The Mystery of the Tiger's Eye

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  They strolled along the waterfront. High on a bluff overlooking the town were several redbrick buildings.

  “That’s the college where Melanie goes,” Edward said.

  Ambling past little shops that were once homes, the Aldens looked in the windows. One store sold candles. Everything Sailboats sold things for boat collectors.

  Violet giggled at the next shop. “ ‘Paws and Claws,’ ” she said. “What a cute name for a pet store!”

  In the window, bunnies slept or hopped.

  “Here’s Iona’s shop,” said Edward, stopping in front of a little white house next to Paws and Claws.

  Purple and yellow fall flowers spilled from window boxes. Pumpkins perched on porch steps. A hand-painted sign proclaimed, BAYSIDE TREASURES.

  “May we go in?” asked Henry.

  “Please do,” said Edward. “It’s a little tight inside, so your grandfather and I will sit out here on the bench.”

  Iona Levitt was working behind the counter. When she saw the Aldens, she glanced up and smiled.

  “Hi there!” she greeted. “Welcome to Bayside Treasures. Feel free to browse.”

  Jessie thought she had seen a lot of knickknacks and collections at Cliffwalk Manor. Iona’s tiny shop appeared to have as much stuff as Mr. Singleton’s entire house!

  There were boxes made of seashells, rainbow-striped pencils, tinkling wind chimes, hand-painted flowerpots, patchwork pillows, duck decoys, and pale green glass globes suspended in a string net.

  “Those are called witch balls,” Iona said, noticing Jessie’s curiosity. “Actually, they are floats — used by fishermen to keep their nets from sinking.”

  “Is this a magic store?” Benny asked Iona.

  “I think so,” she replied. “When people come in here, they always smile. That’s magic, don’t you think?”

  Grandfather had given them some money to spend on souvenirs. Jessie bought one of the witch balls. Violet chose a miniature pewter fairy. Henry selected a brass kaleidoscope for him and Benny to share.

  While Iona was writing up their receipt, Benny glimpsed a bracelet by the counter. Its gold links were set with odd stones that reminded him of something.

  “This old machine!” exclaimed Iona in exasperation. She thumped the buttons of her old-fashioned cash register.

  “Is it broken?” asked Henry.

  “No, just contrary, like a mule.” Iona unscrewed a metal plate that exposed the inner workings. With her screwdriver, she fiddled with some knobs. At last, the machine began working.

  “You’re pretty handy,” Henry observed.

  “I’ve always been good with contraptions,” Iona said with a grin. “Thanks for coming in. Tell Edward I’ll be there at five this evening. My night to cook dinner.”

  Out on the sidewalk, the children relayed Iona’s message. Talking about dinner made the children realize they were hungry for lunch.

  “There’s a great café on the next block,” Edward suggested. “I hope you like crab cakes.”

  Inside the cheery restaurant, they all ordered crab-cake sandwiches with onion rings.

  “How is the investigation going?” Edward asked the children.

  “We found a photograph of Harry Houdini,” Henry answered. “It was in a box of postcards Melanie was sorting.”

  “And then we read about him in a book from your library,” Jessie said. “He was a great magician!”

  Edward nodded. “He predicted he would become world-famous, and he did.”

  “Could Harry Houdini have done something to Cliffwalk Manor?” Violet wondered.

  “He said he left something behind that night at the party,” Edward reminded them. “But nobody knows what it was.”

  “Maybe he put a magic spell on your house,” said Benny. He was remembering the fairy tales Jessie had read to him.

  Grandfather shook his head. “That kind of magic is only in storybooks, Benny. Magicians like Harry Houdini are illusionists.”

  “What’s that?” asked Benny.

  “You know the expression ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’?” said Henry. “That means magicians do tricks that make you think it’s real magic. But it’s not — all the tricks can be explained. You could even do them yourself!”

  After lunch, they walked around the rest of the town, then drove back to Cliffwalk Manor.

  “Let’s go down to the beach,” Jessie suggested. “It’s too nice to go inside.”

  “Great idea,” Violet said. “I wonder if Dorsey wants to come with us.”

  They found Dorsey in his room, tinkering with the box Violet had seen the first night. Tubes and tangled wires lay on the carpet.

  “What are you building?” asked Henry.

  Dorsey looked up with a scowl. “A radio. I had it working. But then something broke again.”

  “Do you want to go down to the beach with us?” Violet invited.

  “I guess,” he replied without enthusiasm. “Nothing else to do around this old place anyway.”

  Outside, the children took a flight of steps from the back deck down to the beach.

  It was too cold to go in the water, but they searched for shells and watched birds skimming over the waves until suppertime.

  “Come and get it!” Iona Levitt called from the deck. She had dressed up for supper and was wearing a flowing turquoise caftan with bell-like sleeves.

  A tureen of steaming clam chowder waited on the merry-go-round table. Iona brought in a towel-wrapped basket of freshly baked bread.

  Melanie joined them, sitting across from Jessie in the swan chariot. Since the swan chariot seated two, Dorsey sat beside her.

  “Things seem pretty normal lately,” Iona remarked. “Maybe those silly pranks have stopped.”

  “I certainly hope so,” said Edward.

  Melanie spoke up. “You don’t think Harry Houdini is making them happen somehow?”

  Henry helped himself to a second piece of bread. “We were talking about that at lunch today. Harry Houdini was talented, but he was just an escape artist.”

  “Yeah,” Dorsey agreed. “He couldn’t do real magic.”

  “But Houdini was the best magician ever,” Grandfather put in. “I doubt anyone will ever be as great as he was.”

  At that moment, Melanie dropped the butter dish she was passing to Henry.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  Jessie wondered why Melanie wanted to be an actress. She seemed nervous, always dropping things and speaking so shyly.

  “We need more bread,” Iona said, picking up the basket. “Why does this feel so heavy?”

  She unfolded a corner of the towel, revealing the twitching pink nose of a white baby rabbit!

  Chapter 5

  It Can’t Be!

  “Oh, boy!” Benny exclaimed. “A bunny!”

  Edward stood up, shocked. “Where did that rabbit come from? If this is a joke, it’s not funny. Iona, did you put the rabbit in there?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” she snorted.

  “Then who did it?”

  But Edward’s question hung in midair, like a puff of magician’s smoke.

  “I’ve heard of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but never a bread basket!” Iona cuddled the rabbit in her lap.

  “He’s so cute,” said Melanie. “Can I hold him?”

  Iona handed the baby rabbit to her. The children gathered around Melanie to pet him.

  “What are you going to do with him?” Dorsey asked his great-uncle.

  “I guess I’ll go into town tomorrow and buy a cage for him,” said Edward. “He can stay in a box in the laundry room tonight.”

  “I’ll help Iona with the dishes,” said Grandfather, picking up soup bowls. “You kids can fix a place for our new guest.”

  “I’d better get home,” Melanie said, giving the rabbit to Edward. “It’s almost dark.”

  After she left, Edward fetched a large cardboard carton and some clean, soft rags from the basement. He led the children into the laundry room
beside the kitchen.

  Violet arranged the rags in the bottom of the box. Jessie found two small dishes and filled one with water.

  “I’ll get some food,” Dorsey offered. He came back with chopped carrots and shredded cabbage leaves.

  Soon the rabbit was snug in his box, happily chewing on his supper.

  “He needs a name,” said Violet.

  “Houdini,” said Benny immediately. “Because he came out of nowhere.”

  “Good name!” Jessie praised. “But this little guy didn’t really come out of nowhere.”

  “Then how did he get in the bread basket?” Dorsey asked, stroking Houdini’s ears.

  “Somebody put him there,” Henry said firmly. “Maybe it was Iona. She had on that dress with the big sleeves.”

  Jessie nodded excitedly. “She could have smuggled the rabbit inside those sleeves. And slipped him into the basket when no one was looking.”

  “Her shop is right next to Paws and Claws,” Violet said. “She could have bought one of the bunnies we saw in the window.”

  “But why would Iona put a rabbit in the basket?” Dorsey questioned. “She’s my great-uncle’s best friend. It doesn’t make sense that she’d pull a prank on him.”

  “Right now, nothing makes sense,” Henry commented.

  “Anyway,” Dorsey pointed out, “everyone is wearing something kind of loose. We all have on sweaters. Melanie had on a big sweatshirt. Anybody could have smuggled this little guy in.”

  “True,” Violet agreed. She noticed that Dorsey seemed happy about the rabbit. Did he buy the rabbit on a trip into town and sneak the animal into the house so he could have a pet?

  They played with Houdini until the rabbit fell asleep in a nest of rags.

  Iona had gone home. Edward and Grandfather were reading the newspaper in the parlor.

  “We named the bunny Houdini,” Benny told them.

  Edward laughed. “Perfect name for a rabbit that appeared at our table!” He glanced outside the window. “Full moon tonight. There’s something I want you to see.”

  They all went out on the deck in the chilly air. Lights from barges sparkled on the water like fireflies. A huge pumpkin-shaped moon lit a path across the bay.

  Benny stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. The cold, dark sky was filled with loud twitterings and calls.

  “What is that noise?” he asked.

  “Birds,” Edward replied. “The Chesapeake Bay is a major migration route for birds flying south every winter. They follow certain paths that are called flyways. This is one of them. Have a look.”

  He focused the telescope, then helped Benny up on the stool.

  Benny stared through the eyepiece. Soon he saw a black mass crossing in front of the yellow moon.

  “I see them!” he cried. “Must be a zillion birds!”

  “Where are they going?” Violet asked, taking her turn at the telescope.

  “Some go to Florida. Some to Mexico,” Edward answered. “Some fly as far as South America. It’s amazing that they do this every year. They just know where to go.”

  Dorsey viewed the sight next. “How many birds are in that flock? It seems endless.”

  “Thousands,” his great-uncle replied. “As they fly south, they pick up more bands of birds along the way.”

  After a few minutes in the frosty air, everyone was ready to go back inside. Edward and Grandfather made hot chocolate, which they served in the parlor.

  “That was neat,” said Jessie, dunking her marshmallow with her spoon. “I never knew birds were so smart.”

  “I wonder if the birds think they are going home when they fly south,” Dorsey mused. “Or if they think they are leaving home. Where is home for them?”

  Violet looked at Dorsey. Maybe he was feeling homeless, too.

  Just then the phone rang. Edward got up to answer it.

  “Hello,” he said. “Yes, this is Mr. Singleton. Yes, I’ll make sure Dorsey has the right school supplies. I did receive your list.”

  Jessie watched Dorsey’s face during this conversation. He put down his mug, suddenly looking downcast.

  When Edward hung up, Dorsey asked, “That was the boarding school, wasn’t it?”

  Edward nodded. “They were just checking on last-minute details. You leave in a few days, you know.”

  Dorsey jumped up, knocking a cushion to the floor. “And I can’t wait to get out of this crazy house!”

  He stomped upstairs without saying good night.

  “That boy is so moody,” Edward said. “He was fine when we were outside watching the birds.”

  “Maybe he just misses his parents,” Grandfather said reassuringly.

  Edward nodded. “Or maybe he’s just tired after a long day. It’s been a long day for all of us. I think we should turn in.”

  On the way to their rooms, the Alden children paused to discuss the latest events.

  “Why do you think Dorsey is acting so strangely?” Henry wanted to know. “Mr. Singleton was right — he was fine out on the deck. He changed when his uncle got that phone call.”

  “I don’t know why he’s so anxious to leave Cliffwalk Manor,” Jessie put in. “If I were Dorsey, I’d want to stay.”

  “Well, we have enough to handle trying to solve this mystery,” said Violet. “Who else could have made the rabbit appear in the bread basket besides Iona?”

  “Dorsey could have done it,” Benny mentioned. “He had on a sweater with big pockets. He could have put the rabbit in one of the pockets.”

  “Benny’s right,” said Jessie. “Dorsey didn’t go with us today, but he and Melanie could have driven to town. One of them could have bought the rabbit in the pet store next to Iona’s shop.”

  “Actually, Melanie could have gotten the rabbit anytime,” said Violet. “Her college is on the hill right above Heron’s Bay.”

  “But why?” Henry asked. “Iona is Edward’s good friend and Melanie is working for him. What would either of them gain by causing trouble?”

  They had reached Dorsey’s bedroom. The door was firmly shut.

  “Maybe Dorsey figures he can get away with pulling pranks,” Henry said. “He’s good with gadgets. He could be making the fortune-teller move and other stuff.”

  “That’s a good point,” Jessie agreed. “I feel kind of sorry for him. It seems like he shuts himself in his room a lot.”

  “We can’t do any more tonight,” said Henry.

  The boys said good night and went down the hall to their own room.

  Before Violet closed their bedroom door, she thought she heard muffled sobs across the hall. But a moment later, music came on and drowned them out.

  Down the hall Benny switched off the lamp in the boys’ room, then he plumped his pillow and tried to go to sleep. But he kept seeing a light flickering on the opposite wall.

  “What is that light?” he asked his brother.

  Henry tossed back the quilt. “Let’s go see.”

  Benny followed Henry to the window.

  “Down there.” Henry pointed to barges on the bay. “I bet those running lights from the barges are reflecting in our room.”

  Benny wasn’t so sure. The light he saw flickered like a candle. Or a flashlight.

  They went back to bed.

  As Benny drifted to sleep, he thought he heard faint bumps and scrapes like he had their first night in Cliffwalk Manor. But now the noises seemed to be coming from downstairs.

  When he opened his eyes, it was morning. Golden sunshine dappled the wall where he’d seen flickering lights the night before.

  He and Henry dressed and met the girls in the hall.

  Downstairs, they heard Grandfather’s and Edward’s voices. The two men were staring into Edward’s office.

  “It can’t be!” Edward said unbelievingly. “It just can’t be!”

  Chapter 6

  The Backward Rooms

  “What is it?” Asked Jessie, hurrying forward.

  “These rooms have been swit
ched!” Edward declared.

  “Switched?” Benny was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  Edward swept his arm in a wide gesture. “All the things from my office are now in the parlor across the hall. And everything from the parlor is now in here! Only the heaviest furniture is still where it belongs.”

  He was right. Knickknacks and tea tables were in Edward’s office. Rugs, pictures, objects, even the chairs had been reversed. A dainty Queen Anne chair looked funny pulled up to his businesslike desk.

  In the parlor, Edward’s papers were stacked on the grand piano. Files and notebooks sat on the burgundy sofa. Framed documents from Edward’s office hung on the rose-sprigged wallpaper.

  Dorsey came up behind Benny. “What’s going on?”

  “The rooms are backward,” Benny replied.

  “Weird,” Dorsey pronounced, shaking his head. “Haven’t I said all along this place is weird?”

  “Somebody made this happen,” his great-uncle said. “Those things didn’t walk across the hall.”

  “Who could have done it?” asked Violet. “We were all in bed last night.”

  Or were we? she added to herself. Had Dorsey gotten up in the night to switch rooms?

  “We don’t know the answer to that now,” Grandfather said reasonably. “Let’s have breakfast before we move Edward’s things back where they belong.”

  While they were eating, Iona came into the dining room.

  “How did you get in?” Benny asked her. The doorbell hadn’t rung. No one had gone to the door.

  “Edward keeps a key hidden under a rock in the garden. Today my shop is closed and I thought I’d come by,” she said. “Why the long faces?”

  “We’ll show you,” Henry offered.

  When Iona saw the “backward rooms,” she clucked her tongue.

  “I’ve said it before: This house is too much for Edward.” Her eyes showed concern. “He really needs to get rid of this place before anything worse happens.”

  “Like what?” Henry asked her.

  Iona picked up a toy merry-go-round from Edward’s file cabinet. “I don’t know. But the pranks are getting more serious. It’s one thing to find a stray playing card in the kitchen sink. It’s quite another to find someone has moved all your things overnight.”