The Secret of Willow Lane
The Secret of Willow Lane
By Virginia Rose Richter
Copyright 2012 Virginia Rose Richter
Cover Copyright 2012 Virginia Rose Richter and Untreed Reads Publishing
The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.
Previously published in print, 2012.
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the living or dead is entirely coincidental.
THE SECRET OF WILLOW LANE
A Mystery
Virginia Rose Richter
Children are made readers
on the laps
of their parents.
Emilie Buchwald
*
Dedicated to my Grandmother,
Anna Rasmussen Smith, a lover of books who taught me how to read.
The Willow Lane Mysteries take place in the 1980s.
CHAPTER ONE
It all began with a beam of light flashing from Mr. Johnson’s attic window. That was the same day the detective kit arrived.
Jessie Hanson was reading under a shade tree, trying to stay cool, when the rumble of a truck’s engine brought her to her feet. That’s when she saw the flashes. Regular glints of light shot out from the Johnson house across Willow Lane.
It’s like a
code,
she thought. Hold on. Nobody should be in that house. Old Mr. C.G. Johnson fell down the steps and died there last spring. Daddy’ll know. He’s the lawyer taking care of Mr. Johnson’s estate.
A UPS truck turned into her driveway.
“Finally!” She threw down her book. “My detective kit!”
The brown-uniformed driver hopped to the pavement and rushed up the porch steps. He set a big box by the front door, rang the doorbell, hurried back to the truck and drove off.
Jessie started to run. Her long braid flew out behind her. She felt the sun, warm on her back. She glanced up. Soft clouds, like giant sailboats, cruised through the blue Nebraska sky. In the distance, cattle grazed idly in the August heat.
In seconds, she was over the lawn and onto the sidewalk. She grabbed the post of the handrail and leaped up two steps at a time, barely missing one of the red geraniums planted in shiny black pots that bordered the stairs.
I hope I hope it’s my lucky day. She stooped to read the label on the box. Yep! It’s addressed to me and it’s from the Chase Novelty Company in New York. It’s
here
! I’ll call Tina.
Jessie wrapped both arms around the box, hooked a finger through the screen door handle and pulled. With one foot, she propped open the door and eased the package into the front hall.
“Jessie?” her mother called from the kitchen. “Who rang the doorbell?”
“I got it,” Jessie hollered. She picked up the phone, dialed and tapped her foot while she waited for someone to answer.
“Hello?” said Tina in her grown-up telephone voice.
“Tina! It
came
! How soon can you get here?” asked Jessie.
“What came? Oh the detective stuff? Great!” said Tina.
“Yes! Yes! Finally!” cried Jessie. “All that babysitting to get the money. I was starting to feel like Phillip’s mother!”
“We’re going to have dinner,” said Tina. I’ll come over as soon as we’re finished.”
“Well
hurry
!” Jessie hung up with a groan. I’d faint if Tina every moved fast. “MOM!” She struggled to get a grip on the box.
“What are you shouting about?” Her mother came into the hall from the kitchen. “What’s that? Oh is it your kit?” She plopped down into a chair next to the phone table and fanned her face with a dishtowel. The tiny breeze ruffled her dark hair that curled naturally on humid days.
“Yes!” said Jessie. “Boy, Phillip better keep his little paws off
this
!”
“Why don’t you do us all a favor and keep the box out of his reach?” Her mother wiped perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Don’t you think it’s time Phillip learned some self-discipline? That would
really
be doing us all a favor.”
Her mother laughed. “Eighteen months is a bit young for self-discipline. I’d settle for Phillip just feeding himself.”
Jessie trudged up the staircase with her package.
“You baby him, Mom.”
“Ah, yes, Jessie dear. An eleven-year-old child psychologist is just what I need.” Mrs. Hanson stood and headed for the kitchen. “He’s suspiciously quiet.”
Parents, thought Jessie. They only listen to themselves. She pushed the box into her room, sank to the floor and began to pry open the parcel. I hope it’s all here. The tape on the box wouldn’t budge. She stood up and rifled through her desk drawer for something sharp.
When she uncovered the old ad from the Chase Novelty Company, Jessie flopped onto her bed and read it for the hundredth time.
LEARN TO BE A DETECTIVE
Send for our detective starter kit today.
It contains everything you will need to
become a Private Eye. Included in this offer
are the following items: fingerprinting
material; instructions for making listening
devices; casting components for creating
footprint impressions; camera with telephoto
lens (film included); And much more!
Detailed instructions come with a custom
fitted carrying case for easy transport to the
Crime Scene!
Send your name and address plus $50.00 and
$10.95 for Shipping and Handling to: Chase
Novelty Company; Box 433; New York, NY
10107. (Please allow eight weeks
for delivery)
Jessie lay thinking. Her eyes traveled over her room papered in blue and white striped wallpaper. The bookshelves above her desk held her most precious possessions. There was the little picture of Jessie and her parents when she was a baby. Another framed snapshot showed Jessie and Tina clowning for the camera the last day of second grade. There was the pink cut glass perfume bottle her mom brought her from a trip to Chicago. Phillip’s one-year-old portrait sat in the center of the middle shelf. On the top were all her favorite books, mostly mysteries. She studied all the pictures. She was the only blonde in the family. Mom and Daddy and Phillip all had brown curly hair and were tall. Sometimes she wondered if she was even related to them.
At the end of the room, a big bow window with a blue cushioned seat looked out over Willow Lane.
A silver dolphin mobile dangled from the ceiling above her bed, motionless now in the still summer air. She stretched up her arm and gave it a whirl. I’ll wait for Tina. We’ll open the box together.
Outside, a car door slammed. Daddy’s home. She raced down the stairs in time to hold open the screen door.
“Such service! What did I do to deserve
this
?” He reached out and gave a friendly tug to her braid.
She thought he looked tired. His tan trousers and blue shirt were rumpled. He held his suit coat and necktie draped over his arm. It didn’t matter though because Jessie thought he was the most handsome dad in town. She threw her arms around his waist. “Daddy, my detective stuff came! I’m so excited. Wait ’til you see!” she let go of him and hopped up and down.
“No kidding? It finally got here? Let’s…”
Phillip tore into the hallway. He held up his chubby arms. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…” chanted the toddler.
Mr. Hanson picked up the child and raised him high over his head. “Phillip!” he said with a grin. “How’s my boy?”
Phillip squealed with joy.
“Daddy,” interrupted Jessie. “I was trying to tell you something.” Behind her father’s back, Jessie looked up at Phillip and stuck out her tongue.
The baby stopped giggling and stared at her. He tried to stick out his own tongue.
He’s just like a monkey in the zoo, she thought.
“You’re right, Jess,” said her dad. He lowered Phillip to his feet. “Now tell me when I get to see this Wonder Kit that you’ve worked for all summer.”
Phillip attached himself to his father’s leg and dragged along behind singing, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…”
Jessie raised her voice above the chatter. “I guess I’ll wait ’til Tina gets here. We’ll show you then.”
In the kitchen, her dad gave her mother a kiss. “You look beat. I’m afraid to ask about your day.”
Her mom gave a weary nod and said nothing. Phillip wrapped his free arm around his mother’s leg so he had both parents entrapped. It was his favorite position. He beamed up at them.
Jessie stooped down, disengaged her brother and swung him up into his highchair.
“NO! NO!” he shouted.
“Thanks, Jess,” said her mother. “Look, Carl, we can walk again.”
Jessie kissed the top of the baby’s head as she tied his bib. “Time to eat. You’re cute even if you
are
a pain.”
Phillip grabbed at her braid.
Jessie pulled back just in time. “Hah! Missed!”
Phillip stuck out his tongue like a pro.
“Oh no!” said her mother. “Did you see that, Carl?”
“Great!” said her dad. “Where’d he learn
that
?”
“Maybe if we ignore it, he’ll stop,” said her mom.
Jessie sat down at the table and said nothing. Boy he learns fast, she thought. I’m not confessing to this one. I’d never hear the end of it.
After dinner, Jessie ran to her room and watched for Tina from her window. Finally she spotted her friend riding her bike carefully up Willow Lane.
Honestly, what a slowpoke. She undid the screen hook, leaned out the window and yelled, “Hurry up, Tina.”
As she drew her head back and unhooked the screen, a spark of light blinded her for a moment. She stood motionless and watched as the light beams darted from the third floor attic window of the Johnson house. What’s going on over there? Her heart started to beat fast. Someone was sending a signal! When the doorbell rang, she jumped.
“Hi, Mrs. Hanson.” It was Tina. “I’m here to see the detective stuff.”
“She’s upstairs, Tina,” said Mrs. Hanson. “Come on in. Are you ready for school?”
“We’re getting there,” said Tina. “Mom’s taking me shopping for clothes on Saturday.”
Jessie ran to the top of the staircase. Her mom had her back to her. Urgently, Jessie beckoned for Tina to hurry. Tina glanced up, gracefully ended the conversation and started for the steps.
When Tina reached her bedroom, Jessie pulled her across the threshold and closed the door behind them. “Brace yourself,” she whispered. “It looks like the detective kit came just in time. We have a mystery on our hands.”
CHAPTER TWO
Later that same evening, Jessie’s father carried his newspaper into the living room and sat on the sofa next to her. She leaned against his shoulder, still reading her book.
He unfolded the paper. “What happened to Tina?”
“Oh, you know her mom. As soon as it even
looked
like rain, Tina had to run right home.”
“Probably right. It looks like it’s going to pour.” He began to read.
“Mrs. Adams is too fussy. We’d just opened the box and Tina had to leave.” Jessie set down her book. “Daddy…”
“Hmmm?”
“What’s going on at the Johnson house?” She tried to sound casual. “Is someone living there?”
“Better not be. It’s locked up.” He folded back a page of his paper. “Except for Mr. and Mrs. Simms. He does the yard work and she cleans up the house once a week.” He lowered the paper and looked at her. “Why?”