Mystery in New York (8 page)

“Do you think he broke into Mr. Pound's apartment and took the diamond?” asked Benny.

“But the lock on the door of Mr. Pound's apartment hadn't been broken,” objected Henry. “The police said so.”

“Maybe we should ask Lydia,” said Benny.

“Ask Lydia what?” said Jessie, puzzled.

“About diamonds,” said Benny. “She's in a play about stolen diamonds. And she has a lucky diamond necklace.… I mean, a
crystal
necklace.”

Jessie stared at Benny. And then her mouth dropped open. “That's it, Benny! That's it!”

CHAPTER 9

No Joke

“W
hat?” said Benny.

“Remember what you said, Benny?” said Jessie. “About Lydia's crystal necklace?”

“The one like a diamond?” asked Benny.

“Yes!” cried Jessie. “The crystal that Lydia wears for luck is like a diamond. Think, Benny. Where else have we seen crystals like diamonds? Lots of them.”

Benny frowned.

Violet gasped. “The chandelier!”

Henry said, “You're right. Mrs. Teague's chandelier. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Because I think the Elizabeth Star is hidden there. And all we have to do to catch the thief is find out who hid it,” said Jessie.

“In the chandelier?” asked Benny. “The diamond is hidden in the chandelier?”

“Yes,” said Jessie.

“Let's go!” cried Henry.

They raced back to Mrs. Teague's apartment and ran past Mr. Leed.

“Where's the fire?” asked Mr. Leed, startled, as they ran by.

“No fire,” Henry managed to say. “Diamonds.”

The elevator seemed to take forever to get down to the lobby. Suddenly Henry pointed at the stairs. “Come on. That'll be faster,” he said.

They began to run up the long flights of stairs. By the time they reached the ninth floor, they were all gasping for breath. As they burst into the hall, they heard the elevator doors closing.

But they didn't stop. They ran to Mrs. Teague's apartment.

Jessie led the way into the dining room. She pulled out a chair and jumped up on it. “It's not there,” she said.

“Jessie? What's wrong?” asked Mrs. Teague, coming out of her study down the hall.

Then she said, “Doesn't the chandelier look nice? Mr. Evans noticed how dusty it had gotten and gave it a good cleaning.”

“Mr. Evans? Where is he?” Violet looked around wildly.

“He just this second left. I'm surprised you didn't see him in the hall,” began Mrs. Teague.

“The elevator!” exclaimed Henry.

Jessie jumped from the chair and, without waiting to give Mrs. Teague an explanation, the children raced out of the apartment.

This time they ran down the stairs so fast that Benny felt dizzy.

“Mr. Evans!” cried Jessie as they burst into the lobby. “Where is he?”

“He just left,” said Mr. Leed.

“Which way did he go?” asked Henry.

“Turned left. He might have parked his truck around the corner. You can't park out front, you know. That's for taxis and —”

They didn't wait to hear the rest. They raced out of the building and down the sidewalk. Feet pounding the cement, they ran around the corner.

“There!” Jessie pointed.

A blue truck with the words
EVANS' ELECTRIC
painted on the side was parked just up ahead and Mr. Evans was walking toward it with his car keys in his hand.

Henry didn't hesitate. He ran and jumped right in front of the driver's-side door. Violet, Benny, and Jessie ran and stood behind Mr. Evans so he couldn't escape.

Mr. Evans put his hands on his hips. “Hey. What's going on?” he demanded.

“I think you know,” said Jessie. She held out her hand. “The diamond, please.”

“Diamond? What diamond? I don't know what you're talking about.” Mr. Evans raised his voice. “Move!” he called to Henry.

Henry folded his arms and shook his head.

“You have the Elizabeth Star,” said Jessie. “We know you do.”

“Ha!” said Mr. Evans. “Very funny. Get out of my way or I'll call the police.”

“Call them,” said Jessie. “And tell them how you took the Elizabeth Star from its hiding place in Mrs. Teague's chandelier.”

Mr. Evans dropped his arms to his sides. There was a long silence.

“No police,” he said.

“Where's the diamond?” Benny asked.

Slowly, Mr. Evans reached into his shirt pocket and took out an old piece of cloth spattered with paint. He unwrapped it and held it out. There in his hand glittered the Elizabeth Star.

“I knew it,” breathed Jessie.

“You stole it!” Benny said. “You stole the Elizabeth Star.”

“No!” cried Mr. Evans. “I didn't.”

“Then how did you know it was there?” asked Violet. She sneezed, and stepped back a little.

“I was working up on the ladder yesterday morning and I saw it. But there was no way I could get to it without arousing suspicion. Mrs. Teague or Mr. Alden or someone was always around. Anyway, I figured it was safe and I could leave it there until I finished work.”

“You didn't steal it and put it there?” asked Jessie.

“No!” said Mr. Evans. “But seeing it there gave me quite a shock, I can tell you.” He managed a feeble smile. “And that's no joke.”

Violet sneezed again and said, “You make me sneeze. It's the dust.”

Mr. Evans gave her a puzzled look.

“It was you,” said Violet. “You're the one who locked us in the secret room. And you left dust all over Mr. Pound's apartment.”

“Yeah, well, I didn't mean to hurt you. Just scare you a little. Keep you from figuring out where the diamond was until I could get it safely away from Mrs. Teague's apartment,” said Mr. Evans.

“Well, it didn't scare us. Not one bit,” declared Benny.

“Mr. Saunders didn't tell you to go up and scare us?” asked Violet.

“No,” said Henry, before Mr. Evans could answer.

“No,” said Mr. Evans. “What has Mr. Saunders got to do with anything?”

“No. No, I don't think it was Mr. Saunders. And I don't think it was Lydia,” Henry went on.

“I don't know what you're talking about now,” complained Mr. Evans.

“Me either,” said Benny.

“I think I know who took the diamond and hid it in the chandelier. Now all we have to do is set a trap and catch the thief … with your help, Mr. Evans,” Henry added.

“Help you?” said Mr. Evans.

“Yes,” said Henry. “And if you do, maybe the police will go easier on you.”

“Plug me in,” said Mr. Evans. His smile was a little more genuine now. “That was a joke.”

“Mr. Pound, come in,” said Mrs. Teague.

“What's this? The children visiting you have actually found the diamond?” said Mr. Pound. Out came his handkerchief. He mopped his face.

“Did I say that when I called? I'm sorry. I should have said they found some new clues,” said Mrs. Teague.

“Oh,” said Mr. Pound. He sounded relieved. “Where are they?”

“They had to go to the store to get some more dog food for Watch,” said Mrs. Teague. “Their grandfather went with them. I'm here by myself, except for Mr. Evans, at the moment.”

“Mr. Evans?” asked Mr. Pound.

“The electrician. But he's out drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen,” said Mrs. Teague.

Crouched behind the kitchen door, Violet whispered, “Do you think he believes Mrs. Teague?”

“Shhh,” warned Jessie.

“Shhh,” Benny said to Watch, tightening his hold on the dog's collar.

“Why don't you sit in the dining room and … Oh, dear, I hear the phone ringing in my study. You just sit right here and I'll be right back.” Mrs. Teague pulled out a chair, nodded at Mr. Pound, and hurried out of the dining room.

She was barely out of sight down the hall before Mr. Pound jumped to his feet. He climbed onto the chair and stretched his arm up toward the chandelier. He frowned. He leaned sideways and peered at the rows of dangling crystals.

“It's got to be here,” he muttered.

“Now,” said Jessie.

Mr. Evans pushed open the kitchen door and walked into the dining room, letting the door almost close behind him. He looked up at Mr. Pound. Mr. Pound looked down at him.

“Looking for something?” said Mr. Evans.

“I, er … well,” said Mr. Pound.

“You know,” said Mr. Evans, “I'm an electrician, and while I was wiring the dining room, I noticed something very interesting about that chandelier.”

“What?” said Mr. Pound.

“This,” said Mr. Evans, pulling the Elizabeth Star out of his pocket.

“That's the Elizabeth Star,” said Mr. Pound. He grew very pale.

“I wondered how it got up there,” said Mr. Evans.

“That's mine,” said Mr. Pound, getting down off the chair. “You must give it to me.”

“I think I should give it to the police. Maybe there's a reward,” said Mr. Evans.

Mr. Pound took out his handkerchief and wiped his face. He looked ill. “No need to do that,” he said. “Yes, I hid the Star. And I'd like it to stay hidden. I couldn't bear to lose it.”

“Go on,” said Mr. Evans.

“So maybe we could make a deal,” said Mr. Pound.

“And maybe not,” said Henry, pushing open the kitchen door.

CHAPTER 10

A Thief's Regret

“Y
ou!” Mr. Pound staggered back as the children came out of the kitchen and Mrs. Teague and Grandfather Alden came in from the living room. “What are you doing here?”

“Catching a thief,” said Jessie. “A thief who stole from himself.”

Mr. Pound looked around wildly. For a moment, it seemed as if he might try to run out the door. Watch growled a little under his breath.

Then Mr. Pound collapsed onto the chair. “It's true. It's all true. I'm sorry I deceived you all. My company … it's in trouble. I thought if the Elizabeth Star disappeared, I could collect the insurance. And I would still get to keep it. It was my wife's. It's all I have left of her. I couldn't bear to let it go.”

“That was wrong,” said Benny.

“I know,” said Mr. Pound.

“No one tampered with the alarm,” said Henry. “You must have punched in the right code to open the door, then reset it and punched in the wrong code. That's why the alarm went off.”

Mr. Pound nodded. “And then I broke the glass case and took the diamond. The sound of the alarm covered the sound of the breaking glass and no one noticed what I was doing in all the confusion.”

“Where did you hide it?” asked Violet.

Mr. Pound held up his handkerchief. “In here. I wrapped the handkerchief around my hand to break the glass. Then I wrapped the star inside the handkerchief.”

“And then, when you were downstairs, you hid the diamond in the chandelier,” said Jessie.

“Yes. I thought of that at dinner. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. I had no idea how hard it would be to get the diamond back.…” His voice trailed off.

“That's why you kept sitting in the dining room the other day,” said Benny. “You were going to take the diamond back. But
I
stopped you.”

“Yes, you did,” said Mr. Pound. He sighed heavily. “I didn't mean to do this. I had been planning to sell the Elizabeth Star to save my business, but the thought of losing it made me so terribly sad. It was Kathryn's, you see. It's all I have left of her.”

Mr. Pound stared into space a moment before he went on. “But after I met you children in the elevator and invited you to come see the Star, the idea came to me: If I could fool the police into thinking the Star was stolen, I could save my business with the insurance payment and still keep the Star. I thought you'd be the perfect witnesses. After all, you were just children. You wouldn't notice what was really going on.”