Mara Louis; Girl of Mystery

by Timothy Paterson

Betsy Morgan, in Colorado last winter, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Yes, but keep your voice down.” he said. “You don’t know what it’s like to be famous.”

  “Oh, I don’t, do I?” said Mara, as she held up the front page of the newspaper. Mara gave Scott her address and phone number.

  Scott told her that his mom and he would pick her up on Saturday and she would drive then to the White House where they would meet up with Betsy.

  “Another mystery, so soon?” thought Mara. “I can hardly wait.”

  The White House Mystery

  Mara was very excited as she waited in front of her house. Scott Wilson and his mother would be there any moment, to pick her up and drive her and Scott to the White House.

  Once there, she, Scott and Betsy Morgan, the President’s daughter would try to solve a mystery.

  Betsy and Scott were good friends and had been friends, since Scott saved Betsy from kidnappers in Colorado, six months earlier.

  Betsy and Scott were both in the eighth grade, and Mara was in the seventh grade.

  Betsy attended a private school in Washington, D.C., while Mara and Scott attended the same middle school in Baltimore.

  Mara did not know which was more exciting, going to the White House, or having a new mystery to solve.

  An SUV pulled up in front of her house and Scott got out and opened the door for Mara, like a true gentleman. He used to be self centered, thinking only of himself, but now, he put others needs first.

  Scott introduced Mara to his mother and then they were on the road, headed for the White House.

  Thirty minutes later, they drove up to the security checkpoint of the White House. When the guard saw that it was Scott and his mother, he opened the gate and waved them through.

  Mrs. Wilson dropped them off at the front entrance of the White House and told them that she would be back to pick them up at 6p.m.

  Before Scott could ring the bell, the door opened and there stood Betsy Morgan.

  Scott introduced Betsy and Mara to each other and then the three of them headed to Betsy’s bedroom in the family’s private residence.

  After Betsy had closed the door to her room, she told Mara that she had read about all of the mysteries she had solved. She had also read about Mara meeting Jason and Ryan Davis.

  Betsy asked Mara if Jason and Ryan were as cute in person. For the next fifteen minutes, the two girls talked about Jason, Ryan, and other Hollywood gossip.

  Scott waited patiently, but after fifteen minutes, he said, “Enough, already. I thought we were to solve a mystery, not drool over a couple of stupid actors.”

  “It sounds like someone’s jealous,” said Betsy. When Scott turned red with embarrassment, Mara decided to change the subject.

  “So, what exactly, is this mystery?” Mara asked Betsy.

  Betsy took a folded piece of paper from her desk drawer. The paper had yellowed with age. “I found this hidden inside an old book in the White House library,” she said.

  She handed the paper to Mara, so that she could read it.

  Mara saw that the paper was a will, and she began to read it:

  “This is my last Will and Testament. Since, I have no surviving relatives, whoever finds this will; and can locate my special collection, and the rest of my belongings, will become the legal owner of them.

  This special collection was started by my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Carver. He was employed as the President’s valet and he served every president from President George Washington, to Abraham Lincoln.

  When he died, my grandfather, Jonathan Carver, took over the position. He worked in the White House from 1861 to 1900.

  When my grandfather died, I, William T. Carver assumed the position as valet to the president. I have held this position from 1900 to the present and have been assured that the position is mine until my death, or until I can no longer carry out my duties.

  I am getting on in years, and since I have no children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces, whoever is lucky enough to find this will and my property, becomes the sole heir to my entire estate.

  The only clue I will give you, is that my collection is located in a nice box, within the White House. Good Luck to you, my friend. I sign this document by my own hand, this twentieth day of August 1960.

  William T. Carver.”

  After Mara read the letter, she asked Betsy, “Have you started searching for this fancy box yet?”

  “I just found the paper on Monday, and with school and my homework, I haven’t had time to look for it. Will you help us look for it?”

  “Are you kidding?” Mara asked her, “I would never turn down a good mystery.”

  “Great” said Scott, what should we do first?”

  “First”, said Mara, “we need to look through old White House records, to make sure that there were valets named Carver working in the White House. There is the possibility that this is some kind of hoax.”

  “Second, we have to get permission to search the White House. I don’t want to get in trouble with the United States Government.”

  Betsy led the way to the library. When they got there, they started looking through the many shelves of old books. After looking through many books, Mara finally found what she was looking for.

  There were several old journals listing previous staff that had worked in the White House since it was built in 1800.

  Mara found an entry that stated, “Thomas Carver, free Negro, son of slaves; worked as valet and cook the president from 1796 to 1861.”

  Another entry stated, “Jonathan Carver, employed as valet and cook to the president from 1861 to 1902.”

  The last entry that was of importance to Mara was one that stated, “William T. Carver, Personal Valet to the President from 1902 to 1963”

  “Now, that we know The Carvers really did exist, we need to ask permission to search the White House.” said Mara. “Who do we ask?”

  “My father, of course.” said Betsy. “After all, if the president can’t give us permission, then who can?”

  Mara was very nervous. She was going to meet the President of the United States.

  The three of them, went to the oval office, where the president was working. When they walked into the office, President Morgan stood up and walked over to greet them.

  “Hello Scott, this must be your friend, Mara that you told me about.” Then, the president stuck out his hand to greet Mara. Mara wiped her hands on her pants, because she was nervous and her hands were sweating. When she shook the president’s hand, she felt like she was going to pass out. “This was way cool,” she thought.

  President invited Mara and Scott to have lunch with his family.

  During lunch, Betsy, Scott and Mara explained about the will they found and the mystery involved. They asked permission to look for the special box.

  “Are you the same Mara Louis that recently found the priceless violin in Philadelphia?” asked the president.

  “Yes Sir, that’s me,” replied Mara.

  “Don’t forget about the other mysteries that she has also solved.” said Betsy. She found the gold coins in the old cemetery, the priceless art collection and she got rid of the ghost in California.”

  “You have been pretty busy, haven’t you, Mara?” asked Mrs. Morgan.

  President Morgan looked at the three detectives and said, “You have permission, as long as you don’t pester anyone and you don’t damage any property. Good Luck!”

  After lunch, Scott, Betsy and Mara began their search. Betsy had made a checklist that included all of the rooms in the White House. As they searched each room, they checked it off the list.

  As Mara went through the rooms, she was fascinated by the history of the White House. She asked Betsy, “Could I come back here sometime, when I have more time, to loo
k at the White House more thoroughly?”

  “Sure” replied Betsy, come by anytime, well, as long as my dad is the president, anyway.”

  Mara was awestruck, as she realized how many presidents and other important people had walked the very halls that she was walking in.

  As the three of them searched the rooms, they looked for anything that could be considered a special box.

  When they found one, they searched for hidden compartments, false bottoms, and clues that might tell them where the secret collection was hidden.

  By four o’clock that afternoon, they realized that they would not finish the search before Scott and Mara had to go home.

  Betsy asked her mother, if Scott and Mara could spend the night at the White House. She said yes, as long as it was all right with their parents.

  “Mom?” asked Betsy, in a pleading voice, Could you please call their mothers and ask for permission?” The first lady knew, as did Betsy, that Scott and Mara’s mothers could not say no to the wife of the president. Therefore, Mrs. Morgan made the calls and both Mara and Scott were given permission to stay until Sunday evening.

  For dinner, Mrs. Morgan ordered pizza. When they finished eating, the five of them watched a brand new movie in the White House movie theater. The movie was so new, that it had not been released to the public yet.

  After the movie, Betsy loaned a pair of pajamas to Mara to wear. “Hey Scott” she said, “I have a pair for you too. Do you prefer pink or purple?” “Neither,” said Scott, with an irritated look on his face. “Why not?” asked Betsy, in a teasing voice, I wore your clothes, even