Benny and Jessie were glad when everyone came back early. From the window they could see their grandfather and Mr. Tooner unloading some bushes to plant along the drive. They heard Carrie drive the Jeep up to the kitchen entrance.
Benny looked up at Jessie. She would make everything turn out right. But he was mixed up. “Why did we let Tom keep that violin?” he asked his sister. “Isn’t it the famous one?”
“Tom does have the famous violin, Benny,” Jessie said. “I am sure of it. That’s why I need you to help me with my plan. We have to make sure the violin doesn’t leave Drummond Castle until the police get here.”
Benny’s big brown eyes got even bigger. “The police are coming?”
Jessie nodded. “They will be when I get Grandfather away from Mr. Tooner and Carrie away from Sandy, so Grandfather and Carrie can call the police. I’m still not sure who knows about the violin.”
“Not Mr. Tooner!” Benny whispered. “I think he’s nice.”
Jessie smiled. “I think so too. But I can’t understand why we found him in Grandfather’s room and why he didn’t seem to want us at Drummond Castle.” Jessie stopped talking. A sad look passed over her face. “We know he plays the violin. I’m afraid that makes him a suspect.”
This made Benny sad, too. “Grandfather likes Mr. Tooner. He wouldn’t like someone who would take things.”
“I know,” Jessie said. “That’s why we have to find out more about Tom. Then maybe we can figure out Mr. Tooner.”
“And Sandy!” Benny said. “Maybe she and Tom are friends, and they took the violin together.”
“That is just what we have to find out. Now let’s find Grandfather, then Carrie.”
Jessie took Benny by the hand. They walked out to the grounds to see Mr. Alden.
“Well, hello, you two,” Mr. Alden said. “Have you found that violin yet?” he joked.
“We found lots of things up in the other tower,” Benny answered truthfully.
While Benny chatted with Mr. Alden, Jessie studied Mr. Tooner’s face. He seemed curious about what Benny was saying, not angry like Tom.
“Grandfather, could you come in and talk to Carrie now that she’s back?” Jessie asked.
As soon as they were inside the castle, Jessie and Benny told their grandfather that Tom had found the Stradivarius.
“Then we must call the police right away,” Mr. Alden agreed. “I will tell Caroline what has happened.”
“Please be careful not to tell her in front of Sandy,” Jessie reminded her grandfather. “We don’t know if she and Tom are trying to steal the violin together.”
As planned, Mr. Alden went down to get Carrie. He was going to tell Sandy the children needed her to help up in the secret room of the tower.
Jessie and Benny climbed the tower stairs. Henry and Violet were already busy at work. Tom had the violin case right by his side as he took notes on a piece of paper. Every few minutes he walked over to the window to look out. He seemed restless, but not too restless to keep a close watch on the violin case.
Jessie knew she had to keep Tom away from the tower windows. She didn’t want him to see the police pull up. She found some beautiful old books in one of the bookcases.
“Tom, could you look through these books to see whether they are valuable?” Jessie asked. “If they’re not, then maybe we can donate them to the library.”
Tom didn’t seem to be interested, but this didn’t stop Jessie. “You know, we’re leaving in a couple of days. We really should decide about these right away.”
“All right, all right,” Tom said. He walked over to the bookcase in the corner, away from the windows. He kept the violin with him.
For someone who was an expert on rare books, Tom handled the old fairy tales roughly. He opened and shut the delicate covers as if these were ordinary books.
This upset Violet. She had a feeling Jessie wanted Tom to stay busy. She went over to the bookcase, too. “I could read off the titles of the books and the names of the authors and illustrators,” she suggested to Tom. “Then you could write down the information. That would take less time.”
“Fine, fine,” Tom said impatiently.
Violet and Tom had just settled down to do this when Sandy came into the secret room.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Tom. “This is just an old playroom. Shouldn’t you be working downstairs where the real antiques are?”
Jessie and Benny looked at each other. If Tom and Sandy were a team, they didn’t act like one. Sandy seemed to want Tom out of the room.
“Those are my fairy tales,” she said when she saw a pile of books next to Tom. “I want to keep them.”
“Your fairy tales?” Tom cried. “What are you talking about?”
Sandy looked like she was about to cry. She ran to the corner and grabbed an armful of the books. She opened several of them to the title pages. “See, there. It says: ‘Sandra Munson’ there and there.”
“So you are the same Sandy?” a man’s voice said.
The children turned around to see Mr. Tooner standing in the doorway.
“Yes,” Sandy said softly, “I am.”
“I thought so,” Mr. Tooner said with a smile. Then he turned to the children and explained. “Sandy was the last child to ever live in Drummond Castle. Mr. Drummond hired her mother as a cook, and she and Sandy both lived here many years ago.”
“Mr. Drummond was old and kind,” Sandy said. “He let me use these rooms as my bedroom and playroom. He gave me these books and toys that had belonged to his children. I didn’t think Mr. Tooner would recognize me,” Sandy said. “I was only ten years old when we left. My mother found a job as a chef at a big hotel, so we moved there. But I always wanted to come back to Drummond Castle where I’d been so happy. I wanted to sit and look out of the tower, and find my old books and toys again.”
Mr. Tooner patted Sandy’s hand. “Well, young lady, why didn’t you tell anyone who you were? Mrs. Bell, why she would have put out the welcome mat for you.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure,” Sandy said. “And I wanted so much to come back — I couldn’t take the chance on being turned away. When I saw the ad for an assistant, I decided to tell the Drummond Foundation that I had researched everything about the castle. That’s what made them hire me. And once I’d made up that story, I didn’t want anyone to find out I’d lied about who I really was — or why I wanted the job.”
“My, my,” Mr. Tooner said quietly. “From the first day I had a feeling I had seen you before. But you know, I’m an old fellow now, and my memory’s not so good. I wasn’t sure. Besides, a man like me is set in his ways. Can’t say that I liked people coming in here and upsetting everything.”
This made Sandy laugh just a little. “That’s just what I did, didn’t I? Upset everything. I was so nervous all the time, I kept making mistakes.”
“Is this yours?” Benny said. He pulled out the charm bracelet he had found and forgotten to give to Sandy.
“I found it under a dust sheet on a chair in the great hall,” Violet told Sandy. “How did it get there?”
Sandy hung her head down. She started crying again. “I followed you children around. I was afraid that somehow you would figure out who I was. The day you were going to work in the great hall, I remembered that some of my old books were in there, and they had my name written inside. I went to hide them, but I didn’t have enough time. I hid under the dust sheet when you came in.”
“That was a good hiding place,” Benny said. “And a scary one.”
Everyone laughed but Tom. He hadn’t said a word since Sandy started talking.
“I was just so happy to be here, and I didn’t want to get caught in a silly lie. But you children were all over the place,” Sandy explained. “The day I thought you were going on a treasure hunt, I was afraid of what you might find. I only pretended to drive to town, but I came back and parked in the woods and watched you from the tower.”
“And from the stained glass window?” Henry asked. “Benny and I thought we saw someone looking at us from the window over the front door.”
Sandy dried her tears. She wasn’t crying now. She just looked plain confused. “What stained glass window?”
“The one with the knight’s face in the middle that you can take out to see who’s coming and going,” Violet explained. “Wasn’t that you?”
The Aldens could see Sandy Munson had no idea what they were talking about.
Tom Brady suddenly stood up. “Well, this story doesn’t sound like it’s ever going to end. I have work to do. In fact, I have an appointment with a dealer in half an hour. So if you’ll all excuse me.”
Tom made a move toward the door. He didn’t get that far because Henry and Jessie blocked his way.
“You will have to cancel that appointment,” Henry told Tom in a clear, strong voice. “Tell the dealer you do not have a violin to sell.”
“That violin belongs to Drummond Castle,” Jessie added.
Tom clutched the violin case to his chest like a baby. “It belongs to the Drummond family, not Drummond Castle. And I’m the last of the Drummonds. My mother was Mr. Drummond’s niece, and that violin was supposed to be left to me. Then old Drummond got it into his head to turn this wreck of a place into a museum and put a priceless violin on display! On display, can you imagine?”
“You’re a Drummond?” Henry asked.
“Yes,” said Tom.
“Well,” Jessie said. “Drummond Castle is not a wreck. It’s a beautiful place that your great-uncle wanted other people to share.”
Violet spoke up too. “He wanted to share the violin, too, so many people could admire it. Please give it back.”
Tom Brady did nothing of the kind. “What a bunch of kids want with a priceless instrument, I can’t figure out. But I knew I had to find it before you did. I tried to keep an eye on you from that stained glass window. I even hid in that suit of armor and watched you. I sent you on a wild goose chase with that treasure map just to keep you out of the way! And you’re still trying to ruin my plans!”
“I bet you tried to get us lost in the cave,” Benny added. “But we didn’t stay lost.”
Tom Brady was furious. In one last burst of energy, he shoved his way past Jessie and Henry and raced out the door toward the stairs. The children, Sandy, and Mr. Tooner followed behind.
“Look, I see some other hands on the railing — and they’re coming up!” Benny cried out.
Grandfather was right about Benny Alden’s sharp eyes. The stairs were crowded with people coming up and people going down. Soon there was a traffic jam in the middle. Grandfather, Carrie, and two police officers were on the lower stairs. Tom Brady was in the middle. Everyone else blocked Tom from the upper stairs.
“Hand over that violin,” one of the police officers said to Tom. “There’s no way down, and no way up. So just give it to us.”
Tom lost some of his hard, angry look. “I want to look at it one more time.”
“Let’s all go downstairs and straighten this out,” the other officer said.
Everyone walked down the tower stairs quietly. At the bottom, Tom handed over the violin. “Take it. But for heavens’ sake, don’t carry it like a sack of potatoes. That is a priceless instrument.”
The policeman opened the case. The violin gleamed in the soft light.
“Can I at least look at it one last time?” Tom asked.
The Aldens tried not to feel sorry for him.
“I don’t know the difference between this and a guitar,” one of the police officers said.
“May I show you the difference?” Mr. Tooner asked the two officers.
Carrie stepped forward. “Please, give it to Mr. Tooner.”
Mr. Tooner picked up the precious instrument. He played a squawky note or two to tune it up. Then he slid the bow across the strings. The sweet notes of “Redbird” floated through the castle.
Before the tune was over, he handed the violin to Violet, “You finish it,” he said.
Violet carefully picked up the violin and completed the lovely song. When she had finished, she gave the violin back to Mr. Tooner.
“We heard you playing ‘Redbird,’ ” she said shyly, “but we never actually saw you.”
Mr. Tooner carefully laid the violin in its case. “Many years ago, Mr. Drummond taught me to play. Nothing fancy. All I ever knew were country tunes. I have my own fiddle — nothing valuable like this beauty, but I can squeak out a note or two.”
“Indeed you can,” Carrie said. “According to Mr. Drummond’s will, the Stradivarius is to go on display at the museum to inspire musicians.”
After the police left with Tom, everyone stood in the great hall. They wondered what to do next.
“It’s too quiet,” Benny complained.
“What we need is some music,” Mr. Tooner said. He picked up the Stradivarius, not like a sack of potatoes, but like the priceless violin it was. “I always dreamed of playing this again. That’s why I kept looking for it. That’s what I was doing the day you children found me in your grandfather’s room.”
Mr. Tooner tucked the violin under his chin. He drew the bow back and forth, one, two, three. Out came the notes of a lively jig. Just as in the old days, Drummond Castle was filled with music and the sound of dancing feet again. |