Amazing Mystery Show (2 page)

“Oh, right,” said Hilary. “We meet at nine o’clock sharp.” The producer seemed unable to look Jessie in the eye.

As Jessie headed back to the elevator, she wondered just what Hilary had meant about sneaking around.

“Where is everybody?” Benny said as he looked around the hotel lobby the next morning.

Henry glanced at his watch. “We’re a bit early.”

“Well, you know what they say,” said Jessie. “The early bird catches the worm.”

“Then I guess that’s us,” said a voice behind them. “We’ve been here for ages.”

The Aldens turned to see Fiona coming into the lobby—with the four Best children close behind.

“We just dashed into the gift shop for a second,” added twelve-year-old Rosie, as they sat down on a long leather couch.

Tim looked over at Benny. “Can you guess what’s in my pocket?”

Benny grinned. “Your lucky penny?”

“Right!”

“I’ve got my lucky cup, too,” Benny told him.

Fiona frowned. “You’re not here to make friends, Tim.” She gave her youngest nephew a little nudge. “You’re here to win.”

Jessie glanced over at Henry. She could tell by the look on her brother’s face that he was thinking what she was thinking. What’s wrong with making friends and trying to win?

Just then, a teenaged boy in a baseball cap poked his head into the lobby.

“Aren’t you the kids from ‘The Amazing Mystery Show?’” he asked, staring wide-eyed at the Best twins.

“Yup.” Rob was beaming as he nodded his head. “That’s us, all right.”

“Wow!” The teenager hurried over. “Can I get your autograph?”

“No!” Fiona made a shooing motion with her hand. “I won’t have these children mobbed by fans.”

The boy in the baseball cap walked away, his shoulders slumped.

Jessie glanced around.
Mobbed by fans?
Nobody else seemed to be paying any attention to the Best family.

“Honestly!” Fiona shook her head. “I suppose that’s the price of fame,” she added with a sigh. She was still shaking her head as she walked over to a table by the window. “These must be for us,” she said, holding up some travel brochures and street maps. “Let’s take a look at them while we’re waiting, shall we?”

“Are you sure Hilary won’t mind?” Violet asked as Fiona handed out a street map and a handful of brochures to each team.

“Honestly!” Fiona rolled her eyes. “Of course she won’t mind.”

At that moment, Hilary stepped into the lobby. She was chatting with a middle-aged man wearing jeans and a T-shirt. A younger man—about Hilary’s age—strolled in behind them. He was tall and slim, with curly dark hair. Both men were carrying television cameras.

“Good morning!” Hilary said in a cheery voice. Her smile suddenly vanished when she caught sight of the maps and brochures. “How on earth did you get those?”

“Actually, we just helped ourselves,” Fiona said. “Is that a problem, Hilary?”

Hilary did not look pleased. “I always give those out myself.”

“Oh?” Fiona seemed surprised to hear this. “I didn’t realize that.”

“Well, what’s done is done,” Hilary said, forcing a smile.

Jessie and Henry exchanged puzzled looks. If Hilary always gave out the maps and brochures, why did Fiona act so surprised?

“I have a few more hand-outs,” Hilary told them. She gave each team a large thermos of lemonade, paper cups, and an envelope filled with dollar bills.

“Wow!” Benny’s jaw dropped. “Is all that money for us?”

Hilary nodded. “You’ll need it for lunch and transportation.”

“Especially lunch,” Benny said with a grin.

This made Henry smile. “Benny’s middle name is food,” he teased.

Hilary smiled, too. Then she gestured towards the middle-aged man. “This is Mike,” she said. “He’ll be with the Best family again. And Andy with be with the Aldens.”

The young cameraman was leaning against the wall. He waved to the Aldens, and they waved back.

“Mike and Andy will get everyone ready for the day,” Hilary told them.

“This won’t take long,” Andy said, after shaking hands with each of the Aldens in turn. “We just need to get you set up with microphones.”

Benny’s eyebrows shot up. “We’ll be holding microphones?”

“Nothing to hold, Benny.” Andy held up a small recorder about the size of a wallet. “We’ll clip this onto the back of your shorts. You’ll soon forget you even have it on.”

But Violet didn’t look so sure. She was still nervous about being on television. How could they ever forget their words were being recorded?

“Nobody will even see them under our T-shirts,” Benny remarked.

“That’s the whole idea, Benny.” Andy winked at the youngest Alden. “We don’t want the folks at home to see our television equipment.”

As soon as everyone had been equipped with microphones, Hilary handed each team a small wooden box.

“The clues inside these boxes,” she told them, “lead to the hiding place of the first gold coin. You’ll have until five o’clock today,” she added. “Best of luck!”

With that, both teams headed for the door, with the cameramen close behind.

Outside, the Aldens set off in one direction, the Best family in the other. When Jessie spotted an empty bench by the bus stop, she sat down with the box.

“Hurry, Jessie,” Benny pleaded. “Open the box, okay?” The youngest Alden was bobbing up and down with excitement.

With Andy’s camera rolling, Jessie lifted the lid of the wooden box. Inside, they found a note, some cloth stars, and three spools of colored thread—red, white, and blue.

Jessie read the note aloud:
“Cats at play will show the way.”

“Cats at play?” Benny echoed. “What’s that all about?”

“You got me,” said Henry.

“Thirteen,” Jessie said, after counting the white stars. “Thirteen stars and three spools of thread. How weird is that?”

“I was just thinking,” said Violet. “I’m not sure about the thread and the stars, but I have a feeling we should head for the zoo.”

Benny looked confused. “The zoo?”

“I think I know what Violet means,” said Henry.

“Lions and tigers are cats.”

“And the zoo has lots of lions and tigers,” Benny cried, suddenly catching on.

Violet was flipping through the brochures. “Here’s a picture of the Philadelphia zoo.” She held it up to the camera as Andy gestured to her. “I think it’s worth checking out.”

But Jessie wasn’t so sure. How did the zoo fit in with the other clues—the spools of thread and the thirteen stars? Still, she didn’t have any better ideas, so they decided to give it a shot.

“Keep your eyes open,” Jessie said later, as they peered out the window of the bus. “We get off at Walnut Street.”

“Don’t worry, Jessie,” said Benny, who was sitting beside her. “I’m a good detective. I always keeps
both
eyes open.”

Sure enough, Benny was the first to spot Walnut Street. When the bus slowed to a stop, everyone hopped off. But something didn’t seem right.

“I don’t get it,” said Henry, glancing around. “This isn’t a zoo—it’s a park.”

“I don’t get it, either,” said Jessie. “According to the map, the Philadelphia zoo should be right here.”

The other Aldens exchanged puzzled looks. Jessie was the best map-reader in the family. It wasn’t like her to get directions wrong.

Benny looked over at the cameraman. “Do you know where we are, Andy?”

“Sorry, Benny,” Andy shrugged a little. “It’s against the rules for me to help in any way,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to give Hilary an excuse to fire me.”

“Would she really do that?” Violet asked in disbelief.

Andy nodded. “I’m afraid we don’t exactly get along.”

Violet was surprised to hear this. Andy and Hilary were such nice people. Why didn’t they get along?

Just then, a woman pushing a baby buggy came along. “Excuse me,” Jessie said to her. “Do you know how to get to the Philadelphia zoo?”

“The zoo?” The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m afraid you’re way off course.” After fishing around in her purse, she pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. “You’re in Washington Square right now,” she told them. “The zoo is in Fairmount Park.” She drew a quick map and handed it to Jessie.

“We’re not even close to the zoo,” Jessie said, after thanking the woman. “I don’t understand it.” She was shaking her head as she stared at the hand-drawn map.

“Philadelphia’s a big city, Jessie,” Violet pointed out, as they headed for the bus stop.

“And we’ve never been here before,” Benny added.

Henry nodded. “I bet visitors get lost all the time.”

“I suppose,” said Jessie. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“Camels!” Benny cried as they followed the tree-lined walkway at the zoo.

Henry, Jessie, and Violet hurried over to look at the strange animals with the long faces and the humps on their backs. Andy turned the camera toward the camels, then back to the Aldens.

“They’re called ships of the desert,” Henry noted, as he read the information on a sign.

Benny gave his brother a questioning look. “Ships of the desert?”

“Camels travel over oceans of sand,” Henry explained, “so people call them ships of the desert.”

“Oh, I get it,” Benny said. “Just like ships travel over oceans of water.”

“You catch on fast, Benny,” Henry said.

“We did a unit about camels at school,” said Jessie. “They can bite and spit.”

“Bite and spit?” Violet raised her eyebrows. “They don’t look like they have bad tempers.”

“They can’t be that bad,” said Henry. “Not if visitors can go for a ride.” He pointed to a sign that read: CAMEL RIDES.

“Do we have time?” Benny asked. He looked at his older brother.

“Not if we want to find that gold coin,” Henry answered.

“It should be just up ahead,” Jessie said, checking out the map of the zoo. “The Big Cat exhibit, I mean.”

“The zoo’s a great place to hide a gold coin,” Benny remarked, as they continued on their way. “Right, Jessie?”

“Right,” Jessie said, trying to sound positive. But she was still convinced the thirteen stars and the spools of thread were important clues. She wasn’t so sure they were really pointing the way to the zoo.

Andy and the four children threaded their way through the crowds to the Big Cat exhibit. Violet gasped when she caught sight of a tiger swimming in the water. “Oh, how beautiful!” she breathed.

“Tigers like swimming,” Jessie stated. “See how he’s using his giant paws to glide along?”

They soon spotted a jaguar snoozing in the sun, a lion beside a fallen tree, and a snow leopard climbing over the rocks. They were so interested in the wild cats, they forgot all about the gold coin for a while. It was Violet who finally remembered.

“The hiding place must be around here somewhere,” she said.

“Oh, right!” Jessie smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Let’s split up,” she suggested. “That way we can cover more ground.”

Henry and Violet went one way, Jessie and Benny went the other. They kept a sharp eye out for the gold coin. But, after searching every inch of the walkway around the exhibit, they came back empty-handed.

“Looks like we struck out,” said Violet.

“Never mind,” said Jessie. “It was worth a shot.”

“What now?” Benny asked, his shoulders slumped.

Henry looked at his watch. “It’s almost lunchtime. I vote we head back,” he said. “Didn’t Grandfather say something about a park near the hotel?”

Jessie nodded. “Franklin Square,” she recalled. “Grandfather said we could get hot dogs there.”

“Let’s go!” Benny brightened. “What are we waiting for?”

“Andy,” Henry said, scanning the crowds. “He was standing right here a little while ago.”

“I noticed a gift shop nearby,” said Violet. “Maybe he went to buy a souvenir.”

“Could be,” Jessie said. “Let’s head over that way.”

“Let’s buy something for Mrs. McGregor while we’re here,” Violet said as they stepped inside.

“How about a coffee mug?” Henry suggested, as they browsed around the crowded shop.

Violet nodded. “I like the one with the giraffes on it.”

“So do I,” said Jessie. “Let’s get that one.”

While Violet and Jessie waited in the checkout line, Henry and Benny went outside. “Hey, isn’t that Andy?” Benny asked.

Henry looked in the direction his brother was pointing. Sure enough, the young cameraman was standing in the shade of a tree, his back to them. When the children got closer, they realized he was talking on a cell phone. They caught some of his words.

“I’m telling you, I had to make the switch,” he was saying. “Look, what choice did I have?”

Henry and Benny exchanged puzzled glances. Why did Andy sound so upset?

As soon as they got to Franklin Square Park, the Aldens made a beeline for a food stand. Henry ordered a hot dog and soft pretzels. So did everyone else—including Andy.

“Grandfather says Philadelphia is famous for its soft pretzels,” Benny told the man behind the counter.

“Your grandfather’s right,” the man said. “You folks from out of town?”

Jessie nodded. “This is our first trip to Philadelphia.”