Windy City Mystery (5 page)

The children were fascinated. They lingered at one room after another.

Finally Violet said, “Two lions and tiny rooms! We've found it!”

“But the clue says ‘tiny rooms/ On the ground,'” Jessie reminded them. “These rooms aren't on the ground.”

“The cases they're in are on the floor,” Benny said. “Maybe the clue writer meant to say
floor
.”

Violet agreed. “
Floor
didn't rhyme, so he used
ground.”

Henry was deep in thought. Finally he said, “He meant
ground
, all right. This is the ground floor.”

“We've found it!” they all said at once.

“So these are the tiny rooms you were asking about,” Chad said as he came up beside them. “How did you know about them?” Before they could say a word, he answered his own question. “You read about them in the brochure.”

“Right,” Henry said, “we read about them.” He didn't go on to say,
in the second clue
.

“I'm hungry,” Benny said.

Chad laughed. “Me, too. This place always makes me hungry. Probably because there are so many beautiful paintings of food.”

He took them to an outdoor courtyard. They found a table near the center fountain.

They were no sooner seated than Chad said, “Oh, I forgot. I was supposed to leave a message for a friend of mine.” He took a square white envelope from his back pocket. “I told him it'd be on the student bulletin board.” He stood up. “I'll be right back.”

As he hurried away, Jessie said, “Do you suppose that's the next clue?”

“In Chad's envelope?” Violet asked.

Jessie nodded.

“Why would he tell us that story about leaving a note for his friend?” Henry said. “He could have just given us the envelope and said he found it somewhere.”

“Maybe he knows we suspect him,” Benny said. “He's trying to throw us off his trail.”

Jessie spotted a man across the room. Although his back was to them, he looked familiar. His dark hair circled a bald spot. Below his suit coat, he wore overalls. “There's that man again.”

They all looked at him.

Remembering the man's mustache had been crooked when they saw him at the ball game, Benny giggled.

Just then the man turned around. He had
no
mustache! And very bushy eyebrows!

“No mustache,” Violet observed. “He's not the same man.”

“He could have shaved it,” Henry suggested.

“And put it over his eyes,” Benny joked.

The man turned on his heel and hurried away.

“He certainly looks like that other man,” Jessie said. “Maybe they're brothers.”

They talked about that possibility until Chad returned.

He looked strange — pale and dazed. “You're not going to believe this,” he said. “I think someone's following us.” He held up a white envelope. “I found this on the student bulletin board. It's addressed to you!”

CHAPTER 6

Picture
,
Picture

A
fter a moment's stunned silence, Henry reached out for the envelope.

Chad handed it over. “Who would leave a message for you here?”

“That's what we'd like to know,” Benny said.

Even though she knew this must be the third clue, Jessie said, “Maybe it's from Grandfather.” She watched Chad closely.

Henry went along with the pretense. “That could be.” He, too, watched Chad closely. The young man seemed genuinely surprised to find the note here. Was he faking? There was no way to tell. “Maybe Grandfather wants us to meet him later.”

“But Grandfather didn't know we would be here,” Benny said.

Chad sank into a chair. “He might know,” he said. “I called my father's office when we got here.”

“Did you talk to Grandfather?” Henry asked.

Chad shook his head. “He and my father had gone. I left a message.”

Henry folded the envelope and put it in his pocket.

Chad frowned. “Aren't you going to open it?”

“We'll read it later,” Henry said.

Benny was curious about the note. “But Henry,” he protested, “if it's from Grandfather —”

Just then a waiter came to take their order.

After lunch, Chad said, “I thought we might go down to the lake. Violet and I could get in some sketching.”

Violet's shoulders drooped. “Oh, I didn't bring my sketchbook,” she said sadly.

Chad tapped his knapsack. “I have an extra.”

He led them out of the building and around the corner. At the lake, boats bobbed beside narrow piers. Out beyond the harbor, sails moved along the horizon.

“This looks like a good place,” Chad said. “Does anyone else want to give it a try? I have plenty of sketch paper.”

“Jessie and I will take a walk,” Henry said.

Benny sighed. “I'd like to do that, too.”

Chad laughed. “I'll get Violet set up.” He gave her a sketchbook and several pencils.

Violet studied the scene. “I'll never get the shadows right,” she said.

“You will,” Chad assured her. “I'll show you how.”

Henry, Jessie, and Benny walked along the lake, checking every now and then to be sure Chad wasn't watching them.

Finally Henry opened the envelope.

“Is that the same envelope Chad had?” Benny asked. “The one he was going to put on the bulletin board for his friend?”

Henry shook his head. “That one was square. This one is a rectangle.” Henry carefully unfolded it. “It says ‘CLUE #3.'”

Benny hopped up and down impatiently. “Read the rhyme!”

This time it wasn't a rhyme. It was a picture made up of cut-out sections from other pictures.

“A collage,” Jessie said.

It showed a cow, a lantern, and burned-out buildings. In the foreground was a picture of a modern fire engine.

“Oh, this one's easy.” Benny pointed at the picture. “That's Mrs. O'Leary's cow and this is her lantern — the one the cow kicked over —”

“
Supposedly
kicked over,” Jessie corrected him. “Remember, Benny, that's just one possible story.”

Benny waved that away. “And all these buildings — that's how the city looked after the Great Chicago Fire.”

Jessie studied the picture. “I think you're right, Benny.”

“But what about the fire engine?” Henry said.

“That's supposed to be one of the trucks that tried to put the fire out.”

“I don't think so, Benny,” Henry said. “This is a modern fire engine.”

“But why would he put a picture of a new fire truck with all that old stuff?” Benny asked.

Although it looked easy, this clue could prove to be the most difficult of all.

They headed back to join Violet and Chad. On the way, they saw Willard sitting on the cement wall. His shirtsleeves were rolled up and his eyes were closed. His jacket and hat lay beside him.

“What's he doing here?” Jessie whispered.

“Following us,” Benny answered.

Henry approached the man. “Let's ask him.”

Jessie hung back. “Maybe we shouldn't disturb him.”

But Willard's eyes snapped open and he looked right at them. He smiled. “Well, well,” he said. “If it isn't the Aldens. Still looking? Or have you found it?”

Benny glanced at his sister and brother. His look said,
I
told you so
. He had been right: Willard had something to do with the treasure hunt.

“Have we found what?” Henry asked.

Willard lifted his hands, palms up. “Whatever it is you're looking for.”

Benny started to say,
I
think you know what we're looking for
. Before he could get it out, Jessie interrupted.

“Do you come down to the lake often?” she asked.

“Every chance I get. Especially in weather like this.”

Violet called to them.

“See you later, Willard,” Henry said, and the three Aldens went off.

“He's the one,” Benny said.

Jessie and Henry said nothing. Each was wondering if Benny could be right after all.

Violet came running toward them. “Look at this! Chad taught me how to hold my pencil to do the shading.” She showed them a sketch of a boat moored to a pier.

“This is really good,” Henry said.

Chad smiled. “Violet's very talented.”

Violet blushed. She did not think she was an artist yet, but there was no doubt that she was on her way to becoming one.

They strolled back to the apartment. Willard was not there. Another doorman greeted them.

Upstairs, Henry couldn't find the key. “I forgot to take it with us this morning,” he explained.

“Knock on the door, Henry,” Jessie suggested. “Maybe Grandfather's inside.”

No one answered.

“No problem,” Chad told them. “I have a key.” He dug a ring of keys out of his pocket, selected one, and opened the door. Then he looked at his watch.

“You don't have to stay,” Henry told him.

“I do have some work to do,” he said.

“Grandfather should be along soon,” Jessie said.

Knowing they would be all right without him, Chad left.

Henry took the new clue out of his pocket. “Violet, take a look at this,” he said.

As Violet studied the picture, Benny explained it.

“I don't think the new fire engine is a mistake,” she said.

“Neither do Henry and I,” Jessie said.

“But what can it mean?” Violet asked.

Before they had time to figure it out, Grandfather came in. “Is everybody ready for dinner?” he asked.

Henry slipped the clue in with the maps and leaflets.

“Is it dinnertime already?” Benny was surprised. He had been so engrossed in the clue that he had forgotten all about eating.

Mr. Alden laughed. “Don't tell me you're not hungry, Benny!”

“Oh, I am,” Benny answered. “I just didn't know it.”

Willard was back on duty, and he hailed a cab.

“Where're we going?” Violet asked as she slipped into the backseat.

“To a very special place,” Mr. Alden said.

The cab stopped before a brick building with striped awnings. People sat at white tables in the small front yard.

“Let's eat inside,” Grandfather said.

They found a table by a bay window.

Henry went over to a display case full of photographs and other souvenirs. “This is the birthplace of deep-dish pizza,” he told them when he returned.

They ordered a large pizza with everything.

“
Numero uno
,” the waiter said. “A good choice. Number one.”

It was, indeed, a good choice. They had never eaten a better pizza.

On the way out, Benny said, “They deserve all those plates.”

They arrived back at the apartment tired and happy.

“I think I'll go to bed,” Jessie said.

They all decided to do the same.

It wasn't long before they fell asleep.

Later, the telephone woke everyone except Benny.

Grandfather answered it. His voice was muffled. Still, they heard a part of the conversation.

“No, no,” he kept saying. Other words and phrases drifted in to them less clearly. “Trouble?” he said, and, “I don't want that. You'll just have to wait.”

“Violet?” Jessie whispered. “Did you hear that?”

But Violet had drifted back to sleep.

In the other room, Henry lay in the dark wondering what this was about. Grandfather sounded so … different. Was something wrong? Could he be in some kind of trouble?

CHAPTER 7

Old Stories and New Fire Engines

“G
randfather,” Henry called softly. He tapped on Mr. Alden's bedroom door.

From the kitchen, Jessie said, “Tell him breakfast is ready.”

Henry called again. He waited. No sound. He opened the door and took a few steps into the room. “Grandfather's not here,” Henry told the others.

“He's probably downstairs getting the paper,” Benny said.