By seven o’clock on Saturday morning, the sun was up. It was a perfect day for an outdoor book sale. In just a couple hours, the Mystery Bookstore would be ready for its first customers.
“It’s almost your last day in New Orleans, so I don’t want to work you children too hard,” Miss Chase said as she enjoyed a cup of her favorite chicory coffee. “You’ve all done so much already. Now that your grandfather is back, he’s offered to take over some of the work so you children can do some last-minute sightseeing.”
Mr. Alden put down his coffee cup. “If I know my grandchildren, I have a feeling they’d rather be at the bookstore sale than go sightseeing, Olivia.”
“That’s right, Grandfather,” Benny agreed. “We’re going sightseeing right here. Today’s the day we find the rest of Violet’s set and maybe that funny backwards stamp, too.”
Mr. Alden laughed. “You’d better bring me up to date on all your plans, Benny.”
“Violet and I thought up everything last night,” Benny said. “We’re going to hide under the children’s book table and listen to who snoops around too much.”
“I see,” Mr. Alden said. “And who might be snooping about?”
Benny took a deep breath. “Well, first there’s Mr. Bindry. He came for the job before it was in the newspaper.”
“Don’t forget Sarah Deckle,” Henry reminded everyone. “She always shows up at odd times.”
“Her, too,” Benny said. “And Mr. Phillips ’cause he likes stamps, and the backwards stamp is missing. If anybody else gets too snoopy, we’re going to watch them, too.”
“You’re going to be very busy,” Mr. Alden remarked.
“And know what else?” Benny asked. “We tied one end of a spool of thread to The Little Mermaid. You can hardly see it. If anybody tries to take it away, we’ll be able to tell.”
“Just don’t sell it by mistake,” Miss Chase reminded the children.
“Oh, we won’t,” Violet said.
“It’s almost nine o’clock,” Miss Chase said. “Now I want you children to have some fun today and not work too hard. Promise?”
“Promise,” Jessie said. “But work is fun for us.”
Working at the book sale was fun for the Aldens, just as Jessie said. Since they loved reading mysteries — and solving them — Jessie and Henry decided to work at the mystery table.
“People sure get up early when there’s a sale,” Henry said, after he let the first customers into the courtyard. “We’re going to be very busy.”
“So are we,” Violet giggled from under the children’s book table nearby. “All I can see are feet, Benny. Jessie said she’d tap on the top of the table if one of our suspects comes in.”
Violet and Benny didn’t have to wait long.
“One tap!” Benny whispered to Violet when they heard Jessie rap the table once. “That means Mr. Bindry is coming over. Do you have the spool end of the thread?”
“I’m holding it.” Violet tugged the thread gently from under the table.
“Good morning, Mr. Bindry,” the younger children overheard Jessie say only a couple feet away. “Can I help you with anything this morning?”
“Hrmph,” Mr. Bindry said before moving over to the children’s table.
Violet and Benny could hardly sit still when they saw Mr. Bindry’s shoes just inches from where they were hiding. Violet held tight to the thread.
Then the children heard another pair of feet march over to the children’s table. Jessie tapped the table twice.
“It’s Sarah Deckle,” Benny whispered.
Violet felt a tug on the thread.
“What are you doing with that book, Miss?” Mr. Bindry asked. “I was about to buy it.”
“Well, I picked it up first,” Sarah Deckle answered.
Benny and Violet heard more footsteps. Then they saw a familiar pair of white and black sneakers.
“It’s Henry,” Benny whispered.
“Sorry, folks,” Henry said. “This book isn’t for sale. It belongs to my sister. The rest of the set is missing, and we’re hoping someone will come by who knows about the set it belongs to.”
Violet and Benny saw Sarah Deckle kick her toe at the ground. “Well, maybe your sister would like to sell it. I’ll pay a hundred dollars just for this book.”
Before Henry could answer, Mr. Bindry had some angry words for Miss Deckle. “A hundred dollars? What do you know about books, anyway? This volume may be part of a limited edition set illustrated by Arthur Plumbrush, a famous painter. They were the only books he ever illustrated. The first printing completely sold out long ago, and the original art was destroyed in a fire. So the books could never be reprinted. A complete set would be nearly priceless.”
“But Mr. Bindry, you told Violet her book wasn’t worth much,” Henry said. “Don’t you remember?”
“What I remember is saying children and old books don’t mix,” Mr. Bindry snapped. “I’m going to check with Olivia to see why this book is just lying around in the first place.”
Sarah Deckle looked as upset as Mr. Bindry. “Yes, do that,” she said. “I’ll be right here until you get back.”
After Mr. Bindry left with Henry, the book sale got crowded. Benny and Violet could see many pairs of feet surrounding the book tables. Sarah Deckle’s feet, though, never moved.
A few minutes later the younger children heard a familiar voice talking to Jessie. “Hello, young lady. I came by to buy a signed copy of The Streetcar Mystery,” Mr. Phillips said to Jessie. “But I see there are none left. Can you check if Miss Chase has any more copies inside the shop?”
“Uh, maybe,” Jessie said, “but I really can’t leave until my brother Henry returns. He’ll be back any second.”
“I’ll wait here,” Mr. Phillips said. “You see, I’m in a bit of a rush today, and I’d like to get the signed copy. If you could just get Miss Chase to sign a book, I can be on my way.”
“Well, okay,” Jessie agreed. “Oops, I have to tie my shoe.”
When Jessie bent down, she whispered to Benny and Violet: “I have to run into the shop for another book. Just make sure to hold onto that thread. Now Mr. Phillips and Sarah Deckle are here. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Jessie was gone, Benny and Violet heard Rex Phillips talking in a low voice to Sarah Deckle. This time he didn’t sound so polite. “Drop the book into my briefcase. Quick, before those two nosy kids get back. Did you find the rest of the set in the apartment this morning?”
“No,” Sarah Deckle whispered. “But if we’re lucky, maybe the stamp is in this one. We can look for the rest of the set later when all these kids are busy working. Open your briefcase slowly, and I’ll slip the book in.”
Violet and Benny could hardly sit still in their hideout. Miss Deckle and Mr. Phillips were going to steal Violet’s book together! The children felt the thread pull, so Violet let out the spool.
“Good,” Mr. Phillips said in a low voice. “Now let’s get out of here before anyone comes back and figures out the book is missing.”
Violet broke the thread so Mr. Phillips wouldn’t notice it was attached to the book. She grabbed Benny’s hand. “Here’s what we do. I’ll sneak over to the courtyard door and close it so they can’t get out that way. You go to the bookshop and tell Miss Chase what happened, okay?”
After Benny ran off, Violet didn’t have to wait long for her two suspects.
“Excuse me, we have to leave.” Mr. Phillips tried to get by Violet. “Just open the door.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Violet said. “Everybody has to go out through the bookshop.”
Sarah Deckle’s face got red. “Rex! You’ve got a key. Open up.”
Rex reached into his pocket and pulled out the same key chain Violet had seen him drop a few days earlier. “Move out of the way,” he said to Violet.
Violet didn’t move.
Sarah Deckle looked panicked. “All right. Let’s just get out through the bookstore.”
Rex Phillips didn’t need to be coaxed. He and Sarah elbowed their way through the crowd of customers until they were in the bookstore.
“It’s too late,” Sarah Deckle said when she saw the Aldens, Mr. Bindry, and Miss Chase blocking their way.
“Stop right there, Rex!” Miss Chase said. “I need to check your briefcase before you leave. We have reason to suspect you’ve taken a book.” She pointed to a sign above the cash register that said: “We reserve the right to inspect belongings. Shoplifters will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Mr. Phillips had no choice. There seemed to be Aldens everywhere he looked. Finally, he handed over his briefcase to Olivia Chase.
Miss Chase opened it. The Little Mermaid was resting right on top of the old newspaper.
“Oh, my,” Mr. Bindry gasped, “it really is the last book in the Plumbrush set. May I examine it, Olivia?”
Miss Chase stepped between Mr. Bindry and the book. “What do you know about the rest of the set, Ezra? Tell me right now.”
Mr. Bindry seemed dizzy and confused. He leaned against the counter to steady himself. “The other three books are in the trunk of my car. Here, take my keys and get them, young man,” Mr. Bindry said to Henry.
Henry was back in a minute with Violet’s set.
“Here, young lady,” Mr. Bindry said, handing all the books to Violet. “The set is rightfully yours. I know you’ll treasure it because you’re a book lover, too.”
Violet’s hands were shaking when she took the books from Mr. Bindry. “How did you get the other three?”
“I took them last night while all of you were out. I’m sorry. I still had a set of keys Mabel gave me. Please understand. I just had to see those books once Violet said The Little Mermaid was part of a set. I don’t know how I missed them in Mabel’s shop during my many visits.”
“I found them mixed in with the hobby books, Mr. Bindry,” Violet explained.
Now it was Mr. Phillips’s turn to speak. “That’s just another one of Mabel’s cruel jokes on me! She was always teasing me about having valuable stamps and making me hunt down clues. I’d heard stories that she even had the famous Costa Rican flag stamp. I’m more of a stamp expert than any of the writers of those worthless hobby books, so I never bothered to check that section.”
“What made you think the stamp might be connected with the fairy tales, Rex?” Miss Chase asked.
Mr. Phillips’s eyes looked hard and angry. “It kept driving me crazy when she said stamp collecting was child’s play or that those old stories about the famous stamp were just fairy tales.”
“Where do you come in, Sarah?” Miss Chase wanted to know.
“Miss Post bought the flag stamp at my grandfather’s for one dollar! One dollar!” Sarah Deckle began. “My poor grandfather didn’t even know he had such a valuable stamp lying around. After he died, it was just thrown in with these old books and sold off in a yard sale! When I found an old newspaper in some family papers showing Miss Post with the stamp, well, I just had to get it back. I found out Rex knew all about stamps, so I showed him the newspaper.”
“That’s how I narrowed my search down to these books,” Rex explained. “We followed the Aldens all week. Sarah nearly got hold of one of the books at Jackson Square, but it looks like Mr. Bindry beat us to the rest of the set.”
“I’m sorry, Olivia,” Mr. Bindry apologized. “I just had to see if you really had the entire Plumbrush set. I was hiding under the stairs in the courtyard early in the week when you told the Aldens you were going to advertise for a book expert. Only I showed up too soon, as these smart children figured out. Then Henry here caught me poking around when I thought you were all out to lunch the other day.”
“Were you the person we saw run from the shop? We also had the feeling someone was looking around while we were sleeping,” Henry said.
Mr. Bindry nodded his head. “I did come up the stairs while you were out to dinner. That’s when I took the three books. But bother sleeping children? Never!”
“That was me,” Sarah Deckle confessed. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone. I just waited until everyone was asleep after you got back from sightseeing. Rex also had a set of Miss Post’s keys. I let myself into the courtyard and came up to the sleeping porch. But, of course, the three books were already gone. I knew one of them was in Jessie’s pack, but I didn’t dare look for it at night. I came back in the morning, but the set was still gone. And I couldn’t find Jessie’s backpack.”
“Never mind who did what with these books,” Rex Phillips said. “What I want to know is, where is the flag stamp?”
Mr. Bindry picked up The Little Mermaid. He stroked the book gently then opened to the back of the book. He ran his fingers over the endpapers. No one dared to breathe. Mr. Bindry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife with a razor-thin blade. He put the blade under the endpaper and slowly lifted it away from the cover.
“The glue is all dried out,” he said. “It’s going to come right up.”
And so it did. When Mr. Bindry lifted the endpaper, everyone gasped.
“There’s the stamp!” Rex Phillips said, barely whispering. “Don’t touch it. It’s extremely fragile. What are you doing with that book, for heaven’s sake?”
Mr. Bindry handed the book, stamp and all, to Violet. “It’s rightfully yours, young lady. Take good care of it.”
Violet took the book from Mr. Bindry and offered it to Miss Chase. “I want to give it back to you. You can sell the stamp and the books and buy your shop right now. Please take it back.”
Miss Chase put her arm around Violet. “I should report Rex and Miss Deckle to the police. But they’ll be more useful by helping me find out how we can sell this beautiful stamp. I may even share the money with Sarah Deckle to settle things with her family. But I want you to keep the fairy tales, Violet — the whole set.”
Violet smiled. “Only if you’ll display them at the Mystery Bookstore. That way I can see the books whenever we come to New Orleans.”
Miss Chase turned to Mr. Bindry. “Ezra, I know you’ve returned the books, but I can’t help feeling terribly let down. After all, you and I have known each other for years. I don’t see how we can work together now, I really don’t.”
Mr. Bindry looked crushed. “I don’t blame you, Olivia. I put my own interest ahead of everyone. Please accept my deepest apology. I wish you would give me a chance to make it up to you.”
Miss Chase stared at Mr. Bindry for a very long time. “How could you do that, Ezra, after all that’s happened?”
“I could put together a rare-book collection of mysteries for your store, that’s what you could let me do, Olivia,” Mr. Bindry suggested. “I don’t read most of the books I collect, but I do know I have quite a valuable collection of rare mysteries myself. I’d like to give them to you for sale in your Mystery Bookstore. May I do that, Olivia?”
Miss Chase took a while to answer, but when she did, she was smiling. “Of course, Ezra. I know your collection would draw many mystery lovers to my new shop. Perhaps you and I can try to start over after all.”
“Hey! What about a mystery from my collection?” Benny piped up.
“Now what mystery is that, young fellow?” Mr. Bindry asked.
Benny crinkled his forehead. “Well, it’s not even written yet, but it will be. It’s going to be about two brothers and two sisters who hear about a missing backwards stamp hidden in some old books. But the books get stolen and everything, and the kids have to find them. What do you think?”
Everyone laughed, including Mr. Bindry. “Now that’s one mystery I’ll actually have to read.” |