Hannah West: Sleuth in Training (Nancy Pearl's Book Crush Rediscoveries)

by Linda Johns

  “In here!” I beckoned Lily and Jordan into a small room, and we closed the door. We waited for the footsteps to go past us. Ruff started sniffing around. “Please be quiet, please be quiet,” I silently willed Ruff not to make any sudden dog noises. But he just kept sniffing. He nudged Lily over, and his nose went right for a small hole in the wall.

  “Ruff! Over here!” I whispered. I pulled a dried-liver treat out of my pocket and lured him over to the corner. Then I got down on all fours and peeked through the hole. It looked right into the big room, but it was way too low to see anything except feet and legs. But two feet higher there was a wide crack that made quite a handy portal into the other room. They were all there: Nina; James; Ms. Murdoch; her brother, Conner; and about six other people. Each person—except Conner Murdoch—was at an easel. To the unsuspecting eye, it might look like some kind of hip art jam, with a bunch of artists hanging out together and making art to loud music. But no one here looked like they were having fun. In fact, they all looked tortured.

  I could see why.

  Mimi Hansen came into view. She walked by each easel. “Hmm … this one might work. And this one works. Very Hansen. Yes, that’s good. Very Hansen. Yes, yes. That’s so Hansen!” She clapped her hands to get their attention, just like she was a first-grade teacher. Maybe we could see only part of her through the hole, but her voice was coming through loud and clear.

  “Listen up, people. It’s only a week until the Honcho auction. I need each of you to finish one more painting by Wednesday. There are only two here tonight that are ready for me to sign,” she said. “You really need to crank it up.” She walked over to a painting James was doing. “I’m ready to sign this one.” She elbowed James out of the way.

  “It’s not actually finished,” he said.

  “I say it is finished, and that means it’s finished,” Mimi hissed. “You need to start another painting. Now!”

  “She’s so mean. Oops. Sorry!” Lily grimaced toward Jordan.

  “It’s okay,” Jordan whispered back.

  Mimi took the painting from James’s easel and brought it over to a large worktable. Mr. Snotty Art Guy was back in the room now. He photographed the painting and wrote something down in a ledger.

  “Listen up, people!” Mimi called to the room. She turned down the music on the boom box. “You can take a break in ten. But it looks like it will be a long night.”

  Just then Jordan’s cell phone rang. Oops, she mouthed. Lily and I glared at her.

  “Were you expecting anyone else?” I heard Mimi ask.

  Jordan sighed and climbed out of the closet. We peered out the door as she walked down the hall toward the studio and Mimi Hansen.

  “Hello, Mother,” Jordan said.

  “Jordan! What are you doing here? You know I must work in private,” Mimi said. That was a hoot, since she certainly wasn’t working—and there were nine people who were.

  “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m not here to bother you. I just need some cash,” Jordan said. She held out her hand, palm up, with the air of a bored pampered teenager.

  Hmm … not bad, Jordan, I thought. Maybe she could join the Lily Shannon Acting Troupe.

  “Come on! Let’s get out of here!” I carried Ruff and led Lily out of the closet, down the hall, back down two flights of stairs, and out onto First Avenue.

  CHAPTER 24

  “DO YOU HAVE a plan?” Lily asked.

  “My plan is gadgets. We need some gadgets,” I said. Ruff barked. “Thank you for not doing that inside,” I added, nuzzling my nose into his neck.

  We went up to our apartment and grabbed Mom’s digital camera. Mom needed it for her work at the magazine, and she had made it very clear that I was not supposed to touch it. But these were extraordinary circumstances. On second thought, a video camera would be even better. I opened Owen’s office. He’d purposefully left all his high-tech gear at home so he could “get back to nature” on his trip. I didn’t think he’d mind if I borrowed his digital video camera. Or one of his digital video cameras, I should say. I had my choice of four. “Sweet!” I said, holding up a black camera as small as a credit card.

  “Cool!” Lily said. “I didn’t even know they made them that small.”

  “Here, you can use this one,” I said. I handed her another camera that was about the size of a TV remote control.

  “Okay, I’ll use this huge one. But what am I doing with it?” Lily asked.

  “We need to prove that Mimi Hansen is a big fat fake,” I said. “No one will believe us. But if we can get some pictures of her factory, then maybe people will stop worshiping her.”

  “Wow! We solved our first case!” Lily said. We got on the elevator to go downstairs.

  “Not yet. We know the answer to one part. But we still don’t know who was stealing the paintings,” I said.

  “I thought it was Mr. Bike Messenger Guy,” Lily said. “Ms. Murdoch’s brother.”

  “I’m not so sure. I still think he can’t be trusted, but I’m not sure how he fits in. What would his motive be?”

  “Money? That’s usually a pretty good motive,” Lily said.

  She had a point. But something still didn’t seem quite right.

  Our timing was perfect. We reached the black door to The Factory just as a couple of the guys we’d seen upstairs were heading back in. Their break must be over. I grabbed the door before it closed completely. We waited until the footsteps heading upstairs got softer and faded. We tiptoed up the stairs and back into the little closet. Drat! I was so used to taking Ruff everywhere that I still had him with me. The little guy was being especially mellow, as if he was trying to prove his worthiness for undercover work.

  “Let’s see if this works,” I said. I put the viewfinder of the camera right up to the peephole and started videotaping. “Darn!” I had to suppress a laugh when I passed it to Lily to take a look. The camera had captured James’s dreadlocks and half of Ms. Murdoch. “I don’t suppose Mimi will be crouching down so I can get her head into a shot, will she?” I whispered. “Because this isn’t the kind of video that makes good TV.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Lily said. “But you have to give me the little cute camera. I’ve had enough of this monster.”

  Lily handed over the comparatively huge three-inch camera, and I reluctantly gave her the teensy tiny one. She looked at me intensely. “On second thought,” she whispered, “this is your gig.” She handed the miniature video camera back to me.

  “Huh?” Oops. I hope I didn’t say that too loudly. But as it turns out, we could probably be talking in normal voices and no one in The Factory would be able to hear us. Lily crossed her arms and sighed as if exasperated with me. “It’s time, Hannah my dear, for you to go onstage. Now.”

  I knew she was right. Not about me acting, but about me getting to the bottom of this. If there was a bottom to be found, I was the one who was going to find it, and if I was lucky, I wouldn’t end up on my own bottom. I put some Burt’s Bees lip balm on my lips and did a silent smacking. I did a quick finger comb of my hair and then flipped it over my shoulder in what I hoped was a dramatic manner.

  “Perfect!” Lily crooned. “Now go break a leg. But don’t really break a leg or trip or do anything klutzy.” Her confidence in me seemed to be waning.

  She gently shoved me out of the closet and into the hallway. I took a deep breath and barged right through the door of The Factory. It was a showstopping entrance, if I do say so myself, yet no one even noticed me. The music was still loud, and all the artists were intensely working at their easels. Mimi was intently text messaging on her cell phone. Excellent. I could get some good shots before they noticed me.

  I cupped Owen’s tiny digital camera in the palm of my hand and started filming.

  “Excuse me!” I called over the music. I waved my hands slowly over my head to get their attention. It was hard not to smile at my improvisational skills, since the hand-waving gesture was just to get some more video shots.

&
nbsp; Mimi Hansen motioned for someone to turn down the music.

  “You again! You seem to frequently appear in the wrong places,” she said. “And this time, you have the wrong floor. This is a private workspace. Please leave.”

  “I’m sorry. I need help,” I said. “I’m trying to find Nina Krimmel.”

  “Hannah?” Nina came out from behind an easel. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” She turned to Mimi. “No one knew I was here. I didn’t tell anyone, really.”

  Geesh. I hated to see Nina grovel.

  “Nina!” I ran over to her. But I didn’t take the most direct route. I wove my way through the room, passing paintings with the camera still cupped in my hand. “I’m so sorry,” I said when I got to Nina. “I need your help. It’s an emergency,” she said.

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Maggie okay?” Nina looked genuinely worried. I must be pretty good at this acting thing.

  “Yes! It’s Maggie. AND Lily. And Billy Bob and Bobbie Joe, too,” I said. Hey, I couldn’t be expected to be totally original with names when I was improvising.

  Nina looked at me like, Huh, what the heck are you talking about?

  “You can’t let outsiders into The Factory!” Mimi bellowed. “I don’t know who this girl is or how she found you, but I can assure you that you are no longer creating Mimi Hansen art. Nor will you be paid for this evening’s work.”

  “Oh, who cares!” Nina snapped. “Some things are more important than Mimi Hansen!”

  “Right on, Nina!” I said. Oops. I forgot I was in the middle of an “emergency.” I moved back into my sniveling role. “Nina, please, we need to go now.” I started marching out of the workroom as if on a mission, but I wanted to get more video shots. The inspiring words of my acting coach, the great Lily Shannon, seeped into my head: Break a leg. But don’t really break a leg or trip or do anything klutzy.

  So I tripped.

  CHAPTER 25

  WHILE DOWN ON all fours, I readjusted the camera in my hand and figured out how to stand back up while getting some more video.

  “Oh, oh, oh! I’m so sorry. I’m so embarrassed. I just am just so worried about Bobbie Bill and Billy Joel,” I said, all weepy.

  “Don’t you mean Billy Bob and Bobbie Joe?” Conner Murdoch asked.

  “Give her a break!” Nina snapped. “Can’t you see how upset she is? We need to get out of here. Come on, Hannah. We’ve got to get to Billy Joel and Billy Bob.”

  “Billy Bob and Bobbie Joe,” Conner called after us.

  “Whatever,” I said.

  Nina and I made a run for it.

  Lily and Ruff met us in the hallway, and we charged down the two flights of stairs and out onto the sidewalk.

  “Come on! Back to our apartment,” I said.

  We started sprinting. “You’d better tell me that everyone is okay,” Nina panted.

  “Mom and I are fine. We just wanted to get you out of there before anything happens,” I said. “Sorry if I scared you too much.”

  “You were brilliant!” Lily said. “You’ve learned a lot from me, I must say.”

  “You had me going at first. Billy Bob and Bobbie Joe was a little over-the-top, but it got my attention,” Nina said. “When we get upstairs, we’re calling Maggie, and then you’re telling both of us what’s going on.”

  “I’m sorry if we blew it for you, Nina, but we wanted to get you out of there,” I said.

  “Why? Nothing dangerous was going on. I mean, I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve been painting pieces for Mimi Hansen to pass off as her own. But it wasn’t like I was her prisoner or anything.”

  “I wanted you out because we took some video of what was going on inside The Factory,” I said. “I’m going to call Mom and ask her to see if Mary Perez wants to look at it.”

  We got off the elevator, and I fumbled for the keys to the apartment.

  “I don’t know if it’s exactly newsworthy that we’re painting for someone else,” Nina said. “It’s not even illegal.”

  “It should be illegal!” I cried. “She’s a big fake. It’s fraud. People are paying her for things she didn’t create. You’re an artist, Nina! You deserve to have your name on your work, and you deserve recognition for your work. I can’t stand Mimi Hansen getting all the credit for what other people have done.”

  “She won’t be getting credit for long,” a man’s voice said.

  Conner Murdoch was in the hallway, right behind us.

  “I’ll take that video you took while you were so concerned about your Billy Bob,” Conner said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lily claimed. “Can’t you see we’re having a family emergency?”

  “Get off it.” Conner sneered. He pulled something from his bag. “Here, doggy. Come and get it.” Ruff leaped toward whatever was inside the brown wrapper, and in one smooth motion Conner scooped up the pup and backed away from us.

  “Give me your camera, and I’ll give you the mutt.”

  “Ruff!” I lunged toward Conner, but he stuffed Ruff into his bag.

  “Perhaps you didn’t hear me. You give me the camera; I give you the dog.”

  “Why are you protecting Mimi Hansen? You should want her to be exposed for the fake she is,” I said, trying to not let a begging tone enter my voice. “Your own sister is being used.”

  “I’m not protecting Mimi anymore,” he said with a hint of disgust, as if I was a total idiot for even thinking that.

  “Conner, really, this is a bit extreme. I’m not sure yet if it’s funny or embarrassing,” Nina said. “For you, that is.” He dropped Ruff and left abruptly.

  CHAPTER 26

  “I NEED TO get to Wired. I’m working the late shift tonight,” Nina said. “What should I tell Maggie when I get there?”

  “Never mind. I’m here,” Mom called from the doorway of the apartment. “I couldn’t get Hannah to answer her cell phone. I called you, Nina, to check on Hannah, but you didn’t answer, either. I called the apartment and still no answer. Is everything okay?”

  “The girls can explain. I really better get to work,” Nina said. “I lost one job tonight. I can’t afford to lose the other.” I winced when she said that. “I’m kidding, Hannah. I hated working for Mimi. You know that,” she said, giving me a quick hug before she left the apartment.

  We filled Mom in on The Factory and who was there. “Look, we can show you,” Lily said. We went to the computer and downloaded the video from Owen’s camera.

  “So the old marketing wizard runs an art factory, and then just puts her signature on other people’s work?” Mom said. “It makes perfect sense. There was always something so artificial about the way Mimi talked about art. It didn’t seem possible that one person could do so many paintings, let alone have such a wide variety of art styles.”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s more to the story,” I said. “I think Mimi arranged the thefts.”

  “This would be a great story for Mary Perez,” Mom said.

  “We could take her over to The Factory tonight, and she could pin down Mimi,” I said.

  Mary was at our apartment in twelve minutes. After she’d watched the video, we showed her the door to The Factory across the street. “Maybe I can get our own news crew in there tonight,” she said. “Or maybe I need to be more covert. I think I’ll go interview Mimi off camera.”

  “Good luck getting her to talk if there isn’t a camera on her face,” I said.

  Lily and I stayed out on the balcony and watched Mary cross First Avenue. Lily had the binoculars focused toward The Factory door.

  “It looks like something is up in the world of purple and black,” Lily said.

  Conner Murdoch and his bike were back at The Factory.

  “What are you doing carrying the dog?” Lily panted as we ran out of Belltown Towers and onto the sidewalk.

  “Well, I couldn’t leave him in Owen’s apartment. We’re going to have to keep him with us,” I said.

  We
were running without a plan. We crossed the street and headed toward the black door to The Factory.

  “Aaarrrgggh!” Wouldn’t you know it? I tripped again. I went sprawling down on the sidewalk. Ruff escaped from my arms.

  “Ruff! Come!” I called as I tried to get up with a little bit of dignity.

  Conner Murdoch was coming out the door with a rectangular flat package in his arms. He didn’t even look in our direction. He just jumped on his bike and started pedaling.

  Only he had a hitchhiker.

  “Off! Get off!” he yelled.

  But Ruff had gotten hold of his left sock, and it didn’t look like the little terrier had any intention of letting go. Conner tried to pedal a few times.

  Ruff clenched his little teeth tightly on Conner’s sock. There’s no way that terrier was going to let go. Ruff just went around and around while Conner tried to pedal.

  Crash!

  Ruff was still hanging on.

  Conner jumped off his bike and started running.

  Ruff hung on.

  Conner and Ruff made it only a few steps.

  “Have a nice trip!” a voice called out. Suddenly Jordan Walsh was back in the action, sticking her leg out as if she were a third-grade bully.

  “Conner!” Ms. Murdoch exclaimed as he tumbled to the ground. Mimi Hansen, Mary Perez, Mr. Snotty Art Guy, and James were right behind her. Ruff escaped the crowd and ran back to me.

  “You again,” Mr. Snotty Art Guy sneered his greeting to me.

  “Jordan!” Mimi said. “I thought your father was picking you up.”

  “He’s still running late,” Jordan said in a somewhat blasè voice. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “Conner, why did you take one of my paintings?” Ms. Murdoch asked her brother, looking down at the canvas that was peeking out from under the Kraft paper wrapping.