. "And I’m getting sick of toting dirty dishes all day long. Why don’t we swap jobs?"
    Trixie clutched Honey’s arm. They had both recognized the whining voice. It was Jeff's!
    "Swap jobs," the other voice whispered derisively. "You haven’t got the skill to do my work. You’re too clumsy, and you know it." A man moved out of the shadows and across the lawn. As he passed through the patch of light in front of the cafeteria, Trixie saw that he was about the same height and weight as Joeanne’s father and had a crop of thick, bushy hair. Then he disappeared into the shadows again. In a minute Jeff came out from under the trees and hurried through the back door of the restaurant.
    Trixie and Honey went slowly down the steps and around the park. "It gets more and more mysterious every minute," Trixie said. "Do you think the man Jeff was talking to is Joeanne’s