Hannah West: Sleuth on the Trail (Nancy Pearl's Book Crush Rediscoveries)

by Linda Johns

  “I believe that still constitutes breaking and entering,” one officer said. He looked at the other, as if waiting for her agreement. She nodded. “We’ll get back to you on that. I’m not sure what charges we’ll press. In the meantime, it looks like we need to track down one Georgia Smith.”

  “You might be able to catch her at the Yogini Center. She told me earlier she was planning on going to the four o’clock vinyasa class,” Louise said.

  The officers looked at her and shook their heads before leaving the house.

  “Louise, I don’t understand how you think that you were doing people a favor,” Libby said gently.

  “I don’t think that anymore,” she said. Then she let out a deep sigh. “I thought people would know right away that it was me. I’ve been talking nonstop about feng shui, and I left those calming stones as gifts, and as a sort of calling card. But Hannah here made me realize that what I’d done was a bit … creepy, to say the least.” She smiled at me. I, of course, had to smile back. Because once again a twelve-year-old had set a clueless adult straight.

  The phone rang, and Calvin raced Rachel to answer it. They came back into the dining room, with Rachel riding on her dad’s shoulders.

  “All taken care of,” Rachel said. “The police say a-okay.”

  We looked at Calvin for an interpretation. “That was the police. They picked up Georgia. They met her as she was coming out of her yoga class. She was carrying a yoga mat, and a box with a vase and one glass bowl. Another glass bowl—a more modern blown-glass one—was found in the backseat of her car. Sounds like it’s Mark and Tom’s missing Chihuly bowl.”

  CHAPTER 27

  You’re invited to a special screening of

  Antiques Caravan

  Starring Hannah West and Lily Shannon

  Friday at seven o’clock in the evening

  at Libby and Calvin Greenfield’s house

  Showtime begins promptly at eight p.m.

  BYOD

  (Bring Your Own Dog)

  YOU CAN’T SAY the word party around a four-year-old unless you fully intend to follow through. When Libby and Calvin mentioned they wanted to have a party the night that Antiques Caravan aired, Rachel immediately started talking party plans.

  Libby insisted that Mom and I invite whoever we wanted. Mom had agreed, but only on the condition that Libby let her help out with the hostessing duties. Once that was agreed to, Mom and I realized that it would be a nice way to bring together the people whom we had met during our different house-sitting gigs.

  As we went over the guest list with Libby, Rachel had begged for stories about each person. She especially wanted stories about their dogs. She particularly liked the story about Ruff, the cairn terrier who had played a part in my first case.

  “I want to meet Ruff,” Rachel announced. “Can we invite Ruff?” she asked her parents.

  Calvin hesitated, but Libby rushed in with a yes.

  “We don’t have to invite Ruff,” I said gently to Rachel. “We have all the dog we need right here with Izzie.”

  “Izzie wants to invite Ruff! Izzie wants all the dogs to come!” Rachel said. “Can they, Mommy? Can the dogs come?”

  This time Libby hesitated. “I guess so,” she said.

  “Yippee!” Rachel said.

  Calvin gave Libby one of those “What have you got us into?” looks. Mom often sent that same kind of look my way.

  “Is Louise coming?” Libby asked Mom on the night of the party. They were in the kitchen slicing tomatoes and chopping basil.

  “She said she’d rather not,” Mom said. “Something about how she’s taking a break from using electronic devices.”

  “Maybe the whole ordeal is still painful for her,” Libby said.

  “Maybe she didn’t think she should come without a dog of her own,” Lily said.

  The doorbell rang, and things got a little crazy as the party guests and their dogs arrived. Dorothy Powers and her cairn terrier, Ruff, were the first to arrive. Mom and I met Dorothy when we were house-sitting in the Belltown Towers.

  Mango, a labradoodle we’d taken care of on a houseboat last summer, arrived with his owner, Jake Heard, and his neighbor, Alice Campbell. Elvis, a basset hound, made his entrance, dragging his owner, Piper Christensen, behind him. We’d taken care of Elvis in Fremont. Not far behind Elvis was Scooter, a big shaggy dog from Fremont, with his owner, Benito.

  “Dad couldn’t come,” Benito said. “He’s on a case. By the way, he said to tell you congrats on your big case.” Ben’s dad is a private detective. I felt proud that someone like Tom Campo recognized my sleuthing skills.

  “Maybe Hannah can give your dad some tips,” Lily offered.

  “Hannah, so nice to see you!” Ben’s grandfather, Mack Pappas, shook my hand. He took off the old-fashioned hat he almost always wore and placed it on the table in the entryway.

  Mom’s friend Nina came with another artist, James, and their friend Polly Summers. The last guest to arrive was Jordan Walsh. I had gotten to know Jordan during our first case. I hadn’t expected that we’d end up as friends, but it just worked out that way. Now we have Japanese and art together, and we’re partners on a project on artists for our U.S. history class. Jordan, Lily, and I even eat lunch together every day at school.

  Mom was in her waitress mode, making sure everyone had snacks and drinks. Calvin made sure everyone had a comfortable place to sit where they could see the TV. That second part wasn’t really a problem, since the TV was so huge.

  “It’s going to start! It’s going to start! Wee-wooh, wee-wooh!” Rachel was wearing her fire chief outfit again. Her fire-engine imitation made everyone laugh, but they quieted down as the theme music for Antiques Caravan started. The camera scanned the Seattle skyline as the music faded.

  “There I am!” Rachel squealed. She somehow picked her tiny little red fire chief hat out of the throng of people along the sidewalk as the lead Antiques Caravan truck came down Fourteenth Avenue.

  “There I am again!” Rachel squealed. “Look at me! I’m here, and I’m there!” She stood next to the TV, pointing to herself in her fire chief outfit, and then pointing to herself onscreen in her fire chief outfit. “I’m double! I’m twins!”

  “We’d love to have two of you,” her dad said.

  The next close-up was of Lily in her circa 1906 outfit. I was right next to her, proudly wearing my cougar sweatshirt. “Grr!” Rachel said, giggling and pointing at me.

  The TV showed the houses along Millionaire’s Row, each one looking more stunning than the last, and then showed some highlights from Volunteer Park and the Seattle skyline at sunset.

  I was the second person featured on the show. And let me tell you, it’s really awful to watch yourself on TV. I don’t sound the way I think I sound in real life.

  “This is a porcelain Chinese brush pot that my grandfather gave me. It was designed to hold calligraphy brushes. And this coordinating piece is where one would rest his or her brush when taking a break,” I said to Marcia Wellstone. I glanced over at Mom. She was beaming with pride. I looked back at the TV. I guess I looked okay. The red streaks in my hair looked good on air. And I was wearing my beloved long-sleeved yin/yang shirt, a step up from an ordinary T-shirt or my cougar sweatshirt.

  “I hope I’m not too late for the party,” Mary Perez, Mom’s friend, entered the family room.

  “You missed seeing the incredibly interesting me,” I said. “Your loss.”

  “Believe me, Hannah, I saw you many times. I have this show practically memorized. You were all spectacular,” she said. Mary did a big story for KOMO TV on the stolen items that showed up at the Antiques Caravan taping. The story was so juicy it had been picked up by the network and aired on national news. A part of the story would be part of tonight’s show, too.

  “And now, ladies and gentlemen …” Lily said, as the show moved to the jewelry segment.

  “It’s you!” Lily’s brother, Zach, exclaimed. “You’re dressed funny.”
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  Lily shushed him. They weren’t on long, but I have to admit that Lily was pretty relaxed and good on camera. She might be right about this acting thing.

  Marcia Wellstone and Bradford Hines were in an elegant wood-panel office for the next segment.

  “Something highly unusual happened when we were in Seattle,” Marcia began.

  “Yes, indeed, Marcia,” Bradford Hines agreed. “As our viewers know, we thoroughly research each item that makes the final cut to be featured on our show. We don’t want there to be any errors, nor should a piece be featured that has a questionable history.”

  The camera showed a close-up of Louise’s bowl as Bradford Hines described the significance of Tiffany glass. The host also described Libby’s blue vase, and showed it from several angles. Libby looked over at the vase on the table, as if to make sure it was right where it belonged.

  “In an odd turn of events, it appears that both of these items were stolen from homes on Seattle’s Millionaire’s Row, the same street you saw at the beginning of tonight’s program. Thanks to the work of Hannah West, the young woman we featured earlier with the Ming Dynasty brush pot, who also happens to live on Millionaire’s Row, we were able to put all the pieces together. We asked reporter Mary Perez of Seattle to bring you the full details of the story.”

  We all watched as Mary went over the facts of the story. She interviewed Mom and me on camera about our involvement. Mom explained how we were professional house-sitters and so it’s part of our job to look after our clients’ belongings. Mom added that it often extended to looking after the neighbors’ homes and well-being, too.

  “Hannah’s photography and sketching skills have figured into a few other incidents here in Seattle in the past year. Perhaps the police department should hire this seventh-grade artist permanently. From Seattle, this is Mary Perez.”

  “You are all over TV!” Lily said. She didn’t sound jealous at all, and I knew she wasn’t.

  “I guess this is my fifteen minutes of fame?” I asked. No one answered. Everyone was talking at once.

  Rachel handed me a new drawing.

  “It’s you and your mom and Vincent and Pollock,” she said. “It’s your family.”

  “I love it!” I said. And I meant it. In the drawing, my two goldfish were the same size as Mom’s and my heads. Somehow, that seemed just perfect.

  “I really like it here, but I hope people don’t end up thinking that we actually live on Millionaire’s Row,” I whispered to Mom. “It totally blows my image as a struggling artist.”

  “Well, no matter what people think, I’ll always be proud of you,” Mom said, embracing me.

  “Thanks,” I said, hugging her back.

  I looked around the room and was amazed to see so many people I knew in one place. I tried to stop all the corny thoughts percolating in my head. But these weren’t just thoughts. They were feelings. And they were coming from my heart.

  Suddenly, it didn’t seem to matter at all that we didn’t have a permanent address. Being surrounded by family and friends felt good. It felt like home.

  Q and A with NANCY PEARL and LINDA JOHNS

  NANCY PEARL: Where did the inspiration for the Hannah West books come from?

  LINDA JOHNS: My favorite mysteries are stories set in real places, like Harriet the Spy, which takes place in New York City. My favorite city is Seattle, where I’ve lived most of my life. I wanted to write a mystery story that was set in Seattle, but it didn’t all start coming together until I had the character of Hannah West in my head.

  I needed a way for Hannah to be in different parts of the city so she could solve mysteries. I knew she also needed some sort of “cover,” a way to be out and about observing things. A good detective is always observing. Walking a dog is a great way to explore new neighborhoods, and it seemed natural that Hannah, a dog lover, would have a dog-sitting and dog-walking business. If Hannah and her mom were also professional house sitters, they’d have a chance to live in fancy places and meet all kinds of interesting people. And all of this gave me the opportunity to spend countless hours walking my dog, Owen, around funky and charming neighborhoods.

  NP: Why did you choose to make Hannah Chinese?

  LJ: I based the character of Hannah on one of my favorite girls, who happens to have been born in China and adopted by an American family. I hadn’t read many books for young readers that represented the people I know and see every day. And I didn’t know of any books, at that time, with a main character who was Chinese-born and adopted as a baby and brought to the US.

  NP: When you wrote the first book, Hannah West in the Belltown Towers, did you think you’d write three more about the same character? Do you ever think about writing more about Hannah and her friend Lily?

  LJ: I’m very attached to Hannah as a character and I hoped that I’d be able to write more stories starring Hannah solving mysteries. I wrote and rewrote the first mystery several times, with lots of edits and tweaks in each new version, before I sent it to my agent. I wrote a brief overview about two more potential mysteries. I was thrilled to get to write not just two, but three more. I am sure there are more mysteries that need to be solved in Seattle, and I think Hannah and her best friend Lily are the duo to do it.

  NP: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Did you write stories as a child? If so, do you still have some of them? How do you feel reading them now?

  LJ: I was in second grade when I decided I wanted to be a writer. My mom kept the story that set me on this path. It was really sweet of her to keep it, and it was also indicative of how much both my parents supported me as a writer. In fact, every job I took as an adult, my mom would always ask, “Are you sure you’ll have enough time to keep writing?” But back to my second grade story: It would have been better with more action. It still delights me to remember how much fun I had writing it.

  NP: Do you like to read? What sorts of books? As a child, were you a big reader? How did (or not) your parents encourage you to read? What were some of your favorite books as a kid?

  LJ: I love to read! Right now I tend to read mysteries and general fiction. I read books written for children, teens, and adults. I’m from a family of readers, and it was a common occurrence to see my parents and my sister and I all together in the living room, each a world away in a book. We were definitely a family that took “reading together” to heart. My parents encouraged me to read whatever caught my fancy. Sometimes that meant sitting next to a set of encyclopedias and flipping through the pages. The “D” encyclopedia was my favorite because it was the one with several pages on dog breeds and their history.

  At my elementary school, once we were in fourth grade, our daily reading time was spent in the library reading whatever we wanted. How great is that? Almost an entire hour each day at school where you could sprawl out on the floor or curl up in a chair and read. I claimed the “H” aisle in the library as my reading spot because that’s where Marguerite Henry (she wrote horse books, like Misty of Chincoteague) was. I read my way through the library, choosing a book from each section. Whenever we finished a book, we’d sit down with our librarian, Ms. Elrod, and talk to her about what happened in the book and what we liked about it. A lot of who I am now is grounded in those hours in the library and the conversations with Ms. Elrod.

  When I was younger, I loved the picture book Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. My friend Hannah (who is a librarian) gave me a Harry the Dirty Dog T-shirt for a recent birthday and I am so happy whenever I wear it.

  NP: If someone liked your books, what others would you recommend?

  LJ: Try the Gilda Joyce mystery series by Jennifer Allison. Gilda is a psychic investigator who often underestimates how her own intelligence is what’s actually solving a mystery. She’s a resourceful spy and has a flair for disguises when she needs to go undercover. And don’t miss The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher, starring best friends Sophie Young and Grace Yang as unstoppable young detectives.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is an older mystery (published in 1978) that I think stands the test of time. It features a young detective piecing together clues to solve a rock-solid mystery. The Westing Game is my all-time favorite mystery, and that includes the adult mysteries I’ve read as well.

  NP: I know that you’re a librarian—is that a good career choice for someone who likes to read and write stories?

  LJ: Being a librarian is a perfect job for someone who loves reading and writing! In addition to getting to be around books and talk about books, a librarian spends a lot of time working directly with people and hearing their stories. A big part of being a writer (or a detective!) is observing people and tracking down information. A librarian gets to do this every day, a hundred times each day.

  I had a great professor at the University of Washington who inspired many of my coworkers and I to be librarians. Her name was Nancy Pearl and she taught us that there is a book for every reader. If you can get someone to talk about a book he or she has loved, you can pick up clues to find the right book at the right moment for that reader. Writers, detectives, and librarians—we all use clues, stories, and information to save the day.

  ABOUT the AUTHOR

  PHOTO © INGRID PAPE-SHELDON

  LINDA JOHNS is a writer, reader, and librarian. The order changes depending on the day. She works at the Seattle Public Library’s downtown Central Library, a gorgeous eleven-story building with a million books inside. She grew up in Cheney, Washington, and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in journalism. She has a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Washington. Her first job, at age fifteen, involved a lot of stapling. Subsequent jobs (after college) included reporter, editor, and bookseller. Linda lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and a basset hound named Owen Henderson.