Mystery Behind the Wall

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  Rory said, “Ben, that just can’t happen. We have to find the Blue Collection.”

  “On with the hunt!” Benny shouted and raced all the others home.

  CHAPTER 7

  A Real Puzzle

  Rory looked puzzled as he rode along with the Aldens on their bikes.

  “What’s the matter?” said Jessie.

  “How do you get up to your attic?” asked Rory. “I don’t remember any stairs to an attic.”

  Benny heard Rory’s question. He said, “The attic stairs are behind a narrow door.”

  “That’s why you didn’t know about the attic,” Jessie said. “We never go up there.”

  When they reached home, they put their bikes away and ran straight upstairs to the narrow door to the attic. Jessie opened the door and they began to climb.

  “The stairs are steep,” said Rory. “Oh, what a dark place! I suppose those are just shadows over by the chimney, Ben?”

  “Yes, they’re only shadows,” replied Benny. “This place looks spooky enough to have any number of clues. We’ll really have to look.”

  “You’re brave, Ben,” said Rory. “I would never come up here alone. That’s sure.”

  “Neither would I,” said Benny. “I haven’t been up here for years.”

  The attic had only two windows, one at each end. They didn’t do much good. It was very dim in the attic, and there were no electric lights to turn on.

  “Let’s start by the chimney,” said Henry. “There isn’t much up here after all.”

  “Now wouldn’t you know that!” exclaimed Jessie. “An attic is always supposed to be full of junk and old chairs and things. It’s almost empty up here.”

  “Probably Grandfather had a grand clearing out,” Henry suggested. “I hope no one threw away my old electric train. I’d like to have it for the sake of old times.”

  “Come here, Henry,” called Benny from behind the chimney. “Here’s a box with your electric train. It’s on the floor.”

  Violet said, “Oh, Benny, we don’t care about the train. We want to find Stephanie’s dollhouse. Where can it be?”

  “Wait!” Benny called. “It’s so dark back here I can’t see much. But I just think maybe I’ve found something else.”

  Jessie said, “It’s almost too much to hope the next clue is still somewhere up here.”

  Benny called, “It is the dollhouse!”

  Henry said, “The first thing is to move that dollhouse out into the light. Come on, Ben, help me.”

  Henry and Benny moved the wooden house out into the center of the attic. The light from one window fell on it.

  The whole front of the dollhouse was open so that a little girl could play with it. She could walk the dolls from one room to another.

  The house was dusty, and Jessie found an old cloth and wiped off the roof and the four little rooms.

  When she dusted in the biggest room, Jessie stopped. She pulled something out and said, “This shoebox probably holds the furniture.”

  Violet took off the cover and found that Jessie was right. This was certainly Stephanie Shaw’s doll furniture. Scraps of cloth from Miss Rachel’s shop had been used to cover chairs and other pieces.

  “Isn’t this pretty?” said Jessie, holding up a tiny sofa covered with soft blue material.

  “Yes,” said Benny, who was not interested in furniture. “But what we want are coins—or another clue.”

  “Now, Ben, just be patient,” said Rory. “We have to do this little by little. If we don’t we’ll miss the clue. You take out the drawers from this dresser.”

  “Stephanie never made that,” Benny replied, taking the piece of doll furniture. “Somebody bought this. It has the name of the toy company stamped right on the back. And I can’t find anything that looks like a clue.”

  “Well, here is a toy clock,” said Jessie. “It winds up and everything. Look, the key is still inside.”

  She took the key and wound the clock. The children were fascinated to hear the tiniest bell striking five.

  They looked carefully at every piece of furniture and found nothing. They looked in all the small rooms and poked down the little wooden chimney. Henry even turned the dollhouse over to look under it.

  “I was wrong about a clue here,” Benny said. “There’s nothing here. No note. No coins.”

  Suddenly it grew so dark in the attic that everyone had to give up.

  “But only for today, Violet,” promised Benny. “Tomorrow the hunt will go on.”

  But as it turned out, they did not go right up to the attic the next morning. Very early the Aldens’ telephone rang.

  Benny answered it and knew the voice right away. It was Mrs. Wren.

  “Oh, yes, Mrs. Wren,” Benny said. “It’s not too early. Is there something special?”

  Rory was standing near Benny. He put his hand over his mouth to keep from asking, “What is it?”

  Benny was saying, “You want to see us? We’ll come over on our bikes.”

  Then Mrs. Wren said something and Benny listened. He answered, “No, we didn’t find anything in the attic. Nothing at all that helped us . . . Oh! You think so? . . . Yes, we’ll have our breakfast first.”

  Benny waited while Mrs. Wren spoke, then he said, “Please don’t talk that way, Mrs. Wren. You are not silly. You are very good to call us.”

  By this time the whole family was listening. As Benny said “Good-bye,” Henry asked, “What is it, Ben?”

  “Is something wrong?” Jessie asked.

  “I don’t know. Mrs. Wren is upset about something. She kept saying she was silly. ‘A silly old woman’ is what she said.”

  “Well,” said Violet, “it must be something important or she would never have had the courage to call us so early.”

  Mr. Alden was already sitting at the breakfast ta-ble. He said, “I take it your Mrs. Wren wants to see you again.”

  “That’s right, Grandfather,” said Benny. “I can hardly eat.”

  Everyone smiled at that. Benny could always eat. But Rory didn’t understand. He said, “You’d better eat, Ben. I can eat my breakfast all right.”

  So the bacon and eggs and toast disappeared.

  In a short time Mr. Alden got up to leave for his office. The Aldens and Rory were starting out on their bicycles for the Jenny Wren Shop.

  As soon as they came into the little store, Mrs. Wren greeted them. “Oh, I am sorry to bother you!” she said. “I shouldn’t have called you so early.”

  Violet took Mrs. Wren’s hand and said, “You aren’t bothering us. I think you are the only person in town who can help us.”

  “I am getting so forgetful,” Mrs. Wren said. “That’s why I’m so glad my niece runs the shop for me now. But Jenny isn’t here yet.”

  Benny was afraid that Mrs. Wren was forgetting why she had called. He held his breath.

  But she went on, “I’m so forgetful, especially when I’m excited. And I was excited yesterday when you came and asked about the blue cloth. I was so surprised!”

  “We understand,” Jessie said quietly. “I’m sure you never thought anyone would ask for that little note left with you so long ago.”

  Mrs. Wren shook her head. “I had given up the idea long ago. And then when you did come, I forgot that I had another note.”

  “Another note?” Benny asked. He could hardly believe what he had heard.

  “Yes, Stephanie left two notes with me. She told me to give the first one to the person who asked for the blue cloth. I was to give the second note when someone gave me a coat button.”

  Everyone looked surprised. Then Henry said, “I think I know. Stephanie probably had three or four treasure hunt clues. Like the one in the dollhouse that we couldn’t find. Somehow that clue must have been lost.”

  Rory nodded his head and said, “Maybe another clue that said ’Take a button to Miss Rachel’ was hidden somewhere.”

  “That’s a good guess,” Benny said. “But Mrs. Wren, you will let us have the se
cond note, won’t you?”

  “Oh, yes, I have it right here,” and Mrs. Wren gave Jessie a folded paper.

  Jessie read in a clear voice, “‘Come on, Papa. Look on the back of the house. Outside, inside. Can’t you solve my puzzle? Keep it if you wish.’”

  Jessie looked up, frowning.

  “That’s just silly,” Benny said quickly. “It doesn’t sound like Stephanie or anybody else. It’s just a bunch of words.”

  Nobody said anything. They all looked at Benny. Soon he said doubtfully, “Maybe it isn’t meant to say anything. Maybe . . .”

  “Maybe what?” Rory demanded.

  “Maybe it’s a hidden message—a code.”

  “Now you’re talking, Ben,” said Henry. “That may be what it is.”

  Mrs. Wren had been looking at the children and listening. Now she said, “If it turns out to be a secret message, will you let me know? And tell me if you find the coins?”

  “It’s easy to promise that,” said Jessie. “Of course we will let you know. If you hadn’t saved these little notes all these years there would be no chance of finding the Blue collection.”

  “But we haven’t found it yet,” Henry said.

  “We will,” Benny said.

  “Let’s go back to your house and study the note,” said Rory. “It has to mean something.”

  When the Aldens reached home, Violet said, “Let me copy that paper. If it is in plain printing it may look different to us.”

  “You’re welcome to copy it,” Benny said. “I still don’t think it means much the way it is. Who could look on the back of a house?”

  “What house?” Rory asked. “We looked all over that dollhouse. Nothing there.”

  Henry said slowly, “If it means the back of the house she lived in, we’re out of luck. Grandfather had the house all changed. He added rooms at the back. Remember what he told us?”

  Violet was busy copying the words. She had taken a stiff card and was printing in large letters with black ink. She put one sentence on each line. It made the words look quite different.

  Benny read the words slowly,

  “Come on, Papa!

  Look on the back of the house.

  Outside, inside.

  Can’t you solve my puzzle?

  Keep it if you wish.”

  The Aldens looked at each other. It was true. The words did not make any sense.

  Benny held the cardboard out as far from his eyes as he could. Then he shouted, “I have it! Just look at the first letters of the sentences! Read the first letters down.” He laughed and handed the card back to Jessie.

  “Of course,” she said. “Now I see it. C-L-O-C-K, clock! The first letters spell clock. It is just as plain as it can be—if you know what you are looking for.”

  Everyone told Benny how smart he was.

  “But what does clock mean?” asked Rory. “We looked at the dollhouse clock so many times that I can tell you every bump on the paint.”

  Jessie said, “I’m sure there’s no clock belonging to the Shaws still in the house. Oh, dear! And I thought we were so close to finding the Blue Collection!”

  Henry said, “Wait a minute, Jessie. Don’t give up! We found Stephanie Shaw’s dollhouse in the attic. Perhaps there’s a little clock of hers up there, too.”

  Benny laughed, “Wouldn’t it be fun if there was a cuckoo clock up there? And the little bird in the clock had a message for us? From Birds Lane!”

  Henry said, “There’s one way to find out. Let’s look.”

  “Attic again,” said Rory cheerfully.

  They climbed the steep attic stairs. They looked around in the attic. It was so bare that once again the search seemed hopeless.

  CHAPTER 8

  So Near, So Far

  The attic was dark and gloomy. The day was cloudy. Not much light came in through the small windows at each end of the attic.

  “Where can we look?” asked Rory. “All I see is the dollhouse. And we know the dollhouse clock doesn’t have a secret.”

  Benny just shook his head. It looked as if the treasure hunt had come to an end. The lost Blue Collection would never be found.

  “What do you think, Jessie?” asked Henry. “I guess we might as well go downstairs.”

  But Jessie was looking hard at something. She said slowly, “When you found the dollhouse behind the chimney, was there anything else there?”

  Benny said, “It was dark, but I think the dollhouse was the only thing.”

  “Well, I am going to feel behind the chimney,” said Jessie. “If I can’t see anything, perhaps I can feel something.”

  “You’re more than welcome,” replied Benny. “It’s really too dark for me. I like to see what I’m touching.”

  Rory laughed at Benny and said, “There could be something scary. I read a story about a skeleton in an attic.”

  “Not in this attic,” Benny said. “Mrs. McGregor would have swept it out.”

  Stepping carefully, Jessie moved toward the back of the big chimney. The shadows were very dark. She asked, “Rory, why do you have to talk about skeletons? I know there can’t be one here. But it is scary.”

  “I’ll look,” Henry offered.

  But Jessie said, “No, I’m here. Wait—”

  Jessie put out her hand toward the back of the chimney. She did not touch bricks. She touched smooth wood.

  “There is something back here!” Jessie exclaimed. “It’s a piece of furniture or something tall and thin. Now what can it be?”

  “Oh, I wish I had my flashlight,” Benny said.

  “I can feel carved wood and some glass,” Jessie said. “And a little knob.”

  Jessie did her best to see what was hidden in the shadows. “Rory!” she called. “I’ve found something with a face and hands!”

  “Bones?” asked Rory, and now he did not sound so brave.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Rory,” Jessie said. “I think there is a big clock here. A grandfather’s clock.”

  “A real clock!” Benny said. “That has to be the clock Stephanie meant.”

  “Careful, Ben,” Henry said. “It might be the clock. But don’t count on it.”

  Jessie called, “It’s too dark to see the clock back here. Henry, maybe you and Benny can move it.”

  She stepped back. The two boys carefully lifted the tall clock out into the small space where it was light.

  Violet found the cloth they had used to dust the dollhouse and she dusted the old clock. It was really a handsome grandfather’s clock.

  “Now where would Stephanie hide a clue in a clock?” asked Jessie.

  “In the back,” Rory suggested. “She’d hide the clue where it wouldn’t be seen.”

  “Yes,” Henry said. “I don’t suppose the clock was in the attic when Stephanie hid the clues for her treasure hunt.”

  There was a door on the back of the clock. Benny tried to open it, then Rory tried. At last Henry tried. He rattled the knob a little, and the door came open.

  The Aldens and Rory all looked in the open space. It was a wonderful hiding place for a message. But it was empty.

  “Oh,” Benny said. “Someone else found the clue. Now we’ll never know where Stephanie’s treasure is.”

  Violet looked quietly at the old clock. She walked around to the front. She said, “I don’t think a girl like Stephanie could have put anything in the back of the clock. She wouldn’t have been able to move it. And if she did, I don’t think she could have opened that door.”

  “That’s so,” Benny agreed. He too walked around the clock, looking at it from all sides.

  Henry said, “I can open the glass door in front of the clock face. Stephanie could have reached it if she stood on a chair.”

  He opened the door and looked at the face and the clock hands. He could see no message at all.

  “What about the glass door where the pendulum is?” asked Benny.

  Rory said, “Ben, you don’t have to open it. You can just lo
ok in. I can’t see a thing.”

  “Let’s just open it anyway,” Benny said. “I wonder if we need a key? No, it opens all right.”

  The big pendulum moved a little when Benny touched it carefully. Two heavy weights hung from chains.

  “Could Stephanie have put some sort of message behind the weights?” Jessie asked.

  “It’s too dark to see,” Rory said.

  “I should go and get my flashlight,” Benny said. “Come on, Rory, help me find it.”

  Henry said, “All right. You get the flashlight. We’ll sit here on the attic stairs and tell ghost stories.”

  Jessie said, “Henry, don’t make jokes. We really do want to find Stephanie’s message—if there is one.”

  “I think it must be lost,” Henry said. “Or maybe this isn’t the right clock.”

  Rory and Benny were soon back with the flashlight.

  “Stand back,” Benny said. He flashed the light around the inside of the clock. Nothing.

  “Benny!” Violet said. “Don’t look in the clock. Shine your light on the door. I thought I saw something.”

  Benny shone the light on the inside of the door. Along the wooden frame the Aldens saw something folded. It was tacked to the inside of the door frame.

  “See what it is,” Benny said.

  “Let me take the tacks out,” Henry said. And in a moment he had the folded paper loose. He gave it to Violet. “See what it says,” he told her.

  Violet unfolded the paper and the Aldens stared. There was a message in large faded printing. It was surely done by Stephanie.

  Violet read aloud, “This is the end. Look on the back of the house, but don’t break the glass.”

  “What in the world!” shouted Benny. “What glass?”

  “What house?” asked Jessie. “This house?”

  “Or the dollhouse?” suggested Violet.

  But Rory said, “We’ve looked the dollhouse over until I know every inch of it. Besides, it doesn’t have any glass.”

  “That’s so,” Violet agreed. “And I’m sure Stephanie can’t have meant the glass door in the front of the clock face. Let’s go down to Rory’s room and try to think. We haven’t any more clues. This is the last one.”

  The children left the tall clock where it was and clattered down to Rory’s room. Rory and Henry sat on the floor, but Benny made himself comfortable in a soft armchair. “Now let’s think what Stephanie meant by the back of the house,” Benny said. “This house?”