“The sword is missing?” Jessie repeated.
“Yes,” said Hannah. “We’ve been looking for it all morning. How could I have used such a valuable sword for our show? It was so foolish of me!”
“Don’t say that,” said Violet gently. “You didn’t know this would happen.”
“Anyway, what are we going to do for tonight’s performance?” Hannah said. “It was bad enough yesterday having no sword for the king. But the Silver Knight certainly needs a sword. How else can he fight and win the princess?”
“Don’t worry about tonight’s show,” said Jessie. “We’ll get a sword.”
“But where?” Hannah asked. “We don’t have much time.”
“We’ve gotten things for Halloween at the costume shop in town,” Henry said. “We’ll walk over there right now.”
“I guess that is our only choice,” Hannah admitted.
“Sure,” said Jessie.
Hannah sighed gratefully. “I’ll give you some money.” She dug into the purse she was carrying. She pulled out her wallet and handed Jessie several bills. “There, that ought to be enough. Buy two swords, so King Richard can have one, too.”
Jessie took the money and tucked it into her backpack.
“Where could the sword be?” Henry wondered.
“I don’t know,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “We’ve looked everywhere. It’s a mystery.”
Jessie smiled. “You’re in luck. Mysteries are our specialty.”
“Maybe we should call the police,” Violet suggested.
“I’m afraid that will give our show bad publicity” said Hannah. “People may not want to come if they think there are thieves lurking about. I just wish I had the money to hire a private detective.”
“Don’t worry,” Benny told her. “We’ll figure it out.”
Hannah’s face softened for the first time that day. “I bet you will.”
“Before we go to the costume shop, do you mind if we look around a little bit to see if we can find the sword?” Jessie asked.
“I hope you can find it,” Hannah said. “I’ll be in my office.”
When Hannah had left, the children looked at each other.
“Can you believe that beautiful sword is missing?” Violet said.
“What could have happened to it?” Henry wondered.
Jessie pulled a notebook and pen out of her backpack. She quickly flipped to a fresh page. “Let’s figure this out. Who had the sword last?”
“Jonathan used it last night in the show,” said Henry.
Jessie wrote that down in her notebook.
“We should talk to him first,” said Violet.
The Aldens walked to Jonathan’s tent. “Hello?” Henry called, poking his head in the flap.
“Henry, come in,” Jonathan said.
When the children entered they found Jonathan sitting in a chair with his feet up on a small table. A magazine was spread across his lap, and he was flipping through it. “What can I do for you? Not time to get ready for the show yet, is it?”
“No,” Jessie said. “We just wanted to ask you about the sword you used last night— the one that’s missing.”
Jonathan turned back to his magazine. “Oh, yes. Too bad,” he said.
The Aldens looked at each other, surprised. Jonathan didn’t seem upset at all that the valuable sword was missing.
“So I guess you were the last one to have the sword,” Jessie went on.
Jonathan looked up. “Yes, I used it in the show—it was great to use a real sword.”
“What did you do with it after the show?” Henry asked.
“I returned it to Richard’s tent,” Jonathan said simply.
“And that’s the last you saw of it?” Jessie asked.
Jonathan looked at her and smiled. “Is this an official investigation?”
“Oh, we’re just … we like to solve mysteries. We’re helping Hannah find the sword,” Jessie explained.
“I see. Detectives.” Jonathan studied the children’s serious faces. “I used to like to play detective when I was a kid, too. I played all sorts of things—detective, cowboy, knight in shining armor. I loved to be in disguise, to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I guess I’m still doing that.”
“Where exactly did you leave the sword?” Henry asked.
“I put it on Richard’s dressing table,” Jonathan said. “What a cluttered mess! I’m not surprised the sword got misplaced.”
“Was he there when you left it?” asked Henry.
“No,” Jonathan said. “I’m not sure where he was.”
“What time was it?” asked Jessie.
Jonathan thought for a moment. “It was right after the show, probably about ten o’clock. I just left the sword on the dressing table and walked out.” He shrugged. “Never occurred to me that something might happen to it.” He looked back at his magazine.
The Aldens had no more questions, so they left. “See you later,” Benny called.
Outside Jonathan’s tent, Jessie made a couple of notes in her notebook.
“Richard Worthington’s tent next?” Violet asked. The others nodded, and they set off in that direction.
“We didn’t learn much from Jonathan,” said Henry.
“Except for one thing,” Violet said. “He didn’t seem very concerned about the sword.”
“No,” Jessie said thoughtfully. “He certainly didn’t.”
A moment later the children were at Mr. Worthington’s tent. The flap was propped open, and they could see him inside. The Aldens immediately saw that Jonathan was right—the dressing table was a complete mess, as was the rest of the tent. Piles of clothing and armor and bits of hay were strewn about everywhere.
“Mr. Worthington?” said Henry.
“Yes?” he responded, looking up from a pile of clothing he had been sorting through. He did not seem happy to have visitors.
“We just wanted to talk to you about the missing sword,” said Jessie. “If you don’t mind.”
“I knew that young scoundrel should never have borrowed my sword,” Mr. Worthington said. “I warned them something bad would happen.”
“Jonathan said he left the sword in here after the show,” said Jessie.
“I don’t care what Mr. Fairbanks says. When I came in last night, there was no sword,” said Mr. Worthington.
“What time did you come back to the tent?” asked Henry.
Mr. Worthington frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t wear a watch.”
“Was it right after the show ended?” asked Jessie. “That was ten o’clock.”
“No, I stayed for a few minutes to sign autographs,” Mr. Worthington said. “I probably got back here around ten-fifteen.”
“Did you look all around here for the sword?” asked Jessie, her eyes traveling around the tent.
“Yes, Ms. Greene and I turned this tent upside down looking for the sword,” said Mr. Worthington. “I assure you it’s not here.”
“I wonder where it could be,” said Jessie.
“I suggest you ask Mr. Fairbanks.” And with that Mr. Worthington strode angrily out of the tent.
The Aldens all looked at each other, stunned.
“We didn’t learn much from him, either,” said Henry, sighing.
“No, except that he thinks Jonathan is to blame,” said Jessie, writing in her notebook. She glanced at her watch. “We’d better get to the costume shop or there won’t be any swords for tonight’s show.”
The children had been to the costume shop several times to buy things for their Halloween costumes. It was just a short walk from the park. As they walked, they talked about what could have happened to the sword.
“Do you really think someone stole it?” Benny asked.
“I hate to think that,” said Henry. “But what else could have happened to it?”
“Who would have stolen it?” asked Violet.
“Jonathan is the most likely suspect,” Henry said. “He was the last one who had it. He says he put it in Mr. Worthington’s tent, but no one saw it there.”
“Remember how happy he was to get the sword?” Violet said. “He kept saying it was just what he needed.”
“I’m wondering if maybe Richard Worthington stole the sword,” Jessie said. “He was so angry when Hannah asked him to give it to Jonathan.”
“He claimed he was the ‘rightful owner,’” Henry recalled.
“A pretty strange thing to say since the sword really belongs to Hannah,” Jessie said. “And today he kept saying, ‘I warned them something bad would happen.’”
“So do you think that he’s just pretending he never saw the sword last night, but actually he’s hidden it away somewhere?” asked Violet. “And now he’s trying to put the blame on Jonathan?”
“He was very angry that Jonathan was using ‘his’ sword,” said Jessie. “Today he called him a scoundrel. Maybe he wants to get Jonathan in trouble.”
“Hannah said Mr. Worthington could be very moody,” said Violet. “And he sure seems that way.”
They had reached downtown Greenfield. The children walked up Main Street to the corner where the costume shop was.
The store was crowded with costumes of all kinds. There were colorful clown costumes, scary witch dresses, elegant princess gowns, even a furry dog suit.
“Hello,” said the man behind the counter. “Can I help you?”
“We need some swords for the medieval fair at Pleasant Valley Park,” Jessie said.
“I’ve heard about that fair,” the man said. “So you need something a medieval knight would use?”
“Yes,” said Jessie.
The man opened a drawer and pulled out several different swords. One was made of cheap plastic and didn’t look real enough. Jessie was also worried it might break, like the first one had. Another sword was too small. After considering all of them, the children selected two sturdy swords with fancy handles.
“These will be fine,” Jessie said, taking the money out of her backpack to pay for them.
As they walked back to the park, Benny and Jessie each took a sword and dueled. “These are great,” Benny said.
“But nothing like the one that was stolen,” said Violet. “It was really beautiful.”
“That reminds me,” said Henry. “Annie was talking about how beautiful the sword was. And how valuable. Do you think … ?”
Jessie stopped dueling. “That Annie stole it?” she asked thoughtfully.
“No!” cried Violet. “Not Annie.”
“She was wandering around in the dark last night,” Henry reminded her. “She could easily have taken it.”
“Jonathan was wandering around, too,” Violet said.
“And who knows where Mr. Worthington was,” said Benny.
Jessie shook her head. “There’s definitely something strange going on at the fair.” |