Houseboat Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “We may have some proof,” said Henry. “Let me show you the pictures I took at Gull Island.” He got the pictures of the white egret and handed them to the commander.

  “Very good!” said Mr. Williams. He took out a small magnifying glass to look at the pictures.

  “Do you see what I see, Captain Henry?” he asked.

  “Well, I see the man hiding and the face of another man farther away, if that’s what you mean.”

  “No, I mean the black ring on the man’s left hand.” He handed the glass and the best picture to Henry.

  Henry looked closely through the glass. “Well, we missed it!” he said. “I never noticed that ring. Did you, Jessie?”

  “No,” said Jessie. “Let me look.”

  “Me, too,” said Benny.

  Benny looked at the picture. “Oh!” he said excitedly. “I’ve seen that black ring before, Henry! Don’t you remember at the Elm Tree Inn I told you about the man who drove so fast with his right hand? That very ring was on his left hand. I saw it as he held the window!”

  “Yes,” said Henry. “I remember.”

  The commander said, “Good! Then that’s one more thing we know.” He leaned back in his chair. “What else do you know about this trouble along the river?” He looked at Benny as he spoke.

  “We know six people who are worried. They are all too scared to talk. Then somebody took a vase at the auction at Pomfret Landing.”

  Jessie said, “When we came back to the houseboat after the auction, we smelled cigarette smoke. Our clock was gone. We think someone has a key.”

  Commander Williams nodded. He said, “Maybe I can explain that. Before you came, there was a family who named the houseboat The Blue Heron. They were careless with the key. One day they left it in the lock all morning while they went shopping. I happened to need a new key for my supply room, so I went to the locksmith. I was surprised to see a man slipping out the back way. I asked the locksmith who it was, but he didn’t want to tell. That made me wonder. At last he said that the man had wanted a new key to match the one from Mr. Rivers’ houseboat. So maybe that is how someone got in while you were away.”

  “But who was the man?” asked Benny.

  “That’s what I don’t know,” said the commander. “Maybe it would help if you’d tell me the names of the people who are worried.”

  “Sam and Jeff at April Center,” began Benny. “And Mrs. Young and her sister at the candy store at Pomfret Landing, and a waitress at Second Landing. And I don’t know about a boy in a red cap.”

  “You don’t think the boy in the red cap was the person on your houseboat while you were gone?”

  “No!” said Benny. “I don’t think he was. I liked him.”

  “Do you know that the boy in the red cap is Mrs. Young’s son?”

  “No,” answered Benny. “So that’s why she is so worried!”

  “Yes, she has plenty to worry about. That boy came home with twenty-five dollars and wouldn’t tell his mother where he got it. She thinks he is getting into trouble.”

  “I think she’s right,” nodded Henry.

  Commander Williams stood up. “Now I must go. If you let me have one of those pictures, I’ll pass it on to the police. It may help them.”

  “Glad to help,” said Henry.

  “Thank you for the fish,” added Jessie.

  CHAPTER 8

  A Discovery

  Jessie called, “Lunch! We have a surprise for you, Benny.”

  Benny took one look at his plate. On it was a piece of Commander Williams’ fish and a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes.

  “Oh, mashed potatoes!” shouted Benny. “You’re a nice sister, Jessie! But where did you get them?”

  “Out of a box,” said Jessie. “It’s instant potato.”

  Halfway through lunch Henry looked out over the river and began to laugh. “We’re still at anchor,” he said. “I forgot to pull up the anchor after Commander Williams left.”

  “I guess we’re going nowhere in a hurry,” said Benny.

  When everything was eaten, Jessie said, “If you all help, we’ll be through our work in a hurry. Henry, will you take these fish heads and tails and throw them to the gulls? They must have known we had fish.”

  It happened that Henry had the houseboat key in his hand when Jessie called him. He picked up the scraps and went to the back deck. He raised his arm as high as he could and threw—not the fish heads—but the door key!

  “Jessie!” Henry yelled. “Dive with me! Swim right where I swim!”

  Jessie did not know what it was all about, but she did exactly what Henry told her. She dived in and followed him.

  Henry gasped, “I threw the door key! I haven’t taken my eyes off the spot. I know just where it went.”

  “We’ll dive for it,” said Jessie, swimming faster.

  “Here!” said Henry. He put his head down and disappeared. Jessie followed.

  In a minute they both came up. “I saw it!” gasped Jessie, “but I couldn’t stay down.”

  “Same here,” sputtered Henry. They both went down again. By this time the family was watching from the rear deck.

  “Stay here, Benny,” Grandfather said. “You’ll just stir up the water so they can’t see. Two is enough. Ha! Good for you, Henry!”

  Henry came up, holding the key. Jessie came up. They swam quickly to the boat and climbed aboard.

  Henry made a bow to Jessie and gave her the key. “Put it around your neck on a chain,” he said. “I’m not fit to carry a key!”

  “Oh, yes, you are,” said Grandfather. “You did very well to see exactly where the key went.”

  Then Benny said, “But look where all the fish heads and scraps went—all over the sandbox!”

  Benny held up a fish tail and called. The air was full of gulls in an instant. They caught all the scraps before they landed in the water.

  Jessie sniffed. “That sand will always smell fishy. We can’t have that on a boat. We’ll have to get some new sand.”

  Benny began to laugh. He said, “Henry, you ought to have seen yourself! Throwing that key as far as you could and dropping the fish bones. That was pretty neat!”

  Violet pointed toward the shore. “Isn’t that a nice white beach?” she asked. “We can empty the box and fill it up with clean sand.”

  “It looks fine,” said Mr. Alden. “Let’s pole the boat in, Henry.”

  “I’ll go and empty the sandbox,” said Benny. “We can just dump the sand in the water.”

  “I’ll help you,” said Jessie. “Sand is heavy.”

  The two dragged the sandbox to the rear deck and tipped it over. The sand poured smoothly into the river.

  “The sand looks like water,” said Benny. “It’s like a waterfall.”

  But suddenly, what was this flashing thing in the bottom of the box, under the sand? Before Jessie or Benny could do anything it went into the river, with a flash of red and green and gold.

  “The vase—the vase from the auction!” Benny shouted. In an instant he dived into the water. Jessie followed him, shouting “Henry!”

  Henry heard his name and came running. Mr. Alden and Violet came, too. Just then Benny came up gasping. “It’s the vase on the desk!” he said.

  Jessie came up, gasping. “I see it! It is that vase. You try, Henry.”

  Down went Henry. In no time he was up again with the vase in his hand.

  “Terrific!” yelled Benny.

  “Good thing,” said Henry as he tried to get his breath, “the boat is hardly moving. The vase was right there on top of the white sand.”

  Jessie, Benny, and Henry climbed on board, breathing hard. They looked at the vase.

  Violet said, “It is just what the auctioneer said, gold with rubies and emeralds.”

  “But how did it get in our sandbox?” asked Jessie.

  “I know!” said Benny. “The one who came aboard our houseboat thought it was a safe hiding place. I’m sure!”

  Mr. Alden said, �
��I’m sure, too.”

  Benny said, “I’ll tell you what. Let’s go and get that clean sand. We might still have a fire on board and need sand to put it out. When the sandbox is filled, Henry can start the motor and we’ll go back to the auction place.”

  Henry nodded. “That’s good, Ben. I certainly want to put this vase in a safe place. And we know there is a policeman at that landing.”

  Henry and Benny poled the boat to the sandy beach. Henry jumped out with the empty box and waded ashore. He filled the box up to the line and came back with it on his shoulder.

  Mr. Alden reached down and took the box. Henry climbed back on the boat. “This is the day when we are in and out of the water,” he said.

  Henry and Mr. Alden turned the houseboat around to head up the river. Henry started the motor in the rear. Off they went! How strange it seemed to be going so fast.

  Past Gull Island, past their old landings, past the red-winged blackbirds, past April Center. At last Violet said, “I see the auction sign ahead.”

  Henry turned off the motor and poled the boat up to the landing. The Aldens walked up the path, Benny carrying the vase in the empty mashed-potato box.

  “Who’d ever guess what we have?” Benny asked, “A potato box is just the thing for a treasure.”

  CHAPTER 9

  The Plan

  When the Aldens came to the auction building they found the door open. But nobody was inside.

  “No auction today,” said Benny. “This isn’t Saturday.”

  “Well, let’s look for someone to help us,” Jessie said. So the Aldens walked slowly down the main street, looking for a policeman. There were not many people on the street because there was no auction.

  “There’s the Elm Tree Inn,” Violet said, pointing.

  Benny exclaimed, “Quick! The boy with the red cap! He’s going into the Elm Tree Inn.”

  “No, Ben,” said Jessie. “That boy hasn’t any cap at all. And besides he didn’t look like that boy to me.”

  “He did to me,” said Benny. “Let’s go in and see.”

  The Aldens went in. Nobody was in the dining room. But Benny and Violet saw a boy go through a door in the back.

  “Hey, wait a minute!” called Benny. “Just one minute, please!”

  The boy half turned and stood still.

  Henry said, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. You’re Mrs. Young’s boy, aren’t you?”

  The boy looked up. “What of it? What do you want?”

  “We’re trying to find a policeman,” Jessie said.

  “I can’t help you,” the boy said.

  “Aren’t you the boy who bought the clothes at the auction?” Benny asked. “We were there, too.”

  The boy did not say anything.

  “Why did you want the clothes?” Violet asked. “Did you need them?”

  “Those old clothes?” the boy said suddenly. “We’re not that poor. A man asked me to buy them for him. He said he was too busy to go to an auction himself.”

  “Did he give you money to do that?” Benny asked.

  “Maybe twenty-five dollars?” asked Henry.

  The boy looked at the Aldens. He decided he could trust them. “Yes, that’s right. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just bought the box and gave it to the man. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing,” replied Benny. “Have you ever seen the man again?”

  “Yes,” the boy said. “I saw him today at the Princess Hotel. He was talking to another man. I ran before he saw me. I don’t like him.”

  “I don’t blame you,” said Benny. “Now could you tell us where we can find a policeman?”

  This time the boy nodded. “There are two at the town hall.”

  Benny said, “Why did you come to the Elm Tree Inn just now?”

  “My mother is out in the kitchen. She came to sell candy.”

  “Ask her if she’ll come and talk with us,” said Jessie.

  But as Jessie spoke, the door opened and Mrs. Young came in from the kitchen. She said, “I heard every word and I am so glad Tom isn’t in trouble.”

  The Aldens got up and Mr. Alden brought a chair for Mrs. Young.

  Violet said, “There are a lot of people in trouble around here. We are trying to help.”

  Henry said to Tom, “Do you think you could go out the back door and get one of those policemen to come in the back way?”

  “Easy!” said Tom Young. “I’ll tell him it’s the folks from the houseboat.” Then he was gone.

  “He knew us all the time!” said Benny.

  “Everybody knows you,” said Mrs. Young. “These towns up and down the river are quite small. You will find that almost everyone knows your names and when you stop for the night.”

  Just then a few people went by, looking in the window.

  Mr. Alden said quickly, “Before that policeman comes, do you suppose we could go into the kitchen? People can see us too well from here.”

  “Oh, yes,” replied Mrs. Young. “The lady who runs this inn won’t mind. She will let you sit in the small dining room through that door.”

  In a few minutes Tom came in with a policeman.

  “Sit down,” said Mr. Alden. “We are all glad to see you. Look!” He pointed at Benny.

  The policeman looked at Benny, who began to open the mashed-potato box. He put in his hand and pulled out the vase.

  “Whew!” said the policeman. “That vase! Where did you get it?”

  Then Benny told the whole story. He told it very well. When he had finished, the lieutenant said quickly, “Who knows you found this vase?”

  “Nobody,” said Benny.

  “Good!” said the man. “I’m glad nobody knows that you have found the vase. The men who hid it will think it is still buried in the sandbox. Yes, I think there were two men just as you do. I think one of them hid the vase in the box of old clothes.”

  Benny nodded. “Then they hired Tom to buy the box and give it to them.”

  “Right,” said the policeman. “They had to hide the vase somewhere, and your houseboat was just the place.”

  Jessie said, “That’s why the two men were watching us when we stopped at Gull Island. They were all ready to get out of town, so they wanted to get on board and get the vase if we left the houseboat alone for a few minutes.”

  Benny exclaimed, “We could play a trick on them! Just let everybody know that we are going to spend the evening on land and then the men will go to the houseboat and try to get the vase back. When they get aboard, you can be in the cabin to catch them.”

  “That’s quite a plan,” said the lieutenant with a little laugh. “You can come with us. You deserve to see the end.”

  But Benny surprised them. He said, “No. I don’t want to see those men ever again. It’s just the way I feel about it.”

  “You don’t have to,” said the policeman. “Maybe your brother will go with us? We need somebody to show us where the things are on the houseboat.”

  “Okay,” said Henry. “I’d like to.”

  “I know!” said Jessie. “Let’s all go out on the street and let everyone know we are having supper at the Elm Tree Inn. And then we’re going to the movies.”

  “Good!” said the policeman. “News gets around here fast. Henry, right after supper, go down to the houseboat the back way. Captain John De Rosa and I will be there. Then we’ll see.”

  Jessie laughed. She said, “If Benny is left behind, people will think the whole family is here.”

  So the Aldens went out of the Elm Tree Inn, laughing and talking. They went into every store on the street, talking together about what they were going to do. They would have supper at the inn, then go to the movies. They asked what was going on at the movies.

  People smiled and told them what the picture was. By dinnertime almost every person knew the houseboat people were in town and were going to spend the evening. Who would carry the news to the men at the Princess Hotel? Nobody knew.

  The Aldens had a table righ
t in the middle of the dining room. They had a delicious dinner. Without any talk, Henry slipped out through the kitchen. He walked quickly and quietly to the houseboat. The rest of the family went to the movies and thought about the houseboat instead of the picture.

  CHAPTER 10

  Trapped!

  When Henry stepped softly on the dock he thought that the police had not come. When he put his key in the lock he still thought that they had not come. But when he opened the door he heard a soft “Hello.”

  To tell the truth, Henry was very glad to hear it. There were two policemen sitting on the floor of the galley with their backs to the wall. Nobody could see them through the windows.

  “Come and sit on the floor,” whispered Captain De Rosa. “Sit on my other side. We want to sit nearest the door. We may have to wait a long time.”

  “I suppose the men may not come at all,” said Henry.

  “Well, maybe not,” said the other policeman. “We’ve pulled the sandbox into the cabin. We’ll let them dig a while before we jump.”

  “I think they’ll come tonight,” said Captain De Rosa. “They want to get out of this place fast.”

  There was no more talking. Henry could look up and see the stars out of the windows. They were bright because there were no lights and no moon. The minutes ticked away.

  The water lapped gently around the boat. The night birds began to chirp and the whippoorwills sang and sang.

  After a long time Henry turned his wrist over and looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock. His legs were getting stiff so he sat on one. But the policemen did not move.

  Henry thought, “Maybe nobody will come tonight. Maybe they will wait until tomorrow night.”

  He had all sorts of ideas. “The movies will be out at ten. Suppose the men wait until ten and they meet the family coming home? That will scare them off. Suppose somebody saw me get on the boat? Suppose the two men are too strong for the police?”

  Still the policemen did not move. Once Henry thought he heard a board on the dock creak. But nothing happened. Then all at once the boat moved gently. Henry could feel the policemen getting ready to stand up, but they did not move.