Mystery of the Empty Safe (7 page)

The two girls were quiet for a few minutes as they looked out at the woods to see if anyone was there.

“He seems to be gone now,” said Violet.

“That reminds me of something I wanted to ask Sara,” Jessie said, moving back over to where the other kids were.

“Sara,” she said, “Benny said he saw your dad limping the other day. Did he hurt his leg?”

Sara looked confused. “No. I’ve never seen my dad limp.”

The Aldens all looked at one another.

“Are you sure?” Jessie asked. “Maybe he’d pulled a muscle or something.”

“No,” said Sara. “Not that I know of.”

“Well, never mind,” Jessie said.

Sara and the Aldens finished painting and decorating the rocket ship. When at last they were done, they slipped inside two at a time to see how it felt to “fly” the ship.

“My friends are going to love this!” Sara said.

When they got home from Sara’s a short while later, they gathered in the old boxcar in the backyard. Violet told the others about the man she’d seen watching them.

“That’s pretty strange,” said Henry.

“But isn’t it even stranger that Sara said her father doesn’t have a limp—and never did?” said Benny.

“It sure is,” said Jessie.

“I’ve been worrying about something else,” Henry said. “We’ve done two parties, and during both there was a burglary. What if it happens again tomorrow?”

“I thought of that, too,” said Jessie. “Whoever’s doing the burglaries seems to know when we’ve got a party scheduled.”

“Cassandra knew about Hallie’s party,” Violet recalled. “Mr. Grayson said he’d canceled her when he heard about us.”

“I wonder if she knew about Alex’s party,” said Henry.

“Only one way to find out,” said Jessie. “Let’s call and ask.”

The children went into the house, and Jessie led the way to the family room. There, she picked up the phone and dialed the Pierces’ number. A moment later she said, “Hello, Mrs. Pierce, it’s Jessie Alden. I have a question to ask you, and it may sound a little strange.”

Mrs. Pierce said, “What is it, Jessie?”

Jessie asked, “Did you ever think of having a magician at Alex’s birthday?”

“It’s funny you should ask,” Mrs. Pierce said. “As a matter of fact, we did. Alex has always loved magic, so I called some of the magicians in the area.”

“Was Cassandra the Great one of them?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, that name sounds familiar. I think she was,” Mrs. Pierce said. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s a long story,” Jessie said. “There’s just one other thing I was wondering. Did you tell the magicians what day you were planning to have the party?”

“Yes,” said Mrs. Pierce. “That way they could let me know if they were available.”

“Thanks so much for answering all my questions,” Jessie said. “Urn, have the police caught the burglar?”

“No, we haven’t heard anything from the police.” Mrs. Pierce sighed. “I guess they’re still working on it.”

“I hope they catch the burglar soon,” Jessie said.

“So do I,” Mrs. Pierce agreed. “And I hope your birthday business is going well,” she added. “I’ve got to run. Good-bye!”

“Thanks,” said Jessie as she hung up the phone. She quickly told the others what Mrs. Pierce had said.

“So Cassandra and her manager did know about both parties,” Henry said.

“What I want to know,” Violet said, “is, do they know we’re doing a party tomorrow?”

The Aldens all looked at one another, wondering what the answer to that question could be.

Then Jessie added another question. “And if they do … what are they planning?”

“Is there any way to find out if Cassandra and her manager know about tomorrow’s party?” Benny asked.

“I remember the day we met the Woodruffs they said they were thinking of hiring her,” Violet said.

“Yeah, and Mr. Woodruff kept saying he wanted to stick with her instead of us,” Benny added.

“I think it’s time for another phone call,” said Henry, picking up the phone. He quickly dialed the Woodruffs’ number.

“Hi, Mrs. Woodruff?” he said. “This is Henry Alden. I was just wondering … you mentioned that you’d thought of hiring Cassandra the Great to do Sara’s party … Did you actually hire her before you heard about us?”

“I didn’t hire her, but I did call to see if she’d be available that day. I had a lot of different ideas—bowling, or a movie—before I hired you. But I did tell Cassandra that she was asking for too much money and I’d rather use you kids. She sounded pretty annoyed when I said that.” Mrs. Woodruff chuckled.

“Really,” Henry said.

“Why do you ask?” Mrs. Woodruff wanted to know. “There isn’t any problem with tomorrow, is there?”

“Oh, no,” Henry assured her. “Everything’s all set to go. The cake’s ready, the decorations have been made, the games have been planned.”

“Great. Then I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon,” said Mrs. Woodruff.

“Okay!” Henry said, hanging up the phone.

Before he’d even said anything, the others could tell from the look on his face that he had bad news. “She said she
did
call Cassandra before she hired us. And when she told Cassandra she was thinking of using us instead of her, she said Cassandra got pretty mad.”

“We’ve certainly heard a lot about Cassandra’s bad temper,” said Violet, her face worried.

“But would she get so angry she’d actually rob someone’s house?” Benny wondered.

“I have an idea of how we can find out who the burglar is,” said Henry.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jessie asked. “Let’s set a trap.”

“Exactly,” said Henry. “But I think we had better have a long talk with Grandfather first.”

The Aldens showed up at the Woodruffs’ house the next day, their arms laden with party supplies. The Woodruffs didn’t notice, but Grandfather stayed parked outside while Sara led them down a long hallway into a large sunny room at the back of the house.

“This is our family room,” she told them. “This is where the party is going to be.”

Violet, Benny and Sara got to work immediately putting up the pictures of moons, planets, comets, and sparkly stars they’d painted.

Sara stood in the center of the room, turning slowly around. “Wow! This looks great! I feel like I’m in outer space!” She pretended to float around the room without gravity. Everyone laughed.

When the decorations had all been arranged, the children went into the dining room to set the table. Violet made sure they had all the supplies they’d need for the kids to make space helmets from paper bags. Henry made sure they had enough party favors for all the guests.

Sara’s mother and father came down from upstairs and looked into the family room to see how the kids were doing.

“Your decorations are wonderful,” Mrs. Woodruff said. “You’re real artists.”

“That’s Violet,” said Benny proudly.

“And Sara helped us a lot, too,” Jessie added.

“Didn’t they do a great job?” Mrs. Woodruff said, turning to her husband.

“Yeah, I guess it looks pretty good,” Mr. Woodruff grumbled, without seeming to really mean it.

Just then the doorbell rang.

“My friends are here! My friends are here!” Sara cried, running to open the front door for them.

Mrs. Woodruff and the Aldens followed Sara, excited for the party to begin. But Mr. Woodruff went back upstairs as if he wasn’t even interested in the party.

Several minutes later, all the guests had arrived. Sara led them into the family room.

“Wow!” several of the children said when they saw all the wonderful decorations.

“We’re in outer space!” cried one little girl.

Violet had all of Sara’s friends sit down on the floor in a circle. The children had fun decorating the helmets with colored paper and markers, making moons and stars, and gluing them onto the paper bags.

Once the children were done with their space helmets, they took turns sitting in the rocket ship and pretending to fly. As each new pair of children sat in the cardboard box, Jessie would count down from twenty, shouting, “Blast off!” at the end.

While the children were enjoying themselves, Mrs. Woodruff walked around with her camera, taking pictures of all the kids.

Meanwhile, the Aldens had put their secret plan into action.

While Jessie, Violet, and Benny ran the birthday party, Henry had a special job. He was hiding in the Woodruffs’ living room. Sara had mentioned that her house had a safe there like the other houses in the neighborhood, and the plan was for Henry to keep an eye on it through the whole party. If anyone tried to break into it, he’d be there to see.

Henry huddled behind the couch, which sat in front of a large picture window. He peered around the end of the couch, his eyes on the front door. If anyone came in, he would see them, but they wouldn’t be able to see him. Then he peered out between the curtains to Grandfather sitting in the passenger seat of his car and looking toward the house. They had agreed that if anyone suspicious showed up, Henry would signal Grandfather from the window.

Henry glanced around the elegant room at all the valuable pieces of art. He was sorry to be missing the party, which he could hear faintly down the hall in the family room. But he knew it was important that he stay where he was. Otherwise, the Aldens might never solve the mystery and find the thief. Henry wondered if it would turn out to be Cassandra, as they suspected.

For a long time nothing happened, and Henry began to wonder if maybe no one was going to show up. Maybe they’d been wrong, and the burglaries during their birthday parties had just been a coincidence.

At least they hadn’t upset the Woodruffs by sharing their suspicions.

But suddenly Henry heard a sound at the front door. He held his breath and listened. Yes, it sounded as if someone was turning the knob. The door was slowly, slowly creaking open. All the guests had already arrived, so Henry knew it wasn’t another guest.

Was it the thief?

Henry saw someone dressed in dark clothes enter the house very cautiously. At first Henry couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. He saw the person look around to see if anyone was there. Luckily he or she didn’t spot Henry. Slowly the person moved toward the living room, peering nervously from side to side. Henry was just about to shake the window curtains to signal Grandfather.

Then all at once Henry realized who the stranger was. Mr. Woodruff! But how could that be? Mr. Woodruff was upstairs, wasn’t he? And why would he
sneak
into his own house? He certainly wouldn’t be coming to steal his own things!

Henry didn’t want Mr. Woodruff to find him hiding behind a couch in the living room. He figured it would be better to just come out and explain what he was doing. But just as Henry was about to emerge from behind the couch, Mr. Woodruff passed the living room and began moving down the hall toward the family room. Henry spotted the man’s limp when he walked. But hadn’t Sara said her father didn’t limp? And she would know, wouldn’t she?

Curious to see if he was going to join the party, Henry followed Mr. Woodruff. But as he stepped into the hall, the floor creaked loudly, and Mr. Woodruff turned around. Suddenly Henry was confused. The man looked like Mr. Woodruff, but older. His hair had more gray in it, and his face was creased with lines.

“Who—who are you?” Henry asked, startled.

“I knew I shouldn’t come here, but—” the man began.

Just then Sara came running down the hall. “Uncle John!” she cried, giving the man a big hug. “I was hoping you’d come!”

“Uncle John?” Henry repeated, confused.

Mrs. Woodruff was just behind Sara, and Bob Woodruff appeared on the stairs.

“John?” Bob Woodruff said. For the first time, Henry saw Mr. Woodruff smiling.

“Bob!” the other man said. “I’ve come to apologize.”

“No,
I
should apologize to you,” said Bob Woodruff, coming down the stairs and giving his brother a big hug. Henry watched Mrs. Woodruff smile broadly as the two men embraced. Sara clung to her uncle’s waist, a big grin on her face, and Henry was
very
glad he hadn’t signaled to Grandfather.

Violet, Jessie, and Benny emerged from the family room. After a few minutes, the Woodruffs became aware of the Aldens watching them. Mrs. Woodruff tried to explain.

“Bob and his brother, John, have always been quite close,” she explained. “They were friends, golf buddies, business partners. He was like a second father to Sara. But about a year ago, they had a disagreement, something silly, really. But one thing led to another, and they stopped speaking. Both men are so proud—they each refused to be the one to admit he was wrong.” Mrs. Woodruff paused, looking at the two brothers, who stood with their arms around each other, Sara happily nestled in between them.

“I thought your uncle John had … died,” Jessie said to Sara.

“It felt almost as if he had,” said Sara.

“I guess I was acting pretty ridiculous,” Bob Woodruff admitted.

“No,
I
was,” said John. “And I knew it, too. I just couldn’t figure out how to admit it. And I felt especially badly because I knew Sara’s birthday was coming up, and I hated to miss it. I’ve never missed any of your birthdays, cupcake,” he said, ruffling her hair with his hand. Sara smiled up at him.

“I’ve been miserable since our fight,” said Bob. “I just couldn’t figure out how to make things right. I haven’t been able to sleep at night, I’ve been so upset.”

“Yes, and you’ve been taking it out on everyone,” said Mrs. Woodruff with a laugh.

“You sure have,” Sara piped up.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Bob Woodruff said, his voice kinder than the Aldens had ever heard it. “I’m not going to be that way anymore.”

“And I’ve been lurking around your house, trying to get up my nerve to come in and apologize,” said Uncle John. “I’ve even been following Sara and her friends around, thinking maybe if I talked to her, I could get up my nerve to talk to you, Bob.”

“So that’s it!” Benny shouted. Everyone turned to look at him. “You’re the person who’s been following us!”

“I thought you’d seen me,” John Woodruff said.

“I did! I thought you were Sara’s dad, but I knew there was something about you that was different. And then I got confused because you walk with a limp and he doesn’t, right?” Benny said.