by Charles Tang
Violet didn’t move.
Sarah Deckle looked panicked. “All right. Let’s just get out through the bookstore.”
Rex Phillips didn’t need to be coaxed. He and Sarah elbowed their way through the crowd of customers until they were in the bookstore.
“It’s too late,” Sarah Deckle said when she saw the Aldens, Mr. Bindry, and Miss Chase blocking their way.
“Stop right there, Rex!” Miss Chase said. “I need to check your briefcase before you leave. We have reason to suspect you’ve taken a book.” She pointed to a sign above the cash register that said: “We reserve the right to inspect belongings. Shoplifters will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Mr. Phillips had no choice. There seemed to be Aldens everywhere he looked. Finally, he handed over his briefcase to Olivia Chase.
Miss Chase opened it. The Little Mermaid was resting right on top of the old newspaper.
“Oh, my,” Mr. Bindry gasped, “it really is the last book in the Plumbrush set. May I examine it, Olivia?”
Miss Chase stepped between Mr. Bindry and the book. “What do you know about the rest of the set, Ezra? Tell me right now.”
Mr. Bindry seemed dizzy and confused. He leaned against the counter to steady himself. “The other three books are in the trunk of my car. Here, take my keys and get them, young man,” Mr. Bindry said to Henry.
Henry was back in a minute with Violet’s set.
“Here, young lady,” Mr. Bindry said, handing all the books to Violet. “The set is rightfully yours. I know you’ll treasure it because you’re a book lover, too.”
Violet’s hands were shaking when she took the books from Mr. Bindry. “How did you get the other three?”
“I took them last night while all of you were out. I’m sorry. I still had a set of keys Mabel gave me. Please understand. I just had to see those books once Violet said The Little Mermaid was part of a set. I don’t know how I missed them in Mabel’s shop during my many visits.”
“I found them mixed in with the hobby books, Mr. Bindry,” Violet explained.
Now it was Mr. Phillips’s turn to speak. “That’s just another one of Mabel’s cruel jokes on me! She was always teasing me about having valuable stamps and making me hunt down clues. I’d heard stories that she even had the famous Costa Rican flag stamp. I’m more of a stamp expert than any of the writers of those worthless hobby books, so I never bothered to check that section.”
“What made you think the stamp might be connected with the fairy tales, Rex?” Miss Chase asked.
Mr. Phillips’s eyes looked hard and angry. “It kept driving me crazy when she said stamp collecting was child’s play or that those old stories about the famous stamp were just fairy tales.”
“Where do you come in, Sarah?” Miss Chase wanted to know.
“Miss Post bought the flag stamp at my grandfather’s for one dollar! One dollar!” Sarah Deckle began. “My poor grandfather didn’t even know he had such a valuable stamp lying around. After he died, it was just thrown in with these old books and sold off in a yard sale! When I found an old newspaper in some family papers showing Miss Post with the stamp, well, I just had to get it back. I found out Rex knew all about stamps, so I showed him the newspaper.”
“That’s how I narrowed my search down to these books,” Rex explained. “We followed the Aldens all week. Sarah nearly got hold of one of the books at Jackson Square, but it looks like Mr. Bindry beat us to the rest of the set.”
“I’m sorry, Olivia,” Mr. Bindry apologized. “I just had to see if you really had the entire Plumbrush set. I was hiding under the stairs in the courtyard early in the week when you told the Aldens you were going to advertise for a book expert. Only I showed up too soon, as these smart children figured out. Then Henry here caught me poking around when I thought you were all out to lunch the other day.”
“Were you the person we saw run from the shop? We also had the feeling someone was looking around while we were sleeping,” Henry said.
Mr. Bindry nodded his head. “I did come up the stairs while you were out to dinner. That’s when I took the three books. But bother sleeping children? Never!”
“That was me,” Sarah Deckle confessed. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone. I just waited until everyone was asleep after you got back from sightseeing. Rex also had a set of Miss Post’s keys. I let myself into the courtyard and came up to the sleeping porch. But, of course, the three books were already gone. I knew one of them was in Jessie’s pack, but I didn’t dare look for it at night. I came back in the morning, but the set was still gone. And I couldn’t find Jessie’s backpack.”
“Never mind who did what with these books,” Rex Phillips said. “What I want to know is, where is the flag stamp?”
Mr. Bindry picked up The Little Mermaid. He stroked the book gently then opened to the back of the book. He ran his fingers over the endpapers. No one dared to breathe. Mr. Bindry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife with a razor-thin blade. He put the blade under the endpaper and slowly lifted it away from the cover.
“The glue is all dried out,” he said. “It’s going to come right up.”
And so it did. When Mr. Bindry lifted the endpaper, everyone gasped.
“There’s the stamp!” Rex Phillips said, barely whispering. “Don’t touch it. It’s extremely fragile. What are you doing with that book, for heaven’s sake?”
Mr. Bindry handed the book, stamp and all, to Violet. “It’s rightfully yours, young lady. Take good care of it.”
Violet took the book from Mr. Bindry and offered it to Miss Chase. “I want to give it back to you. You can sell the stamp and the books and buy your shop right now. Please take it back.”
Miss Chase put her arm around Violet. “I should report Rex and Miss Deckle to the police. But they’ll be more useful by helping me find out how we can sell this beautiful stamp. I may even share the money with Sarah Deckle to settle things with her family. But I want you to keep the fairy tales, Violet — the whole set.”
Violet smiled. “Only if you’ll display them at the Mystery Bookstore. That way I can see the books whenever we come to New Orleans.”
Miss Chase turned to Mr. Bindry. “Ezra, I know you’ve returned the books, but I can’t help feeling terribly let down. After all, you and I have known each other for years. I don’t see how we can work together now, I really don’t.”
Mr. Bindry looked crushed. “I don’t blame you, Olivia. I put my own interest ahead of everyone. Please accept my deepest apology. I wish you would give me a chance to make it up to you.”
Miss Chase stared at Mr. Bindry for a very long time. “How could you do that, Ezra, after all that’s happened?”
“I could put together a rare-book collection of mysteries for your store, that’s what you could let me do, Olivia,” Mr. Bindry suggested. “I don’t read most of the books I collect, but I do know I have quite a valuable collection of rare mysteries myself. I’d like to give them to you for sale in your Mystery Bookstore. May I do that, Olivia?”
Miss Chase took a while to answer, but when she did, she was smiling. “Of course, Ezra. I know your collection would draw many mystery lovers to my new shop. Perhaps you and I can try to start over after all.”
“Hey! What about a mystery from my collection?” Benny piped up.
“Now what mystery is that, young fellow?” Mr. Bindry asked.
Benny crinkled his forehead. “Well, it’s not even written yet, but it will be. It’s going to be about two brothers and two sisters who hear about a missing backwards stamp hidden in some old books. But the books get stolen and everything, and the kids have to find them. What do you think?”
Everyone laughed, including Mr. Bindry. “Now that’s one mystery I’ll actually have to read.”
About the Author
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to
try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.
Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.
Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN
SURPRISE ISLAND
THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY
MYSTERY RANCH
MIKE’S MYSTERY
BLUE BAY MYSTERY
THE WOODSHED MYSTERY
THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY
MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY
SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY
CABOOSE MYSTERY
HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY
SNOWBOUND MYSTERY
TREE HOUSE MYSTERY
BICYCLE MYSTERY
MYSTERY IN THE SAND
MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL
BUS STATION MYSTERY
BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY
THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY
THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY
THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING
THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO
THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY GIRL
THE MYSTERY CRUISE
THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST
MYSTERY IN THE SNOW
THE PIZZA MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY HORSE
THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW
THE CASTLE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE
THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE
THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL
THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC
THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT
THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN
THE MYSTERY ON STAGE
THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC
THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK
THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR
THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE
THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN
THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE
THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY
THE HURRICANE MYSTERY
THE PET SHOP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE
THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO
THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY
THE SOCCER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC
THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER
THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL
THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY
THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY
THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY
THE PANTHER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS
THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY
THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY
THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP
THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN
THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL
THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK
THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY
THE POISON FROG MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE
THE HOME RUN MYSTERY
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES
THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME
THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE
THE HOCKEY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG
THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL
THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY
THE COPYCAT MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE
THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE
THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE
THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY
THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP
THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT
THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY
THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY
THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY
THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY
THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY
THE RADIO MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST
THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR
THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE
THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING BONES
THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT
THE GAME STORE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN
THE VANISHING PASSENGER
THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY
THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE
THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY
THE SECRET OF THE MASK
THE SEATTLE PUZZLE
THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW
THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND
A HORSE NAMED DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING TOMATOES
THE SPY GAME
THE DOG-GONE MYSTERY
THE VAMPIRE MYSTERY
SUPERSTAR WATCH
THE SPY IN THE BLEACHERS
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1995 by Albert Whitman & Company
978-1-4532-1338-4
This 2011 edition distributed by Open Road Integrated Media
180 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
&
nbsp;
