Gertrude Warner - Mystery in New York

“I knew it,” breathed Jessie.

“You stole it!” Benny said. “You stole the Elizabeth Star.”

“No!” cried Mr. Evans. “I didn’t.”

“Then how did you know it was there?” asked Violet. She sneezed, and stepped back a little.

“I was working up on the ladder yesterday morning and I saw it. But there was no way I could get to it without arousing suspicion. Mrs. Teague or Mr. Alden or someone was always around. Anyway, I figured it was safe and I could leave it there until I finished work.”

“You didn’t steal it and put it there?” asked Jessie.

“No!” said Mr. Evans. “But seeing it there gave me quite a shock, I can tell you.” He managed a feeble smile. “And that’s no joke.”

Violet sneezed again and said, “You make me sneeze. It’s the dust.”

Mr. Evans gave her a puzzled look.

“It was you,” said Violet. “You’re the one who locked us in the secret room. And you left dust all over Mr. Pound’s apartment.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Just scare you a little. Keep you from figuring out where the diamond was until I could get it safely away from Mrs. Teague’s apartment,” said Mr. Evans.

“Well, it didn’t scare us. Not one bit,” declared Benny.

“Mr. Saunders didn’t tell you to go up and scare us?” asked Violet.

“No,” said Henry, before Mr. Evans could answer.

“No,” said Mr. Evans. “What has Mr. Saunders got to do with anything?”

“No. No, I don’t think it was Mr. Saunders. And I don’t think it was Lydia,” Henry went on.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about now,” complained Mr. Evans.

“Me either,” said Benny.

“I think I know who took the diamond and hid it in the chandelier. Now all we have to do is set a trap and catch the thief … with your help, Mr. Evans,” Henry added.

“Help you?” said Mr. Evans.

“Yes,” said Henry. “And if you do, maybe the police will go easier on you.”

“Plug me in,” said Mr. Evans. His smile was a little more genuine now. “That was a joke.”

“Mr. Pound, come in,” said Mrs. Teague.

“What’s this? The children visiting you have actually found the diamond?” said Mr. Pound. Out came his handkerchief. He mopped his face.

“Did I say that when I called? I’m sorry. I should have said they found some new clues,” said Mrs. Teague.

“Oh,” said Mr. Pound. He sounded relieved. “Where are they?”

“They had to go to the store to get some more dog food for Watch,” said Mrs. Teague. “Their grandfather went with them. I’m here by myself, except for Mr. Evans, at the moment.”

“Mr. Evans?” asked Mr. Pound.

“The electrician. But he’s out drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen,” said Mrs. Teague.

Crouched behind the kitchen door, Violet whispered, “Do you think he believes Mrs. Teague?”

“Shhh,” warned Jessie.

“Shhh,” Benny said to Watch, tightening his hold on the dog’s collar.

“Why don’t you sit in the dining room and … Oh, dear, I hear the phone ringing in my study. You just sit right here and I’ll be right back.” Mrs. Teague pulled out a chair, nodded at Mr. Pound, and hurried out of the dining room.

She was barely out of sight down the hall before Mr. Pound jumped to his feet. He climbed onto the chair and stretched his arm up toward the chandelier. He frowned. He leaned sideways and peered at the rows of dangling crystals.

“It’s got to be here,” he muttered.

“Now,” said Jessie.

Mr. Evans pushed open the kitchen door and walked into the dining room, letting the door almost close behind him. He looked up at Mr. Pound. Mr. Pound looked down at him.

“Looking for something?” said Mr. Evans.

“I, er … well,” said Mr. Pound.

“You know,” said Mr. Evans, “I’m an electrician, and while I was wiring the dining room, I noticed something very interesting about that chandelier.”

“What?” said Mr. Pound.

“This,” said Mr. Evans, pulling the Elizabeth Star out of his pocket.

“That’s the Elizabeth Star,” said Mr. Pound. He grew very pale.

“I wondered how it got up there,” said Mr. Evans.

“That’s mine,” said Mr. Pound, getting down off the chair. “You must give it to me.”

“I think I should give it to the police. Maybe there’s a reward,” said Mr. Evans.

Mr. Pound took out his handkerchief and wiped his face. He looked ill. “No need to do that,” he said. “Yes, I hid the Star. And I’d like it to stay hidden. I couldn’t bear to lose it.”

“Go on,” said Mr. Evans.

“So maybe we could make a deal,” said Mr. Pound.

“And maybe not,” said Henry, pushing open the kitchen door.

“You!” Mr. Pound staggered back as the children came out of the kitchen and Mrs. Teague and Grandfather Alden came in from the living room. “What are you doing here?”

“Catching a thief,” said Jessie. “A thief who stole from himself.”

Mr. Pound looked around wildly. For a moment, it seemed as if he might try to run out the door. Watch growled a little under his breath.

Then Mr. Pound collapsed onto the chair. “It’s true. It’s all true. I’m sorry I deceived you all. My company … it’s in trouble. I thought if the Elizabeth Star disappeared, I could collect the insurance. And I would still get to keep it. It was my wife’s. It’s all I have left of her. I couldn’t bear to let it go.”

“That was wrong,” said Benny.

“I know,” said Mr. Pound.

“No one tampered with the alarm,” said Henry. “You must have punched in the right code to open the door, then reset it and punched in the wrong code. That’s why the alarm went off.”

Mr. Pound nodded. “And then I broke the glass case and took the diamond. The sound of the alarm covered the sound of the breaking glass and no one noticed what I was doing in all the confusion.”

“Where did you hide it?” asked Violet.

Mr. Pound held up his handkerchief. “In here. I wrapped the handkerchief around my hand to break the glass. Then I wrapped the star inside the handkerchief.”

“And then, when you were downstairs, you hid the diamond in the chandelier,” said Jessie.

“Yes. I thought of that at dinner. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. I had no idea how hard it would be to get the diamond back.…” His voice trailed off.

“That’s why you kept sitting in the dining room the other day,” said Benny. “You were going to take the diamond back. But I stopped you.”

“Yes, you did,” said Mr. Pound. He sighed heavily. “I didn’t mean to do this. I had been planning to sell the Elizabeth Star to save my business, but the thought of losing it made me so terribly sad. It was Kathryn’s, you see. It’s all I have left of her.”

Mr. Pound stared into space a moment before he went on. “But after I met you children in the elevator and invited you to come see the Star, the idea came to me: If I could fool the police into thinking the Star was stolen, I could save my business with the insurance payment and still keep the Star. I thought you’d be the perfect witnesses. After all, you were just children. You wouldn’t notice what was really going on.”

“But we did,” said Jessie.

“Because we’re children and detectives,” said Benny. “Very good detectives.”

“That’s true,” said Mrs. Teague. “If you’d asked me, I could have told you. After all, I was there when the Aldens solved the mystery at the dog show.”