The Disappearing Staircase Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “Wow!” Henry said. “So it was stolen.”

  “Just like I said,” Benny cried, excited about that idea.

  The children examined the music box but didn’t play it. They weren’t taking any chances.

  “It must be valuable,” Jessie said. “Otherwise, why did someone go to all the bother of hiding it up in the hidden playroom?”

  “What I wonder is, who knows about that playroom?” Henry asked.

  “A person with big, wet feet,” Soo Lee answered.

  The children tried not to laugh too hard.

  “That could be a lot of people in this house tonight. If I get a chance, I’d like to go up there and look around another time,” Henry said. “Well, at least we figured out where the skylight is.”

  Jessie smacked her forehead. “Wait! We were so excited about finding Violet’s music box, we almost forgot to tell you: The skylight isn’t in the playroom at all. We think there’s a hidden space behind the bathroom.”

  Henry couldn’t get over this. “Wow! Well, I guess you’re too tired to go looking around for it, right, guys?” he asked Soo Lee and Benny.

  “I’m not too tired,” Benny whispered right back.

  Henry laughed. “Just kidding. Let’s go.”

  By now the Aldens knew where all the squeaky parts of the floor were. They reached the bathroom without so much as a creak.

  “There’s the linen closet,” Jessie said. “I don’t see any openings or anything in here, though.”

  “Maybe the secret room was blocked off a long time ago.” Henry pushed hard on the wall behind the shelves. Nothing budged. “Hey, Soo Lee, what are you doing?”

  Soo Lee, the shortest Alden, saw something the other children had missed. Looking straight ahead, she pointed below the shelf right at her eye level. “Look, Henry. There’s a little door under this shelf. You have to be little like me and Benny to see it.”

  Henry crouched down. “Good job, Soo Lee.” He lifted the two bottom shelves. “They aren’t attached. Now we can get through that door easier, even though it’s only about three feet tall. Ready?”

  By this time, Benny planted himself right by Soo Lee. “Can I look—I mean, after Soo Lee gets her turn?”

  Soo Lee backed away. “You can go first, Benny. Then me.”

  Benny had to stoop down a little to open the door. He pushed it gently just a crack.

  “What do you see?” Henry asked.

  “There’s a room full of boxes and stuff,” he said. “And it’s got a skylight, just like in the dollhouse. Uh-oh.” He backed out suddenly.

  Benny put his finger to his lips. “Shhh.” He pulled the door gently to close it. He pointed to the bathroom door.

  The Aldens went into the hallway where they could talk.

  “What did you see?” Jessie whispered. “Did someone come?”

  “Mr. Gardiner! He’s in there,” Benny whispered. “He was putting things into cardboard boxes, but I couldn’t tell what.”

  “One thing we need to find out,” Henry said, “is how George got into that room. Did you notice an exit in the dollhouse room?”

  Jessie shook her head no. Then she had a thought. “Maybe the passageway came later—after someone built the dollhouse.”

  “There’s another way to get into that room, and it has something to do with the garage,” Henry said. “We just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Lost and Found

  The next day, the Aldens spent the morning painting the porch of the main house. While they worked, they spoke in low whispers.

  “It’s too bad Mabel is at the fund-raising breakfast right now,” Jessie said. “We have to tell her about the disappearing staircase and the hidden playroom.”

  Violet touched up a spot Benny had missed on one of the railings. “I want to show her the music box.”

  “I want to go exploring,” Benny said now that their work was all done.

  “Painting these railings took longer than I expected,” Henry said. “I don’t think we have enough time to go exploring. Nan invited some television people to film us working, and they’re supposed to be here any minute.”

  Jessie cleaned off the rim of the paint can, then hammered down the lid. “You know, we could give those reporters a real story and show them the staircase and secret rooms we found.”

  “Hey, that’s a great idea,” Henry said. “Everybody will be gathered around for that. Then we’d see who gets upset about the disappearing staircase.”

  “We might get to be on television,” Benny told Soo Lee as Violet cleaned off their hands with a cloth. “Maybe the camera will follow us around. We can be famous!”

  Jessie chuckled. “You’re pretty famous already, Benny Alden! Well, let’s go find the Gardiners. I want to let them know we finished the painting job Nan asked us to do.”

  “The Gardiners are going out,” Henry said. “See? They’re heading to their van with some boxes. Brian, too.”

  Benny couldn’t believe it. “Hey,” he called out. “Don’t you want to be famous? The TV people are here!”

  Minutes later, the lawn in front of the Bugbee House was covered with cables, lights, and strange equipment.

  “Can you show us around a little?” one television crew person asked the Aldens.

  The Aldens immediately forgot about Brian and the Gardiners. The television people needed their help.

  Soon a reporter was on the lawn talking into a camera about the House and Hands project. Then he introduced Mabel, who had just arrived.

  “He’s going over to interview Grandfather,” Violet whispered a few minutes later.

  The children went over to watch. Grandfather was explaining to the reporter how he’d discovered some prize rosebushes hidden under some vines.

  The reporter spotted Benny off to the side. He came over with the camera operator.

  “Well, young man, your grandfather told us you’ve been working on the Bugbee House, too. He found some old rosebushes nobody knew were there. Did you and the other children find anything?”

  “A big staircase that disappears into a ceiling,” Benny blurted out, to everyone’s amazement. “Nobody knows about it. Well, maybe somebody. We heard footsteps walking around! And a person even came down the steps. Wanna see?”

  The reporter seemed eager to follow Benny into the house. “Let’s turn off the cameras for now until we find out what this boy is talking about.”

  Benny led a parade of visitors and volunteers up to the third floor. The other children followed right behind.

  Benny pointed to the ceiling on the third floor. “The staircase is up there. It folds out. It’s hard to see ’cause somebody hid it. But we found it! I have to get up on my brother Henry’s shoulders to pull the steps down.”

  “Well, go right ahead,” said the reporter.

  Henry boosted Benny up. He pulled at the knob.

  “Stand back, everybody,” Henry said.

  Everyone gasped when Henry swung the staircase down.

  “Why, I’ll be,” Mabel said. “I thought I knew this house inside out. I misplaced the blueprints before I had a chance to study them.”

  “There’s a whole big playroom up there where kids used to play,” Benny told everyone. “We can go up.”

  The reporter chuckled. “Lead the way, Aldens,” he said, following the children up the staircase.

  Benny stopped suddenly on the top step. “Brian! How’d you get here? This room’s a big secret.”

  “What’s going on, Brian?” Jessie asked when she and everyone else climbed into the attic. “We thought you left with the Gardiners.”

  Brian looked around at all the faces waiting for an explanation. “I don’t know where the Gardiners are. I went out to my truck to get something. I came back to measure some…” He stopped when his eyes fell on Mabel’s upset face.

  “But Brian,” Mabel said after looking around at all the hidden treasures. “You knew about this attic? Why didn’t you tell
me? Why these wonderful old toys could have been put up for auction to help out our group. Were you planning to keep these valuable things hidden?”

  Now it was Brian’s turn to look upset. He could hardly look at Mabel. “I did plan to tell you before we finished work on the house so that you could have another auction. I wasn’t going to keep anything except…”

  “How did you even know about this room?” Mabel asked.

  Brian looked around. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him. “From my mother,” he answered. “She was Mr. Bugbee’s daughter. Mr. Bugbee was my grandfather, though I never knew him. My mother grew up in this house until she was eight years old. My grandparents had to sell his business, this house, and everything in it to pay the taxes he’d forgotten about. He didn’t steal anything, though—just plain forgot. But by the time he paid the tax bill, he couldn’t face the townspeople and their stories anymore. He took what little money he had left and moved his whole family far away. Afterward, a lot of bad stories about the family started going around. I heard them all when I moved back.”

  Mabel moved toward Brian. She put her hand on his arm. “Even if these objects once belonged to your family, they weren’t yours to take, Brian,” she said gently. “They belonged to the person who bought the house. Then he left everything to House and Hands. All this belongs to our group.”

  Brian looked at Mabel. “I know. I hope you’ll believe I wasn’t going to take anything. I wanted some time alone to look around up here by myself—to find out more about my family. They’re all gone now except for me. I wasn’t going to take any of it, not even the music box. I tried to bid on it, but I was too late. My mother told me it was the only thing she wished she still had.”

  The room was still. “I’ve always wanted to come back here,” Brian said in a soft voice. “It was only a coincidence that I found out the house was being fixed up. A roofer who works for me volunteers for other House and Hands projects around the country. He mentioned it.”

  Everyone stayed silent, sad for the young man.

  Finally Violet stepped forward. “I found the music box up here the other day. I was going to pay the Gardiners for it before we left. I’ll give it to you, Brian.”

  “Thanks, Violet,” Brian said. “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for it.” He looked straight at the reporter. “I don’t want to add another bad story to the Bugbee name.”

  The reporter looked even more confused than everyone else did. He turned to Nan. “Is this why you really called us here?” he asked. “To expose the theft of a music box?”

  Nan didn’t say anything. She looked straight at Brian. “I can’t believe you’re related to the Bugbees, too.”

  Now it was Brian’s turn to be surprised. “What?”

  “My grandmother was Mr. Bugbee’s sister,” Nan blurted out. “Unfortunately, Grandma died before she could clear my great-uncle’s name. My dad said Grandma always wanted to put an end to all the rumors that her brother left town without paying his tax debts. At first she believed the rumors, too. They stopped speaking to each other after that. Our families never met again.”

  “Until now,” Mabel pointed out. “You two are second cousins, and you didn’t even know it. What I don’t understand is why you came here, Nan. Just curiosity?”

  “More than curiosity,” Nan began. “My father told me that after the fire in the Greenfield Town Hall, the tax records were lost. He said there were probably old records in the house that would prove Mr. Bugbee was free and clear of debt when he left Greenfield. I’ve been following news about this house for some time. That’s how I found out that you needed volunteers for House and Hands. I signed up to work on it—and look around for proof that my great-uncle paid all his debts. That’s why I called the television station here—and to help us raise money, too.”

  By this time Grandfather Alden had joined everyone in the attic playroom, too. “Is that why you wanted to look through my bound copies of old Greenfield newspapers in my den? I’m sorry to say that Mr. Bugbee’s name never was cleared as far as anyone knows. It didn’t help that he kept to himself—then just up and left with his family like he had something to be ashamed of.”

  That’s when Nan stepped forward to show Mr. Alden some papers in her notebook. “Here’s what I came to find,” Nan said. “I discovered these paid tax receipts in an old cardboard box. I’m sorry I didn’t get much work done, Mabel. Whenever I could take a few minutes away from working on the house, I went hunting for anything that would prove my great-uncle wasn’t some kind of thief.”

  “There, there,” Mabel said. “Your work was important, too—clearing the Bugbee name. Thank goodness for the Aldens and the rest of the volunteers. They pitched in to help you and Brian and the Gardiners. And they led us to all these treasures. Not to mention all their hard work.”

  “It’s okay to mention it,” Benny said.

  Everyone in the playroom chuckled.

  Mabel looked around the room. “I wonder what Louella and George will think of all this. Where are the Gardiners, anyway?”

  But there was no answer. The Gardiners had disappeared.

  CHAPTER 10

  No Escape

  The reporter stood off in the corner of the playroom and looked a little restless. “I guess we have our story, Nan. I’ll run a little piece about your great-uncle and about House and Hands fixing up the Bugaboo House.”

  “Please don’t call it that,” Nan protested. “My great-uncle was a bit odd but not scary. He made this whole place into a playhouse for his family. He designed it with all kinds of hallways, secret closets, doors that don’t go anywhere, windows that open to other rooms instead of outside. But it wasn’t a scary house.”

  “Fine,” the reporter said. “Well, show us around. I suppose we can get some shots of the house’s oddities.”

  Benny stepped in front of Nan. “Know what? We found another secret room filled with old stuff. And know what else? George knows where it is, too.”

  The reporter nodded to the camera operator. “Let’s follow this boy. Where to now, young man?”

  “To the bathroom on the third floor,” Benny answered.

  “The bathroom?” Mabel asked, a bit confused.

  “Don’t worry, Mabel,” Jessie said. “Wait until you see what Benny and Soo Lee found.”

  By this time, both children had gone down the staircase. By the time everyone had joined them, Benny and Soo Lee had already exposed the hidden door in the bathroom.

  “See?” Benny said to the reporter. “This doorway goes to another room. Isn’t it neat?”

  The reporter bent down to get a better look. “Are you sure this opens? It won’t budge.”

  Henry came over. “Let me try.” He gave the hidden door a strong push with his feet.

  Everyone heard a thud on the other side.

  “It’s open!” Henry bent down and entered the hidden room. “George! Louella! So you didn’t leave.” He looked around at the heaps of old leather books, jewelry boxes, and paintings all boxed up and ready to go. “So this is where you kept all the treasures that never got into the auction. Well, now they will.”

  George grabbed a box and ran out a door on the far side of the room. Louella quickly disappeared behind her husband. The door banged shut behind them with a click.

  Henry pulled at the door. “It’s locked!”

  Benny scooted over and put his ear up against the door. “Now I remember something. When Soo Lee and I got lost, we heard people walking and talking behind the walls and some steps, too. I forgot.”

  Jessie nodded. “Yes. Well, we had a feeling the Gardiners knew there were more treasures in this house.”

  “I have a hunch the passageway they used goes right to the garage,” Henry said. “Follow us.”

  The Aldens scrambled out of the hidden room as fast as they could get through the opening. In a flash, they raced down several flights of stairs and out to the garage.

  The Gardiners were already backing one of the old cars do
wn the driveway.

  “Stop!” Henry yelled.

  Jessie spotted a big lawn mower. She raced over and pushed it into the driveway. This blocked the car from going any farther.

  George turned off the engine then banged his fist on the steering wheel. He and Louella stared straight ahead. The Aldens had them trapped.

  By this time, everyone else had come outside, too.

  The reporter raced over and looked in the car window. “That’s the pair that made off with half the contents of the Paulding estate over in Winslow last month,” he said. “These two have quite a racket going. They show up at big estates that are about to be sold. They work there for a while and pass themselves off as auction experts—which they are. That’s how they know which stuff to steal before it ever gets to auction. They sneak out the real treasures and leave the rest for the auction.” He turned to Mabel. “I bet you everything they took is worth ten times more than what you made at the auction.”

  Mabel swallowed hard and tapped her fingers against the old car. “It’s all my fault. I hired them.”

  “So did a lot of smart people, Mrs. Hart,” the reporter said. “You’re not the first. But thanks to the Aldens, this is the first time they’ve been caught red-handed.”

  “Oh, my,” Mabel said when she spotted some rolled-up papers in the backseat. “Those are the house blueprints I thought I lost. So that’s how they figured out where the roomful of treasures was. But the Gardiners didn’t count on the Aldens. These kids didn’t need blueprints to find the hidden rooms.”

  Brian turned to Mabel. “Well,” he said, “now we can plan another auction.”

  “Another auction?” Mabel said. “It’s hard to think about that right now. We’d better get the police here.”

  “I’m making the call right now,” the reporter said, holding up his cell phone. “These two aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Yes, they are,” Henry said. “While we’re waiting, I want them to show us how they got from the garage to the house. We knew there was a way, but George sent us out of there before we could find it.” He opened the car door for Louella.