Gertrude Warner - Mystery in New York

“I’m here,” said Benny, and bumped hard into his two sisters.

“Oof,” said Jessie.

“I’m not scared,” said Benny, grabbing Jessie’s other arm.

“Good,” said Henry’s voice in the darkness behind them. “I’m not, either. We don’t need light to try to find the secret catch on the door. Remember? Mr. Pound had to find it by using his fingers to feel it.”

“That’s right,” said Jessie.

“I think this is the door,” said Henry. “I’m going to start over here.” From the sound of his voice, Jessie could tell that Henry had moved away from her.

“I’ll start over here,” she said. She moved along the wall where she thought the door was in the opposite direction. It wasn’t easy, with both Violet and Benny holding on to her so tightly.

Jessie ran her fingers over the cool, smooth wood. It all felt the same. Then she felt something. “I found the light switch,” she said. But when she clicked it, nothing happened. The darkness was as thick as ever.

Violet said, “Mr. Pound knows we’re here. He’ll come and get us if we can’t get out.”

“Mr. Saunders knows, too,” Jessie reminded her.

She felt Violet’s grip loosen. Then Violet said, “Benny, come help me look for the hidden catch.”

Benny let go of Jessie. “Okay,” he said. “I’ve got both hands on the wall.”

“Then run your fingers along the wall and press down and see if it makes the door open,” said Violet. “Sort of like a magic door.”

“Like a magic door,” echoed Benny.

“Remember there’s broken glass in the room,” said Henry. “Stay close to the wall.”

The Aldens worked in silence. For a long, long time, it seemed, nothing happened.

Then Violet drew in a sharp breath. “I think I’ve got it,” she said.

They heard a click — and then the door swung open.

“It’s dark out here,” Violet said.

“The light in the hall isn’t working, either,” said Henry, flicking the switch.

Suddenly Jessie let out a little shriek as a shape loomed out of the shadows.

“Don’t shout like that,” said a familiar voice. “You scared me.”

“Mr. Saunders!” Jessie gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Mr. Saunders looked cranky. “I came to see what was keeping you so long.”

“Someone locked us in the closet and turned out the lights,” said Jessie. “That’s what took us so long.”

Peering at Jessie suspiciously through his glasses, Mr. Saunders said, “In the closet? What are you talking about? The closet door was open when I came in.”

“Not in the closet. In the secret room at the back of the closet,” said Henry, and explained what happened. When Henry had finished, Mr. Saunders shook his head.

“I don’t know how you managed to lock yourselves up in there,” he said.

“We didn’t!” Benny said indignantly.

Mr. Saunders ignored him. “And I don’t know why you turned off the main fuse in the apartment.”

“We didn’t,” Benny said again, even more outraged. He paused, then said, “What’s a main fuse?”

With a sigh, Mr. Saunders said, “Come on.” He led the way through the shadowy apartment into the kitchen. In the kitchen pantry he opened the door of a small metal box and pointed to what looked like a row of switches. “Every apartment has a fuse box. That’s the box that controls the electricity that comes into the apartment. If you turn off this main switch at the bottom of the fuse box, it turns off all the electricity coming into an apartment,” he explained.

Mr. Saunders reached out and flicked the main switch.

Lights came on in Mr. Pound’s apartment.

The doorman looked down and frowned. “And it looks like someone spilled flour in here,” he said, shaking his head in disapproval.

“We didn’t,” Benny said for a third time.

Violet sneezed.

“Mr. Saunders,” said Henry, “how did you know where the fuse box was?”

“I’ve been the doorman here for twelve years. There’s not a lot I don’t know about this building, like the fact that the fuse boxes are in the same place in every apartment,” Mr. Saunders answered. “Now come on. Let’s go. I have to get back to my desk. It’s almost five o’clock, one of the busiest times of my day.”

Violet sneezed and. Henry patted her on the back.

No one said anything as they followed Mr. Saunders out of the apartment.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened.

Lydia Critt got on. “Hello,” she said cheerfully.

“Hi,” Jessie said. “Where are the French bulldogs?”

“Oh, I don’t walk them until tonight,” said Lydia. “I’m just here to meet a new dog-walking client.” She touched the crystal that glinted at her neck. “See? This crystal does bring good luck.”

The doors opened again at Mrs. Teague’s floor. “See you later,” Lydia said.

“Yes,” said Henry.

“Wait a minute,” said Mr. Saunders. He held out his hand. “The key to Mr. Pound’s apartment, please.”

Henry gave him back the key.

When the elevator door had closed, Violet said, “I don’t think he believed anything we said.”

“Or maybe he was only pretending he didn’t,” said Henry.

“Well, if he’s just pretending to be cranky, too, he’s doing a very good job,” said Jessie.

“Maybe Mr. Saunders is the one who locked us in the secret room. Maybe he followed us upstairs and closed the door and turned off the lights,” Henry answered.

Violet said slowly, “If he did it, he must have been trying to scare us.”

“Not me,” Benny crowed. “He didn’t scare me.”

“That’s right,” said Jessie. “And the only reason he would want to scare us is to try to keep us from solving the mystery.”

“Does that mean Mr. Saunders is the thief?” asked Benny.

“He’s the only one besides Mr. Pound who knew where we were,” said Violet.

“Unless Lydia knew, somehow,” said Jessie. “Maybe, if she and Mr. Saunders are working together, he told her and she went up and locked us in the secret room and turned off the lights.”

“That’s right!” said Violet. “Lydia could have done it. And then Mr. Saunders could have come up to save us, so we wouldn’t suspect him.”

“Or it could have been someone else who also knew where we were,” said Henry. He stopped in front of the door to Mrs. Teague’s apartment and fumbled in his pocket for the key. “Someone who would know where to find an electric fuse box.”

“Who?” asked Benny.

“Think, Benny,” said Henry. “Who else was standing at the front desk, signing out, when we got the key for Mr. Pound’s apartment?”

Benny’s eyes grew round. “Mr. Evans!” he cried.

At that moment, the door of Mrs. Teague’s apartment swung open.

“Mr. Evans!” gasped Violet.

Had he heard them? He didn’t seem to have. He smiled. “Hello again,” he said. To Mrs. Teague, who was holding the door for him, he said, “Silly of me to have forgotten my tools like that. Well, see you tomorrow.”

“You will be finished tomorrow, won’t you?” asked Mrs. Teague.

“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Evans. “Don’t worry.”

He nodded pleasantly at the Aldens and walked down the hall toward the elevator.

“What’s Mr. Evans doing here?” asked Henry.

“He came back. He forgot some of his tools,” said Mrs. Teague.

The Aldens exchanged glances. Was that the reason Mr. Evans had come back? Or was it only an excuse so that he could sneak upstairs and lock them in the secret room?