Benny Uncovers a Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “I’ve heard of shoplifting,” Toni told Doris. “But I have never heard of new merchandise just mysteriously appearing.”

  Benny heard Toni say this because he had come to get an order from her to deliver. He asked, “Do you suppose someone came in the store after it was closed yesterday?”

  Toni shook her head. “The watchman must have been here and the man who cleans after the store is closed. Mr. Furman and Mr. Fogg have keys. I suppose the new owner has one, too, but he’s in New York. I don’t think anyone else has a key.”

  “If it wasn’t Mr. Furman or Mr. Fogg, who could it be?” asked Benny. But there was no answer.

  Miss Douglas had come in, and everyone was watching her. She walked quickly toward the jewelry counter.

  “I wonder if she’ll buy one of the mystery lockets,” Toni said to Benny.

  But Miss Douglas asked Doris to show her the earrings. Some of the salespeople smiled at the idea of plain Maggie Douglas wearing earrings.

  In a few minutes Miss Douglas went toward Mr. Fogg’s department. He turned away as if he hoped she would pass him by.

  “Now what?” wondered Toni aloud to Benny. “You’d think she’d have a shopping list with her. She wouldn’t have to make so many trips.”

  “I guess,” Benny said slowly, “that Maggie Douglas wants to be at Furman’s every day. I think she must be lonesome.”

  “Benny, you’re quite a boy to think of that,” said Toni. “You may be right. Here, be sure to deliver this box right away. I promised an early delivery on it.”

  Mr. Fogg called to Benny, “There is another order to deliver, too. I expect to see you back before lunchtime. Don’t just stand around talking.”

  “See here, Mr. Fogg,” Maggie Douglas interrupted. “I want to look at coffeemakers today. What kinds do you have?”

  No one else ever spoke to Mr. Fogg in such a sharp voice. Miss Douglas never let Mr. Fogg’s rudeness stop her.

  Benny couldn’t wait to see what happened next. He had his deliveries to make. But he could guess that Mr. Fogg would pay as little attention as possible to Miss Douglas. He always expected trouble from her visits.

  In the basement stockroom Benny picked up another delivery. It was one Miss Douglas had ordered. By now Benny knew the way to Woodland Path very well. If he hurried, he could make his morning deliveries and be back before noon.

  At his first stop, Benny did not have to knock. “Well, I should think it was about time,” said a sharp voice from inside a screen door. “Furman’s Department Store always says it will deliver orders promptly.”

  A woman with a pointed nose and a small mouth turned down at the corners faced Benny.

  Benny smiled as pleasantly as he could. “We were glad to have your order. I hope it’s right,” he said as he gave her a small box.

  “Well,” replied the woman, “why don’t you go back to the store? Are you nosey? Do you want to know what is in this box?”

  Benny answered, “I thought I’d see if your order is right. If it isn’t, I can take it back now and save another trip.”

  “Always thinking of yourself—save yourself some work,” the woman said. “You say that you deliver free any purchase within the city limits.”

  “Yes, we do,” said Benny. He did not say that this house was just a short distance beyond the city limits. He thought the woman knew it very well.

  The woman took the package and unwrapped it. She opened a little white box. There lay a beautiful pin made with pearls.

  “I guess my granddaughter will like that,” she said. “It’s for her eighteenth birthday. She’ll have so many gifts she won’t even notice it.”

  “Would you like to have me take it back to the store and put birthday paper and ribbon on it?” Benny asked. “We could put it in a stronger box and mail it for you.” He thought there had to be some way to please this customer.

  “Well, now,” said the woman. “I never thought of that. Take the gift back and do just that.” At last she smiled. “I will say you are a good delivery boy.”

  Benny took the box and said, “Please give me the name you want written on the gift card.”

  The woman disappeared for a moment. She came back with the name. “Fill out the card just as I have it,” she said. “Send me a bill for whatever extra charge there may be.”

  As Benny rode to make his next delivery he thought to himself, “People are so different. That customer was cross for no reason. It’s hard not to be cross right back. But I didn’t want to lose a customer for Furman’s.”

  The next delivery was no trouble. Then Benny was on his way down the path through the woods to Miss Douglas’s house. He knew from the box that Miss Douglas had ordered a bird feeder.

  As Benny got ready to knock on the door he saw the boy he’d met before at Woodland Path.

  “I thought you’d be along soon,” the boy said. “The bird feeder isn’t for Miss Maggie. It’s for her neighbor. Here’s the name and address, see?” He gave Benny a slip of blue paper with a name and address written on it.

  Benny put the paper in his pocket, picked up the box with the bird feeder in it, and followed the boy. They soon came to a house almost hidden by trees.

  “Here we are, Mrs. Fields,” the boy called. “Benny from the department store has the new bird feeder.”

  When Mrs. Fields came to the door Benny asked in a surprised voice, “How are you going to set this up? The picture on the box shows the bird feeder hung from ropes between the house and a tree.”

  “I really don’t know,” said Mrs. Fields. “I love the wild birds here. A cat just broke my old feeder and scared the birds away. As you can see, I’ve had a bad sprain. That’s why my ankle is bandaged. I suppose the directions with the feeder will tell what to do with it.”

  “They do,” said Benny. “But you need a ladder to put it up properly. The bird feeder has to hang from a rope between your window and a tree. You can pull the feeder to your window to fill it and then slide it out on the rope.”

  Benny was so busy talking to Mrs. Fields that he did not notice that the boy was gone. Now he came from the garage, carrying a ladder.

  “Come on, Ben,” the boy called. “Let’s put up the feeder for Mrs. Fields.”

  “What kind boys you are,” exclaimed Mrs. Fields. “And how nice my neighbor asked you to put the feeder up for me. I wanted to see the birds because I can’t move around very much until my ankle is better.”

  The boys almost had the feeder in place. But Mrs. Fields could not wait. She threw a handful of sunflower seeds into the driveway. Suddenly there was a flutter of wings, and the boys saw chickadees, blue jays, woodpeckers, and juncos.

  “I guess they’re pretty happy to have a new feeder, too,” Benny said. “I’d like to stay and watch the birds. But I have to get back to work.”

  As Benny started off, the boy called, “See you later, Benny.”

  Benny felt good about the deliveries he had made. But after lunch Mr. Fogg called, “Alden, this is something for you to do. That Maggie Douglas called a few minutes ago. Why she wants another coffeemaker is beyond me. Go downstairs and see if we have a Brewrite coffeemaker in stock.”

  “Yes, Mr. Fogg,” Benny said quickly.

  “If you have one, just take it out to the woman. I don’t want to be bothered with this anymore this afternoon.” Then he put his hand on his back and said to himself, “What a pain!”

  A few minutes later Benny went upstairs to see Mr. Fogg. “What is it now?” Mr. Fogg asked. “My back aches, and you make my head ache.”

  “Well, Mr. Fogg,” Benny began. “We don’t have the Brewrite coffeemaker. The only one we have is the Peerless. At least that’s the one Miss Douglas doesn’t have yet.” Benny couldn’t help smiling because it did seem odd that she had at least four other coffeemakers already.

  “This may be a funny matter to you, but it isn’t to me,” Mr. Fogg almost shouted. “My time is more important than that Miss Douglas seems to think it is. Even your
time is more important, Alden. Box up one of the Peerless models and take it out to her. With any luck at all, she won’t notice the difference. Or if she does, it won’t be worth complaining about.”

  “Don’t you think you should call and ask if she wants this one?” asked Benny.

  “Just do as I say, Alden,” said Mr. Fogg. “I’m the manager, remember.”

  “Yes, sir,” Benny answered and went downstairs. He found the coffeemaker and was soon headed for the revolving door at the front of the store.

  Carrying the box, Benny tried to push the door. Someone else was pushing it, too. Benny heard a laugh, and he knew who it was. The boy who lived near Miss Douglas was laughing at him.

  Benny stepped back. The other boy stepped back. Now Benny began to laugh, too.

  Toni, who was watching, called, “You two look as if you are dancing.” She began to laugh.

  By now the boys were caught in the door. Mr. Furman came by. He pushed the door just a little and Benny squeezed out. Soon the other boy stood beside him.

  When Benny could stop laughing, he asked, “Did Miss Douglas want you to get this coffeemaker?”

  The boy shook his head. “No, she asked me to give her that slip with Mrs. Fields’ name and address on it. You know, that’s the lady who has the new bird feeder. I don’t know why Miss Maggie wants that slip. Maybe it has something else written on it. I told her I had given it to you.”

  Benny put down the box he was carrying. He felt in his pockets. It seemed unusual that Miss Douglas needed the slip of paper. But a lot of things were unusual about Miss Douglas, Benny thought.

  He pulled out several papers he had folded together. He found the blue slip of paper. He unfolded it. As he looked at the writing he felt sure he had seen that kind of writing before. Where?

  “That’s it!” the boy said. “Give it to me and I’ll return it. I have another errand to do.”

  Benny put the box with the coffeemaker into the carrier on his bike. Why was the scrap of paper important? He had not seen anything except Mrs. Fields’ name and address on it. He could not think of a reason, so he soon forgot the whole thing. Mr. Fogg would really complain if he did not hurry.

  As he rode along, Benny remembered the mystery of the silver lockets. He’d have to ask Henry if anyone had solved that. Things were going on at Furman’s Department Store that Benny just couldn’t understand.

  CHAPTER 8

  Henry’s Adventure

  On their way to work the next morning Benny and Henry talked about the mystery of the lockets.

  Henry said, “No one could find out how the lockets got to the jewelry counter. At first it seemed as if someone was playing a joke.”

  “I know,” said Benny. “It did seem funny.”

  “The more Mr. Furman thought about it, the more it worried him,” Henry went on. “He called in a locksmith and had the front door lock changed yesterday afternoon. He has a new key, and he gave one to Mr. Fogg. He mailed one to the new owner in New York.”

  The boys had just reported for work when Mr. Furman called Henry to his office.

  “I have no one else I can ask,” he began. “I have a real problem. The man who comes to work at six o’clock is sick and won’t be here. Sam does not start to work until midnight. I need someone to sweep the floor and empty the wastebaskets. I don’t have anyone to do the work.”

  Henry smiled. “If you think I can do the work, I’ll try. Just tell me what has to be done.”

  “That’s fine, Henry. I hoped you would say that,” exclaimed Mr. Furman. “Some people won’t do that kind of work after they’ve been salespeople.”

  As Mr. Furman finished speaking, there was a knock on the office door. “Come in,” he called.

  Sam, the nightwatchman, stood in the doorway. “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked.

  “Yes, Sam. Did everything go all right last night?”

  “All quiet,” Sam said. “Not a bit of trouble.”

  “Good,” said Mr. Furman. “Sam, tell me again about what happened the night before. We’re still trying to find out how those lockets got on the jewelry counter.”

  “Don’t you mind staying alone all night?” Henry asked.

  “No,” Sam said. “I’m used to it. Here’s what happened the other night,” he continued, turning to Mr. Furman. “I was making my rounds on the first floor, the way I always do. It was about one o’clock in the morning. I thought I heard a sound, like footsteps.”

  “Yes?” said Mr. Furman. “Go on.”

  “I listened. Everything was quiet. I flashed my light around to see if anything was going on.”

  “And you didn’t see anything at all?”

  “Well, no. Somebody must have been decorating the store windows. There was a dress dummy near the window by the front door. I hadn’t noticed it when I came in. But I could have missed seeing it then.”

  Mr. Furman wrote a note on a pad on his desk. “Please go on,” he said to Sam.

  “So everything seemed OK. I went down to the basement to check. I wasn’t down there long. I was coming up the stairs when I said to myself, ‘There’s got to be something wrong.’ I just had that feeling—something was wrong. Then I heard it. The front door clicked shut. It was soft, but I heard it. I ran over and looked out. ‘Stop!’ I yelled.”

  “You saw something outside?” Henry asked.

  “Naw. Not a soul. I looked both ways. Nothing.”

  “Do you think perhaps you just thought you heard the door close?” Mr. Furman asked.

  “I heard it. I’m sure of it,” Sam said. “I don’t make things up.”

  “All right,” said Mr. Furman. “So that’s a clue we can work on. Did you look around the first floor again?”

  “Sure. Everything was OK.” Suddenly Sam stopped. “Wait a minute! Something kind of bothered me, though. Now I know what it was. You know that dress dummy I saw by the front window? I don’t think I saw it again. It was gone. Come to think of it now, I’m sure it was missing. Now what do you think of that?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Mr. Furman said. “But we had the lock on the door changed yesterday afternoon. Did you see or hear anything before the store opened this morning?”

  “Like I said before, everything was quiet last night,” Sam said, getting up to leave.

  After the watchman had gone, Mr. Furman told Henry, “We did not want to alarm people yesterday. Someone was in the store. We’re sure of that. Toni checked out her cash register and I looked around quietly to see if anyone had been in my office.”

  “Was anything missing?” Henry asked.

  “Not that I could see. I asked Mr. Fogg to check on the cameras and radios. Those are sometimes stolen. Nothing had been taken. And everything was all right on the second floor.”

  Henry could see that Mr. Furman was not satisfied. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open while I work this evening,” he promised. “You can count on me.”

  Mr. Furman smiled at that. “Yes, I am sure I can. Go home now and report back when the store is closing. I’ll just say you are absent today.”

  Henry wondered about that, and Mr. Furman explained, “I have one idea. Somebody could hide in the store at the end of the day. When the store is empty, the person could come out and do what he wanted to do. Some big stores keep watch dogs to sniff around and catch people doing that.”

  “Do you think it could be one of the store workers?” Henry asked. “It had to be somebody who knew the store well to put those price tags on the lockets.”

  Mr. Furman shrugged his shoulders. “I know. It’s a puzzle.”

  “How could anyone get out if the doors were locked?” Henry said. “Someone who hid in the store after working hours wouldn’t want to stay all night.”

  “That part is no problem,” Mr. Furman said. “The doors can always be opened from the inside. It’s a fire safety rule. But you have to have a key to get in from the outside. Unless someone lets you in. But I trust Sam. He would not do that.”
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br />   Henry stood up. “I’ll come back ready to go to work. Will I see you before I begin?”

  “Yes, report to me. I may have some special instructions for you.”

  Henry went down to the basement stockroom and found Benny there. He told Benny about his special job. Then Henry went home, leaving by a back door.

  Benny had a busy day. But for once he did not have a delivery to make for Miss Douglas. In fact, Miss Douglas did not come into the store at all that day. By the end of the afternoon the salespeople were wondering what had happened to her.

  Benny was ready to leave when he saw Henry talking to Mr. Furman. He was wearing work clothes. Mr. Furman was showing him where the floor brushes and big trash bins were.

  “Don’t worry about the second floor,” he told Henry. “I want you to spend your time on the first floor. You can turn on the lights while you’re sweeping. Check all the offices, washrooms, and the basement to be sure the building is empty. That’s important. If you see anything suspicious, phone me right away.”

  “Not the police?” asked Henry.

  “I don’t think we need the police,” Mr. Furman said. “No one has done anything wrong. That is what is so puzzling about this.”

  The store was soon quiet. Henry checked the doors to be sure they were locked. He went up to the second floor to make sure it was empty. He switched on the lights. The dust covers on the counters made the store look different and spooky. He went back to the room where dresses and coats hung on long racks. He stooped down to make sure no one was there. Everything was all right.

  Next, Henry went to the basement stockroom. Up and down the aisles of boxes he went. He stopped to listen. There was not a sound. He picked up the long floor brush and started upstairs.

  He opened the door and stood still. Did he hear someone walking softly around? Something fell and Henry jumped.

  Carefully, quietly, step by step, Henry slipped through the door and stood in the shadow by the water fountain.