The Mystery on Stage

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “Can you read what it says?” Benny asked. Jessie moved her flashlight. Softly she read the note aloud. It said:

  Watch out, my pretty!

  CHAPTER 8

  Dress Rehearsal

  Jessie and Benny stared at the ruined set in horror.

  “Who would do that?” asked Benny. “Can it be fixed?”

  It took Jessie a few moments to answer. “Let’s go find Jim,” she finally said. “I hope that was his voice we heard. Maybe he’s still outside.”

  Jessie and Benny rushed out the backstage door, but no one was in sight.

  “Let’s go home. We can look up Jim’s phone number,” Jessie suggested at last.

  In the street, Jessie and Benny saw no sign of the man in the big white car.

  “Maybe he found Sarah when we were backstage,” Benny said to his sister as they hurried home.

  Jessie nodded absentmindedly. “I can’t help thinking about that conversation we overheard,” Jessie said. “I just can’t believe Sarah would do all those things. She’s so serious about her acting — and about this show.”

  At home, Mrs. McGregor waited to serve dinner until Jessie and Benny could call Jim. They were surprised to find his number wasn’t listed in the phone book.

  “Try Nancy,” Grandfather suggested.

  “She’s not home,” Jessie said as she put down the receiver a moment later. “What are we going to do?”

  “You really think the set is ruined?” Violet said sadly. She couldn’t believe it.

  “We might be able to touch it up, but it will never really look the same,” Jessie said.

  “Well, there’s nothing you can do about it tonight. You’ve tried your best,” Grandfather said gently. “Why don’t we all have dinner and try to forget these problems until tomorrow.”

  But the Aldens could not forget. That evening, Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Soo Lee sat up late talking. They made a list of all the suspicious things that had happened. Then they tried to remember who had been backstage when anything had gone wrong. Their list of suspects included Melody, Richard, Sarah, and even the Tinman.

  “After all, we’ve never even seen the Tinman’s face,” Henry said.

  “He doesn’t even take his tin head off to eat!” Benny added.

  “Maybe we should add Melody’s mother to the list?” Violet suggested.

  “She hasn’t really been backstage at all since the auditions,” Henry reminded them. “What we really need to do now is watch these people carefully. I’d be willing to watch Richard and see what he does.”

  “That’s a very good idea,” Jessie said. “I’ll take Sarah. I’m on stage with her so much anyway.”

  “I’ll tail Melody,” Violet volunteered. “She comes to the costume room a lot to complain about her Scarecrow outfit.”

  “That leaves Soo Lee and me with the Tinman,” Benny said. “Between the two of us, we should be able to see everything he does.”

  First thing in the morning, the Aldens rushed to the playhouse. Nancy and Jim were already backstage. After one look at their faces, the Aldens knew they had seen the ruined set.

  “We saw it like that last night and tried to call you,” Jessie said. She was a little out of breath from running.

  “Tell us exactly what you saw,” Jim said quietly. He looked very serious.

  Jessie and Benny told him all they could about the white car, the man looking for Sarah, the darkened auditorium, and the discovery of the ruined set. They even told him about the conversation they had overheard between Sarah and someone. At the mention of the conversation, Jim looked puzzled, but he didn’t say anything.

  At the end of the Aldens’ story, Jim sighed heavily. “Well, I must have another talk with the cast,” he said slowly. “In the meantime, we’re going to have to redo this set.”

  “Violet can sketch a new palace on canvas. She’s very good,” Nancy said as she gave Violet a small smile. It was the first time anyone had looked happy that morning.

  “I can paint it once Violet does the sketch,” Henry assured Jim. “I’ve finished setting the lights.”

  Jim nodded approvingly. “Good,” he said.

  “Soo Lee and I can help paint, too,” Benny reminded them.

  “You certainly can,” Nancy said. “You both did such a good job on the Yellow Brick Road.”

  “Okay, we all better go to work,” Jim said. “We have a show to put on next week. By the way, Violet, how did the poster turn out? I want to hang it outside today.”

  “Oh, I finished it,” Violet said shyly. She rummaged in her big canvas bag and brought it out to show Jim and Nancy.

  “It’s good,” Jim said approvingly.

  “You touched it up very well,” Nancy said. “I can’t tell anyone even tinkered with it.”

  Jim made another announcement to the cast and crew about the set and Violet’s poster. No one claimed responsibility. But people became more and more nervous.

  No one stayed late at night anymore. After rehearsals, people left the auditorium in groups. And no one ever wanted to be backstage alone.

  For the Aldens, the next week flew by. Violet was able to sketch the Wizard’s palace in a day. She didn’t help paint it because she was too busy finishing the costumes and following Melody. She noticed Melody spent a lot of time practicing her lines and trying on gowns in front of the big mirror in the dressing room.

  Benny, Soo Lee, and Henry did such a good job repainting the Wizard’s palace that many felt it looked even better than before. Henry found it easy to keep track of Richard because he always seemed to be by the lighting board when he wasn’t on stage.

  “I wish Richard wouldn’t bother us so much about the lighting for his scenes,” Stuart complained to Henry one day when Richard was on stage.

  “I know what you mean,” Henry answered. “Watch out, here he comes.”

  Stuart groaned and rolled his eyes.

  “Oh, boys,” Richard boomed in his loud voice. “Could you provide some special sound effects when I leave the Wizard’s palace to go back home?”

  “What kind of special effects?” Henry asked, trying to sound polite.

  “Perhaps you could put on a recording of a drum roll?” Richard suggested. “I think the scene where the Wizard leaves Oz is the most important one in the play, don’t you?” Richard asked. He didn’t look as if he expected an answer.

  Henry and Stuart exchanged glances.

  “I think we should talk to Jim before we get the recording,” Stuart said.

  Richard sighed. “Well, if you must,” he answered before he was called back on stage.

  Jessie, Sarah, Melody, and the Tinman all had very busy rehearsal schedules, but they helped with the scenery when they weren’t on stage. The Tinman turned out to be a very good painter. Much to Benny’s surprise, he kept his mask on even when he worked on the sets.

  “Don’t you ever take your costume off?” Benny asked one day.

  The Tinman paused and dipped his brush into some blue paint. “I like to keep it on every minute I’m in the theater,” he explained. “That way I always stay in character.”

  “You mean you always pretend to be the person you’re playing on stage?” Benny looked impressed.

  “Yes, that’s right,” the Tinman answered. Benny was almost sure the Tinman winked at him, but it was hard to tell behind the Tinman’s mask.

  Sarah was on stage all the time now as she was in every scene. When she wasn’t rehearsing, she would quickly leave the theater. Jessie never knew where she was going.

  One evening as the Aldens were leaving the auditorium, they noticed a middle-aged woman in a fur coat standing by the stage door.

  “Are you looking for someone?” Jessie asked the woman politely.

  “Uh, no, not really,” the woman answered. “I just came to observe your theater and perhaps see one of your rehearsals,” the woman answered.

  “Our dress rehearsal is the day after tomorrow,” Jessie told her.


  “Thank you,” the woman replied. “I’ll be back then.”

  As the Aldens walked away, they noticed the woman still standing by the stage door.

  “It looks like she knows the Tinman,” Henry said as he looked over his shoulder. Jessie and Violet turned around. Down the street by the stage door, they could see the woman talking very intently to Harold, or the Tinman, as everyone now called him. The woman’s hand rested lightly on his arm.

  “I wonder why she didn’t just tell us she was looking for the Tinman — I mean Harold,” Jessie sounded puzzled.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” Henry said. He put on his wool mittens and clapped his hands together to keep warm.

  Before anyone knew it, the day of the dress rehearsal had arrived. “It’s the first rehearsal where we all get to wear our costumes,” Jessie said excitedly to Soo Lee.

  “Is it always the night before the show?” Soo Lee asked.

  “Yes, I think so,” Jessie answered as she twirled in front of her bedroom mirror in the lion costume.

  “Jessie.” Violet took the pins out of her mouth and shook her head laughingly. “If you don’t hold still, I can’t finish pinning your tail on.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Jessie obediently stopped dancing.

  “There.” Violet stood back from the costume to observe her handiwork. “I’ll sew the tail on when you take off your costume.”

  “I love your lion costume,” Soo Lee said from her seat on Jessie’s bed. She leaned against one of Jessie’s lacy white pillows.

  “I do, too,” Jessie said, touching her furry mane with one paw. “I’m glad to have this part. It’s been more fun for me than Dorothy’s would have been.”

  “Grrr, Grrr, Grrrroowl,” Benny teased as he came into the room with Henry.

  “Looks like you’re all ready to go on stage,” Henry said.

  “I just hope everything goes well tonight,” Violet said a little anxiously.

  “Well, nothing bad has happened since we found the ruined set,” Benny pointed out.

  “No,” Jessie agreed. “But everyone’s been very worried.”

  Jessie took one more look at her costume in the mirror before she changed back into her regular clothes.

  That afternoon, the Aldens, Soo Lee, and Mrs. McGregor arrived early for the dress rehearsal. Most of the cast arrived in plenty of time for Violet and Mrs. Adams to make last-minute adjustments to their costumes.

  “Where’s Sarah?” Violet asked Jessie as she helped her sister pull back her hair.

  “I haven’t seen her at all,” Jessie said as she pulled on her lion’s mask.

  Melody stood next to Jessie in the large dressing room. She combed back her thick hair and made a face as she put on the Scarecrow’s black felt hat.

  “I hate my costume,” she said.

  “I thought you were getting to like being the Scarecrow,” Jessie answered as she smoothed her lion’s mane.

  “It’s not so bad,” Melody admitted. “I just wish I could wear a pretty dress.”

  Nancy poked her head into the dressing room. “Be ready to take your places in the wings, girls,” she said. “We’re starting in five minutes.”

  “We’re coming,” Jessie said.

  “Now where on earth is Sarah?” Nancy asked.

  “We don’t know,” Melody answered as she adjusted her hat.

  “She hasn’t been in the dressing room at all,” Violet said.

  Mrs. Adams came in wearing her long ivory gown. “Oh, you look beautiful,” Jessie and Violet said at once.

  “You know, I’m worried about Sarah. She’s the only performer who hasn’t changed yet. Her costume is still hanging in the costume room,” Mrs. Adams said.

  Half an hour later, Sarah was still missing.

  “I’ve tried to call her at home, and there’s no answer,” Jim said, pacing up and down the backstage area. “We’ll have to start without her. Melody, you read Sarah’s lines in the first scene.”

  “Should I change into her costume?” Melody asked hopefully.

  “No!” Jim almost shouted. “Now, please, get on stage.”

  At that moment, Sarah rushed through the backstage door. Her eyes were red, and she looked like she’d been crying. The cast and crew stared at her in silence. No one dared say a word.

  “Take your place on stage immediately,” Jim said quietly to Sarah. “We’ll discuss your tardiness later.”

  Jim turned to the crew. “All right, get ready to raise the curtain.”

  Henry took his place by the lighting board. During the tornado scene, he dimmed the lights so the stage went black. Then he lit the scenery to make it seem as if dark clouds were moving across the landscape.

  Backstage, several crew members, including Benny, rattled a big sheet of aluminum to create the sound of wind. “Tonight, I’m shaking it harder than usual,” Benny whispered to Soo Lee. “There’s so much wind in a tornado.”

  Other crew members positioned themselves behind the farmhouse on stage. When Nancy gave the cue, they slowly shook Dorothy’s house while the cast screamed and went running for cover.

  “I love this scene,” Soo Lee whispered to Benny. “It’s so exciting.”

  Benny nodded and rattled the aluminum sheet even harder. “Not so hard there,” a crew member said smiling. “It’s a tornado, not an earthquake.” Benny obediently shook the sheet a little less enthusiastically.

  By now the cast was backstage. “Whew, that scene is hard work,” Mrs. McGregor confided to Benny and Soo Lee. But she smiled as she said so. The children could tell she was really enjoying her part as Aunt Em.

  Sarah and the actors playing the three farmhands were the last to leave the stage. They circled it once more, stomping their feet as they headed into the wings. Henry began to dim the lights to show the scene had ended.

  When everyone was off the stage, suddenly, out of nowhere, a large standing spotlight toppled onto the stage, smashing the bulb.

  CHAPTER 9

  The Show Must Go On

  Melody shrieked. Sarah, who was in the wings when the light crashed, turned pale.

  Jim jumped onto the stage. “How did this happen?” he demanded, turning to Henry and Stuart.

  Both boys gave him a blank look.

  Nancy came out of the wings onto the stage. “Do you think someone pushed it over?”

  Jim put his hands in front of his face. “I just can’t believe someone would do that. What is going on here!” he yelled. By now, some of the cast and crew had come onto the stage.

  Richard stepped to the front of the stage and folded his hands across his chest. “What is going on here? I could have been killed!”

  “Believe me, Richard, I did not arrange this on purpose,” Jim said dryly. “Where are we going to get another spotlight in time for the show tomorrow night?” he added with a sigh.

  “Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that.” Nancy sounded discouraged. She stepped out of the way so the crew members could clear the stage of broken glass.

  Once the stage was swept clean, the cast resumed their rehearsal. No one showed much enthusiasm. Many people missed their cues, and even Sarah flubbed her lines in more than one scene.

  “Sarah, you weren’t supposed to say that!” Melody said loudly.

  Henry checked all the overhead lights. “The other lights seem fine,” he reported to Jim after rehearsal. Jim nodded as if he were still in a daze. Indeed, he looked so tired, Henry volunteered to stay late to reset the lighting board.

  “We’ll help you, Henry,” Jessie said. Violet, Benny, and Soo Lee nodded.

  “Maybe we’ll be able to find another light,” Violet suggested.

  “I wouldn’t count on it.” Jim sounded discouraged. “I think we better just redesign the lighting as Henry and I discussed. I know you’ll do a good job — all of you,” Jim added with a grateful look at the Aldens.

  When everyone had left, Jessie opened the door to bring some air into the backstage area. She poked her head ou
tside. Something she saw made her quickly shut the door.

  “What’s the matter?” Violet asked.

  “That woman,” Jessie whispered. Violet looked puzzled.

  “Remember the woman we saw the other night in the fur coat?”

  Violet nodded. “You mean she’s outside the theater again?”

  “Yes,” Jessie was still whispering. “She’s just waiting in the street.”

  “Did she see you?” Violet wondered.

  Jessie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure.”

  Violet shivered a little. “It’s spooky back here at night,” she observed. The girls looked at the large sets stacked along the wall — Dorothy’s simple farmhouse, the witch’s castle, even the Yellow Brick Road glowed eerily under the light of one small bulb overhead.

  Henry came backstage with Benny. “I’m starting to change the lighting so it won’t depend so much on that big light we lost.”

  “Couldn’t you wait a little longer?” Jessie asked. “We might find a replacement.”

  Henry looked at his watch. “Well, all right, but it’s already nine o’clock.”

  Jessie nodded. “I know.” Quickly she told her brothers about seeing the mysterious woman in the fur coat.

  Henry shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. So many things don’t seem right about this play.”

  “I know what you mean,” Jessie answered. She walked over to another storage closet. “Nothing but brooms and mops in here,” she announced.

  Henry sat down on the steps. “I really think someone tampered with that light on purpose,” he said grimly.

  “So do I.” Jessie’s voice sounded muffled from inside the closet. “But who would do such a thing?”

  “Why would someone in the cast try to ruin the show for everyone?” Violet remarked.

  “We have to think about this,” Henry said. “First of all, whoever is doing these things may not be in the cast at all. Who do we suspect besides Sarah and Melody?

  “Richard.” Violet and Jessie both answered at once. They came to join Henry on the steps.

  “We did catch him fiddling with Violet’s poster,” Jessie reminded them.