Amazing Mystery Show (3 page)

“Well, there’s a mini-golf course in the park if you’re interested.” The man placed the hot dogs and pretzels on the counter. “It’s pretty cool,” he added. “There’s a miniature landmark on every hole—like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.”

“Cool!” Henry squirted mustard over his hot dog. “Maybe we’ll come back later in the week.”

Jessie was glancing around for a place to eat. “There’s a spot over there,” she said, jerking her head in the direction of a huge bench.

“Somebody’s sitting there, Jessie,” Benny pointed out. “A lady in a costume.”

“That’s a storytelling bench,” Andy informed them. “The city hires actors to dress up in costumes and tell stories about the early days in Philadelphia.”

“Sounds like fun,” said Jessie. “We can eat our lunch and hear a story.”

The young woman in the long gown and white cap looked up from her sewing as they walked over. “I’m Caroline,” she said, greeting them with a smile. “I was hoping you’d join me.”

“What a pretty design,” Violet remarked, after everyone said hello. She was admiring the woman’s delicate stitches.

“I’m making a small tablecloth,” Caroline told her. “I decided to add a border of blue cornflowers. Of course, I’m not as skilled as Betsy Ross,” she added, “but I do my best.”

“Betsy Ross?” The name sounded familiar to Jessie. “Didn’t she sew the first American flag?”

“Nobody knows for sure.” Andy wiped some mustard from the corner of his mouth. “But Betsy Ross usually gets the credit.”

Caroline nodded. “According to the story,” she told them, “it was George Washington who asked Betsy to sew the first American flag.”

“That’d take forever,” said Benny. He held out his cracked pink cup while Henry poured the lemonade. “To sew fifty stars and all those stripes, I mean.”

Caroline shook her head. “Actually, Betsy only sewed thirteen stars—one star for every colony.”

“What’s a—” Benny began.

“Colony?” Henry knew the question before his brother even asked it. “That’s what the first states were called,” he said. “Back when the settlers first came to America.”

Caroline nodded. “There were only thirteen colonies back in the days of the American Revolution. That’s why there were only thirteen stars on the first American flag.”

Thirteen stars?
Jessie glanced over at Henry. She could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking what she was thinking. Wasn’t that the exact number of stars in the box of clues?

Andy caught the look. In a flash, he swallowed the last bite of his hot dog and started filming again.

The storyteller went on to say that Betsy Ross was a seamstress and a good friend of George Washington’s. But there was no proof she actually sewed the first American flag.

After thanking Caroline, Jessie was anxious to talk to her sister and brothers. “That was a real stroke of luck,” she said, as they tossed napkins and empty containers into a trash can.

“What was, Jessie?” Violet wanted to know.

“You’re thinking about the thirteen stars in the box of clues,” guessed Henry. “Right, Jessie?”

“Exactly!”

“Of course!” Violet put a hand over her mouth in surprise. “Then the clues are pointing to the first American flag.”

“Got to be,” said Jessie. “Even the spools of thread are red, white, and blue.”

“Just like the flag!” cried Benny. Then he gave a happy twirl all around.

But Henry was having second thoughts. “One problem,” he said. “What about the cats at play?”

“I’m not really sure what that’s all about,” admitted Jessie.

Violet’s mind was racing. “Unless …”

“Unless what, Violet?” Henry asked.

“Unless the clues are pointing to Betsy Ross.” Violet started flipping through the pages of a travel brochure. “I knew there was a picture of the Betsy Ross House in here,” she said, thumping a finger down.

The other Aldens gathered round to take a look at a narrow brick house with a thirteen-star flag out front.

Henry said, “I think you’re on to something, Violet.”

Benny was quick to agree. “I bet that’s where we’ll find cats at play!”

“And it’s open to tourists,” Violet informed them.

“We can walk to it from here,” Jessie told them, after a quick look at the map. “Chestnut Street isn’t far.”

Benny broke into a run. “Let’s find that gold coin!”

“That can’t be the Betsy Ross House,” Violet said a little later. “It’s too big.”

For a long moment, the four Aldens stared in puzzled silence. The two-story brick building set back from Chestnut Street didn’t look anything like the picture in the brochure.

While Andy filmed from a distance, Jessie sat down on a nearby bench. She unfolded the map to take another look. “Where did I go wrong?” she asked.

The other Aldens looked at each other in bewilderment. How could Jessie get the directions mixed up again?

Henry sat down beside his sister. “Maybe we can figure it out together.”

That seemed like a good idea. As Violet looked over her sister’s shoulder, she noticed something strange. The landmark picture of the Betsy Ross House was peeling away from the map. On a hunch, she reached over and pulled on one corner of the picture. Sure enough, it was just a sticker. And it was hiding another landmark underneath!

The Aldens looked at one another. For a moment, they were too stunned to speak.

“We’re at Carpenter’s Hall!” Violet said at last.

Jessie pulled off more stickers. The Philadelphia zoo had been switched with Washington Square!

“Somebody covered up the real landmark pictures with stickers,” Henry realized.

“You mean, somebody tried to fool us?” A frown crossed Benny’s round face.

“It sure looks that way,” said Henry. “I guess he—or she—wanted to throw us off track.”

Jessie let out a sigh. “We wasted a lot of time trying to find our way around.”

“It’s not very nice to trick people,” Benny said in a small voice.

“No, it’s not,” said Jessie, who couldn’t help noticing that Andy had stopped filming.

“But who would do such a thing?” Violet wondered.

“I’m not sure who tampered with the map,” Henry said. “But I think we should concentrate on one mystery at a time.”

“Good idea,” said Jessie, who was bending over the map again. “We’ve still got time to get to the Betsy Ross House. It’s only a few blocks away.”

Henry jumped to his feet. “Then let’s go,” he said. “We’re not giving up that easily, are we?”

“No!” the others shouted.

With that, the Aldens set off lickety-split.

When the Aldens finally arrived at the Betsy Ross House, Andy said, “There’s no filming allowed inside the house, kids. I’ll wait in the courtyard.”

Henry gave him the thumbs-up sign. “We’ll meet you out there.”

As the four children stepped inside the house, they breathed in the musty smell of the past. The narrow little house was filled with tourists, so they had to thread their way through the crowds as they went from room to room.

“It’s kind of like walking through a haunted house,” Benny said as they climbed the winding staircase.

“Don’t worry, Benny,” said Violet, who was a step above him. “Ghosts don’t exist.”

They looked for cats in the shadowy kitchen where herbs hung from the ceiling, and in the storage room piled high with boxes of fabrics. They looked for cats in the small parlor where portraits covered the walls, and in Betsy’s bedroom with its four-poster bed. They even looked for cats in the workroom filled with the tools of Betsy’s trade—thimbles, spools of thread, and fabric.

When the Aldens stepped out into the courtyard, Andy called out to them, “Any luck?” He was sitting at a small table in the shade of a tree.

“Zilch,” Henry said as they pulled up a chair. “No sign of cats anywhere.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Jessie was shaking her head. “I was so sure we were on the right track this time.”

“Speaking of time.” Henry glanced at his watch. “It’s running out fast.”

“I’ve drawn a blank,” said Jessie.

Just then, Benny caught his breath.

“What is it?” Jessie asked in alarm.

Benny’s eyes were huge. They all looked over in the direction he was staring.

“Is that what I think it is?” Violet asked in disbelief.

Henry nodded his head. “Cats!”

Sure enough, a fountain in the middle of the courtyard was decorated with bronze cats!

As Andy started filming again, Jessie gave her little brother a hug. “What would we do without you, Benny?”

“I’m a pretty good detective, aren’t I?” Benny beamed.

“They look so real,” Violet said, as they hurried over to the fountain. She rubbed a hand over one of the bronze cats. “This one’s dipping his paw into the water.”

Jessie laughed a little. “This one’s scratching his back against the fountain.”

At that very moment, something caught Henry’s eye. The others watched in amazement as their older brother stuck his arm deep into the water. When he pulled it out again, he was holding something in the palm of his hand. As he slowly uncurled his fingers, Jessie, Violet, and Benny gasped.

Henry was holding a gold coin!

“We won the first round!” Benny said for about the umpteenth time.

“We still have two more rounds to go,” Henry reminded him. “Don’t get too excited yet.” The four children had gone for a swim later that evening. Now they were sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling their feet in the water.

“I can’t believe somebody tampered with our map!” Violet couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Who would do such a thing?”

Benny had an answer. “Fiona.”

Jessie looked at her little brother. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because she wants to go to Hawaii,” Benny answered. “It’s her dream.”

“That’s true,” said Violet. “And she won’t get there unless the Best kids become five-time champions.”

Jessie nodded. “Fiona didn’t look happy when we showed her the gold coin.”

“She said it was just beginner’s luck,” Benny added.

“Fiona does have a motive,” Henry said after as moment’s thought. “But what about opportunity? I’m not sure she had a chance to tamper with the map.”

“You’re forgetting something, Henry,” Jessie reminded him. “They got to the lobby before we did this morning.”

“That’s true,” Henry said, backing down a little. “She could’ve switched the landmarks on the map while the twins were browsing in the gift shop.”

Violet remembered something else. “Fiona made a point of handing out the maps,” she said. “Maybe she wanted to make sure we got the mixed-up one.”

“It’s a pretty strong case against Fiona,” Henry admitted. “But she isn’t the only suspect.”

The other Aldens looked over at him, puzzled.

“I think we should include Andy on our list.”

“Oh, Henry!” cried Violet. “You don’t really suspect Andy, do you?”

“I don’t want to think he would do something like that, Violet,” Henry said. “But we have to consider everybody.”

“And we heard him on the phone,” Benny said, lowering his voice.

“What are you talking about, Benny?” Violet wanted to know.

“I’m talking about when we were at the zoo.”

Henry nodded. “He said something about making the switch.”

Jessie didn’t like the sound of this. Neither did Violet.

“Are you positive?” Jessie asked. She wanted to be sure.

Benny gave the water a splash with his feet. “We heard it with our own ears.”

“Now that you mention it,” Jessie said after a moment’s thought, “Andy suddenly stopped filming when we were peeling the stickers off the map. Did you notice?”

Henry had thought nothing of it. Neither had Violet and Benny. But now they wondered about it, too.

“I bet he didn’t want anyone to find out he’d tricked us,” guessed Benny.

They had to admit it was possible. After all, the ratings had shot up since the Best kids had taken the nation by storm. And wouldn’t the show be cancelled if the ratings went down? Andy would lose his job if that happened.

“You know,” said Jessie, “there’s somebody else we should consider.”

“Who’s that, Jessie?” Violet asked.

“Hilary.”

“Hilary!” The others were so surprised, all they could do was stare at Jessie with their mouths open.

“But, Jessie,” said Violet, “Hilary seems so nice.”

“We all like her, Violet,” said Jessie. “But she’ll lose her job if the ratings go down.”

“And she likes traveling to different cities,” Benny recalled.

Violet didn’t look convinced. “That’s not much to go on.”

“There’s something else,” said Jessie. “I overheard Hilary talking on the phone, too. She said she didn’t like sneaking around, but she didn’t have any choice.”

“That does sound fishy,” Henry admitted. “I think we should keep a close eye on all of them for now—Fiona, Andy,
and
Hilary.”

The other Aldens were quick to agree. There was definitely something funny going on!

The next morning, Hilary once again handed each team a thermos of lemonade, an envelope of money, and another small wooden box.

“This mystery will be a two-parter,” she told them. “You’ll need your best detective skills with you today.”