A Little Learning (11 page)

***

Marshall and Kevin Lever were listed in the phone book. Their address was Country Dale Apartments, B and C. I didn’t find them there, so I drove to Amelia’s house, a large brick Colonial style home near the school. When I got out of the car, I heard lively country music playing. The Lever boys were mourning in their own peculiar fashion. I went up to the front door and rang the bell. The music stopped. I heard muffled voices. The door opened, and Marshall Lever looked out, a transformed Marshall Lever. Gone was the unflattering hairstyle. Marshall now sported a short razor-cut style that changed his face from sad hangdog to male model. Gone was the flannel shirt. He wore a crisp white shirt, gray slacks, and a gray silk tie.

“Yes?”

“Madeline Maclin. We spoke at the PTA meeting. I was asked to return some of your mother’s things.”

“Oh,” he said. He turned and called over his shoulder. “It’s someone from the school, Kevin.”

“Did she come for the textbooks?” Kevin called back.

“Yes,” I said.

Marshall Lever opened the door wider. “Please come in. Excuse the mess. We’re remodeling.”

The house was dark and smelled of fresh paint. The rug was an ugly forest green. The furniture was standard, unappealing. Ugly landscapes decorated the paneled walls. Several cardboard boxes filled with clothes were piled on the sofa.

Marshall indicated a stack of books on the coffee table. “We were just going through Mother’s things, and we found these books that belong to the school. The new teacher might need them.”

“I’ll be glad to take them to her.”

Kevin Lever came into the living room. His hair was also cut short. He had on paint-splattered overalls and sneakers.

“Marshall, come see if this is going to need another coat.”

I followed the brothers down a short hall to another room. Here, Kevin had painted the paneling light blue, and the dark carpet had been torn up to reveal a hardwood floor.

“Quite an improvement,” I said.

“We’d been trying to convince Mother we could make it look better,” Kevin said. “She never wanted us to change anything.”

“We’re going to redo the whole house before the wedding,” Marshall said. “Kevin’s decided he’d like to live here. I’m buying a house closer to Parkland.”

“Who gets the congratulations?”

“We both do. We’re marrying Wanda and Shawna Bleeker next month. I’m sorry to say if Mother were alive, she’d never allow it.”

The twins had to be in their forties, so this was puzzling. “Allow it?”

Marshall sighed. “I know it seems crazy, but it was so much easier to go along with her than oppose her. She could be very aggressive.”

“She didn’t want you to marry?”

“Mother never liked the Bleeker family. She said they were gold diggers. Dad left us plenty of money, but not what you’d consider a fortune. I never understood why Mother thought the twins wanted to marry us for our money.”

“And she controlled the money,” Kevin said. “Dad always did what she said. We wouldn’t get any of our inheritance unless we married the woman Mother chose.”

“Of course we have money of our own,” Marshall said, “and we’d decided to give up our inheritance. We were even planning to elope, but now we can have the big church wedding the girls wanted.”

“Eloping seemed our only choice,” Kevin said, “and then—well, if Mother had to go, this was a good time.”

Marshall looked uncomfortable. “We’re not dancing around with glee, but we have to admit it’s a relief.”

“I wish you all the best,” I said. I took out the photograph. “Oh, one other thing. This must be a picture of you.”

Marshall shook his head. “That’s not me.”

Kevin looked. “It’s not me, either.”

“It says ‘Rusty’ on the back. Do you know who that is?”

They glanced at each other, their identical expressions devoid of emotion.

“Oh, yes. Rusty. One of Mother’s students.”

“He’d be about your age. Did you know him?”

“No. She’d have a favorite every now and then,” Kevin said. “Excuse me. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Another coat, Marshall?”

Marshall nodded. “That should do it.”

That should do it, all right, I thought as Kevin went down the hall.

“Was there anything else, Ms. Maclin?”

“No, thank you.”

“Let me help you with those books.”

Since neither Lever brother seemed inclined to take the picture, I put it in my pocket. Amelia won’t need her date book, or that bottle of pills, either, I thought, so while Marshall carried the stack of textbook out to my car, I quickly rummaged in Amelia’s bag and took out the items I hoped would help solve this mystery—if there was a mystery, including her copy of the riddle. I took the Bufo cards, too.

Marshall told me good-by and went back into the house. I took out my cell phone and called Nathan Fenton. He didn’t answer. It was almost five o’clock. I really didn’t want to Rachel’s house to meet Bron and Mag, but I didn’t have a good excuse not to go.

I got into the Mazda, and as I was hooking my seat belt, my cell phone buzzed. Yay, I thought, when I saw the caller was Jerry. Here’s my excuse.

“Mac, Georgia’s asked me to watch the store while she goes to Parkland. I’ll be locking up around eight, so go home and paint.”

An even better excuse. “Great idea. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“Bring pizza,” he said.

***

To ease my conscience, I gave Rachel a call. “I’m sorry I can’t come by today. Can we reschedule?”

Rachel’s voice sounded peeved. “Well, we were beginning to wonder.”

“How about tomorrow?”

“Bron has dance lessons, and Mag is going with some of her little friends to the Princess Spa. I’ll check their schedules and get back to you.”

Well, they’d be so much happier going to the Princess Spa, I’m sure.

At home, I took a closer look at the items from Amelia’s book bag. The riddle was the same as Nathan’s. From the way the paper was tightly folded and stuck at the back of her date book, I imagined Amelia, like Aaron Satterfield, had probably decided not to play along. The packs of Bufo cards hadn’t been opened. I looked through the date book, but other than the big “Rs,” the entries were the usual doctor and dentist appointments and a few reminders about school meetings.

I went upstairs and decided to work on one of the landscapes. My work was going so well, I lost all track of time until my phone rang. This time Jerry’s voice sounded serious.

“Mac, there’s been a little trouble at the store. You’d better come right over.”

***

My heart did a huge flop when I saw the ambulance and police cars parked in front of the book store. I’m not sure how many people I knocked over to get inside. All around the check out counter looked as if it had been stirred by a very large stick. Jerry, rumpled and dusty, was talking with Nell’s father, Chief Brenner of the Celosia Police Department.

My heart resumed its natural rhythm. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Some nut decided to make a mess. Hit me from behind.”

Chief Brenner opened his small notebook. “Did you see anything?”

“I just caught a glimpse of him as he ran out,” Jerry said. “Blue jacket, baseball cap pulled down low. Looked like a teenager.”

Brenner wrote this down and flipped the notebook closed. “Any idea what he was after? Can you tell what’s missing?”

The floor in front of and behind the counter was a tossed salad of books, magazines, newspapers, candy, baseball cards, and gaming dice. Jerry’s eyes widened as he got a good look at the damage. “This is going to take a while.”

“See if you can sort things out. I’ll have a look outside.”

“Mind if I come along?” I asked. “I have a personal interest in this.”

He nodded. “Come on.”

I went with him. “No money was taken?”

“The register was solid as a rock and full of cash. This kid must’ve been on something.” We met another officer coming up the sidewalk. “Whatcha got?”

The officer held up an empty spinner rack. “Found this in the alley next to the hardware store. Doesn’t belong to them. And they say they saw a teenager boy run past not long ago. Blue jacket, baseball cap.”

“Sounds like our thief.”

I recognized the rack. “We can check with Jerry, but I’m pretty sure that’s the rack for Bufo cards.”

Chief Brenner frowned. “Those frog cards? Well, now, that’s interesting. Let’s have a look in the alley.”

It’s misleading to call the area between the hardware store and the drug store an alley because the narrow lane is paved and decorated with flowerbeds. Many people use the alley, so a search for footprints and other clues turned up nothing.

We went back into Georgia’s, and Jerry agreed the rack belonged to the store.

Chief Brenner took out his notepad again. “How many packs do you think you had, Jerry?”

“Each section can hold ten packs. Over a hundred, I’d say.”

“You sell that many packs of cards?”

“Yes, it’s a big thing with the kids right now, and a lot of adults have been buying them, too.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” I said.

“The paramedics checked. My head is secure.”

Since Jerry nearly always hits his head, I don’t worry as much as I used to. Still, I really didn’t like the idea of someone attacking him in the store. “You’d think a book store would be safe.”

“You see why I’m not bored?”

“Is there any place he might try to sell the cards?” Brenner asked.

“More than likely, he’ll look through the packs and throw away the cards he can’t use.”

The chief put his pad away. “All right. We’ll check around and see if he ditched them anywhere. Anything else we need to know about these cards?”

“The new cards have gold foil wrappers,” Jerry said. “The older sets have green.”

After about an hour, Chief Brenner’s team finished their work, and Brenner said we could start putting the store back together. Jerry and I shelved the books and gathered up the magazines scattered on the floor. He called Georgia to tell her the news. He assured her we’d have things in order by the time she got back to Celosia.

Fortunately, the mess wasn’t as bad as it looked. By nine o’clock, everything was back in place. Jerry ordered a pizza, and then locked the store. We sat down on the stools behind the counter.

“So how was your day?” Jerry asked.

“Not as exciting as yours. I talked with Mrs. Dorman and got a few clues from Amelia’s book bag. I talked with the Lever brothers. They’ve had a makeover and can’t wait to marry the women Amelia didn’t like.”

“Not much of a mystery, then.”

“I’m not sure. Amelia had a copy of the riddle in her bag, so Elijah thought enough of her to include her in his treasure hunt. And she had several packs of Bufo cards. First I thought she’d taken them from her students, tossed them in her bag, and forgot about them, but now, I wonder if there’s a connection to this theft.”

“Maybe she had some sort of special card. Where are they?”

“At home. We can check them out when—” I stopped. “Packs of Bufo cards. ‘Trust animals that live in packs.’ Is that what Elijah meant? When did they first come out?”

“The first cards came out back in the spring, but they didn’t really catch on until later.”

“So Elijah would have known about them. And if there’s a clue to the treasure in the cards—”

“Then that’s why someone decided to steal all of them.”

A knock on the door made us both jump.

“Pizza’s here,” Jerry said. He unlocked the door, paid for the pizza, then let the boy out and locked the door. “We can picnic in the children’s section.”

I still had the picture of Rusty in my pocket. “My only other clue is this. It’s not Kevin or Marshall. Someone at the school might know.”

We sat on the carpet in the children’s book section. Jerry wedged a slice of pizza out of the box. “Let me see the picture.”

I slid Rusty’s photo over. “According to what I’ve learned about Amelia, it’s odd for her to keep anything the students give her.”

“Well, this picture looks like it was taken several years ago. Check out that hairstyle and the plaid shirt.”

“That’s why I thought it might be Kevin or Marshall. They have to be in their forties.”

“It’s Amelia and Elijah’s secret love child.”

“Although that stretches my imagination, I won’t know for sure until I find Rusty.”

“Any other clues?”

“I haven’t heard from Warwick yet. Maybe he’ll find out something.”

“Maybe he can create a gold watch in that mad scientist lab of his.”

“Jerry.”

“Don’t growl. I’ve had a rough day.”

I slid over and put my arms around him. “I can make your day much more pleasant.”

He pushed the pizza box aside and rolled me over on the carpet. I had pulled off his tie and was unbuttoning his shirt when we heard the click of the lock and Georgia’s voice.

“Looks like someone’s celebrating.”

We scrambled to our feet. “Just making sure Jerry’s okay,” I said.

She peered at us over her half glasses. “Well, carry on, you two. The store looks fine.”

Chapter Four

Of course, we didn’t carry on. Jerry explained what had happened. Georgia was happy cash hadn’t been stolen or the store seriously damaged. We took our pizza and went home. Then we carried on. Later that night, I had really strange dreams about Amelia Lever, Mrs. Dorman, and Rachel competing in a Miss Bufo Pageant. I must have tossed and turned because Jerry grumbled he’d already been attacked once, would I please pull in my elbows? When I finally woke up and found my way downstairs, Jerry was making pancakes for breakfast.

“The winner and still champion,” he said.

“Sorry. Are you black and blue?”

“No more than usual.” The phone rang, and he answered. “Oh, yeah, hi, Bilby. You did? That’s great! Oh, wait, it’s silver? No, it has to be gold. Yeah, sorry. The next time Mac and I come to Parkland, I thought I’d check at Del’s. Okay, thanks.” He hung up and turned back to the stove. “That was Bilby Foster. He found a watch with an ‘S’ on it, but the watch is silver instead of gold.”

I sat down at the table and tried to untangle my hair. “Gee, too bad.”

“I know you don’t approve, but you heard Sylvie. It’s got to be a watch.”

“A fake watch.”

“No, a real one.”

“I hate to enable your scams, but why don’t you get a plain gold watch and get someone to engrave an ‘S’ on it?”

He paused in the act of flipping a pancake and pointed the spatula at me. “I knew there was a reason I married you. That’s a great idea.”

“But after this, please, no more séances. Tell Flossie Mae and Sylvie that was the last report from Beyond.”

“Not even one at Halloween?”

“No more. Ever. Pass the syrup.”

He handed me the bottle. “I’ll think about it. Your plans today?”

“I didn’t hear from Nathan. I thought I’d stop by his apartment and see if everything’s okay. We need to try the rest of the portraits at the chateau, and then I’ll be asking about Rusty at school.”

“And trying to avoid Rachel.”

“No, I might as meet her girls and get it over with.”

“You know she wants you to coach her little darlings.”

“If they can fit me in between ballet and pedicures.”

We heard the familiar sound of two bicycles landing on the front lawn, and two voices raised in argument.

Jerry said, “I’d better make another batch of pancakes.”

Austin and Denisha hurried into the kitchen. “Oh, wow, pancakes!” Austin said. “Can I have some?”

“Pull up a chair.”

Austin wasn’t ready to sit. He bounced around Jerry. “We heard Georgia’s got robbed last night. Were you there? Did you see the robber?”

“I was there, but all the thief got was a bunch of Bufo cards.”

“No way!”

“He made a big mess, that’s for sure. Three pancakes be enough?”

“For starters.”

“Get some plates and forks for you and Denisha.”

Denisha sat down next to me. “How’s your case coming along, Madeline?”

“Kind of slow right now.”

“Did Georgia hire you to find the missing cards?”

“I think the police are handling that.”

“Well, our collection is almost complete. I hope that thief got nothing but regular cards.”

Austin displayed his arm, which was covered with Bufo stickers. “Look. I’ve got the entire Toad Army.”

“Austin likes to pretend those are tattoos,” Denisha said.

“It’s the next best thing,” he said. “They really stay on.”

“It looks stupid.”

“You just say that because girls don’t have tattoos.”

“They do so! Penny Robins’ mother has them all over.”

Jerry plopped pancakes on their plates. “These are the Pancakes of Peace. Eat them and argue no more.” Denisha snickered. Jerry got more butter out of the fridge. “When do you want to go to Parkland, Mac?”

“After we visit Tori again and check those other portraits. Maybe around lunchtime.”

“Okay. Kids, I know the thief got away with Georgia’s supply of cards, so while I’m in the big city, I’ll pick up some more.”

“Great,” Austin said. “I want to be the first one in my class with a complete set.”

He gulped down his pancakes and unwedged a large stack of Bufo cards from his pocket. “Hey, Madeline, you know how to play Fifty-Two Pickup?”

“Yes, Jerry’s done to me that many times.”

“Aww.”

“I’m guessing you learned that from him?”

“Yeah, it’s cool.”

Denisha licked syrup off her fingers. “It’s the silliest thing.”

“No, it’s cool. Come on, Madeline, pretend you don’t know how.”

“Okay. Ask me again.”

“Do you know how to play Fifty-Two Pickup?”

“No, I don’t.”

He bent the pack back until the cards shot from his hand and scattered across the room. “Pick ’em up!”

From the way he laughed, Fifty-Two Pickup must be the funniest thing Austin had ever seen. Denisha sighed. “You don’t even have fifty-two cards in that stack.”

“Okay, then, it’s Thirty-Six Pickup.”

“And you have to pick them up yourself.”

“I was going to.” He gathered the cards, still chuckling. “I can’t wait to show Ronald. Can I have some more pancakes?”

“Sure,” Jerry said.

Denisha turned to me. “When are you going to come talk to our class about art, Madeline?”

“I’ll see if I can schedule the other fourth grades with Mrs. Sigmon.”

“She’s a good teacher. She doesn’t want her kids at Celosia Elementary, though.”

“Maybe she thinks Parkland Academy is better for them.”

“No, she didn’t want Bronwen to have Mrs. Lever.”

“Oh?”

“See, a lot of kids were scared of Mrs. Lever. You’d see them in the halls crying ‘cause their names were on her list.”

“Was Bronwen scared of her?”

“Oh, yes. Mrs. Lever had a very loud voice, and she’d use that tone, what do you call it? Like you didn’t understand and she felt sorry for you, only not really. Con something.”

“Condescending?”

“Yes, that’s it. Like, ‘Just because your mother’s a teacher, don’t expect special treatment. I don’t expect you to know anything.’ Stuff like that.”

“You heard her say this?”

“I heard Bronwen telling some other kids at lunch. She said there was no way she was going to be in that class. She said she’d tell her mother, and her mother would move her to another school.”

Austin sat back at the table. “I didn’t want her, either. Now we’ll get Ms. Olsen or Mrs. Culpepper or Mrs. Freedmont, only I hope I get Ms. Olsen because I think she’d be fun.”

“You don’t have to worry about that till next year.”

“Yeah, but at least I don’t have to worry about getting Mrs. Lever.”

“She liked kids who weren’t afraid of her. I wasn’t afraid of her.”

“That’s because you never had her yet. Didn’t you hear she had an electric paddle?”

Denisha rolled her eyes. “She did not.”

“So Bronwen and Magwen left Celosia Elementary this year?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. Their mother does whatever they tell her to do.”

“Wish my mom did whatever I tell her to do,” Austin said, his mouth full.

“You wouldn’t like it for long,” Denisha said. “There’s limits, you know.”

“I don’t like those girls, but Sparky Lawrence said Bron was going to have this huge birthday party with one of those moon walk castle things and pony rides and maybe a magician. You ought to go and do tricks for them, Jerry. Then I could go with you.”

“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m all out of balloon animals.”

I had left Amelia’s bag and its contents on the kitchen counter. I got out the unopened packs of Bufo cards and brought them to the table. “Let’s see if there’s anything special in these packs.”

Austin and Denisha were more than happy to help out, even though they complained the cards smelled like cigarettes.

“Pew! Where’d you get these?” Austin said.

“Mrs. Lever, believe it or not.”

“Not. How come the seal on this one’s been reglued?”

I hadn’t noticed. “Has it?”

“How can you tell?” Denisha asked.

“The Terrible Tadpole’s leg is crooked.”

Jerry and I peered at the seal, which resembled an oversized sticker. Sure enough, the Terrible Tadpole, fanged and glowering, had one leg that didn’t exactly line up with his foot.

“Somebody opened these and sealed them back up,” Austin said. “But the cards are all in their wrappers. Guess whoever did it changed his mind.”

Or put some special cards in, I thought. “Have the other packs been resealed?”

We checked them all. “Yup,” Austin said. “Look. Bufo’s eye is supposed to be over here.”

On one sticker seal, Bufo appeared to be looking over his shoulder and at his sword at the same time. On another, one star in the pattern in his Cape of Justice didn’t quite match the other stars.

“You really have to look close,” Denisha said.

“How easy is it to rewrap the cards?” I asked.

Austin was glad to show me. “Real easy. The foil just folds back over. Can we open them for real?”

“Yes.”

Jerry moved the breakfast dishes over so we could open all the packs and spread the cards out on the table.

Denisha frowned. “What exactly are we looking for?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “See anything out of the ordinary?”

We stared at the cards. “Nope,” Austin said. “They’re kind of pitiful, if you ask me. Not even a power card. There’s a king card, though. That’s neat, but it’s not rare.”

Denisha glanced at the clock above the sink. “We’d better get to school, Austin.”

The kids thanked Jerry for the pancakes, and rode their bikes back down the driveway.

“Need a ride to the store?” I asked Jerry.

“Not today. Thought I’d lie around the house in my underwear watching TV and eating Cheetos.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

He grinned. “No, I’m going to play through the cantata before I make any decision about it.”

“Don’t feel obligated to take on a job you won’t like.”

“Oh, I’ve been thinking of other things I can do. We could still make the house into a bed and breakfast.”

That had been Jerry’s first plan for the house until he realized how much work was involved. “I think I have more than enough to keep me busy, thanks.”

“What I’m really going to do is study these cards,” he said. “We’re missing something. I’ll figure it out.”

“Good,” I said. “See you at lunchtime.”

***

Nathan Fenton lived in a small apartment on Ashland Drive. I rang the doorbell. When he opened the door, he looked startled.

“Oh, Madeline. I wasn’t expecting you. The place is a wreck.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I just want to let you know how things are progressing.”

“Of course. Come in.”

Nathan hadn’t been exaggerating. His place was a wreck. Stacks of papers leaned dangerously in all directions. The coffee table was covered with more papers and folders. On the small counter that separated the living room from the kitchen, more papers fought for space with dirty dishes, ashtrays, and empty pizza boxes.

He cleared off a chair. “The place looks awful, I know. It’s all the paperwork for the camp. I’m trying to get a grant proposal finished, too, and sponsors for some of the kids. Please, sit down.”

When I sat down, I noticed something else on the counter. Several packs of Bufo cards.

“Would you mind if I had a look at those?” I asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

I picked up one of the packs. I could tell by the uneven pattern on the seal that this pack had also been opened and resealed. I slid my thumbnail under the seal and opened the pack. I was glad to see the wrappers were green foil and not the stolen gold. Nathan as Bufo Card Thief was too much for my imagination.

“You’re not a collector, are you?” I asked him.

“Collector?”

“The Bufo cards.”

“Oh, those came in the mail. Some sort of free samples, I guess. I thought I’d save them for the camp and give those to the kids who can’t afford them.”

“When did you get them?”

“You know, I really don’t remember.”

“Before or after your uncle died?”

He stared at me. “What?”

“‘Trust animals that live in packs.’ I think this is part of the riddle.”

“Packs like packs of cards? Really?” He frowned. “Come to think of it, Fiona asked about the cards, too, but I don’t see how they’d have anything to do with the riddle. Bufo’s a made up animal, not a real one, and Elijah wouldn’t have known anything about kids’ playing cards.”

I thought Elijah had probably known everything that was going on. And the riddle didn’t specify real animals. “It’s worth a look. Can I take these with me?”

“Of course.”

“I’m going back to the chateau today to check out the portraits. You’re certainly welcome to join me.”

Somewhere in the depths of all the paper, his phone rang, saving him from a reply. “Excuse me.” He dug around until he found his phone and answered. “Yes? Oh, yes, I’ve got that information. It’s in my office. One moment, please.”

As he went into the other room, I took advantage of his absence to look around. The stacks of paper all had to do with safety, sanitation, food, and activities for a children’s camp. The pizza box was from Mario’s. The dishes were going to need sandblasting. And among the cigarette butts in the ashtray were two with distinctive purple lipstick stains. I picked up one of the cigarette butts and slipped it into my pocket. When I heard Nathan finish his conversation, I was back in the chair by the time he returned to the living room.

“My apologies, Madeline. That was the English teacher at Celosia High. She’s helping me with the grant. Was there anything else?”

“I spoke with your cousin Aaron. He received the riddle, too, but says he has no interest in it.” I wondered if Aaron had also received anonymous packs of Bufo cards, as well.

“That doesn’t surprise me too much,” Nathan said. “He doesn’t need the money.”

“I’m sorry he and Tori are having trouble.”

Nathan’s expression became guarded. “It’s not likely they’ll get back together.”

“I mentioned you’re welcome to join me at the chateau.”

“Maybe later,” he said. “You can imagine I’m very busy getting all this paperwork organized.”

“I understand,” I said. “And I promise I’m working on your case, even though I’ve been hired to solve Amelia Lever’s death.”