Mystery of the Hidden Painting (5 page)

CHAPTER 7

No More Clues?

T
he next afternoon the children were in the boxcar, playing Monopoly. Suddenly Jessie put the dice down. “I have something to tell you,” she said.

“What?” Benny shouted. “It sounds like another mystery.”

“It's the same mystery,” Jessie said. “Do you remember when we were leaving Mrs. Newton's, I stopped to look in the mirror?”

“I remember,” Violet answered.

“Well,” Jessie continued. “There was a letter on the table under the mirror. It was addressed to Mrs. Newton, but the return address was a Mrs. Susan Barstow in Silver City.”

“That's right near here,” Henry said. “But I don't see what's so strange about that. What are you thinking?”

Jessie shrugged. “I don't know. It just seemed funny to me. Mrs. Newton getting a letter from a place so near here.”

“I don't follow you, Jessie,” Henry said. “What do you want to do?”

“I thought, maybe, we could just bike ride over there and well … ”

“Do what?” Violet asked.

“Just look at the house, I guess,” Jessie answered.

“What are you looking for?” Benny asked.

“I just can't believe we are at a dead end,” Jessie said. “Maybe we'll see something at Mrs. Barstow's. I don't know what. But it can't hurt to look.”

“I guess it can't hurt,” Violet agreed.

“Let's go!” Benny said.

They ran up to the house and into the kitchen where Mrs. McGregor was making spaghetti sauce. “We're going for a bike ride,” Jessie said.

Mrs. McGregor looked away from the pot she was stirring. “Be careful and don't be late for dinner.”

“We won't,” Henry said.

“Was that a lie?” Benny asked, as they all took their bikes from the garage.

“No, it wasn't, Benny. We
are
going for a bike ride,” Henry said.

“We just didn't say
where
we're going,” Violet said.

“And Mrs. McGregor didn't ask, so that's okay,” Henry added.

“Okay,” Benny said.

They rode along, enjoying the warm sun and the fresh smells of summer grass. When they got to Silver City they stopped and asked a policeman the way to 1600 Hudson Lane. It was small and white with blue shutters and a neat little garden in front. The Aldens stopped behind a hedge to the left of the house and got off their bikes.

“Now that we're here,” Henry said, “what are we looking for?”

Jessie said, “I guess I really don't know. I just didn't want to give up.”

They waited for five minutes, but no one came out of the house. “I'm bored,” Benny said.

Violet laughed. “At least you're not hungry.”

“I'm hungry, too,” Benny said, smiling mischievously.

Just then a car pulled up. “Look!” Jessie whispered.

Laura Garrison walked up the path to the house and rang the bell. The door opened and she went inside.

“I wonder what she's doing here?” Violet said.

“Well, if Mrs. Barstow writes to Mrs. Newton, Laura might know her, too. So it's not so strange if she visits Mrs. Barstow,” Henry said.

They waited silently, watching the house.

Finally, Laura Garrison came out. The Aldens couldn't see who was in the doorway, but a woman's voice was loud enough for them to hear. “I will never agree to what you want, Laura. Never!”

“I think you're wrong, Susan—you and my mother,” Laura replied.

Then she went back to her car and drove away.

“What do you suppose
that
meant?” Jessie said, thoughtfully.

“I don't think we'll ever know,” Henry answered. “Let's go home.”

“Maybe we should talk to Mrs. Barstow?” Jessie said.

“Jessie, what would you say to her?” Violet asked.

“I don't know. I just hate to go without talking to her,” Jessie said.

Henry frowned slightly. “Chances are Mrs. Garrison is just a friend of this Mrs. Barstow. Nothing more than that. Let's not jump to conclusions.”

Jessie shook her head, disagreeing. “Then why did she shout at Mrs. Garrison and say, ‘I will never agree to what you want'?”

“That didn't sound very friendly to me,” Benny said.

The Aldens stood in silence for a few minutes. Then Henry said, “Well if we did go in, what would you ask her?”

“I'd just ask if she knew anything about the necklace,” Jessie answered.

“How can we just go up and ring her bell? We don't even know her,” Violet said. “That's very rude.”

“We went to Mrs. Newton without calling,” Benny reminded them.

“Right,” Violet said, “and I thought that wasn't polite, either.”

Jessie looked so downcast that Violet touched her arm and said, “All right, Jessie, we'll do it.”

A smile lit up Jessie's face. “You don't have to worry. I'll do all the talking.”

The children went up the walk to Mrs. Barstow's house and rang the bell. Soon a tall, thin woman with dark brown hair opened the door. She smiled and said, “I'm sorry but I've bought all the cookies I can manage to eat in the next year.”

Benny looked at her in awe. “You
have
?”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Barstow, but we aren't selling anything. I wondered if we could talk to you for just a few minutes?” Jessie asked politely.

Susan Barstow looked surprised. “About what?” she asked.

“About our grandmother's necklace,” Benny said quickly.

The smile left Susan Barstow's face. “What necklace?” she asked.

Violet asked shyly, “Couldn't we come in for just a little while?”

Mrs. Barstow thought for a minute and then said, “Just for a few minutes. But I can tell you right away that I don't know anything about any necklace.”

She led them into a small living room and beckoned to them to sit down. Jessie, in as few words as possible, told the story again of the Alden necklace and their visits to Mrs. Harkins and Mrs. Newton.

Susan Barstow didn't meet the children's eyes. She looked out of the window and carefully said, “I can't help you at all. I've never heard of the necklace you're talking about.”

Suddenly a whistling sound came from the kitchen. “My teakettle is boiling,” Mrs. Barstow said. “I'll be right back.”

When Mrs. Barstow was out of the room, Jessie looked around. Suddenly she jumped up and walked over to the mantelpiece. “Look,” she cried.

The other children ran over to her. Jessie pointed to a large framed picture on the mantel. It was of Mrs. Newton and two small boys. It was an old picture, but Mrs. Newton was easily recognizable.

“It's that Mrs. Newton,” Benny said.

“Yes,” Jessie replied.
“See.”

The teakettle stopped whistling and Henry whispered, “Jessie, what does that picture prove?”

“Well,” Jessie answered, “they do know each other.”

“We guessed that before,” Violet whispered.

Mrs. Barstow came back into the room. It seemed to the Alden children that she paled a little when she saw them looking at the picture. “I don't have much time,” she said.

Jessie pointed to the photograph. “Isn't that Mrs. Newton?”

Susan Barstow nodded. “Yes, it is. She's a very good friend of mine, and has been for years. That's a picture of her with my children, taken a number of years ago.”

“Oh,” Jessie said. She didn't know anything else to say or ask.

Mrs. Barstow's face softened a little. “You children should just go home and forget about the necklace nonsense. If someone stole your grandfather's necklace, I can't give you any help. I don't know anything about it.”

Jessie said softly, “That was Laura Garrison who was here. We saw her before we came in.”

The softness left Mrs. Barstow's face. “Laura is a friend of mine also. Now I have to ask you all to leave, and I also must ask you not to bother me or Mrs. Newton anymore.”

“We're sorry if we bothered you,” Violet said apologetically. “We won't do it again.”

The children left and started biking home. “I think she's hiding
something
,” Jessie said.

“Jessie,” Henry replied, “everything she said could be true: Mrs. Newton is her friend. If Mrs. Newton is her friend, she would certainly know Laura Garrison. Maybe we
are
imagining things.”

“I believe Jessie,” Benny said loyally.

“I don't know,” Violet said. “I think maybe Jessie is right. But there's nothing else we can do anyway.”

After dinner that night, Mr. Alden took his grandchildren to town to a big ice cream parlor. They all ordered double cones and, as they were leaving, Laura Garrison came in with a man. When she saw the Aldens she smiled slightly. “This is my husband. We had dinner in Greenfield tonight,” she said. She turned to her husband. “These are the Alden children I told you about.”

Mr. Garrison looked at his wife. “Maybe we should all sit down and talk.”

Mrs. Garrison stared at him for a moment and her cheeks got paler. “I don't think so. Mother wouldn't … ”

She stopped talking, took her husband's arm, and walked away with him.

“Who was that?” Mr. Alden asked.

“We met her in Elmford,” Jessie explained.

“She seems like a very nervous lady,” Mr. Alden said. But then his mind strayed from Laura Garrison to Benny, who had just dropped his ice cream cone on the street and was looking very surprised.

“Grandfather,” Benny shouted. “My cone! And I hardly had more than four licks.”

Grandfather laughed and took Benny's hand. “Don't worry Benny. I'll buy you another one.”

For the next few days Jessie tried to forget about the necklace. The children agreed that since they had no more clues to follow, they might as well not think about it. Instead, they continued their planning for Mr. Alden's birthday party.

“I think,” Benny said, “we should have a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate ice cream.”

The other children laughed.

“I haven't decided yet what I'm going to play on my violin. I know Grandfather loves waltzes, but I don't know one to play,” Violet said.

“I've decided to decorate the dining room with balloons and streamers and especially a big sign that says ‘Happy Birthday,' ” Jessie said.

“And here is my poem,” Henry announced. “It's not very good but at least it's all mine.

“Poems are very hard to write,
And I have tried both day and night.
But this is what I want to say,
Grandfather, have the best birthday.”

“I think it's very good,” Benny said.

“Me, too,” the girls agreed.

They talked more about the party, enjoying all the plans. After dinner, they went up to Henry's room and talked about what they would wear from the attic. Finally, they agreed they were all tired and they wanted to go to bed.

Jessie woke up in the middle of the night and sat up in bed. Was that a noise from downstairs? It was. She just knew it. She got out of bed, quietly opened her door, and looked out.

Henry opened his door at the same time. He knew he had heard sounds from the living room. He looked over toward Jessie's room and saw her standing in the doorway in her white nightgown and bare feet. He tiptoed over to her.

“I heard something,” she whispered.

“I did, too,” Henry said. “I'm going downstairs.”

“Maybe we should get Grandfather,” Jessie said.

Henry disagreed. “It could be Watch. How can we wake Grandfather because our dog is walking around?”

Henry started down the stairs. “I'm coming, too,” Jessie whispered.

Together they walked down, very slowly, holding hands. They tried to make sure the steps didn't creak. When they got to the bottom, they looked toward the living room. Jessie gasped. A light was moving in the room. Jessie put her arm around Henry's shoulders and they stood still, watching the light glide around the room.

Then, before he knew what he was doing, Henry cried out, “Who's there?” The light went out and there was silence. “I think we should get Grandfather,” Jessie said, sounding frightened.

Henry tiptoed into the room and turned on the light. The room was empty. Suddenly Mr. Alden was coming down the stairs with Violet and Benny behind him.

“What's going on?” he asked when he saw Jessie and Henry.

“We heard some noises, and we saw a light, too,” Jessie said. “I think you should call the police.”

Grandfather looked around the room. “Nothing has been touched,” he said. He went to the desk and took an envelope out of a drawer. He counted the money in it. “There's no money missing either.”

“What could it have been, Grandfather?” Jessie asked.

“Well, the noise could have been Watch. And the lights could have come from cars on the road.”