“He did it!” Benny exclaimed. “Martin stole Dottie’s half of the bookstore. I just know it!”
“What can we do?” Violet asked in alarm.
“I’m not sure,” said Jessie. “But we have to do something. Right, Henry?”
Henry didn’t answer. He was staring into the dining room, watching Martin remove a small velvet box from his jacket pocket.
“Wait!” Henry said. “Isn’t that the box from the jewelry store? The one the sales-clerk tried to show Martin?”
The others followed Henry’s gaze.
“Martin said he was looking at watches,” Benny remembered. “But that box is too small for a watch.”
Suddenly, Henry understood. “What if Martin wasn’t looking at watches at all?” he said slowly. “What if he was really at the jewelry store looking at something else?”
“Like what, Henry?” asked Violet.
“Like a diamond ring!” Henry answered.
“Oh, Henry!” Violet put a hand over her mouth in surprise. “You think Martin’s asking Dottie to marry him?”
“I can’t be sure,” Henry admitted. “But it’s possible.”
“You could be right, Henry,” Jessie realized. “The rings and the watches were in the same display case.”
“And that would explain what Auntie Two meant about one name on the door to The Underground!” said Violet. She sounded excited.
Benny looked confused. “I don’t get it.”
Violet smiled at her little brother. “If Dottie and Martin get married, then Dottie’s name will be Howard, too. So Howard will be the only name on the door!”
Benny’s eyes widened. “Dottie and Martin are getting married?”
“Let’s find out,” suggested Henry. Without another word, he led the way across the crowded dining room to Martin and Dottie’s table.
“The Aldens!” Auntie Two greeted the children with a smile. She looked surprised to see them. So did Martin and Dottie.
“You’re just in time to hear what my fortune says,” Dottie told them, her eyes shining. She read aloud the words on the little slip of paper:
“In a fortune cookie,
A question hides:
Dottie, will you be my bride?”
“Oh, a proposal in a fortune cookie!” Violet clasped her hands. “How romantic!”
Martin gave Dottie a questioning look. “I still don’t have an answer to my rhyme.”
“Of course I’ll marry you, Martin!” cried Dottie, blinking back the tears.
The Aldens looked at one another. That’s what the fortune meant about an answer to a rhyme!
Martin opened the small velvet box. Inside was a sparkling diamond ring! Without a word, he slipped the ring onto Dottie’s finger.
As the Aldens and Auntie Two laughed and clapped their hands, Lucy arrived with a beautiful heart-shaped cake edged with pink roses made of sugar. The lettering on top read: DOTTIE AND MARTIN FOREVER. And the i’s were dotted with candy hearts.
“My goodness! Another surprise!” Dottie exclaimed as Lucy set the cake on the table. “Did you plan this, too, Martin?”
He shook his head. “Noooo ... but I can guess who did.”
Lucy laughed. “It was teamwork. Auntie Two did the baking, and I did the decorating.”
Dottie smiled over at Lucy and Auntie Two. “So you were both in on this, were you?”
“From the beginning,” confessed Auntie Two. “Martin gave me his rhyming proposal yesterday, and I made a very special fortune cookie to put it in. I could hardly stand the suspense waiting for Martin’s okay to bring that fortune cookie over. I just knew you’d say yes!” she added.
The Aldens looked at one another. Now they knew what was in the envelope Martin had given Auntie Two — it was the fortune cookie proposal.
“I’ve been holding my breath, too,” Lucy confided. “I was just waiting for my cue to bring out the cake.”
“I can’t help wondering who else was in on this,” Dottie said, smiling happily.
Jessie knew the answer to that one. “Angela helped, too, right?”
“Right,” responded Martin. “She played a very important part in my little game.”
“She sure did,” Henry realized. “Angela invented Fortune Cookie Delight!”
“Right again,” said Martin, gesturing for the four Aldens to sit down. “Please join the celebration.”
Benny didn’t need to be coaxed. “This explains what you were doing in the jewelry store, Martin,” he said as everyone pulled up a chair.
Violet added, “You seemed so eager to get away from us.”
“I’m sorry about that, Violet,” apologized Martin. “I was afraid you’d find out I was looking at engagement rings. I knew if Dottie smelled anything fishy going on, it would ruin the surprise.”
“We didn’t figure it out for a while,” admitted Benny. “At first, we thought you were trying to steal Dottie’s half of the bookstore.”
“You thought I was a thief?” Martin asked in surprise.
Dottie laughed a little. “Martin did steal my heart. But that was his only crime.”
“I bet I can solve a mystery, too,” Lucy said as she dished up the cake.
“What mystery?” Benny wanted to know.
“The mystery of why you’re here,” she said. Her lips curled into a little smile. “You children don’t give up. You’ve been following the fortune cookie clues, haven’t you?”
“You should know,” answered Henry, watching the waitress closely. “After all, they were your invention. Right, Lucy?”
“How did you know?” the waitress asked in surprise.
Henry pointed to the cake. “You dotted the i’s on the cake with candy hearts,” he pointed out. “The i’s in the fortune cookie messages were dotted with hearts, too.”
“Oh, dear!” Lucy laughed a little. “I certainly gave myself away, didn’t I?”
“The messages really were meant for Dottie,” said Violet. “Weren’t they? That’s why you added the romantic hearts.”
Lucy didn’t deny it. “I overheard Martin telling Auntie Two about the special way he wanted to propose to Dottie — by taking her on a fortune cookie adventure.” She paused as she handed Benny his slice of cake. “I happen to be pretty good at making up codes and clues, so I offered my services. It’s my dream to become a mystery writer, you know. Just like my favorite author — Drum Keller. I just love The Fortune Cookie Mysteries! Anyway,” she said, smiling a little, “that’s how I got involved in this whole fortune cookie business. Unfortunately it didn’t go as smoothly as I’d planned. The cookies kept ending up with the four of you instead.”
Violet nodded in understanding. Lucy was the one Martin had been blaming for ruining everything.
“Now, don’t feel badly, Lucy,” Dottie said kindly. “I was the one who insisted Benny open the first fortune cookie. And I wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s true,” said Martin. “Why, Auntie Two even accused me of botching things up that night. She thought I might be getting cold feet.”
Jessie and Henry exchanged glances. That must have been the phone conversation they’d overheard at the coffee shop!
“Cold feet?” Benny was wrinkling his face. “What does that mean?”
“That means having second thoughts about proposing to Dottie,” explained Martin. “Of course, I wasn’t having second thoughts at all. But after all the mix-ups, I did give up on the mystery idea.”
Violet smiled as she took the cake the waitress handed her. “You know, Lucy, it wasn’t your fault at the ice cream parlor, either,” she pointed out. “You’re not the one who got the cones mixed up.”
“True,” Martin agreed.
Lucy managed a weak smile. “I’ve been a nervous wreck all week,” she said. “I wanted so much to impress you, Martin.”
“Me?” Martin pointed to himself. Then he began to laugh. “Why would you want to impress me?”
Violet was fairly sure she knew the answer. “Because you figured out that Martin is Drum Keller. Right, Lucy?”
The waitress looked questioningly at Martin. “Is it true? Are you the famous author?”
It was obvious by the look on Martin’s face that he was shocked. “Why, no!”
Lucy looked surprised — and disappointed.
The Aldens were every bit as surprised as Lucy. They were so sure Drum Keller was someone they knew. And their hunches were usually right.
Benny was wondering about something else. He hesitated for a minute, then blurted out, “Why did you run away from us at the ice cream parlor, Lucy?”
After a brief silence, Lucy said, “The truth is, I was afraid you’d ask me a lot of questions about that fortune cookie. So I kept my distance.”
“Only you changed your mind and followed us, didn’t you?” said Henry.
Lucy looked embarrassed. “Yes, I did follow you,” she acknowledged. “I wanted to find out if you got Dottie’s fortune cookie by mistake again.”
Jessie nodded. “I felt someone watching us.”
“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” Lucy apologized. “I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”
Henry turned to Martin. “Something puzzles me, too.”
“What is it?” Martin took a sip of water.
“If you gave up on the mystery idea,” said Henry, “then why did you leave the last fortune cookie in The Underground?”
“I simply forgot all about it, Henry.” Martin shrugged a little. “I’m afraid I wasn’t thinking straight, either.”
Aunt Jane, who had just come up behind them, said, “What’s this? A celebration of some kind?” As Aunt Jane pulled up a chair, Dottie held up her hand to show off the beautiful ring. “I just can’t believe it,” said Aunt Jane, smiling over at Dottie and Martin’s beaming faces. “This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”
Martin raised his water glass. “I’d like everyone to join me in a toast,” he said. “Fifteen years ago today this fine lady left her hometown of Keller’s Crossing and arrived in Elmford. Let’s drink a toast to my future bride — Dorothy Ruth Ursela May!”
Jessie’s jaw dropped. Everything suddenly clicked into place. “Oh, my goodness!” she cried, putting her hands to her mouth.
The others turned to look at her. “What’s the matter, Jessie?”
“I know the answer to another mystery,” she told them in an awestruck voice.
“Another mystery?” Martin asked.
“I know who Drum Keller is,” Jessie said. She looked right at Dottie Shallum.
Dottie lowered her eyes.
Benny looked confused. “But, Jessie, Drum Keller’s a man. Remember?”
“That’s just what we thought,” Jessie told him.
Again Dottie seemed to be pretending not to hear. Even Martin was strangely quiet.
“It all fits,” Jessie went on. “You came to Elmford fifteen years ago, Dottie. That’s when Drum Keller disappeared.”
“But Jessie — ” began Violet.
“That’s not all,” Jessie cut in. “The first letters in Dorothy Ruth Ursela May spell — ”
“DRUM!” Henry cried out, his voice rising with excitement.
Jessie nodded slowly. “And Keller is from the name of Dottie’s hometown — Keller’s Crossing! That’s the part that seemed familiar to me. I just couldn’t remember why.”
All eyes turned to Dottie. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out right away. For a long time, she didn’t say a word. Finally, she smiled. “I guess you’ve found me out,” she said. She looked around at all the faces staring at her. Then she took a deep breath and continued, “I wrote The Fortune Cookie Mystery series when I was living in Keller’s Crossing. My publishers wanted to keep my identity a secret. They thought it would be a good — ”
“Sales gimmick?” put in Benny
“Exactly, Benny.” Dottie patted his hand. “They thought it would be a good sales gimmick to make Drum Keller very mysterious. The whole idea suited me just fine. You see, I was never interested in fame. It was always the writing I loved.”
Violet looked confused. “Then why did you suddenly stop, Dottie?”
“My husband became very ill.” Dottie looked at the children sadly. “After he died, I decided to stop writing the Drum Keller mysteries. My heart just wasn’t in it, anymore.”
“Dottie packed her bags,” said Martin, picking up where his partner had left off, “and came to Elmford to make a fresh start.”
“Martin and Auntie Two were the only ones who knew about my secret identity,” Dottie continued. “The publishing company simply announced that Drum Keller had disappeared.”
Jessie shot Henry a glance. No wonder Dottie wouldn’t part with those books in the cabinet. She was the author! That would explain Martin’s behavior, too. He was upset to hear the customer insulting Dottie’s books.
“When Benny found that strange message in his fortune cookie,” Dottie went on, “everything came rushing back to me. I remembered how much fun I used to have making up codes and clues.”
“Is that why you wanted to sniff out some clues with us?” asked Benny.
“Yes, Benny.” Dottie nodded. “I was also very curious. You see, I knew that first fortune cookie was meant for me. But I couldn’t figure out why someone had made it.”
“This is all my fault, Dottie,” said Martin. He looked troubled. “I never meant to betray your secret. But how could I know the Aldens would come along and figure everything out?”
Dottie waved this away. “I’m glad the truth is out, Martin. I’m tired of keeping the past a secret.” Turning to Lucy, she added, “I’d love to read some of your stories, Lucy. And who knows? Maybe I can even give you a few pointers.”
“Thank you.” Lucy sounded pleased. “I would love that!”
“I might even try writing another Drum Keller mystery,” added Dottie. “How would you feel about that, Martin?”
“It would make me very proud,” Martin replied, his voice filled with emotion.
“Will it be another mystery in a fortune cookie, Dottie?” Benny asked hopefully.
“You bet, Benny,” said the famous author. “You bet!” |