The Mystery of the Spider's Clue

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  When a frown crossed Sam’s kind face, Violet couldn’t help wondering why the past bothered him so much. But she didn’t ask.

  “I think that’s the right place for the Chlorophytum,” Jessie said, changing the subject. “By the window, I mean.”

  Violet smiled gratefully at her older sister. She could always count on Jessie to come to the rescue. “It does look nice there,” Violet added.

  “And I’ll make sure it gets enough water,” said Sam. He seemed relieved to be talking about something else.

  After dinner, the Aldens cleared the table while Sam went into the living room to lie down.

  “It’s funny how the clues keep reminding Sam of the past,” said Benny.

  The others nodded. They’d noticed this, too.

  Violet filled the sink with hot soapy water. “It really is strange,” she said in a quiet voice. “Sam gets so unhappy whenever the past is mentioned.”

  “I just wish we could help.” Jessie stacked plates on the counter.

  Henry thought about that. “We can’t help if we don’t know what’s wrong,” he said.

  “Why don’t we ask,” suggested Benny.

  Henry shook his head as he put the leftover rice in the refrigerator. “Remember what happened when Thomas mentioned the past?”

  “Sam didn’t like it one bit,” Benny recalled.

  “Besides,” Jessie added, “it’s not really any of our business.” She reached for a dish towel. “If Sam wants to tell us, he will.”

  The children finished quickly. In no time at all, the table had been cleared, the dishes washed, and the kitchen counters wiped clean.

  “As soon as I’m on the mend,” Sam told them when they sat down again in the living room, “it’ll be my turn to cook. I make a pretty good bowl of chili.”

  “It’s a deal!” said Jessie. It made her smile to think of Sam bustling about again.

  Benny was staring hard at the Chlorophytum. “That plant looks like a big green spider hanging from the ceiling,” he said thoughtfully.

  Violet studied the Chlorophytum. Benny was right. It really did look like a green spider.

  Sam snapped his fingers. “Spider plant!” he exclaimed. “That’s the name I couldn’t remember. Chlorophytum’s the scientific name, of course. But most folks just call it a spider plant.”

  Violet’s brown eyes widened. “I think we should be paying another visit to the Hollow Tree.”

  “Oh!” cried Jessie, as she caught Violet’s meaning. “Do you think one of the plants in the restaurant could be a spider plant?”

  Henry answered first. “I’m sure of it! And that’s just where we’ll find the Spider’s Clue.” He sounded excited.

  “Yippee!” cried Benny clapping his hands.

  “Unless I miss my guess,” Sam put in, “you’ll have this mystery wrapped up real soon.”

  But would it be soon enough? Tomorrow was the twelfth of July, the last day to solve the mystery. The Aldens were quickly running out of time.

  CHAPTER 8

  A Shadow in the Night

  Watch growled softly.

  Benny sat up in bed. “What’s wrong, Watch?” he asked in a sleepy voice.

  After a long day the Aldens had sat up in the boxcar, talking about their mystery. But now it was the middle of the night and they were all in bed. The house was dark and quiet. Why was Watch barking?

  “Grrr,” Watch growled again. He began to scratch at the bedroom door.

  Benny slid out of bed and padded across the room. He opened the door. Watch dashed out into the hall, then raced down the stairs, barking loudly.

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet came out of their rooms.

  “What’s the matter with Watch?” Jessie wanted to know.

  Before Benny could answer, Grandfather stepped out into the hall, pulling his bathrobe around him.

  “What’s all the fuss about?” he asked, flicking the light switch.

  Benny blinked at the brightness. “I think Watch hears something outside.”

  “Let’s go see what’s wrong,” said Grandfather.

  Everyone followed James Alden downstairs. They found Watch in the kitchen, scratching at the back door.

  Benny ran to the window and peered out into the night. Was that a shadow moving across the yard?

  “Wait here,” said Grandfather. “I’ll take a look around.” He took the flashlight down from the shelf so he could find his way in the dark.

  “Be careful!” Violet called out in a worried voice.

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny watched through the opened doorway as Grandfather’s flashlight beam swept back and forth across the yard.

  At that moment, Benny heard a car door slam shut. He looked up at Jessie. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “I think the prowler just made his getaway,” Benny told her.

  Shaking her head, Jessie said, “I doubt there was a prowler here, Benny. Watch probably just heard a raccoon in the yard.”

  “Maybe,” said Benny. But he didn’t sound convinced.

  A few minutes later, Grandfather came back inside, with Watch close on his heels.

  Grandfather put the flashlight away in the cupboard. “I’m not sure what got Watch so upset,” he said. “It’s pretty quiet out there.”

  Henry nodded. “Watch seems fine now.”

  “Why don’t we go back upstairs,” suggested Grandfather. “Our warm beds are waiting for us.”

  Violet shivered in her pajamas. “Watch will keep an eye on things for us.”

  “That’s why we call him Watch.” Jessie laughed. “Right, Benny?”

  But Benny didn’t answer. He was peering out the window again. Somebody had been prowling around out there. He was sure of it.

  “I didn’t hear a thing,” Mrs. McGregor told the Aldens the next morning. “Not even Watch barking.”

  “Just as well,” said Grandfather as he sat down at the breakfast table. “It turned out to be a false alarm.”

  The Aldens’ housekeeper was dishing up scrambled eggs. She smiled over at Benny. “Looks like somebody could use a little more sleep.”

  Benny covered his mouth as he yawned. Then he shook his head. “There’s no time for sleep.”

  Grandfather stirred cream into his coffee.

  “Oh, yes. Today is your last chance to find the secret code word, isn’t it?”

  Henry nodded. “If nobody finds it by the end of the day the inheritance goes to the millionaire’s relatives.”

  Grandfather took a bite of his bacon and chewed thoughtfully. Then he said, “This mystery certainly came along at exactly the right time for Sam, didn’t it? Just when he can’t work for a while—presto!—he suddenly has a chance to inherit money. It’s really quite an amazing coincidence.”

  “I was hoping the mystery would perk Sam up a bit,” added Mrs. McGregor. “But I’m afraid he still isn’t himself. It’s just because of his job, of course. Sam really misses his work.”

  But Violet didn’t think that was all it was. She was sure something else was troubling Sam Snow.

  “The mystery keeps stirring up sad memories for him,” she told Mrs. McGregor.

  “It is weird,” put in Henry. “The clues seem to remind Sam of his brother. He gets a faraway look in his eye and—”

  “He’s not one bit happy anymore,” finished Benny.

  Grandfather nodded. “There’s a reason for that.”

  The children turned to their grandfather in surprise.

  “What is it, Grandfather?” asked Jessie.

  James Alden put down his fork. “Long ago, when Sam Snow turned his back on the family business, it caused quite a rift between the two brothers.”

  Benny looked puzzled. “What’s a rift?”

  “It means they had a disagreement,” explained Jessie.

  “That’s exactly right,” said Grandfather. “I remember hearing about it at the time. Simon didn’t want his brother to leave the family business. He thou
ght Sam was making a big mistake. There was an argument, and some terrible things were said. When Sam walked out the door, it was the last time the two brothers saw—or spoke to—each other in almost forty years.”

  “Didn’t they ever try to patch things up?” Violet wondered.

  Grandfather thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I don’t think they ever did. I guess they were both too proud. Neither of them wanted to make the first move.”

  “Sam must miss his brother so much,” Violet said softly.

  “And Pinky, too,” Benny put in. “Pinky was Sam’s dog. At least, I think he was. But I’m not sure.”

  Jessie sighed. “We have so many questions.”

  “And so few answers,” said Henry.

  After breakfast, Jessie raced away to get her notebook. The other Aldens waited for her beside their bikes. A few minutes later, she leaned out the door of the boxcar.

  “It’s gone!” she shouted.

  In a flash, Henry, Violet, and Benny came running. Henry was the first to climb up the stump step and then into the boxcar. “What’s gone?” he asked.

  Jessie turned to her older brother. “I can’t find my notebook.”

  “Are you sure you left it in the boxcar last night?” Henry wanted to make sure.

  “Yes,” said Jessie. “It was right here on the table.” Now there was nothing left on the table except the blue cloth.

  “I don’t understand it,” Henry said, looking around. “Even Grandfather’s street map is missing. I’m positive I left it out here.”

  Violet looked around, too. “Jessie’s notebook was beside Grandfather’s map. They were both on the table. Remember? We were talking about the mystery while we were sitting right here in the boxcar last night.”

  Just then, Watch came running into the boxcar. He dropped something at Jessie’s feet. Then the little dog looked up, wagging his tail.

  Jessie bent down to examine what Watch had dropped.

  “What is it, Jessie?” asked Benny.

  “Looks like a broken heel from somebody’s shoe.”

  “I bet the prowler broke a heel rushing away in the dark last night,” guessed Benny. “Watch is a good watchdog and a good detective!”

  “You think there really was a prowler?” Violet asked in alarm.

  Henry nodded firmly. “It looks like it—someone stole Jessie’s notebook and Grandfather’s map.”

  The other Aldens didn’t like the sound of this. Why would a prowler steal Jessie’s notebook and Grandfather’s map? It had to be somebody who was tracking down the secret code word. And now that person knew as much about the mystery as they did!

  Violet’s eyes were huge. “My sketch of the Hollow Tree Restaurant was in there, too. Whoever the thief is, he’ll know just where to look for the Spider’s Clue.”

  “You mean she’ll know just where to look,” corrected Jessie. She held up the broken heel. “This is from a woman’s high-heeled shoe.”

  “Come on!” Henry was already halfway out the boxcar. “We’ve got to find that secret code word—before somebody else finds it first!”

  As soon as the Alden children arrived at the Hollow Tree Restaurant, Rose hurried over to greet them. “We’re packed with the breakfast crowd right now,” she apologized. “You might have to wait a few minutes for a booth.”

  “Oh, that’s no problem,” said Jessie.

  “Mind if we take a look at your plants while we’re waiting?” asked Henry.

  “Go right ahead! I take quite an interest in plants myself.” Rose gave them all a smile before hurrying away.

  “Notice something different about Rose?” Benny whispered to Jessie as they followed Henry over to the window in the little alcove.

  “What do you mean?”

  “She isn’t wobbling all over the place today.”

  Jessie looked over her shoulder. Benny was right. The owner of the Hollow Tree Restaurant was dashing from booth to booth. Rose Hill wasn’t teetering on high heels anymore.

  There was no time to think about it, though. Jessie turned her attention to the plants in pink ceramic pots that were hanging in the window. Each plant was different from the next. Some had velvety leaves, some had waxy leaves. Some had pink flowers, some had red flowers. Some had twisted stems, some had straight stems.

  It was Benny who spotted the spider plant first. “Look!” he whispered. He pointed to one that looked just like Sam’s.

  Next to him, Jessie said, “Way to go, Benny!”

  The four Aldens peered long and hard at the spider plant.

  After a long silence, Violet said, “I don’t get it.”

  “I don’t, either,” said Henry.

  Jessie shook her head. “I don’t see anything that looks like a clue.”

  But Benny saw something the others didn’t.

  “Look on the bottom of the pot!” he exclaimed. “I think it’s a clue.”

  Sure enough, some kind of message had been painted in bright yellow on the bottom of the ceramic pot.

  Violet clapped her hands together softly. “It’s the Spider’s Clue!”

  “Oh, Benny!” Jessie said proudly. “What would we do without you?”

  Henry read the words aloud: “‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’”

  The youngest Alden scrunched up his face. “What does that mean?”

  Henry explained, “It means that a rose would still smell nice, even if we called it something else. I think it’s from a play by Shakespeare—Romeo and Juliet.”

  “Oh.” Benny thought about this for a moment. “You mean, even if we called it a stinkweed instead of a rose, it would still smell good?”

  “That’s right,” said Henry, hiding a smile. “Even if we called it a stinkweed.”

  Just then, something caught Violet’s eye. A young man was sitting at a booth nearby reading a newspaper. He was wearing a blue baseball cap with the letters GN on the front. This man was peering over his paper, staring at the Aldens.

  Violet leaned closer to the others. “Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk,” she whispered, looking nervously over her shoulder.

  “Aren’t we getting something to eat?” Benny asked, making them all laugh.

  “We just finished breakfast, Benny,” Jessie reminded him.

  Henry winked. “A Benny by any other name would still be hungry all the time,” he joked, making them all laugh even harder.

  “That’s for sure!” agreed Benny.

  A little later, the four Aldens were sitting under a tree at the Greenfield Tennis Club. They were thinking hard about the Spider’s Clue when Violet suddenly spoke up.

  “I still can’t believe somebody stole your notebook, Jessie.” Violet couldn’t stop thinking about it. “And Grandfather’s street map, too. Who would do such a thing?”

  Henry had a thought. “Maybe that broken heel belongs to Rose Hill,” he said. When he saw the look of surprise on everyone’s faces, he added, “She was wearing high heels yesterday. But today she was just wearing sandals.”

  “That’s true,” said Jessie. She remembered Rose dashing from booth to booth.

  “You don’t really believe it was Rose, do you, Henry?” Violet liked Rose and hated to think of her prowling around in the night.

  “Rose needs money to fix up her restaurant,” Henry argued. “Remember? And she could’ve seen Jessie’s notebook when you were making that sketch, Violet.”

  This got Jessie thinking. “Rose did admit she overhears things. I wonder if she heard us talking about the inheritance.”

  “What about Melissa Campbell?” Violet said after a moment’s thought. “I still think it was odd that she ignored us until Thomas mentioned the mystery. Then she was all ears.”

  “We even told her about our boxcar,” recalled Henry.

  Jessie lowered her voice and looked serious. “The mystery man belongs at the top of our list of suspects,” she said. “There’s something very suspicious about him.”

  “
But”—Benny looked doubtful—“the prowler was a woman.”

  “You’re forgetting something,” replied Jessie. “The mystery man was talking to somebody on the phone about the mystery.”

  “And it could’ve been a woman,” Henry concluded.

  Jessie sighed. “For all we know, half of Greenfield could be looking for the secret code word.”

  Violet glanced at her watch. “We really don’t have time to worry about suspects. Let’s just concentrate on the Spider’s Clue for now.”

  “You’re right, Violet.” Jessie tucked her long brown hair behind her ears. “Maybe if we put our heads together we can figure out what that line from the play means.” She repeated it aloud to refresh everyone’s memory. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  “If it’s a line from a play,” reasoned Benny, “that means the secret code word must have something to do with—”

  “Romeo and Juliet,” finished Violet.

  “Or with Shakespeare,” Jessie added.

  But Henry wasn’t so sure. “I think the key to the secret code word is in Sam’s past,” he said.

  Jessie looked puzzled. “You really think so?” she asked.

  “Well,” replied Henry, “all the clues remind Sam of the past.”

  “So if the clues bring back memories for Sam,” began Jessie, “that means maybe the millionaire—”

  “Was someone Sam knew!” finished Benny.

  Henry nodded. “I think so.”

  Jessie gave the matter some thought. If Henry was right, they would need to find out more about Sam’s past.

  Henry seemed to read her mind. “Maybe Sam will talk to us about the old days if we tell him how important it is.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it, Henry,” said Violet. She didn’t think it was such a good idea to remind Sam of the past.

  Then she thought of something.

  “There is somebody we could ask.”

  “Who?” Benny was instantly curious.

  “Thomas Paintner,” replied Violet. “Remember what he told us?”

  Henry nodded. “He said he’s never too busy to see us.”