Seattle Puzzle (7 page)

“I’m afraid we’re packed with the dinner crowd right now,” she told them. “But I might be able to squeeze you into the back room.”

The children kept their eyes peeled for any sign of fans as they followed the waitress past the crowded booths and tables.

“After you,” said Gwen, as she opened a door onto a darkened room. “I’ll get the light switch.”

Jessie looked at Henry. Why were the lights off?

As they stepped into the shadowy room, Gwen flicked a switch and lights blazed.

“SURPRISE!!”

The four Alden children stood frozen to the spot, their mouths opened wide as Watch came bounding over. The little dog jumped up on them, barking happily. Around a table in the middle of the room, familiar faces were beaming at them.

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny stared in speechless wonder as Mrs. McGregor gave them a cheery wave. On either side of her, Aunt Jane and Uncle Andy were all smiles. Finn Evans and Toby Spinner were giving each other high-fives, while Reena was laughing and clapping her hands.

“Is this a surprise party … for us?” Benny asked. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“It sure is,” said Grandfather, coming into the room behind them. “A surprise party with all of your biggest fans.”

As the children sat down, it slowly began to sink in. “You were behind this mystery,” Jessie realized. “Weren’t you, Grandfather?”

“It was a team effort, Jessie,” Grandfather told her. “Everything was planned before we even got to Seattle.”

“Your grandfather thought following clues would be an interesting way to see the sights,” put in Mrs. McGregor.

Aunt Jane nodded. “You’ve solved so many mysteries for so many people,” she said, looking at each of the Aldens in turn, “we figured it was time you had a mystery of your very own.”

Violet had a question. “Did everybody come all this way just for the surprise party?”

“Well, I had a business trip planned for the Northwest,” explained Uncle Andy. “Aunt Jane decided to join me.”

Mrs. McGregor put in, “And Watch and I tagged along, too.”

“Dogs aren’t allowed in the hotel,” said Reena, “so my father and I have been looking after Watch.”

“No wonder you knew Watch’s name,” Jessie realized.

“And this must be the dinner party you were talking about,” added Violet, who noticed the vase of fresh flowers on the table.

Reena’s eyes were twinkling. “Like I said, Violet, it was a party for some very special friends!”

Something was bothering Benny. “Mrs. McGregor, why did you run away from me?”

“I’m sorry, Benny,” Mrs. McGregor apologized. “I just didn’t want to ruin the surprise. I never expected to see you in Pioneer Square.”

“We thought the underground city was the answer to one of the riddles,” explained Jessie. “Only, we were on the wrong track.”

Henry turned to Uncle Andy. “And you were on the ferry the other day, weren’t you?” guessed Henry.

Uncle Andy nodded. “I had a meeting on Bainbridge Island,” he admitted. “But I didn’t know you were on the ferry until your grandfather mentioned it later.”

Violet turned to her grandfather. “You spotted Uncle Andy when we were getting off the ferry, didn’t you?”

“Right.”

“That’s why you wouldn’t let me take a picture,” Violet concluded.

“Right again,” said Grandfather. “I thought it best to hustle you out of there as fast as I could.”

“That was a close call, all right!” Uncle Andy laughed, as the waitress put bowls of salad on the table.

Aunt Jane laughed. “Don’t feel bad, Andy. I almost blew it myself.”

“What do you mean, Jane?” Mrs. McGregor wondered.

Violet had an answer. “Aunt Jane almost knocked me over coming out of the diner.”

“I was on a mission to plant clues,” explained Aunt Jane. “Only, I got a late start that morning so I was in a rush. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“You also left the riddle at the Space Needle, right?” put in Jessie. “We saw you getting off the elevator.”

Aunt Jane nodded. “I was afraid you might see me, so I tried to stay hidden under my umbrella.”

“Unless I miss my guess,” put in Henry, “after you planted the clues, you stopped by the hotel to see grandfather.”

“Why, yes,” said Aunt Jane, surprised that Henry knew this. “I just wanted to touch base about the mystery and—”

“Guess what?” Benny broke in. “You left your umbrella behind.”

“What … ?” Aunt Jane slapped a hand against her cheek. “Are you serious?”

Grandfather chuckled. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when Violet held it up,” he said, swallowing a bite of his salad. “I had to do some pretty fast talking!”

Everybody laughed, including Aunt Jane.

Henry looked over at the desk clerk. “You played a part in this mystery, too. Didn’t you, Toby?”

Toby nodded. “I hid the clue by the troll.”

“Toby’s my cousin,” Reena added.

“I had a hunch you knew more than you were letting on,” said Henry, as he sprinkled pepper onto his salad.

“I felt someone watching us,” said Jessie. “The day we went to see the troll, I mean. It was you, wasn’t it, Toby?”

“You found me out, Jessie,” he said. “The suspense was starting to get to me. I had to find out if you were on the right track.”

Benny nodded in understanding. The youngest Alden didn’t like to be kept waiting in suspense either.

Violet spoke up. “We over heard you on the phone, Grandfather, when we got back from Pioneer Square. You said everything depended on finding Rachel.”

Grandfather smiled a little. “Oh, you heard that, did you? That must have been when Reena phoned me.”

“You were talking about the bronze pig at the market, weren’t you?” Violet added.

Grandfather didn’t deny it. “Finn was afraid you’d never figure out his clue about the flying fish. He insisted somebody take you on a tour of the marketplace. I’d planned to take you myself, but something came up. Reena was kind enough to fill in for me.”

“I was worried you’d never find Rachel,” said Finn. “And solving the mystery depended on it.”

The children were looking over at Finn in surprise. “You made up the riddles?” Benny questioned.

“There’s nothing I like better than a mystery,” said Finn. “When your grandfather told me about his plan, I offered to help out.”

“You sure did a good job,” Benny told him, popping a cherry tomato into his mouth.

Jessie added, “I’ll second that!”

As the waitress refilled their water glasses, Henry watched her closely. As if feeling his eyes on her, Gwen looked over.

“Yes, I was in on it, too, Henry,” she confessed, reading his mind.

“Gwen’s a friend of mine from school,” Reena told them. “She wanted to help out.”

Gwen explained, “It was my job to make sure you sat down at the right table.”

Jessie nodded. That explained why she’d asked them to move to the booth.

“We saw you one day, Gwen,” said Violet, “You were walking with Reena.”

“Wow!” Reena shook her head in disbelief, “You kids don’t miss a thing.”

“We’ll, we do miss things sometimes,” Jessie said, with a twinkle in her eye. “When our trip ends, we’re sure going to miss Seattle!”

“And our new friends,” Violet was quick to add.

Finn nodded approvingly. “Well said!” he remarked. Then he turned to Grandfather. “You must be very proud of your family, James.”

At that, Grandfather had to laugh. “Finn, I never know what’s around the next corner.”

“I do,” Benny piped up. “I bet it’s another mystery!”

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY