Mystery on the Ice (3 page)

“Hmmm,” Henry speculated. “It could be the maid or even the Murrays themselves.”

“The Murrays!” Benny looked startled. “Why would they steal their very own diamonds?”

“Insurance money,” Henry said simply. “After all, we don’t know if William Murray needs money or not.” He noticed Benny’s downcast face. “Although I doubt it. It’s a pretty farfetched idea, but we need to think of
all
the angles. That’s what a detective does.”

“Maybe Carl is the thief,” Violet said. But she hated the thought that such a friendly young man would steal from his hosts.

“We’ve got to suspect everyone. Even Alex might have stolen Mrs. Murray’s gems,” Jessie said in a doubtful voice.

A plate slipped out of Henry’s hands back into the soapsuds. “No, no, she’s too delicate.”

Jessie gave a teasing laugh. “You don’t have to be a weight lifter to carry away a bag of diamonds and rubies.”

“I’ll bet Janet O’Shea is the guilty one!” Benny said. “She never smiles!”

“Shhh!” Violet said, placing a finger to her lips. “Listen!”

The Aldens stood still, trying to catch every word of the radio announcer:

“Last night while the storm raged and the citizens of Greenfield slept, a burglary happened on White Oak Lane. The thief broke through a downstairs window, climbed in, and escaped with over $150,000 worth of jewels from an upstairs dressing room. As of now, the police have no suspects.”

Henry said, “We need to think about anyone who noticed Mrs. Murray’s diamonds.”

“Who
wouldn’t
notice her diamonds?” Benny said. “She looked like a bright neon sign!”

Violet smiled. Benny always went right to the point.

“One hundred fifty thousand dollars!” Benny whistled. “That’s a lot of money!”

“It certainly is!” Jessie agreed. “I hope we can help find Mrs. Murray’s jewels. She’s such a nice person.”

When the dishes were finished, the children went into the living room. They watched the snow whirl about the house and listened to the wind tear at the trees.

“What should we do today?” Benny asked, sinking into the rocker. “I don’t want to fit together any more jigsaw puzzles.”

“I know,” Violet said. “Let’s look up Korea in the encyclopedia.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jessie said. “I wanted to go to the library, but today’s not the day!” She left the room to gather a few books from the den.

“I wonder where Joe and Alice are now,” Henry said. “Just think — they’re halfway around the world.”

“Have they
adopted
Soo Lee yet?” Benny asked, proud of himself for using the new word he’d learned.

“Not yet,” Violet said. “I imagine they’ll be busy locating Soo Lee, signing papers, and packing Soo Lee’s belongings.”

Benny nodded. “I wonder if she wears clothes like ours.”

“Let’s find out,” Jessie said, re-entering the room. Under her arm she carried a fat encyclopedia and an atlas.

They spent the morning reading about Korea’s crops, food, houses, and government. Next they pored over a map of Asia.

“Korea is northeast of China.” With her finger, Jessie traced the outline of Korea. “See, the Korean Peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides: the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the East China Sea.”

“Korea isn’t very far from Japan,” Henry said. “It’s only separated by a narrow strait of water.”

“Joe and Alice flew here,” Violet said, pointing to a city called Seoul. “Seoul is the capital of Korea.”

“What’s that line in the center of the country?” Benny asked.

“Korea is divided into North Korea and South Korea, Joe and Alice are in South Korea,” Violet explained.

“Wow!” Benny said. “They’re so far away!”

“They’ll be home before you know it, Benny!” Henry said with a chuckle. “That’s the advantage of flying.”

“Soo Lee must be a puzzled little girl,” Violet said thoughtfully.

“Or an excited one!” Jessie added.

“I’d be excited about coming to America,” Benny said.

“I would, too!” Henry said, placing a hand on Benny’s shoulder. Benny grinned at his big brother.

“The wind has died down,” Jessie said, cocking her head and listening.

Violet leaped up and looked out the window. “And it’s not snowing so hard.”

Henry went to get his sheepskin jacket and lined boots. “Let’s shovel the walk,” he said.

“Yea!” Benny cheered, dashing to the closet for his down jacket and pants.

Dressed in their warmest clothes, they all hurried outside with Watch prancing at their side.

“Look at me!” Benny shouted, wading into the deep snow. He lay on his back atop a drift and moved his arms and feet in a wide arc. “There!” he said, getting up carefully. “See my angel!”

“Very nice,” Jessie said, lightly tossing a snowball at her little brother.

Soon the children were flinging snowballs at one another in a rousing fight. Watch dashed from one to the other, leaping in the air. His muzzle was white with snow.

Then the Aldens took turns shoveling a pathway on the walk.

“Let’s go to the Civic Center and watch the ice skaters,” Jessie said.

“How are we going to get there?” Benny asked, staring at the snow surrounding them. Branches and telephone wires, heavy with snow, sagged to the breaking point. No cars were traveling on the road past their house.

“We’ll wade through the snow over to Main Street,” Jessie said. “The snowplow will have cleared important streets so buses can run. We can catch a bus and get off at the Civic Center. And let’s take our skates.”

The children flung their skates over their shoulders and hurried to catch the bus.

When they arrived at the Civic Center, Violet was delighted to see Carl and Alex, hand in hand, gliding over the ice. The two graceful skaters moved in time to a waltz.

At one point Carl lifted Alex overhead. With her arms outstretched, Alex looked like a ballet dancer.

When the music stopped, Carl gently set Alex down. For a moment they smiled at each other. “Oh, Carl and Alex are so in love,” Violet said softly.

Benny rolled his eyes. “That’s mushy stuff, Violet,” he said in a disgusted voice.

Carl and Alex skated over to the bench where the children were lacing up their skates.

“Your routine was beautiful,” Jessie said. “I wish I knew how to spin like that.”

Alex laughed, holding out her hand. “I’ll teach you.” She turned to Violet. “You come, too,” she urged.

“You go ahead. I broke a shoelace,” Violet said.

Jessie skimmed over the ice to warm up.

Alex clapped. “You have a fine skating form, Jessie. Would you like some lessons?”

“Oh, yes!” Jessie exclaimed. To be taught by a professional skater was a dream come true.

While Alex and Jessie practiced spins at one end of the rink, Carl, Henry, and Benny tried different hockey strokes at the other end.

In another part of the rink, Ollie, the clown, was skating backward. His trousers were too short, and his yellow-and-red shirt flopped about his long arms. He stumbled, waving his arms to stay upright. He swayed back and forth and staggered forward, slipping and sliding to keep his balance. Benny laughed. He laughed even harder when the clown tumbled to the ice, then bounced back up. Everyone laughed and clapped. Ollie lifted his round hat in appreciation, then skittered and tottered all the way to the dressing room.

Violet tied a knot in her broken lace, then skated back and forth in front of the stands. When she stopped to rest, holding onto the railing, she saw Janet O’Shea talking to a man in the top row of seats. The man wore a black topcoat and a big-brimmed black hat pulled down so far that it hid his face. He kept looking around nervously as if he didn’t want to be seen.

How strange, Violet thought. She’d never seen the man before, and Janet O’Shea’s worried frown puzzled her. Could the mystery man have anything to do with the Murrays’ robbery?

After skating at the Civic Center, the Aldens joined Carl and Alex for hot chocolate in the coffee shop next door. Marcia, who sat alone drinking coffee, limped over on her crutches.

“May I sit with you?” she asked.

“Sure, Marcia.” Jessie moved over. “There’s plenty of room.”

Violet sipped her chocolate. “I saw a man in black talking to Janet O’Shea,” she said in a soft voice. “I couldn’t see his face, but Janet looked worried.”

“That man wearing a black cowboy hat?” Carl said. “I’ve seen him around, too. I can’t figure out why he’s always watching us.”

“Maybe he stole the diamonds!” Benny piped up.

Carl gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know about that, Benny.”

Henry glanced at Carl. Why did he seem nervous at the mention of diamonds? He hoped Carl wasn’t the thief. He liked him. And, being a former hockey player, Carl was a terrific ice skater. He could dodge and race around the rink better than anyone Henry had ever seen.

Marcia agreed with Benny. “I think that mystery man may be the guilty one, too. He
acts
like a thief.”

Alex pushed her cup aside. “Just because someone looks different doesn’t mean he’s a criminal. Anyway, the police will find the guilty man.”

“Or woman,” Jessie suggested.

“Or woman,” Alex agreed. Then changing the subject, she said, “I need to stitch rhinestones on my costume before our Friday night performance.”

“What color is your outfit?” Violet asked.

“As red as Marcia’s hair,” Alex said with a light laugh.

Marcia ran her fingers through her red bangs. “I hate this color. I always wanted to be blonde like you, Alex.”

“One thing for sure, your red hair would clash with my crimson costume,” Alex added.

“Yes,” Marcia admitted. “My green one is the right color for me.” She sighed. “Too bad I won’t have a chance to wear it.”

“That’s a shame, Marcia. Your costume is beautiful,” Alex said.

Violet said, “Oh, I’d love to see it!”

“I knew you would,” Jessie said, smiling. “Violet is an artist and loves to paint.”

“Violet helped me pick out my T-shirt,” Benny said, beaming. “I like blue.”

Alex’s eyes sparkled. “We could use some help backstage, Violet. Would you like to see the costumes and maybe do a little repair work?”

“I’d love to!” Violet beamed at the prospect.

“Fine,” Alex said, standing. “Why doesn’t everyone come back to the Civic Center tomorrow morning. Jessie and I will continue our lessons, the boys can play hockey, and Violet will check out the costumes.”

“Don’t forget we’re playing hockey in the afternoon, too!” Benny reminded Carl.

“Burton’s Park, right?” Carl said. “Two o’clock. I won’t forget.”

“You’re invited, too,” Henry said, turning to Jessie and Violet. He smiled shyly at Alex. “You, too, Alex.”

“We’ll be there,” Jessie said.

“Wonderful,” Carl said. “We’ll have a good game.”

Jessie turned to Marcia, not wanting her to feel left out of the conversation. “I see Valentina Markov is starring in the New York Ice Show. She’s an older skater, but still one of the best, don’t you think?”

Marcia stared at Jessie. “Who?”

“Valentina Markov,” Jessie repeated.

“I don’t remember her,” Marcia said, reaching for her crutches and preparing to leave. “But I have to admit, I’m not very good about remembering names.”

Jessie raised her eyebrows. An ice skater who hadn’t heard of Valentina Markov wasn’t much of an ice skater!

“ ’Bye, everyone,” Marcia said, leaving as quickly as she could on her crutches.

As Carl and Alex turned to go back to the hotel, Henry noticed a brochure sticking out of Carl’s hip pocket. The title caught Henry’s eye:
DIAMONDS!
He poked Jessie and pointed at Carl’s retreating back.

Jessie’s eyes widened. “Why is he reading about diamonds?”

“Who’s reading about diamonds?” Benny asked, looking from Henry to Jessie.

“Carl,” Jessie answered.

“Carl is reading about diamonds?” Violet echoed in disbelief.

“I’m afraid so,” Henry said. “I saw a brochure in his back pocket.”

Benny bit his lip. “That looks bad, doesn’t it?”

“But it doesn’t prove anything. Carl probably has a reason,” Henry said, not wanting to upset Benny. But it was hard to keep the doubt out of his voice. Not only had Carl acted nervous when the word “diamonds” was mentioned, but he was also studying them!

“I’ll bet Janet O’Shea stole the diamonds and rubies,” Benny said, wanting everyone to forget about Carl.

“She does need money to save the Starlight Troupe,” Violet said, “but I can’t imagine she’s a thief.”

“What about Marcia?” said Jessie. “She is certainly a strange ice skater. I’ve never heard of her troupe, the Moonbeams, and when I mentioned Valentina Markov, she’d never heard of her.”

“I think we can rule out Marcia as a suspect,” said Henry. “Can you see her climbing through a window and going upstairs on crutches?”

Jessie smiled. “I guess the idea is pretty wild.”

Violet reached for her jacket. “We’d better catch the bus, and start supper.”

When the Aldens opened their front door, they were pleased to see Grandfather in front of the fire, reading.

After a brief chat, the children started supper. Jessie put a chicken in the oven, Henry peeled potatoes, Violet shredded cabbage for coleslaw, and Benny shelled peas.