The Castle Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

“Well, let’s make this food disappear.” Carrie said, trying to smooth things over at the table. “Oh, and you haven’t met Tom Brady, yet, Violet. Tom knows everything there is to know about antiques, rare books, paintings, and musical instruments.”

  Violet nodded to the young man seated next to Mr. Tooner.

  “Violet plays a musical instrument,” Jessie said proudly. “The violin.”

  Mr. Tooner’s hand shook so much he dropped his knife. After picking it up, he left the table without a word.

  “I’m sorry,” Jessie said. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Carrie shook her head sadly. “Well, you probably don’t know about the Drummond violin. It’s been missing since William Drummond III died. Mr. Tooner thinks everyone believes that he’s the one who lost it.”

  “Or took it,” Sandy Munson broke in. “After all, he was the only one living here after Mr. Drummond passed away.”

  Tom Brady looked at Carrie. “There is no denying what Sandy says. That violin disappeared while Mr. Tooner was working here.”

  “Please,” Carrie began. “Let’s not get into this discussion again. We don’t know whether it was lost or whether William Drummond hid it for safekeeping before he died. We truly do not know.”

  The Aldens could see that neither Sandy nor Tom accepted what Carrie said.

  “We simply must begin to work together,” Carrie said calmly. “There is no other way. I do believe that violin will turn up as we do our work. Why, already I’ve found a few treasures while getting some of the rooms in order.”

  Tom Brady listened to Carrie’s speech. He did not look one bit happy about working together with anyone. “Well,” he announced, “my work is very special. Not just anyone should go rummaging through antiques, let alone help fix them.”

  Carrie cut him off. “We will organize everything in the morning. The Aldens are good, careful workers. I’m quite sure there is plenty they can do. Maybe tomorrow they can start out with you, Sandy.”

  “You mean I have to baby-sit?” Sandy complained. “When there’s so much real work to do?”

  “There are no babies in our family, Miss Munson,” Mr. Alden said. “Just hardworking children who know what to do with tools, paint brushes, or a needle and thread. As for me, I noticed that those vines over the stonework porch could use a good pruning. They need to be cut back before any more water seeps into the cracks. We Aldens are ready to go.”

  Mr. Alden’s little speech seemed to upset Tom and Sandy. They didn’t look up from their plates again until they heard Carrie mention Violet’s interest in the violin.

  “Well, it would be lovely to have you children find the Stradivarius while you’re here,” Carrie said to Violet. “Maybe you could play it.”

  Sandy’s face suddenly lit up. “Oh, yes, I would love to hear it played again.”

  Carrie looked surprised. “Whatever do you mean, Sandy?”

  Sandy pushed herself away from the table. “Just that I … uh I … like violin music, too. That’s all I meant. Now I’d better finish unloading the Jeep.”

  “That’s odd,” Carrie said. “This is the third time Sandy has mentioned wanting to hear the Stradivarius again. I’m sure she’s never heard such an instrument even once.”

  “A Stradivarius,” Violet breathed. “My violin teacher told me how wonderful they sound.”

  “Did your violin teacher tell you how valuable they are?” Tom asked in an unfriendly voice. “Not that a child could ever play such an instrument. Even famous musicians are lucky to get their hands on one.”

  “Tom is correct about that,” Carrie said. “It’s sad that such a treasure is missing.”

  The word “treasure” perked up Benny right away. “Why do you think the Stradi … Stradi … whatever it’s called is in this castle? Maybe Mr. Drummond sold it and didn’t tell anyone.”

  “Nonsense!” Tom Brady said loudly. “He kept track of that violin like his own child. He saved every clipping about the auction where he bought it and careful records about when he lent it out to well-known musicians. I’m an expert in rare instruments myself. I can tell you that the Drummond Stradivarius has never shown up.”

  When Tom and Grandfather went upstairs, the children stayed and helped Carrie clean up.

  “Why does Tom talk in such an angry voice?” Benny asked.

  Carrie sighed. “He was upset when the Drummond Foundation hired me to coordinate the castle restoration. They hired Tom first. But the trustees put me in charge when he refused to work with anyone else. He is an expert on old things. But you can see we need more than that. We need several people who can work together.”

  Benny could not understand this. “Why can’t everybody work together? That’s what we do! See, the dishes are done already!”

  Carrie Bell smiled. “That’s what I mean. It’s just taking Tom awhile to get the idea. I also have to train Sandy Munson. She’s been here a week. I need to teach her to take care with her work and slow down.”

  “We know,” Jessie said. “She almost ran Grandfather off the road today in her Jeep. I don’t think she even saw our car.”

  Carrie shook her head. “I’ve had to warn her several times about being careful on the lake road. She’s just too quick. She is always jumping ahead of herself. She begins a job in one room, then I find her in another. She is never where she is supposed to be.”

  “How did Sandy get the job as your assistant?” Jessie asked.

  “The Drummond Foundation told me she had done a great deal of research on Drummond Castle,” Carrie explained. “I must admit that from her first day here she knew where things were. I believe she will be a good worker. If we can only get her to stay with one job at a time! Maybe you children can show her the patient way to do things.”

  Henry could see that Benny wasn’t looking too patient himself. “Do you need us for anything else tonight?” Henry asked. “We’d like to take a walk around the castle if that’s okay with you.”

  Carrie smiled at the children. “Why, of course. I keep several flashlights by the kitchen door here.” Carrie clicked on a light switch. “This spotlight will help you see where you’re going.”

  The children stepped outside. The fog was completely gone. A big silvery moon was rising over the lake.

  “Now it looks like a fairy tale castle,” Violet whispered.

  The children walked with Watch out to the cliff.

  “Not too close, Benny,” Jessie warned.

  “I know, I know,” Benny answered. “Grandfather told me about not going near the edge of a cliff that time we climbed Old Flat Top. He said a boy should be told a thing only once, and he was right!”

  Jessie laughed. “Then I won’t have to tell you again.”

  The cool night air soon reminded the children of their cozy beds up in the tower. Violet pulled her sweater tighter against the whistling wind.

  When the children went to explore the side of the castle, the wind off the lake died down. That’s when everyone realized there was another sound in the air.

  “Listen,” Violet whispered. “It’s a violin. It’s playing a pretty piece called ‘Redbird.’ I know that tune!”

  Henry pointed his flashlight in the direction of the music. There was nothing but blackness where the sound was coming from. “The music sounds as if it’s coming from the cliff. That’s very strange.”

  “A lot of things about this castle are strange, Henry,” Violet said in a worried voice. “When I went back for my sweater tonight, I saw a light coming from the other tower that is supposed to be locked. And it wasn’t the sunset. I also heard footsteps coming from that direction right before Sandy Munson came down into the kitchen.”

  Henry shone his flashlight in different directions. “We need to explore the castle when it’s light out. I’d like to check that footpath over there. See?”

  The children followed the flashlight beam to where the cliff seemed to dip down.

  Benny looked over, but all he could see was blackness.
“Maybe that’s how we get to the caves,” Benny said. “Can we go looking tomorrow, Henry? Can we?”

  “Sure thing, Benny,” Henry answered. “Now let’s head back. Careful where you walk.”

  The ground was slippery on the way back to the castle. The children watched every step they took so they wouldn’t fall. Had they looked up just then, they might have seen one more odd thing. Up in the tower someone else was watching their every step, too.

  CHAPTER 4

  Someone Listens In

  “Bless you!” “Bless you!” voices said all morning long. Benny was down on his knees cleaning the carved wooden legs of the dining-room table with a soft toothbrush. Jessie was making a list in an old ledger. And Violet was dusting glass and china figurines. All morning long the dust made everyone sneeze. Meanwhile Grandfather and Henry were working outside.

  “Careful! Watch that!” Sandy said every time one of the Aldens pulled something delicate from the huge built-in china closet.

  The Aldens didn’t need Sandy Munson to tell them to take care. No one was better at handling fragile things than they were.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll be careful,” Jessie said. She remembered Grandfather Alden’s advice. Find out what new people like to do, and you’ll make a friend. That’s just what she was going to do with Sandy Munson.

  “How did you learn so much about Drummond Castle?” Jessie began in her friendliest voice. “You seem to know your way around this big place so well after such a short time.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Sandy demanded.

  “I’m sorry,” Jessie apologized. “I only meant …” Jessie stopped before she got into any more trouble with Sandy.

  Sandy pointed to a low cabinet. “Hand me that box, please,” she ordered Benny. “It’s heavy, so watch out.”

  Benny carefully pulled down a large leather-covered box. “Whew, what’s in here?” The box was heavy!

  “Silverware!” Sandy snapped. “Now be careful!”

  Benny was as careful as could be. He held the heavy box in his arms for Sandy to take. Yet she grabbed it so fast that it crashed to the floor. Silverware scattered all over.

  “Now look what happened!” Sandy yelled. “Please leave the rest of the work in here. I’ll finish up by myself.”

  Benny Alden wasn’t used to sharp voices. He bit his lip. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

  Sandy took the ledger from Jessie. “I’ll do the rest.” Jessie, Violet, and Benny left the dining room quietly.

  “Come on,” Jessie said. “Carrie said we should take our lunch down to the lake after we finished in the dining room. I guess Sandy thinks we’re finished.”

  “A picnic would be nice,” Violet said softly. “That was a dusty job.”

  The children went to their rooms for their jackets and came back down the narrow twisty staircase.

  “Look,” Benny whispered when the children reached the second-floor landing. “Grandfather must be finished with his work, too. His door’s open.”

  But when they entered his room, they got a surprise. Mr. Tooner was in Mr. Alden’s room, kneeling on the floor. He was trying to pry up some floorboards underneath the carpet.

  Benny felt his nose twitch. “Aaaachoo!” he cried when he couldn’t keep from sneezing.

  Startled, Mr. Tooner turned around. “What are you kids doing here?”

  Jessie stepped forward. “We came to visit our grandfather.”

  Mr. Tooner banged in the floorboard with his hammer. “Well, you can see he’s not here. He and that boy have been out on the porch trying to destroy that wisteria vine that’s older than the two of ’em put together! That’s where they are. Hmph!”

  Violet was a quiet one but not when it came to her family. “My grandfather is a wonderful gardener. Why he even had a rose named after him! He would never destroy any living thing!”

  Mr. Tooner looked as if he was about to apologize, but he changed his mind.

  “Well, if I didn’t always have to be fixing things for all the guests that keep coming here, then maybe I could have trimmed that vine myself. Now scat!”

  Jessie took Benny’s hand, then Violet’s, and the three went down to the kitchen. “I just wish people around here would let us help more,” Jessie said to Carrie.

  “Help?” Carrie said. “Why you children are just in time to help me with this platter of sandwiches.”

  Jessie helped Carrie put sandwiches on a big tray. “Sorry we’re so early for lunch, but Sandy told us to leave for now. She wants to finish the work in the dining room by herself.”

  Carrie shook her head. “Dear, dear. I wish she wouldn’t. She means well, but she can be all thumbs around delicate things. She doesn’t listen. Well, I’d better get up there before there’s a crash. I know you children can fix yourselves a little picnic together, now can’t you?”

  “We sure can!” Benny said. “Picnics are one thing we’re good at.”

  After they’d gathered some lunch, the children stopped by to see how Henry and Grandfather were doing.

  “The castle looks brighter already,” Violet said when she saw how many vines had been cut back.

  Grandfather and Henry stood back to check their work.

  “I’d like to be here in two months when this starts blooming,” Mr. Alden said. “Who votes for another trip to Drummond Castle in the summer?”

  Mr. Alden was surprised that only Henry raised his hand.

  “What is it, Jessie?” Henry asked. “Don’t you like working at Drummond Castle?”

  Jessie nodded. “We would like working here if anyone besides Carrie would let us. Sandy thinks we’re going to break things. This morning Tom wouldn’t even let Violet take a peek at the beautiful books he discovered in the library.”

  “And Mr. Tooner thinks we’re pests!” Benny said, his eyes full of surprise and hurt. “He shooed us out of your room when he was fixing broken floorboards.”

  Now it was Mr. Alden’s turn to look surprised. “Broken floorboards! Why the floors in that room are as solid as rock. Caroline said it’s one of the few rooms that doesn’t need any renovation at all. I can’t imagine what Mr. Tooner was doing in there.”

  “Chasing us out!” Benny said hotly.

  After the children gave Mr. Alden some sandwiches, they took the steep footpath down to the lake. No one was going to stop them from having a picnic!

  “Look at the pretty view,” Jessie said halfway down. “I can see why the Drummonds picked this spot to build their castle. It’s perfect.”

  Indeed it was. Out in front lay a sparkling lake. Behind the children was a wall of rock and moss that would soon be full of delicate wildflowers.

  “Carrie told me the first Mr. Drummond put in this railing and these steps so his children would have a shortcut to the beach,” Henry mentioned. “She said to look for a gate halfway down. The Drummonds installed it after one of their children got lost in the cave.”

  “Well I’d like to get lost in there, too,” Benny said when they passed by a gate that blocked a cave entrance. “Wooo. Wooo.”

  “Wooo. Wooo,” his echo said back.

  “Do you suppose the violin could be hidden in there?” Violet asked, remembering the music they had heard on their walk the night before.

  Henry shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’s too damp to keep a valuable instrument in there. And look how rusty that lock is. Carrie said the gate has been locked since way before William Drummond died.”

  Benny rattled the gate. “I sure wish there was another way to get in here.”

  “I can’t decide whether to eat, or hike, or hike and eat,” Jessie said when the children reached the little lake beach.

  “It’s too cold for a hike,” Benny said, “so let’s eat.”

  That settled it. The children went on down to the lake. They set their picnic lunch on a flattened tree trunk lying in the sand. Benny got busy making sand chairs all around the log so they could eat at a proper table.

  “Th
is should be a restaurant when they turn the castle into a museum,” Benny said proudly.

  “Or a tea shop,” Violet added.

  “Or a snack bar.” Jessie handed out thick sandwiches made from Carrie’s leftover roast chicken.

  When Henry finished eating, he stood up to stretch out. “Pruning is hard work. It looks so easy, but to do it right takes a long time. My arm muscles ache. From down here I can see that Grandfather and I still have plenty left to do. Look.”

  Jessie looked up at the castle. For the first time, she noticed a small building set into the cliff. “Never mind the castle, Henry. Look there.”

  All the children looked up to where Jessie was pointing. A pretty little stone house was built right into the side of a cliff.

  “It’s almost like those Indian dwellings we saw out West,” Violet said. “Only this one is like a cottage. I wish we could go see it.”

  “That must be Mr. Tooner’s cottage,” Jessie explained. “From what Carrie said, I thought it was attached to the castle. But it’s all by itself.”

  “And so is Mr. Tooner,” Violet said.

  A cold wind began to blow across the lake. The picnic was over. Even Benny was ready to get back to work. On the return trip up the footpath, he went right by the cave entrance. He didn’t even stop to make an echo.

  Carrie was waiting in the kitchen with a clipboard. “I hope you’ve had fun. This afternoon we’re going to tackle the great hall. The Drummonds held banquets and dances in there,” Carrie told the children. “Now the room isn’t used, but somebody … well, I’d like to see it filled with guests again. But first we need to fix it up.”

  Violet wasn’t keen on this plan. The great hall was full of big white shapes that looked like ghost chairs and ghost tables. She didn’t even like to walk by that room. In fact, when she walked in, Violet thought she saw a sheet-covered chair move.

  A minute later, she felt very silly when Carrie began to pull back the draperies and open the windows for fresh air. The room began to look more normal. Carrie removed the dust sheets from a few pieces of furniture.

  “Now look at this beautiful sofa,” Carrie said. “Try it out, Benny. You too, Violet.”