Haunted Clock Tower Mystery (5 page)

At the end of the lively afternoon, the Aldens walked into town and had dinner at the Chariot, one of Grandfather’s favorite pizza places. “We used to come here all the time when I was a student,” he told them.

“I can’t believe it’s still here,” said Jessie.

“Wait till you taste the pizza. Then you’ll believe it,” Mr. Alden assured her.

The pizza was just as good as Grandfather had promised. After dinner, the Aldens took a stroll through town. Grandfather couldn’t believe all the large buildings that had been built since he was there last.

When they finally returned to their suite, the children were worn out.

“I’m ready for bed,” said Benny. “I’m not even going to set the alarm tonight.”

“Good!” said Henry. “I could use a good night’s sleep.”

The next morning, the Aldens awoke feeling rested and ready for another busy day of activities.

“There’s a concert this afternoon that Joel and I are going to,” said Grandfather, “but I think I’m just going to relax in the room this morning. What do you kids plan to do?”

“I want to look for the treasure,” said Benny.

“Treasure?” asked Grandfather.

Jessie told him what they’d read the day before in Don’s book.

“I was here for four years and I never saw any treasure,” Mr. Alden said with a chuckle. “But enjoy yourselves. Meet me back here for lunch.”

“Remember the book also said that from the top of the clock tower you can see all the way to the waterfalls,” said Jessie.

“That’s right,” Violet recalled. “Let’s go up and see if you really can. It’s a clear day.”

Once again, the Aldens found themselves climbing to the top of the tower. “Our leg muscles are getting a good workout here,” said Henry.

“They sure are,” Violet agreed.

The top of the tower was dark and quiet today. The morning concert had ended a short while ago, and no one was up there.

“Now, what did it say in the book?” Henry asked.

“If you look out the west window you can see Buttermilk Falls,” Jessie reminded him.

“How do we know which window faces west?” asked Benny.

“The sun came up over there,” said Violet. “So that’s the east.”

“Then that’s the west,” Jessie said, pointing to the opposite window.

The children all went to that window and looked out.

“Look, there are the falls!” Henry said, pointing off in the distance.

“I see people climbing on the rocks,” Jessie said.

“Hey, let me see,” said Benny.

Jessie moved aside to give Benny room to look out. As she turned away from the window, she noticed a folded piece of paper on the floor in the corner. “What’s that?” she mumbled to herself. She went over and picked up the piece of paper. It was yellowed and felt strange—crumbly and rough, as if it were very old. Jessie carefully unfolded the paper and was surprised by the fancy writing on it.

“You guys!” she said. “Look at this!”

The other children turned around to see what Jessie was holding.

“What have you got?” Violet asked.

“A letter,” Jessie said. “Only it’s really old. I found it in the corner.”

The others crowded around.

“There’s a seal at the top,” Henry said, pointing to a circle design that had been pressed into the top of the paper. “It says, ‘Goldwin University, Office of the President.’ ”

“What does that mean?” asked Benny. “Is this from the President of the United States?”

“No, it’s from the president of this college,” Jessie explained. “The president at a university is sort of like the principal at your school. This is his or her stationery.”

“It says ‘May 5, 1863’ in the corner,” Violet pointed out. “This letter is really old—it was written over a hundred years ago!”

“Wow!” said Benny.

“That’s even older than Grandfather,” Violet pointed out.

“So what does it say?” Benny asked. “The writing looks really strange.”

“They didn’t have ballpoint pens back then,” Jessie said. “They had to dip their pens in ink to write. And people had very fancy handwriting.”

“They sure did,” said Benny. “I can’t even read it.” He had just learned to read and had enough trouble with regular printing.

“This is what it says,” said Jessie, reading aloud:

Dear Aaron,

I have hidden our gold and silver so the army shall not get it. Do not be concerned—it shall be safe until you come home from the war, and only then shall we dig it up. Should anything happen to me, I give you this clue to where it lies hidden:

Listen to the music and take one hundred sixty-one steps. Remember, the key to the problem is right before the face.

Your loving father

When Jessie had finished reading, she looked up to see her sister and two brothers all standing openmouthed, staring at her.

“I don’t believe it!” said Violet.

“There really is a treasure buried here!” said Henry.

“I knew it! I knew it!” said Benny.

“Wait a minute,” Jessie said. “Let’s think about this before we go and get all excited. We don’t even know if this letter is real!”

“It looks real,” said Benny.

“It certainly does,” Violet had to agree, fingering the embossed seal of the president’s office. “I mean, look at this crumbling old paper. And people just don’t write like this anymore.”

“But where did the letter come from?” asked Henry. “We’ve been up here several times in the last few days, and this is the first time we’ve seen it.”

“You’re right,” Violet agreed. “Someone must have just dropped this here recently.”

“Do you think the person who dropped it was hunting for the treasure?” Benny asked.

“Could be,” said Henry.

“What do you think we should do, Jessie?” Violet asked.

Jessie had been silently staring out the window. Suddenly she turned around. “I know how we can find out if this letter is real.”

“How?” asked Violet.

“The library is right down there.” Jessie pointed out the window. “Let’s go there and look up some information about the history of Goldwin University.”

“Great idea,” Henry said.

Jessie folded the letter carefully and the four children hurried down the narrow staircase, going as quickly as they could on the twisting stone steps.

A few minutes later, the Aldens were at the front desk of Goldwin’s main library. The librarian there was tall and thin with short brown hair. “Hello, I’m Mrs. Brooke. Can I help you?” she asked.

“We’re looking for a book that has information about the history of the college,” said Jessie.

“Just a minute,” Mrs. Brooke said. She came back a moment later with a thick, heavy book. The cover read,
Goldwin University: From Past to Present.
“This book has a lot of information.”

“Thanks,” said Henry, picking up the large book and walking over to a table by a window. The others followed. He set the book down and opened it to the table of contents. The children studied the page for a moment.

“This sounds like a good place to look,” Henry said, pointing to a chapter titled “Presidents of the University.” “It starts on page fifty-six.”

Jessie flipped to that page. She read aloud from the first page, “ ‘The university was founded in 1860 and the first president was named Joshua Chambers. He held the office until 1864.’”

“This letter was written in 1863,” said Violet. “So he must be the one who wrote it.”

“Look, there’s a picture,” Benny pointed out. “Is that him?”

Jessie looked at the black-and-white picture of a handsome man with dark hair and small round glasses. Underneath the photograph it said,
Joshua Chambers, First President of Goldwin University.
“Yes, Benny, that’s him.”

The children studied the photograph for a moment.

“Let’s see what else it says about him,” Jessie suggested. She quickly read the page to herself. Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped.

“What is it?” Benny asked. “Tell us!”

“He’s the one who wrote the letter,” said Jessie.

“How do you know?” Henry asked.

“It says that he had a son named Aaron who served in the army during the Civil War,” Jessie told them.

“And this letter is addressed to someone named Aaron, from his father,” said Violet.

Jessie continued reading. Suddenly she said, “Oh, how terrible!”

“What?” the other three cried.

Jessie explained, “It says that Chambers died in 1864, while his son was off at war—and Aaron was killed in battle a few months later.”

“How sad,” Violet said.

“He died the year after he wrote the letter,” Benny said.

The children were silent for a moment. They gazed at the picture of the kind-looking man and thought about how sad his story was.

All of a sudden Henry said, “Do you realize what this means? President Chambers died before he got to show his son where the treasure was.”

“But remember, there were some clues in the letter,” Benny said.

“I wonder if Aaron figured them out,” Violet said.

“He might not have had a chance,” said Henry. “It says he was killed in a battle just a short time after his father died.”

“Then that means …” Jessie began.

“The treasure is still buried!” Benny whispered.

“Now, just wait a minute, Benny,” Henry said. “Someone might already have found the treasure, you know. I mean, we’re not the first ones to have seen this letter.”

“No, we’re not,” Jessie agreed. “I wonder who found it first and who left it in the tower.”

“Even if we’re not the first, we can still look for the treasure, can’t we?” Benny asked.

“Yes, we certainly can,” said Henry.

“Let’s take a look at what it says in the letter again,” suggested Jessie. “But first I’m going to return this book to Mrs. Brooke.”

While Jessie took the book back to the librarian, Violet laid the letter on top of the table and carefully unfolded it.

“What does the clue say again?” Benny asked.

Violet read, “It says, ‘Listen to the music and take one hundred sixty-one steps. Remember, the key to the problem is right in front of the face.’ ”

“What do you think he meant by ‘listen to the music’?” asked Jessie, who had just come back.

“They definitely didn’t have radios or CDs back then,” said Henry with a laugh.

As they were talking, the silence of the library was broken by the sound of the bells.

“The midday concert!” Violet cried.

“I know, can you believe it’s already lunchtime?” Jessie asked.

“And it sounds like Ezra fixed the carillon,” Henry added.

“No, I mean, that’s the music you listen to here at Goldwin,” Violet said excitedly. “The music Joshua Chambers was talking about!”

“You’re right!” Jessie said. “Good thinking, Violet.”

“Did the carillon play way back then?” Henry asked.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “On the tour they said it was put in when the tower was first built. That was in 1860.”

“Okay so we’ve figured out the first part of the clue,” said Henry. “Now what about the rest of it?”

“Read the second part again,” Benny said.

Violet read, “ ‘Take one hundred sixty-one steps—’ ”

“I know!” Benny shouted all of a sudden. “That’s how many steps it is to the top of the clock tower. Remember, Mr. Stewart told us that the first day we met him?”

“Great job, Benny!” said Jessie.

“You have a good memory,” Henry added.

“So President Chambers was telling his son to go to the top of the tower,” Violet said.

“Then why are we still sitting here?” Benny asked. “Let’s go!”

The children hurried out of the library and walked as quickly as they could up the winding tower stairs.

At the top, they found Ezra playing the carillon. He gave the children a smile as they came in. He seemed to have fixed all the broken wires. The children looked around the room, wondering where the treasure might be hidden.

When Ezra had finished playing, he turned to the children. “What brings you all back here again?”

“We’re on a treasure hunt!” Benny said.

“A treasure hunt?” Ezra repeated. “Oh, I see. Why are you looking up here? Nothing here but a bunch of old music books. And the carillon, of course.”

“I see you’ve fixed it,” Henry said.

“Yes, I did,” Ezra said. “It took me all morning. But I think it sounds okay now.”

“It sounded good to me,” said Violet.

Jessie showed Ezra the old letter. “This is why we’re on a treasure hunt,” she explained. “We found this up here after you left.”

Ezra took the letter Jessie was holding. “This looks very old! Wherever did you find it?”

“Right here, in the corner,” Benny said.

“I wonder how it got there,” Ezra said. He read the letter and handed it back to Violet. “I can’t believe I wouldn’t notice something like this.”

“We figured out that the letter was from President Joshua Chambers,” Jessie said. “And it seems he was telling his son to come up here to the clock tower.”

“Well, as I said, there’s no treasure up here. I’ve been here long enough to know that.” Ezra went over to his desk and put away the music he’d just played.

Jessie took another look at the letter. “What do you think he means by the ‘key to the problem’?”

The children all thought about that for a moment. They looked around at the old photos on the walls.

Just then the bells played four loud notes, startling the children.

“What was that?” asked Benny.

“That means it’s quarter to one,” Ezra said. “The bells are programmed to ring the hours, quarter hours, and half hours by themselves. The bells aren’t just for music; they also work with the clock.”

All of a sudden Henry said, “Hey! Maybe that’s it.”

“What’s it?” asked Jessie.

“I have an idea about what Chambers meant when he said the answer is ‘right before the face,’ ” Henry said. “Look up there!” He pointed to a large round door over the west-facing window. “That’s the back of the clock, right, Ezra?”

“Yes, it is,” Ezra said. “I open that door to fix the clock or reset it.”

“Think about what you call the front of a clock,” Henry said.

“You mean its face?” Jessie asked. Then her face lit up. “Oh, I get it!”