Finders Keepers Mystery (3 page)

“Maybe she used it every day and liked it because it was so warm and she didn’t have to worry about tearing it or spilling anything on it,” said Henry.

“Maybe it was her favorite,” said Violet. She ran her hand over the worn wool. The fabric wasn’t as rough as it looked — in fact, it was soft and warm. The hops quilt was very thick, too, Violet noticed, thicker than the others.

“Most likely it was just put in the trunk to protect the other quilts,” said Mr. Munsey.

After placing the hops quilt inside, Lina shut the trunk and glanced around the attic. It was much emptier than before, and not nearly as dusty. Henry had even cleaned the attic window so the light was brighter.

“Thank you again,” Lina said to Mr. Munsey, leading him down the attic stairs to the front door.

“I hope you’ll be in touch very soon,” said Mr. Munsey. “The sooner you decide to give the quilts to the museum, the sooner they will be safe. Here’s my card.” He nodded at all the Aldens. “Good day.”

“I don’t think he’s very happy about having to leave those quilts behind,” said Henry, once Mr. Munsey was gone.

Lina laughed. “No. But I’ll need a lot more information before I make any decisions.”

“We’ll stop by the library tomorrow to do some research,” Jessie promised.

Lina nodded. “Okay. Meanwhile, we’ve got some signs to make for that yard sale.”

The Aldens and Lina sat around the big old table in the dining room of the house and made signs for the yard sale.
TREASURES FOR SALE
, Jessie wrote in big blue letters on a piece of cardboard. At the bottom of the sign, she wrote Lina’s address.
STOP! LOOK! ATTIC SALE AHEAD!
Henry printed on a sign to put at the corner of the street.

“After the yard sale, we’ll keep looking, won’t we?” Benny asked.

“For what?” Violet asked. She was painting all her signs in purple, her favorite color.

“The hidden treasure,” said Benny. “Hope’s treasure.”

“Wouldn’t that be amazing,” Lina said. “To find that treasure, whatever it is — if there is one.”

“There is,” said Benny. “I know there is.”

“Well, first we’ll put these signs up all over town tomorrow,” said Jessie.

“I have some business in Silver City tomorrow,” Lina said. “I’ll put some up there, too. And I’ll put an advertisement in the newspapers.”

“It’s going to be a great yard sale!” said Benny. “I can hardly wait.”

Waving good-bye, the Aldens headed home.

“Do you think it’s true what the quilt man said?” asked Benny as they walked. “That someone might want to steal Lina’s quilts?”

“No,” said Jessie. “No one’s going to bother Lina or the quilts.”

Henry agreed. “I think Mr. Munsey was just trying to scare Lina into giving up the quilts right away.”

Jessie made a face. “I didn’t like the way he tried to pressure her into it. I wonder why he’s so anxious to get the quilts immediately.”

“Maybe she
should
give the quilts to the museum, just to keep them safe,” said Violet.

“They’re safe,” said Jessie. “Don’t worry. No one’s going to try to steal them. No one even knows they’re here!”

The Aldens were on their way to the library the next morning when a green van pulled up next to them. It was Lina, and she didn’t have her usual smile on her face.

“Good morning!” Henry called. Then he noticed the worried look on Lina’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Someone tried to break into my house last night,” said Lina.

Violet gasped. “Oh, no!”

“Oh, yes,” said Lina.

“Who was it?” asked Benny.

“Did they steal the quilts?” asked Violet at the same time.

“I don’t know who it was, and no, nothing got stolen,” Lina answered. “The thief never made it inside. Whoever it was tried to force open the back door. But the lock is strong and the noise woke me up. I turned on the lights and went down to investigate, but whoever it was had run off.”

“The lights must have scared him — or her — away,” said Jessie.

“I think you’re right,” said Lina.

“Do you think the burglar knew about the hidden treasure?” asked Benny.

“Or the quilts?” said Violet.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” said Lina. “But it is strange that suddenly, on the very day that Mr. Munsey told me how valuable those quilts are, someone tried to break into the house.”

“Yes,” agreed Henry. “Very strange.”

Benny frowned. “Do you think it could have been Mr. Munsey?”

Lina shook her head. “I just don’t know,” she said. “I reported it to the police, and they’re going to keep an eye on things. I asked the neighbors to keep their eyes peeled, too. Meanwhile, I’m going to get an extra lock for each door, just in case.”

“Good idea,” said Henry.

After Lina had driven away, Jessie said, “Maybe we should talk to Mr. Munsey.”

“Yes! We’ll ask him if he tried to steal the quilts,” said Benny.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll ask him that,” Henry said. “It’s possible whoever tried to break in doesn’t even know about the quilts. But we
will
try to find out if he told anyone about them.”

Jessie nodded. “If anyone besides us knows about the quilts, Mr. Munsey must have told them.”

Violet’s eyes widened. “Maybe Mr. Munsey told someone so they could steal the quilts for him.”

Benny hopped excitedly from one foot to the other. “We’re going to solve a mystery!”

Jessie smiled at her little brother. “First, let’s do our research — that will help Lina, too.”

When the Aldens reached Greenfield library, Jessie and Benny went to find books on quilts while Henry and Violet looked up quilts on the computer.

Soon Jessie and Benny had made a small pile of books on a table in a quiet corner of the library.

“We have lots of books,” said Benny.

“Yes, but most of them are about how to make quilts,” said Jessie. “We need to know about the quilts’ history and how much they’re worth.” She handed Benny some of the books. “Why don’t you look through these?”

“Okay,” said Benny. He opened the first book and looked at the pictures. Benny could read a little, but not much yet.

A few minutes later, Benny said, “I found something! Here’s a picture of a quilt like one of the ones in the attic.” He pointed at the page.

“ ‘Flying Geese, a traditional pattern,’ ”

Jessie read over Benny’s shoulder. “It says the quilt in the picture is over a hundred years old and it’s hanging in a museum in New York. It says the quilt is valuable because of its age and condition, the skill of its maker, and the fact that it’s signed and dated.”

Benny nodded as if he already knew all that. “That’s what makes Hope’s quilts worth a lot, too,” he said.

They found several more photographs of quilts much like the ones in the attic. Then they joined Violet and Henry, who were printing pages and pages of quilt facts they’d found on the computer.

“Mr. Munsey was telling the truth,” Violet announced, “at least about how valuable the quilts are. People buy and sell old quilts for lots of money — and most aren’t nearly as pretty as the ones we found.”

“Who buys them?” Benny asked.

“Museums and private collectors,” said Henry. “We read about auctions where people paid thousands of dollars for quilts.”

“That’s lots of money,” said Benny, his eyes growing round.

“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “If Lina wanted to sell the quilts, she could be rich.”

“And look what else we found,” said Violet. “This is called a Wedding Ring quilt. See? The pattern is of all these connected circles that look like rings.”

“I wonder if that’s the kind of quilt Lina’s Great-great-aunt Hope made for her own wedding,” said Jessie.

“And I wonder what happened to it,” Henry said.

“Maybe she gave it away because it was too sad for her when she looked at it,” Violet said.

“Maybe,” said Jessie. “Or maybe her wedding quilt is the treasure that people say she hid.”

Henry jumped up and began to gather books and papers. “Let’s check out a few of these books,” he said. “Then let’s go home and — ”

“Have a snack?” asked Benny.

Henry smiled. “A snack,” he agreed. “And we’ll call Mr. Munsey, too.”

As they headed home, Benny said, “Someone should make a snack quilt.”

“Or cake,” said Violet.

“But real snacks are better,” said Benny. Working at the library had made him hungry.

While the others prepared the snack, Henry called Mr. Munsey.

He hung up the phone, looking discouraged. “He’s not there,” he reported. “I told his assistant that we met him at Lina’s house and said I had some questions about quilts. The assistant said she’d tell Mr. Munsey we called, but I don’t think she knew who Lina was — I had to repeat her name three times.”

“It doesn’t sound as if Mr. Munsey told anyone about the quilts we found,” said Violet.

“At least not his assistant,” said Jessie.

The children ate their snack and headed to Lina’s house to show her what they had discovered at the library. They had just rounded the corner onto Lina’s block when Henry stopped short.

“What’s wrong?” Violet asked.

Henry stepped behind a bush and motioned for his brother and sisters to follow. “Look,” he said in a hushed voice.

The others turned and saw a small, beat-up old car parked directly across the street from Lina’s house.

“Who’s that inside?” asked Benny.

“I don’t know,” said Henry. “But whoever it is, he’s wearing dark glasses — and he seems to be watching the house.”

“Let’s watch for a minute,” Violet said in a low voice. “Maybe he’ll drive away soon.”

“Or maybe he’s after the hidden treasure,” said Benny.

The Aldens peered at the car. Inside, the man with dark glasses sat, his head turned toward Lina’s house, his chin bobbing up and down as if in time to music.

“He must have the radio on,” Jessie whispered.

Suddenly, the man raised a camera and peered through the lens, turning his head and the camera as if the camera was a pair of binoculars.

The Aldens ducked.

When they peeked out again, the man had put the camera down.

“A spy,” breathed Benny.

Just then another car pulled up. It was newer and nicer. A woman in a suit with a puffy scarf tied around her neck got out and marched toward the first car. She tapped on the window, and the man in the car jumped in surprise. A moment later, he got out, and the two began to talk.

Mostly, she talked and he nodded. He kept nodding as he bent into the backseat, pulled out an enormous video camera, and began to fiddle with it.

The woman tossed back her thick black hair and marched toward Lina’s house.

“Come on!” said Jessie.

The Aldens jumped out of their hiding place and raced toward the woman.

“Regina, wait,” they heard the man say.

But the woman kept walking. As she reached the gate, the Aldens stepped in front of her. “Excuse me,” Jessie said politely.

The woman stopped. The man with the camera stopped.

“Do you live here?” the woman asked.

“Here? No,” Henry said.

“Do you know anything about the hidden treasure?” the woman interrupted.

Violet’s mouth dropped open.

“Hidden treasure!” exclaimed Benny. “How did you …”

“Shh, Benny,” Violet whispered, and Benny clapped one hand over his mouth.

“A hidden treasure, that’s what I heard. And I want the story!” The woman pushed past the Aldens and continued her march to the house. Before they could stop her, she was knocking on the front door.

Lina opened it.

“Regina Lott,” the woman said briskly, offering Lina her hand. “DocuNews Reports.”

“What?” said Lina.

“I’ve come to set up an exclusive interview for my feature story about this hidden treasure of yours,” Regina went on. She said over her shoulder, “Tom, camera!”

The man in the dark glasses raised his video camera.

Lina held up a hand. “Just a minute,” she said. “What is all this about?”

“Hidden treasure. Valuable antiques. Rare quilts. It’s quite a story,” said Regina.