Mystery in New York (3 page)

At a pond where ducks and swans swam, Watch stared intently, wagging his tail a little. But this time he didn't bark.

After they had been walking a little while, Benny pointed. “Look, Watch,” he said. “It's a statue of a dog.”

Ahead was a statue of a husky, his ears up, his tail curled over his back. “It must be a famous dog,” said Violet, “to have a statue.”

They walked closer and read the inscription at the base.

“What does it say?” asked Benny.

“Balto,” said Henry. “That's his name. It's dedicated to the sled dog team that took medicine to a village in Alaska and saved everybody in a diphtheria epidemic in 1925.”

“A hero,” said Violet. They looked up at the statue of the brave and noble dog.

As they walked away, Benny leaned over to pet Watch. “Keep up the good work solving mysteries,” he whispered to the little dog. “Maybe one day you'll have a statue of your very own back home in Greenfield.”

“Oh, Benny,” said Henry. He grinned. “I don't think we're going to find any mysteries in New York City. Not on this visit.”

But Henry was wrong, as they were all soon to find out.

CHAPTER 3

The Elizabeth Star

M
r. Leed was at his desk turning the pages of a dictionary when the Aldens returned from their walk in the park with Watch. He didn't get up to open the door and barely looked at them before picking up his pencil and going back to his crossword puzzle.

“Hello, Mr. Leed,” said Jessie.

“Mmm,” said Mr. Leed.

The elevator door opened.

“Look out!” cried Violet.

The Aldens jumped left and right as five small black dogs with big black ears came charging out of the elevator, panting eagerly.

“Whoa! Whoaaaa!” said the young woman holding on to their leashes. The dogs slowed down a little. Then one of them saw Watch and began to bark. The other four dogs began to bark, too.

“Jim! Jack! Joe! Jill! Jinx! Be quiet!” the young woman scolded. She was a tall woman, with curly black hair, big blue eyes, and a faint scattering of freckles across her nose. She was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a gray sweatshirt that said
CRITT'S CRITTERS
. Crystal earrings sparkled, dangling from her ears, and another crystal hung on a silver chain around her neck.

One of the dogs touched noses with Watch. He stopped barking. Soon all the other dogs had touched noses with Watch and had stopped barking, too. All six dogs began to wag their tails and make friends.

“Cute dog,” said the young woman, leaning over to pet Watch.

“Yours are cute, too,” said Violet. “What kind of dogs are they?”

“Oh, they're not my dogs,” said the young woman.

“I know what kind of dogs they are,” said Jessie eagerly. “I remember from the Greenfield dog show: French bulldogs.”

“Good guess,” said the young woman.

Jessie beamed with pride.

“And I know who you are,” said Henry. “Lydia Critt.”

“Good guess again,” the young woman said, her eyes crinkling in a smile. “But who are you? Detectives?”

“Yes, we are,” said Benny.

Henry laughed and introduced everyone. “We're staying with Mrs. Teague. She said we might meet you,” he told Lydia.

“And you're wearing a shirt that says “‘Critt's Critters,'” Jessie pointed out.

“That's me,” Lydia said. “Dogwalker by day and actor by night. Only these days, the dog-walking business is better than the acting business.” Her hand went up to her neck and she touched the crystal hanging there. “But my luck is about to change. I know it is.”

“How do you know?” asked Benny.

“This crystal. It's supposed to bring good luck,” she said, still touching it.

The dogs began to pull on their leashes and bark. “Oops. I've got to go. See you later,” said Lydia, and she walked briskly out of the lobby.

“Lunch is soup and salad on the terrace,” Mrs. Teague announced. “Mr. Evans is still working in the dining room.”

The Aldens helped Mrs. Teague and Grandfather Alden set the small round table on the terrace, taking plates and silverware and food from the kitchen through the dining room.

As they did, Benny said, “Hi, Mr. Evans! You've filled up some of the holes in the wall.”

“Yes,” said Mr. Evans.

“I could help you make more holes in the walls,” Benny offered hopefully.

“No,” said Mr. Evans. “I don't think so.” He looked as if he were trying not to smile.

Behind Benny, Mrs. Teague laughed. “Why don't you give Watch some fresh water and a dog biscuit from the jar on the kitchen counter, Benny.” To Mr. Evans she said, “But I will be able to use the dining room tonight, won't I? We're having a dinner guest.”

Before Mrs. Teague could answer, Jessie said, “Is it Mr. Pound?”

“Right. He called and told me about his invitation to you to see his famous diamond,” said Mrs. Teague. “He's going to have dinner here and then take you up to see the Elizabeth Star.”

“The dining room will be finished,” said Mr. Evans. “No problem.”

“Great,” said Mrs. Teague.

While they ate lunch, the Aldens told Grandfather and Mrs. Teague about their morning. Then Mrs. Teague told them about Mr. Pound's plans. “He wants you to come up and get him before dinner,” she told the Aldens. “He's going to be working at his office at home and he
says
he sometimes loses track of time. Truth is, he loves to see children. He never had any of his own. He's been lonely since his wife died a few years ago.”

“I'll go up and get him,” Benny volunteered.

“I'll go with you,” Jessie said.

“This evening's plans sound very exciting,” Grandfather Alden said.

“Yes,” agreed Benny. “Even if we don't have a mystery to solve.”

“Instead of a mystery, how about a museum?” suggested Grandfather. “The American Museum of Natural History isn't far from here and it has everything from dinosaurs to whales.”

“Let's go!” said Benny.

The Aldens spent the whole afternoon at the museum. Benny liked the dinosaurs. Henry liked the Hall of Ocean Life, where a life-size copy of a blue whale was suspended from the ceiling. Jessie liked the four-billion-year-old meteorite on display in the Hall of Meteorites. “It says this is the largest meteorite to ever be found on the earth's surface,” she said, reading from a small plaque nearby.

Violet couldn't decide which exhibit was her favorite. “I want to see everything before I make up my mind,” she declared.

“You'd have to stay here a long, long time,” Grandfather told her. “The American Museum of Natural History is the largest museum of its kind in the world.”

“Then I guess I like the gemstones best,” Violet said. “They twinkle so, like stars of all different colors.”

When the Aldens got back to the apartment building, a new doorman was on duty. This one was almost as unfriendly as Leed. He had sandy hair and bushy eyebrows. He narrowed his brown eyes and watched them as they came in.

Once again, Grandfather patiently introduced himself and the children. “And you must be the evening doorman,” he said. He looked at the name tag the doorman wore. “Mr. Saunders?”

“Right,” said Mr. Saunders. “Two
P.M.
to ten
P.M.
shift, weekdays.”

He walked briskly back to his desk and sat down.

“'Bye, Mr. Saunders,” said Benny as they got onto the elevator.

“Good evening,” said Mr. Saunders.

When they reached Mrs. Teague's apartment, they discovered that Mr. Evans had just finished plastering the last hole in the wall. The chandelier sparkled above the table. Mr. Evans folded up his ladder and propped it in a corner, while Mrs. Teague hurried around the dining room, pulling sheets off chairs.

“Thank you, Mr. Evans,” said Mrs. Teague.

“I'm not finished in here,” he cautioned. “I still have to paint over the patches.”

“I know,” she answered. “But it's finished enough for us to have dinner.”

Mr. Evans shrugged. “See you tomorrow,” he said, and left.

The Aldens went to work helping Mrs. Teague. They dusted tables and chairs, swept the floor, vacuumed the rug, and even wiped the mirror over the sideboard.

Then, while Violet and Henry helped Mrs. Teague set the table, Benny and Jessie went up to Mr. Pound's penthouse.

He opened the door almost as soon as they knocked. “Hello,” he said.

“It's time for dinner,” Benny said.

Mr. Pound looked at his watch and smiled. “It's six-thirty. You sound as if you are hungry.”

“I am,” said Benny.

“Too hungry to want to see the Elizabeth Star?” asked Mr. Pound.

“Right now?” Jessie said.

“Why not?” said Mr. Pound. “Come in and I'll show it to you before we go down to dinner.”

So Jessie and Benny followed Mr. Pound into his penthouse — the biggest apartment in the building, on the very top floor. He led them across a large living room. One whole wall was windows, bright with the lights of the city far below.

Mr. Pound led them down a long hall hung with paintings. He paused in front of one painting and stared at it. Jessie and Benny stopped next to him. The painting was of a beautiful woman with a kindly expression and a touch of gray in her hair. She wore a velvety blue dress that matched the color of her eyes. Mr. Pound shook his head gently as though to clear his thoughts and then walked on. Jessie and Benny exchanged glances and followed Mr. Pound down the hall.

At the end of the hall, Mr. Pound opened a door to reveal a deep closet. He pushed the coats aside and then, to the astonishment of Jessie and Benny, stepped inside!

“Come on,” said Mr. Pound, and he switched on an overhead closet light.

They followed Mr. Pound and saw a keypad glowing on the wall behind the coats. It was numbered and looked like the front of a touch-tone telephone. The numbers glowed in the darkness and a small red light blinked on one side of the rows of numbers.

“What's that?” Jessie asked.

“An alarm system,” Mr. Pound explained. “If anybody opens the door without punching the secret code number in, an alarm goes off here and at the alarm company. They call and if I don't answer the phone to tell them it is a false alarm, they send the police.”

“A burglar alarm,” said Jessie.

“What door?” asked Benny.

“You'll see,” said Mr. Pound. He punched some buttons and a green light came on. “Now the alarm is off,” he said. He reached up and pressed one corner of the seemingly solid wood wall.

With a quiet click, a door slid open. Mr. Pound stepped inside, turned on another light, and motioned for Benny and Jessie to follow.

The room was small, not much bigger than the closet. The walls were bare and there were no windows. In the center of the room in a glass case, a large pear-shaped diamond on a gold chain rested on a mound of blue velvet. A single overhead spotlight shone on the diamond.

“How beautiful,” breathed Jessie. “It's as beautiful as any of the gems we saw in the museum today.”

“It's so
big
,” said Benny.

Mr. Pound nodded. “Yes,” he said thoughtfully. They stared at it for a moment longer. Then Mr. Pound said, “We'd better hurry or we'll be late for dinner.”

When they left, he closed the door behind them. He punched the code into the burglar alarm and the red light began to blink. Then Mr. Pound, Benny, and Jessie went down to Mrs. Teague's.

In the dining room, on the big table under the beautiful chandelier, there was a chicken dinner waiting for them. Everyone sat down. Mr. Pound was in a good mood. He laughed often and complimented Mrs. Teague on the delicious food. He asked lots of questions about the Aldens, and soon they were telling him about living in the boxcar.

“You lived in a boxcar?” Mr. Pound said. He looked amazed.

“Until Grandfather found us,” Jessie said. Taking turns, the four Alden children told Mr. Pound how, when they had first become orphans, they didn't know they had a grandfather who wanted them. So they went to live in an old abandoned boxcar in the woods. They'd had to take care of themselves.

“And then we took care of Watch, too,” said Violet. “We found him, with a thorn in his paw.”

“And then Grandfather found us,” Henry said. “And we went to live with him in Greenfield.”

“And Grandfather put the boxcar behind our house and we can visit it whenever we want,” concluded Benny.

“That's some story,” said Mr. Pound. He put his coffee cup in his saucer and said to Mrs. Teague, “And that was a fine meal.”

“Thank you,” said Mrs. Teague.

“Now, before we have dessert,” said Mr. Pound, “why don't we take a break and go up to see the Elizabeth Star. Violet and Henry haven't seen it yet.”