The Mystery of the Empty Safe

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “You sure can,” said Violet. “It’s easy. We’ll bring all the supplies and show everyone what to do. Our neighbor has a baby, so we’ll ask her for her empty baby food jars to make them in.”

  The Aldens then told her about a game they’d made up called “Melt the Ice Cube.” It was a little like “Hot Potato.” The kids would sit in a circle passing the “ice cube”—which was really a present wrapped in lots of layers of paper—in time to music. Each time the music stopped, whoever was holding the gift got to unwrap a layer. The one who tore off the last layer of wrapping paper got to keep the gift as a prize.

  “That sounds like fun!” said Hallie. “And I can do it even with this stupid broken ankle!”

  “You sure can,” said Violet.

  “Hey, tell her about the popcorn snowmen,” said Benny.

  “Popcorn snowmen?” asked Hallie.

  “As a special treat to eat, all the kids can make their own popcorn snowmen,” said Henry. “We’ll start them before the party, by mixing popcorn and melted marshmallows, and rolling the mixture into balls. Then everyone can stack the popcorn balls and decorate them with candy to make them look like snowmen.”

  “And then you get to eat them!” Benny added.

  Mr. Grayson smiled broadly. “It sounds like you kids have put a lot of thought into this party and come up with some great ideas—on very short notice!”

  He was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. “Excuse me,” he said, picking up the receiver.

  Hallie and the Aldens talked quietly while Mr. Grayson was on the phone. She was very excited about her birthday party now that she’d heard their wonderful ideas. Benny asked Hallie about the writing he saw on her cast. Hallie explained that her friends had written little get-well messages there. Then she pulled out some colored markers, and each of the Aldens signed her cast and drew pictures, too.

  As they were working, Jessie looked over at Mr. Grayson, who was still on the phone. His face was red and he looked angry. His voice sounded tense.

  She looked back at her drawing and tried to focus on it. But all of a sudden Jessie overheard Mr. Grayson say, “I’m sorry if you’re angry, but I’ve already hired the Alden kids. I don’t want to discuss this anymore.” And he quickly hung up the phone.

  CHAPTER 4

  A Mysterious Phone Call

  All the children looked over when they heard the receiver bang down.

  “Who was that, Dad?” asked Hallie.

  “Oh, nobody,” Mr. Grayson said.

  “You sounded upset,” Hallie said.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Mr. Grayson answered.

  Jessie knew it was none of her business. Still, she wondered what had made Mr. Grayson so angry.

  “It wasn’t that magic lady again, was it?” said Hallie.

  “Magic lady?” her father said. “Oh, you mean the magician. Yes, as a matter of fact, it was.” He turned to the Aldens and explained. “When Hallie broke her ankle, I knew the skating party was out. So I quickly called the same magician we’d had last year. She changed her plans to fit us in at the last minute. But Hallie wasn’t too excited about having the same party she’d had last year.

  “Then Janet Woodruff told me about you kids, so I canceled the magician. She and her manager are pretty angry now. Anyway …” Mr. Grayson seemed eager to change the subject. Looking down at Hallie’s leg, he said, “What great drawings you made on Hallie’s cast!”

  “Doesn’t it look nice now?” Hallie asked.

  “We’d better get going—we’ve got to go to the party store and buy supplies,” Jessie said.

  “Great. Call and let me know how things are going,” said Mr. Grayson.

  “See you this weekend!” Hallie called as the Aldens left.

  On their way to the store, the Aldens talked about what had just happened at the Graysons’.

  “Do you think Mr. Grayson was talking on the phone to Cassandra the Great?” asked Violet.

  “He might have been,” said Jessie. “There aren’t that many magicians in town who entertain at birthday parties. And he said it was a woman.”

  “If it was Cassandra and she was really angry at us for taking one of her jobs, that might explain why she tore down our posters,” said Benny.

  “That’s right,” said Jessie. “Mr. Grayson said she’d rearranged her plans for him.”

  “I hate to think that someone is so angry at us,” said Violet. “We’re not trying to steal her business.”

  “No, we’re not,” Jessie agreed. “And even if we have gotten some of her jobs, that doesn’t make it right to tear down our posters.”

  “I was wondering …” said Benny.

  “What?” asked Henry.

  “What if it isn’t Cassandra who’s tearing down the posters?” Benny said.

  “Are you thinking of her manager?” Jessie asked.

  “Well, maybe he is,” Benny said.

  “It sounds as if you have another person in mind,” Violet said.

  “Yes,” Benny said. “Mr. Woodruff.”

  “Mr. Woodruff?” Jessie asked. “Why would he do something so rotten?”

  “Whenever we see him, he’s very rude to us,” Benny said. “And we saw him following us. What if he just doesn’t like us for some reason and he wants our business to fail?”

  “I guess that’s possible,” Jessie said doubtfully.

  “Well, we just have to keep doing the best we can at each party,” said Violet. “Then our business is sure to be a success.”

  Soon they reached Party Time. When they entered the store, Ms. Fox gave them a cheery hello. “Are you kids back again?” she asked.

  “We’ve just been hired to do another party!” Benny said excitedly.

  “Wow, that business of yours is really taking off!” Ms. Fox said. “Whose party is it this time?”

  Jessie told Ms. Fox about Hallie Grayson and her broken ankle.

  “Poor kid,” said Ms. Fox. “I remember I broke my ankle when I was a kid. It’s hard being on crutches when you want to go out and play.”

  “She was planning to have a skating party, too,” said Violet. “We’re still going to celebrate at the rink, though. They have a special room for parties. The kids will play games and make things instead of skating.”

  “Why not just have the party at their house?” Ms. Fox asked.

  “Their house has lots of fancy artwork, so her father doesn’t want kids running around there,” Henry explained.

  “Well, I’m sure it will be great,” said Ms. Fox.

  “We’d better hurry up and get started,” said Jessie. “The party is this Saturday afternoon!”

  The Aldens picked out plates and napkins with snowflakes on them. For decorations they bought sparkly silver tinsel to hang up like icicles. They bought colored felt and yarn for making puppets, and for the snow globes they bought colored quick-drying clay and glitter.

  “And finally,” said Jessie, “we’ll get this little stuffed snowman as the prize for the Melt the Ice Cube game.”

  The children finished making their purchases and headed home to begin working.

  The Aldens managed to get everything done by Saturday. It was a cold, crisp day when the Aldens arrived at the rink to begin setting up. They hung the tinsel and snowflakes they’d made, and covered the table with the pretty snowflake tablecloth.

  “It looks great,” Hallie said when she got there.

  As soon as the guests arrived, Jessie and Violet taught all the kids how to make their own snow globes. Each girl or boy ended up making something quite different. One made a snowman and another a little teddy bear. Hallie made a girl ice-skating.

  At the end of the party, when the clay was hard, the Aldens would put water and glitter into the jars to finish the snow globes.

  The puppet show was a great success—the children shouted and laughed and threw confetti when they were supposed to.

  When the party was almost over, the Aldens got the cake ready.
They had baked it in the shape of a snowman, using three different-sized round cake pans for the body and head. They had iced the cake with white icing and shredded coconut to look like snow. The snowman’s eyes, nose, and mouth were made from candy, the arms were pretzel sticks, and a piece of red licorice around its neck made a scarf.

  Hallie’s eyes lit up when she saw the cake. She turned to the Aldens and said, “This is the best birthday party ever! Thank you.” Then she blew out the candles.

  After the party favors had been given out, the guests had all gone home, and everything had been cleaned up, the Graysons and Aldens said good-bye.

  “Thank you so much for everything,” Hallie said as she gave each of the Aldens a hug. “You made this birthday really special. You really did a wonderful job. I’ll recommend you to all my friends.”

  “That would be great,” said Henry.

  “Enjoy the rest of your day!” Jessie called as the Graysons drove off.

  Grandfather had told the children he’d pick them up at four o’clock, a half hour after the party ended, so they’d have time to clean up. It was now ten minutes to four.

  As the children waited for Grandfather, they heard the music playing from the ice-skating rink.

  “I want to go skating!” Benny said.

  “That’s a great idea,” said Jessie. “I’ll call Grandfather and tell him not to pick us up until six.”

  The Aldens went back inside the rink. While Jessie found a phone, the others rented skates.

  “Grandfather said that would be fine,” Jessie said when she came back. She got a pair of skates for herself. The others had already laced up and were waiting for her.

  Soon all four children were out on the ice, skating around in time to the music. Henry zoomed around quickly. Hockey was one of his favorite sports. Benny was still a little unsteady on his skates, so he just went slowly, trying not to fall. Violet tried the new moves her hockey coach had been teaching her—crossing her skates over and skating backward. Jessie went straight to the middle of the ice and practiced her graceful spins and turns.

  Too soon it was quarter to six. The children returned their skates and put their shoes back on. When they got outside, Grandfather was just pulling up to the curb.

  “How was the skating?” he asked when they’d all gotten inside the car and buckled their seat belts.

  “It was great!” said Jessie.

  “And the party went well?” Grandfather wanted to know.

  “It did. Hallie was really pleased,” Henry said.

  As they drove, the children told their grandfather about their afternoon. The ride home took them past the Graysons’ house. As they turned onto Hallie’s street, the children saw a police car parked right in front of the Graysons’.

  “Look, a police car!” Benny cried.

  The Aldens looked at the Graysons’ house as they went by, but they could see nothing wrong from the outside.

  As soon as they got home, Mrs. McGregor met them at the door, a concerned look on her face. “Henry, Mr. Grayson called a little while ago. He asked you to call him as soon as you got home.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. McGregor,” Henry said, going straight to the phone.

  He dialed and then waited a moment. “Hello, Mr. Grayson,” he said when he heard the man pick up. “It’s Henry Alden. Is everything okay?”

  “Well,” Mr. Grayson said, “the party was wonderful. But when we got home, we found we’d been robbed!”

  CHAPTER 5

  “I’ll Get Rid of Them!”

  “Oh, no!” Henry said. He sounded so upset that the rest of the family looked over to see what was the matter. “We’ll be right over.” He hung up the phone.

  “What happened?” Jessie asked.

  “You’ll never believe it,” Henry said. “The Graysons were robbed, too!”

  For a moment everyone was silent. Then Violet said, “Just like the Pierces, during their party.”

  “Yes,” said Henry.

  “What’s going on?” Benny asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Henry, “but I told Mr. Grayson we’d be right over.”

  A few minutes later the Aldens arrived at the Graysons’ house. The police car that had been parked in front of the house was gone now.

  Mr. Grayson answered the door, looking grim. “Ah, the Aldens,” he said. “Come in.”

  The Aldens followed Mr. Grayson into the living room, where Hallie was sitting looking very sad. Mr. Grayson motioned to the Aldens to sit down.

  For a moment he didn’t say anything. He just sat rubbing his forehead wearily.

  “Mr. Grayson?” Grandfather said at last. “What happened?”

  Mr. Grayson looked up at the Aldens, as if he’d forgotten they were there. Then he sighed and began speaking. “Hallie and I got back from the party at about four. As soon as we came in, something felt wrong. When I came in here, I immediately saw that the door to my safe was open. Someone had broken into it and stolen all the valuables inside. They also took a few small—but expensive—works of art. It seems they took whatever they could carry with them.”

  “How terrible!” said Jessie.

  “Do you have an alarm?” Henry asked.

  “Yes, I do,” said Mr. Grayson. “But I guess they knew how to cut the wires.”

  “They must have realized you were out and wouldn’t be back for a while,” Grandfather pointed out.

  “I guess so …” Mr. Grayson agreed. And once again, he slumped over, holding his head in his hands.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Grayson,” Benny said. “We’ll figure out who did this. We’re good at solving mysteries.”

  Mr. Grayson looked up at Benny, and for the first time since the party, he smiled a small smile. “Thank you, Benny. That’s good to know.”

  “But I don’t think I can solve any mysteries right now,” Benny said. “I’m too hungry to think!”

  Everyone laughed.

  Jessie looked at her watch. It was nearly seven o’clock. “Have you had any dinner yet?” she asked the Graysons.

  “No,” said Mr. Grayson. “I didn’t realize it was that late.”

  “I am getting kind of hungry, Dad,” Hallie said.

  “You’ve had a terrible shock,” Jessie said. “How about if we whip up a quick dinner for you.”

  “Yeah, eating always makes me feel better,” said Benny.

  “Oh, that’s not necessary,” Mr. Grayson said.

  “Are you sure?” asked Henry. “We’re good cooks.”

  “They are good cooks,” said Grandfather, “and they would like to help.”

  “Party planners, mystery solvers, and cooks—is there anything you kids can’t do?” Mr. Grayson said with a grin. “Come on in the kitchen and we’ll see what we’ve got. But you must stay and have dinner with us.”

  The Aldens were glad to see that Mr. Grayson was feeling a little better. Together they found a large box of spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce in the pantry.

  “We’ll have a good dinner ready in no time,” said Jessie. “Why don’t you and Hallie and Grandfather just relax for a little while.”

  “If I were you, I’d want to play with my birthday presents,” Benny said to Hallie.

  A big smile appeared on Hallie’s face. “Good idea, Benny,” she said. “I’d almost forgotten it was my birthday.”

  While Mr. Grayson and Grandfather sat in the living room talking and Hallie played with all the wonderful gifts her friends had brought her, the Aldens got to work in the kitchen.

  Violet found a loaf of Italian bread in the bread box and spread it with butter and sprinkled it with garlic. Then she wrapped it in tinfoil and put it in the oven.

  While she was waiting for the water to boil for the spaghetti, Jessie put a pot of sauce on the stove. Then she and Benny set the table.

  When Benny called the Graysons to come in for dinner, Mr. Grayson and Hallie were quite impressed with what they saw. Henry had piled each plate with a large serving of spaghetti and heaped s
teaming-hot sauce on top. He’d sprinkled each mound with freshly grated Parmesan cheese he’d found in the refrigerator. In the center of the table were a bowl of fresh crisp salad and a basket of warm, buttery garlic bread.

  “This is a feast!” said Mr. Grayson.

  “Everything looks delicious,” Hallie agreed.

  The Aldens and the Graysons sat down and enjoyed the meal. As they ate, they talked about lots of different things, but made sure not to talk about the burglary.

  After dinner, Mr. Grayson and Hallie helped the Aldens clean up and wash the dishes.

  “I guess we’d better get home now,” Grandfather said when everything was put away.

  “Let us know if you hear anything from the police,” said Jessie.

  “We certainly will,” Mr. Grayson said. “And thank you again, for everything.”

  On their way home, the Aldens talked about the burglary. “Isn’t it strange that we’ve done two parties, and each time the house was robbed?” said Henry.

  “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” Grandfather said. “I read in the local paper that there have been several burglaries in Greenfield recently. I’m sure they have nothing to do with your parties.”

  “I guess not,” said Henry. But he didn’t sound convinced.

  The next day the Aldens went to the Woodruffs’ house to work on the outer space decorations for Sara’s party. They headed straight down to the basement, where they’d left the pictures of planets they’d painted several days before. Since the paint was dry, Henry got to work cutting the planets out, as Violet traced stars and rocket ships for the others to paint.

  “Oh, no,” Violet muttered to herself.

  “What’s the matter?” Jessie asked.

  “I just thought of something we forgot to buy,” Violet said. “Glitter for the stars. I was going to mix it into the paint to make the stars sparkle.”

  “Don’t we have some left from the snow globes?” Henry asked.

  “No, we used it all up,” Violet said.

  “Why don’t you all start painting the moons and rockets, and I’ll walk into town and get some more glitter,” Jessie suggested.