Authors: Gertrude Chandler Warner

Windy City Mystery (9 page)

BOOK: Windy City Mystery

13.35Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

Questions swirled through the Aldens' minds, but they were too amazed to ask them. Still, the two men provided answers.

Grandfather said, “When I told Cob you like mysteries, he planned this treasure hunt.”

“It was a good way for you to see my favorite city,” Mr. Piper told them. “But I was afraid you wouldn't solve it. I wanted to tell you. Your grandfather and I argued about it.”

That explained the telephone calls.

“I was worried about the whole thing,” Mr. Alden continued. “I didn't know how I was going to give you the clue at the Water Tower. Fortunately, Jessie, you dropped the maps. I slipped the envelope in with them.”

“And I just missed seeing Chad at the Art Institute,” Mr. Piper said.

Henry found his voice. “So Chad didn't know.”

Mr. Piper shook his head. “I was afraid he'd give it away.”

“How about Willard?” Benny asked.

“He knew something was going on, but he never figured it out.” Cob held up the mustache. “I'm not very good at this disguise business.”

Benny snickered. “I never saw a crooked mustache before.”

“I didn't know it was crooked!” Cob laughed.

Now Henry knew what caused Cob's rash. “You're allergic to the glue.”

Cob nodded. “And I couldn't make it stick. Today I lost an eyebrow.”

“We found it in the apartment,” Violet told him.

Cobb nodded. “I thought I might find something in the apartment to tell me how close you were to finding this car.”

“Not very close,” Jessie said.

“Oh, you're good detectives,” Grandfather said. “You would have figured it out.”

Now that all the puzzle pieces were in place, Cob gave them a new challenge. “See if you can set the table for eight.” He turned to Mr. Alden. “James, you and I will cook.”

Benny counted. There were six of them. “Who else is coming?”

“Chad and Willard,” Cob answered. “They didn't know it, but they played important parts in our little game.”

It was tight, but they all fit. During dinner, the Aldens told Chad and Willard about the mystery and how they had solved it.

“I knew you were looking for something,” Willard said.

Chad just kept shaking his head. “Dad, you planned all this?”

“And more,” Mr. Piper said. “I've saved the best part for last.”

Benny jumped in his chair. “Tell us! Please!”

“This is my own private train car,” he began. “It belonged to my grandfather. He was in the railroad business. After he retired, he brought it to his backyard.”

“We have a boxcar in our backyard,” Violet said.

Mr. Piper nodded. “So James told me. And just like you, I played in it every chance I got.”

Benny looked around. “This is much fancier than our boxcar.”

“It didn't always look like it does today,” Cob said. “Time and weather had done their work. Then one day I decided to restore it.”

“By yourself?” Jessie asked.

“Yes,” Cob answered. “It took a long time. After I had finished it, I thought, why not live in it? It's been here ever since. It's my hobby â the only way I relax from the paper business. I rent the track. I travel in it, too. That's my final surprise: I have a trip planned for next week.”

The Alden children's minds raced ahead of him. They exchanged excited glances.

Cob laughed. “You are quick,” he said. “I can tell you've guessed it. After you've seen the rest of the city, we'll hook this car to an eastbound train and take you home to Greenfield!”

The Aldens laughed with delight.

Willard laughed, too. “I'd say you Aldens found what you were looking for!”

“Much more!” Violet said.

Mr. Piper raised his glass. “A toast to buried treasure.”

Henry looked around the table at his sisters and brother, Grandfather, the Pipers, and Willard. These people were his family and friends. They were the real treasures. He raised his glass. “And to those in plain sight,” he said.

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 â 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 â 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.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Albert Whitman & Company

250 South Northwest Highway, Suite 320

Park Ridge, Illinois 60068

www.albertwhitman.com