Ann Martin - Mallory And The Mystery Diary

Stacey told Charlotte the whole story.

"Wow," said Charlotte when Stacey had finished. "And you really think Sophie's grandfather was Old Hickory?"

"We really do."

Stacey and Charlotte were sitting on the floor of the living room with the unopened Kid-Kit between them. This is one of their favorite places in which to spend time. The Johanssens never mind, as long as Stacey and Charlotte don't make a mess.

"You know what?" said Charlotte after thinking for a moment.

"What?" asked Stacey.

"I don't believe there's any mystery that can't be solved."

"You don't? How come?"

"Because somebody always knows something. Somebody took the painting or somebody hid it, and maybe someone saw what happened. And if no one saw, then at least the thief knows what he did. And chances are, he'll make a mistake sometime and his secret will be out."

"But Charlotte, this happened more than a century ago," Stacey pointed out.

"Yeah, but you never know. There is — or was — a culprit somewhere. And he probably slipped up, or someone saw him. I bet you can solve this mystery. It's pretty hard to commit the perfect crime."

Stacey giggled. "Have you been watching Crime Court on TV again?"

"Yes," admitted Charlotte, beginning to laugh, too.

"Well, I still don't know," said Stacey. "About solving the mystery, I mean. It's a pretty old one."

"You guys just don't know the whole story yet, that's all," Charlotte told her. "I'll show you something. Wait right here, okay?"

"Okay," said Stacey.

Charlotte ran upstairs, probably to her room, and returned with a dog-eared book.

Ill

"This used to be my mom's," Char told Sta-cey. "It was her book when she was a little girl and then she gave it to me. It's really too easy for me now, but I like it anyway. It's called Katie and the Sad Noise, and it's by Ruth Stiles Gannett. Can I read it to you?"

"May I read it to you," Stacey corrected her.

"Okay, may I read it to you?"

"Of course." Stacey patted the floor next to her. "Sit here."

Charlotte shook her head. "I have to read to you from across the room. I don't want you to see the pictures yet."

"Oh. All right," replied Stacey, mystified.

Charlotte settled herself in an armchair and held the book flat in her lap so that Stacey couldn't even see the cover. Then she began to read. The story was about a little girl named Katie who had been hearing a sad noise in the night. During the day she would go out and look for the noise, but she couldn't find anything. Her parents were worried about her. They thought she was imagining things. But soon other people started to hear the sad noise — even Katie's mother. So the whole town went on a search, and finally they found a mother dog with four puppies in the woods,

and the mother dog's foot was caught in a trap. The sad noise was the dog crying to be released from the trap. The story had a happy ending because the dog and her puppies were rescued.

"That's a nice story, Char," Stacey began, "but I don't see — "

"Wait. Now let me show you the pictures," Charlotte interrupted. She scrambled out of the chair and over to Stacey on the floor.

"Hey!" said Stacey, flipping through the book. "This is a Christmas story! Look, Katie's parents are decorating the tree in this picture, and on this page there are Christmas decorations up at Katie's school."

"Right," said Charlotte. "Only you'd hardly know this is a Christmas story if you didn't see the pictures. Christmas is only mentioned twice, and you don't know if it's right around the corner, or a whole month off. Not unless you see the pictures."

"But Charlotte, I still don't see what this book has to do with Sophie and Old Hickory and our mystery. What are you trying to tell me?"

"Only," replied Charlotte, "that things aren't always what they seem to be. Some-

times you have to look past what's right in front of your nose."

Well, Stacey puzzled over that for the rest of the afternoon. She puzzled over it while Charlotte puzzled over our mystery. She puzzled over it while she read two chapters of The BFG, by Roald Dahl, to Charlotte. She puzzled over it while Charlotte beat her at Memory and she beat Charlotte at dominoes. She puzzled over it while Charlotte began her homework. And she puzzled over it while Mr. Johanssen paid her and she rode her bike home.

She called me right away.

"Mal?" she said. "It's me, Stace. I just got back from sitting for Charlotte and she said something pretty interesting."

"What?" I asked. I was talking on the phone in our upstairs hallway, where there is absolutely no privacy.

"She said, Things aren't always what they seem to be/ " Stacey explained about Katie and the Sad Noise. "I wonder what this has to do with our mystery."

"I'm not sure," I replied, "but I'll think about it. I like what she said about someone knowing something, too. About there always

being a culprit. Maybe Kristy's right after all. Maybe the pieces to the mystery are all here to be found — if we just look past our noses."

"Maybe," said Stacey uncertainly. "I hope so."

"I know so," I replied, suddenly optimistic.

Buddy, what did you think?" I asked

"So, Buddy. what did you think? I asked him.

I was tutoring Buddy again and had come over with some more special materials. I think Buddy had been hoping for comics. Instead, I had brought over a collection of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. The fun thing about Encyclopedia Brown is that you — the reader — can really solve the mysteries yourself. If you pay close enough attention to each short story you can find the clue and solve the mystery, instead of just reading about how Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective, solves it.

So I read one story out loud to Buddy — and he solved the mystery right away!

"That is terrific, Buddy!" I exclaimed. "I bet I couldn't do that."

"Bet you could."

"Could not."

"Could. Here. Let me read a mystery to you. Then you'll see." Buddy took the book out of my hands and read an entire mystery with only a few mistakes. His reading was so much better. When he finished, I knew the solution right away — but I pretended I couldn't figure it out.

"Gosh, I don't know, Buddy — " I began.

"Come on, think," said Buddy, probably the way Mr. Moser sometimes spoke to him. "What did the bully say to Encyclopedia right near the end — "

"Oh, I know!" I cried. "I've got it!" I told Buddy the solution.

"That's it! Now let's do another. This time you read a story to me again."

Buddy and I were sitting cross-legged on his bed, facing each other.

I took the book back from him, but instead of selecting another mystery, I said, "You know, my friends and I are in the middle of a real mystery."

"No kidding," said Buddy.

"Yup." I told him about the trunk and the diary. The more I talked, the wider Buddy's eyes grew.

When I had finished the story — including the part about the seance — Buddy was so

excited he was wriggling around on the bed. "Can I see the diary? Can I, Mallory? Please? I want to read about Sophie's mystery. Maybe I could solve that one, too. Maybe I could be a detective like Encyclopedia Brown!"

At first I thought, Buddy is just looking for an excuse to get out of his tutoring session. But then I decided that if he really wanted to look at the diary, that would be just as good a reading experience as any other. Probably better, since Buddy was so interested in solving the mystery.

"Okay," I said. "I don't see why we can't go to my house. You can look at the diary there. But I better warn you. It isn't easy to read. Even I had trouble with it. The words aren't really long or anything but, well, can you read cursive yet, Buddy?"

"Yup," he replied proudly.

"All right then. Let's go."