Gertrude Warner - Mystery in New York

“I have to pick up a special tool from my shop,” he said to Mrs. Teague. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

Jessie stared at the hammer. “Did you make all those holes in the wall?” she said to the man.

He raised one eyebrow. “Yep,” he said. He lifted his hammer. “Bam, bam!” he said.

Violet jumped a little.

“Sorry,” said the man. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” He grinned. Then he walked past the Aldens and out of the apartment.

Mrs. Teague laughed. “Arnold has an odd sense of humor, doesn’t he? But yes, Jessie, he’s the one who made the holes in the wall. Arnold Evans is an electrician. He’s been putting new electrical wiring in my apartment. He’s done most of the apartment except the dining room, and he’s almost finished in here.”

“Oh,” said Violet. She sneezed.

“I hope he finishes soon so I can put up the chandelier while you are here. It’s a beautiful old crystal one, a real antique.” Mrs. Teague raised a sheet on a side table. Beneath it, on a blanket, lay a huge chandelier, dripping with crystal prisms of all shapes and sizes.

“It’s beautiful,” said Henry.

“When I saw the smashed-in walls I thought you had been robbed,” said Benny. “I thought it was a mystery.”

Violet sneezed again.

“No mystery, Benny,” said Mrs. Teague, ruffling Benny’s hair. “Not this time.”

Violet sneezed a third time. Benny patted her on the back.

Mrs. Teague said, “Let me give you a tour.” She led the Aldens through her new apartment. It was big and filled with sunlight. A terrace outside of the living room looked down over Central Park. “Jessie and Violet, you’ll be staying in Caryn’s room. James, you’ll have the guest room, and Benny, you and Henry will stay here in the study. It has a foldout sofa bed.”

“What about Watch?” asked Benny.

“Watch can stay wherever he likes,” Mrs. Teague said. She smiled and shook her head a little. “After all, that’s what Sunny does when she’s home.” Sunny was the Teagues’ champion show dog, a golden retriever. She was away with Mrs. Teague’s daughter, Caryn, at a dog show that very week.

“Good,” Benny said. “Come on, Watch. You can stay with us.” Watch followed Benny and Henry into the study.

Violet went with Jessie out onto the terrace at the end of the living room. They stared down at the trees and streets spread out below them.

“Isn’t Central Park lovely?” Mrs. Teague said, coming out onto the terrace where Jessie and Violet were standing.

“We drove through Central Park to get here,” Jessie said. “It’s even bigger than I remembered.”

“It’s eight hundred and forty acres,” said Mrs. Teague. “Two and a half miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. I go there often. In the winter, I like to watch the ice-skaters, and in the summer there are concerts and plays.”

“Do you walk Sunny in Central Park?” Violet asked.

“Caryn or I do every day,” Mrs. Teague said. “Or our dogwalker, Lydia Critt, takes Sunny out when we can’t.”

“A dogwalker?” Violet asked. “Is that her job?”

Mrs. Teague nodded. “She’s an actress, too. But she walks dogs to make money. She has her own business, Critt’s Critters. She walks other dogs in this building every day, I believe. You’ll probably meet her.”

“Speaking of walks,” Grandfather Alden said, coming out onto the terrace to join them, “I know a little dog who’d probably like that idea.”

“Come on, Violet. Let’s go finish unpacking so we can take Watch out for a walk,” said Jessie, smiling.

A few minutes later, the four Alden children and Watch were back in the hallway waiting for the elevator. When the doors opened on the ninth floor, a short round man with a round face and silver hair was in the elevator. His solemn face brightened when he saw the children.

He looked down at Watch as the Aldens got on. “Well, well,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in the building before.”

“No,” agreed Benny, who was holding Watch’s leash. “We’re visiting Mrs. Teague and Sunny and Caryn. But Sunny and Caryn are at a dog show. I’m Benny Alden and this is Watch.”

“How do you do, Watch? How do you do, Benny?” the man said. “I’m Edgar Pound, Annabel Teague’s upstairs neighbor. I’m sure you’ll have fun staying with her.”

Henry, Jessie, and Violet introduced themselves, too. Henry said, “Do you have a dog?”

Mr. Pound shook his head. “I’d love to have a dog, but I’m afraid I’m too busy for that. PoundStar Enterprises takes all my time. It’s my company.”

“Your very own company?” Violet asked.

Mr. Pound nodded. He leaned down toward Benny and opened his eyes wide. “It’s named after the Elizabeth Star.”

“The Elizabeth Star? What’s that?” Henry wanted to know.

Mr. Pound straightened up again before he answered. “A diamond pendant. It was given to one of my late wife Kathryn’s ancestors by Elizabeth I, Queen of England in the 1500s,” said Mr. Pound proudly.

“So it must be pretty old,” Benny said.

“Yes. It’s old and beautiful. And lucky,” said Mr. Pound. “It’s always brought our family good fortune.… Well, almost always,” Mr. Pound added softly as the elevator stopped. When the doors opened on the lobby, Mr. Pound motioned for the Aldens to go first. He stepped out after them.

“Good morning, Mr. Pound,” said Mr. Leed, jumping up from his desk.

“Good morning, Leed,” said Mr. Pound.

Mr. Leed hurried to open the heavy glass door of the building for Mr. Pound and the Aldens.

At the curb, a man in a uniform got out of a long black car and opened the door. Mr. Pound nodded at the man and got in. The car began to pull away. Then it stopped.

Mr. Pound’s window hummed down. He looked out at the Aldens and motioned for them to come closer. “Would you like to see the Elizabeth Star?” he asked.

Violet’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“We’d like that,” Jessie said.

“Good. Then it’s settled.” Mr. Pound smiled. “Come see it tonight. It’s in my penthouse.”

“Thank you,” said Henry.

Mr. Pound nodded. “I’ll get in touch with Mrs. Teague to make arrangements,” he said. The window of the car hummed shut and the car pulled away.

Mr. Leed, who had been standing close enough to hear the conversation, made a sour face and said, “Now, that’s a bit of luck, to get a special invitation to see the Elizabeth Star. They say it’s worth millions.”

“Have you ever seen it?” Benny wanted to know.

“No. Why would I have seen it?” asked Mr. Leed. He turned abruptly and marched back inside to his desk.

“He’s awfully cranky,” said Jessie in a low voice to the others.

“Maybe he doesn’t like his job,” said Benny.

“Maybe,” said Jessie. She glanced back through the heavy glass door. Mr. Leed was carefully spreading out a newspaper at his desk.

“Come on. Let’s take Watch for a walk and explore a little,” said Henry.

The Aldens walked to the corner and crossed the street at the crosswalk. They walked until they found an entrance in the low stone wall that bordered the park.

When they got into the park, the noise of the traffic faded. But, reaching the circular drive that went around the inside of the park, they saw plenty of traffic — people traffic! People jogging, people biking, people roller-skating and blading with headphones on, people walking, and people riding in horse-drawn carriages. Vendors sold hot dogs, pretzels, ice cream, and sodas. On benches that lined the walks, more people read newspapers and books or ate lunch. Some people just sat back with their faces tipped up to the bright afternoon sun. One man was feeding bread to a flock of pigeons.