The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (121 page)

Benny looked through the field glasses again. All at once he whispered, “Henry! Something is behind that egret. Something white. Just look.”

Henry looked in the camera finder. Then he looked toward the bird as if he were going to take another picture.

Benny whispered, “I think it’s a man in a white shirt.”

“Right, Ben,” agreed Henry. “But why is he hiding behind a tree? He thinks the tree hides him, but I can see an arm sticking out on each side.”

Snap, went the camera. “I have a picture of two arms and two shoulders,” said Henry. “I wonder if he came here to watch us? And why?”

“I don’t know,” said Benny. “But I think that is just what he’s doing.” Then one arm moved.

“Keep watching him,” said Benny excitedly. “If he starts to leave, take another picture.”

A minute went by. Suddenly the man moved. He didn’t walk or run. He bent down and scrambled through the bushes. Henry snapped two more pictures before the man was out of sight.

“I hope these pictures are good,” Benny said.

Grandfather said, “It’s too bad Henry doesn’t have his long-distance lens on the camera.”

“I do,” said Henry. “All these pictures will be big. And now the next thing is to get these pictures printed.”

“Right,” said Benny. “Let’s watch for a landing.”

The four Aldens climbed aboard the houseboat, and Henry poled it away from the island. Soon they were floating down the river.

Benny and Henry watched the riverbanks for a landing. Benny was looking for something else, too. He thought he might see the man in the white shirt again, but he did not. Once he thought he saw a car parked in the woods, but he wasn’t sure. It was not far from Gull Island.

At last
The Sam and Dolly
came to a landing. Even in their excitement the Aldens did not forget to lock the houseboat.

When they found a drugstore in the small town, Benny spoke to the clerk. He said, “We have some very important pictures in our camera. How soon can we have prints?”

The clerk laughed. He said, “I’m sure you must have pictures of the President of the United States. I do develop my own pictures. I’m not very busy so I’ll develop the film right now if you hand it over.”

“Oh, thank you!” said five voices. “We’ll wait.”

The clerk began to think the pictures were really important. “You can sit at the counter,” he said. “I’ll hurry.”

In less than half an hour the man handed Henry prints of the pictures. The Aldens crowded around and Violet said, “Those pictures are large. That lens is a wonderful thing, Henry.”

Then Benny said one single word, “Look!”

He pointed at the white shoulders of the man in the bushes. Right behind him was a very faint picture of a face!

“There were
two
men,” said Benny.

Henry studied the picture. “There certainly is another man,” he agreed.

Violet said, “Do you think the men were watching our houseboat? They must have some reason for hiding from us. What could it be?”

“Benny and I think the men were watching us, too,” Henry said. “They wouldn’t hide if they weren’t doing something wrong.”

“Do you think we ought to give these pictures to the police?” asked Benny.

“Yes,” said Grandfather. “But let’s go back to the houseboat first.”

“Yes,” said Henry. “I have a feeling somebody wants to get on the houseboat when we are not there. It happened once. It could happen again.”

Henry and Benny soon poled the boat away from the landing. Once again they were in the middle of the river.

Henry put the pictures in his suitcase.

“A boat is coming!” called Jessie.

“I see it,” said Grandfather. “It’s the Coast Guard. Maybe they have heard of a houseboat with too many names and want to look us over. The Coast Guard has to do that. It has to find out what every boat is doing. And if any boatman is breaking the law, the Coast Guard can go aboard and search the boat. It can even arrest a boatman.”

Two men were on the Coast Guard boat. They steered carefully around
The Sam and Dolly.

The men shouted to Henry, “Want to drop your anchor?” Henry threw it overboard at once.

“Come aboard,” called Grandfather. “My name is James Alden.”

“Yes, I know,” said the older man, smiling. He had several large fish on a string. He stepped aboard the houseboat, but the other man stayed on the Coast Guard boat.

“We just pulled these fellows out of the river. Would you like them?”

Jessie smiled and took the fish with thanks.

The stranger went on, “The houseboat has so many names that I wanted to see the crew.”

“Well, these are my grandchildren,” said Mr. Alden. “This is Captain Henry and his first mate, Benny. Jessie is the cook, and Violet the washerwoman.”

“I’m Commander Williams,” said the man. “I hope the washerwoman is stronger than she looks.”

“Yes, Violet is a tough girl,” said Benny. “Come and see our laundry tub. Come right through the cabin to the rear deck and I’ll show you.”

The Commander went along with Benny. He noticed that everything was clean. He even noticed the fire pail and the sandbox. But before he had time to look for a laundry tub, Violet had jumped into the river and was climbing into the rope seat.

“Well, I never saw anything like that!” exclaimed Commander Williams. “Did you make it?”

“Henry made it,” said Violet. “I do the washing, and Jessie hangs it out.” Then she swam off and climbed up on the deck.

“Your boat is all shipshape,” the commander said. “You do very well with your housekeeping. Do you enjoy this kind of life?”

“Oh, we’re having a neat time!” answered Benny. “Something new every day.”

“Is that so?” said the visitor. “What, for instance?”

Suddenly the Aldens looked serious and Mr. Alden said, “I’m really very glad you came, Commander.”

“We all feel that something is wrong,” said Henry.

“Wrong with the houseboat?”

“The houseboat is all right. The trouble is along the river,” said Henry.

Benny said, “We’re beginning to think there is something mysterious going on.”

“Well, I must tell you that the police officers think this, too,” said Mr. Williams. “They asked the Coast Guard to help. We often work together. They think something is going on, but they need some proof.”

“We may have some proof,” said Henry. “Let me show you the pictures I took at Gull Island.” He got the pictures of the white egret and handed them to the commander.

“Very good!” said Mr. Williams. He took out a small magnifying glass to look at the pictures.

“Do you see what I see, Captain Henry?” he asked.

“Well, I see the man hiding and the face of another man farther away, if that’s what you mean.”

“No, I mean the black ring on the man’s left hand.” He handed the glass and the best picture to Henry.

Henry looked closely through the glass. “Well, we missed it!” he said. “I never noticed that ring. Did you, Jessie?”

“No,” said Jessie. “Let me look.”

“Me, too,” said Benny.

Benny looked at the picture. “Oh!” he said excitedly. “I’ve seen that black ring before, Henry! Don’t you remember at the Elm Tree Inn I told you about the man who drove so fast with his right hand? That very ring was on his left hand. I saw it as he held the window!”

“Yes,” said Henry. “I remember.”

The commander said, “Good! Then that’s one more thing we know.” He leaned back in his chair. “What else do you know about this trouble along the river?” He looked at Benny as he spoke.

“We know six people who are worried. They are all too scared to talk. Then somebody took a vase at the auction at Pomfret Landing.”

Jessie said, “When we came back to the houseboat after the auction, we smelled cigarette smoke. Our clock was gone. We think someone has a key.”

Commander Williams nodded. He said, “Maybe I can explain that. Before you came, there was a family who named the houseboat
The Blue Heron.
They were careless with the key. One day they left it in the lock all morning while they went shopping. I happened to need a new key for my supply room, so I went to the locksmith. I was surprised to see a man slipping out the back way. I asked the locksmith who it was, but he didn’t want to tell. That made me wonder. At last he said that the man had wanted a new key to match the one from Mr. Rivers’ houseboat. So maybe that is how someone got in while you were away.”

“But who was the man?” asked Benny.

“That’s what I don’t know,” said the commander. “Maybe it would help if you’d tell me the names of the people who are worried.”

“Sam and Jeff at April Center,” began Benny. “And Mrs. Young and her sister at the candy store at Pomfret Landing, and a waitress at Second Landing. And I don’t know about a boy in a red cap.”

“You don’t think the boy in the red cap was the person on your houseboat while you were gone?”

“No!” said Benny. “I don’t think he was. I liked him.”

“Do you know that the boy in the red cap is Mrs. Young’s son?”

“No,” answered Benny. “So that’s why she is so worried!”

“Yes, she has plenty to worry about. That boy came home with twenty-five dollars and wouldn’t tell his mother where he got it. She thinks he is getting into trouble.”

“I think she’s right,” nodded Henry.

Commander Williams stood up. “Now I must go. If you let me have one of those pictures, I’ll pass it on to the police. It may help them.”

“Glad to help,” said Henry.

“Thank you for the fish,” added Jessie.

J
essie called, “Lunch! We have a surprise for you, Benny.”

Benny took one look at his plate. On it was a piece of Commander Williams’ fish and a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes.

“Oh, mashed potatoes!” shouted Benny. “You’re a nice sister, Jessie! But where did you get them?”

“Out of a box,” said Jessie. “It’s instant potato.”

Halfway through lunch Henry looked out over the river and began to laugh. “We’re still at anchor,” he said. “I forgot to pull up the anchor after Commander Williams left.”

“I guess we’re going nowhere in a hurry,” said Benny.

When everything was eaten, Jessie said, “If you all help, we’ll be through our work in a hurry. Henry, will you take these fish heads and tails and throw them to the gulls? They must have known we had fish.”

It happened that Henry had the houseboat key in his hand when Jessie called him. He picked up the scraps and went to the back deck. He raised his arm as high as he could and threw—not the fish heads—but the door key!

“Jessie!” Henry yelled. “Dive with me! Swim right where I swim!”

Jessie did not know what it was all about, but she did exactly what Henry told her. She dived in and followed him.

Henry gasped, “I threw the door key! I haven’t taken my eyes off the spot. I know just where it went.”

“We’ll dive for it,” said Jessie, swimming faster.

“Here!” said Henry. He put his head down and disappeared. Jessie followed.

In a minute they both came up. “I saw it!” gasped Jessie, “but I couldn’t stay down.”

“Same here,” sputtered Henry. They both went down again. By this time the family was watching from the rear deck.

“Stay here, Benny,” Grandfather said. “You’ll just stir up the water so they can’t see. Two is enough. Ha! Good for you, Henry!”

Henry came up, holding the key. Jessie came up. They swam quickly to the boat and climbed aboard.

Henry made a bow to Jessie and gave her the key. “Put it around your neck on a chain,” he said. “I’m not fit to carry a key!”

“Oh,
yes,
you are,” said Grandfather. “You did very well to see exactly where the key went.”

Then Benny said, “But look where all the fish heads and scraps went—all over the sandbox!”

Benny held up a fish tail and called. The air was full of gulls in an instant. They caught all the scraps before they landed in the water.

Jessie sniffed. “That sand will always smell fishy. We can’t have that on a boat. We’ll have to get some new sand.”

Benny began to laugh. He said, “Henry, you ought to have seen yourself! Throwing that key as far as you could and dropping the fish bones. That was pretty neat!”