Movie Star Mystery (3 page)

“Jessie,” said Violet. “That was the same woman who was behind the police officer before.” Then Violet remembered the boy in the baseball cap. She looked around, too. But he was nowhere in sight.

Nearby, a firefighter was squirting foam on a trash can while a small crowd stood and watched.

“What happened?” asked Benny.

“A fire in the trash can,” the firefighter said. She shook her head. “We’re not sure how it happened, but it looks like someone tried to create a lot of smoke deliberately.”

Another firefighter emerged from the ice-cream parlor. “Everything’s okay inside,” he said. “No fire there. But the trash can shouldn’t have been so near the door. Someone must have moved it. The smoke is what set off the alarm.”

“If I didn’t know better,” the first firefighter said, “I’d say someone was trying to smoke out the people in the ice-cream parlor.”

The counter girl said, “I told everybody to leave the moment the alarm went off. We left by the rear exit.”

“She didn’t tell us to leave,” Benny said indignantly. “She just ran out!”

But the firefighter didn’t hear Benny’s protest. She was nodding at the girl approvingly. “That’s what you should do,” said the firefighter. “When there is a fire alarm, don’t wait. Leave as quickly and calmly as possible.”

Henry saw a photographer from the local newspaper begin to take pictures of the firefighters and the front of the ice-cream shop. As he did, the reporter who was with him stepped up to speak to the girl who worked there. “Yes,” the Aldens heard her say. “The moment I heard the alarm, I showed everybody the way to the exit and told them to leave. That’s what you’re supposed to do. I guess that makes me a hero.”

“You’re the hero, Henry,” said Jessie. “You helped us all get out of the ice-cream parlor.”

“Well, I guess it’s time for us to go home, anyway,” Henry said.

They got their bicycles and began to walk down Main Street toward home.

Violet stopped and pointed. “There he is. The boy who was in the ice-cream shop.”

They stood and watched as a red Jeep turned the corner ahead. A young woman with her hair in a long dark braid was driving. The man with the silver hair sat in the backseat. And the boy in the baseball cap was slumped down in the front seat.

He looked unhappy.

“That woman,” said Henry. “Don’t you recognize her?”

“Yes!” cried Jessie. “She’s the woman who was so rude to us at the old Radley place yesterday!”

D
o any bank robbers live in Greenfield, Grandfather?” Benny asked at dinner that night.

James Alden finished putting mashed potatoes on his plate. Then he passed the potatoes to Henry. He looked at his youngest grandchild. “Not that I know of,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

“Because we saw some bank robbers today,” Benny said. “Outside the bank.”

“You had an exciting day,” said Grandfather. “First a smoke alarm in the ice-cream shop. And then bank robbers. Were they robbing the bank?” His eyes began to twinkle.

“No. We’re not exactly sure they are bank robbers,” Violet said.

“But they had disguises on,” Jessie said. “And they were acting very suspiciously.”

“How did you know they were in disguise?” Grandfather asked.

“Because we saw them yesterday too, when we were hiking in the woods,” Henry said.

He went on to tell Grandfather Alden everything that had happened. When Henry finished, Grandfather said, “It sounds as if you’ve got a mystery on your hands.”

“And a haunted house, too, maybe,” said Benny.

“A haunted house?” Grandfather said.

“The Radley house out on Old Farm Road,” Henry said. “We saw a moving van drive up to it. The lawn has been cut and the house has been painted, too.”

Benny added, “And we met a mean lady, too. She made us go away.”

“The Radley mansion’s been abandoned for years and years,” Grandfather said. “Old Mr. Radley’s only child, Estella, left home when she was just a teenager. Even that was over twenty years ago. Mr. Radley died a few years after that, but no one ever came back to live in the house. I wonder if Estella finally sold it.”

“I wonder if that was Estella who told us to go away,” Jessie said.

“Could be,” Grandfather said. “After she left, I don’t remember that she ever became the famous movie star she’d dreamed of being. Maybe she’s come home at last.”

“Let’s go visit tomorrow and find out,” Benny said.

“Maybe we will, Benny,” said Henry.

The next morning, the Aldens got on their bikes and rode out of town toward Old Farm Road. They pedaled slowly so that Watch could keep up with them. Henry held Watch’s leash as they rode.

When they reached the Radley place, they stopped and stared. The gates were closed today. A big sign hung on one of the gates. It said, NO TRESPASSING.

“How are we going to find out if Estella Radley is back now?” Violet said.

Just then, Watch ran around to the other side of the bicycle and got his leash tangled around Henry’s bike pedal. Bending over, Henry unclipped Watch’s leash so he could unwind it.

Watch ran straight up the driveway toward the gate.

“Watch, stop!” Jessie cried. “No trespassing!”

But Watch couldn’t read the sign. He kept running. He wriggled through the iron bars of the gate and disappeared around the curve of the driveway beyond the gate.

“Oh, no!” said Henry. The Aldens quickly propped their bikes against some nearby trees and hurried after Watch.

“Watch, come back!” Violet called through the gate.

“Here, Watch. Here, boy!” Henry called.

Jessie whistled loudly.

Watch didn’t come back.

Benny pushed the gate open and walked right through.

“Benny! What are you doing?” Violet exclaimed.

“The gate wasn’t locked,” Benny said. “I’m going to get Watch.”

He, too, disappeared around the curve of the long driveway.

“Come on, then,” Henry said, and led the way as they all followed Benny. As they rounded the bend in the driveway, they heard the sound of laughter.

“Look,” said Jessie.

Watch was tugging on a stick. At the other end of the stick was an enormous shaggy brown dog. A boy not much older than Henry stood nearby, grinning.

When he saw the Aldens, he waved. “Is this your dog?” he called.

“Yes,” Henry answered.

“His name’s Watch,” said Benny. “What’s your dog’s name?”

“Her name is Greta,” the boy said. “Greta Garbo, after the movie star.”

“Oh,” said Benny. He didn’t know who the boy was talking about. “She’s a pretty dog.”

“I found her when I was in Sweden working on a . . . visiting, I mean. Greta Garbo was from Sweden, too,” the boy said.

“Oh,” said Benny again, still not sure who Greta Garbo was.

Suddenly Watch jerked the stick free from Greta and ran with it. Greta gave a short, surprised bark, then raced after Watch.

“They really like each other,” the boy observed. By now the Aldens had gotten close enough to see him clearly.

Violet said, “You’re the boy from the ice-cream shop!” She put one hand over her mouth in surprise.

The boy raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t wearing his cap and dark glasses today. They could see that he was older than he had looked at first. He had black hair and blue eyes and long black eyelashes. He was wearing baggy jeans and an old sweatshirt.

“And you’re my rescuers,” the boy said. “I wanted to stay and thank you, but I had to leave. My name is, uh, Jonathan.”

“We’re the Aldens,” Henry said, and introduced everyone.

“Is your last name Radley? Have you moved here?” Benny asked.

“Not exactly,” Jonathan said vaguely. “Do you guys live near here?”

“We live in Greenfield,” Jessie said.

“That’s the nearest town, right?” Jonathan said.

“What are you children doing here?” a voice demanded sharply.

They all looked up to see the same young woman they had seen two days before. She had her hands on her hips and she was frowning ferociously.

“It’s okay, Courtney,” Jonathan said quickly.

“How did you get in?” Courtney demanded.

“Through the gate,” Violet said. “Our dog wiggled through the bars and we came after him.”

“I know you didn’t wiggle through, too, so I guess it wasn’t locked,” Jonathan said.

Just then, Watch and Greta ran back toward them. Greta had the stick now. She raced up to Jonathan and dropped the stick at his feet.

Jonathan picked it up and Greta danced around him.

“She wants you to throw the stick,” Jessie said.

“I know,” said Jonathan, grinning. “I can speak dog, too.”

Courtney came down the stairs and walked toward the Aldens. She was wearing a one-piece jumpsuit over a turtleneck sweater. She looked strong and almost menacing.

“It’s okay,” Jonathan said, sounding a little impatient. To the Aldens he said, “This is Courtney Foote. She’s a little . . . protective.”

“It’s my job,” Courtney said, her eyes never leaving the Aldens. To the Aldens she said, “I’ll walk you back to the gate.”

“Greta and I will come, too,” said Jonathan. He seemed to be trying to make up for Courtney’s rudeness.

“That’s not necessary,” Courtney said.

Jonathan gave her a sweet smile. Jessie stared at him. “Yes, it is,” he said. He talked politely to the Aldens as he walked with them to the gate, but Courtney didn’t say a word.

She opened the gate and stepped back, motioning for the Aldens to go through it. Henry bent down and clipped the leash back on Watch’s collar.

“Come see me and Greta again,” Jonathan said.

“We will,” agreed Henry.

Courtney clanged the gate shut. She said in a loud voice, “We’re having a lock installed on that gate this afternoon. We’ve had enough trouble.”

Jonathan winked at the Aldens. “I’ll know when I see Watch that you’re here,” he said.

“You should go back to the house,” said Courtney. “For your own safety.”

Jonathan shrugged and rolled his eyes. But he didn’t argue. He and Greta began to walk up the driveway.

Courtney stayed by the gate, her arms folded, watching as the Aldens pedaled away.

“Whew!” said Henry. “She really doesn’t want us around.”

“Who does she think is going to hurt Jonathan?” Violet wondered.

“Good question,” Jessie said. She pedaled in silence for a little while, then added, “This is going to sound a little weird, maybe, but I think I’ve seen Jonathan before.”

“Sure you have,” said Benny. “At the ice-cream shop yesterday.”

“No. I’d seen him before that,” said Jessie.

“I think I have, too,” said Henry. “And not on a wanted poster at the post office.”

“But not around Greenfield,” Violet said.

“No,” Henry said. “Not around Greenfield.”

“We’ve traveled a lot,” Violet said. “Maybe you saw him on one of our trips.”

“Maybe,” said Henry. “But I don’t think so.”

“He’s very handsome,” said Jessie.

“He is?” said Benny, “I liked Greta. I thought she was handsome. So did Watch.”

“Oh, Benny,” said Jessie, shaking her head and laughing.

Violet said, “Jonathan never told us his last name, or if he and his family had moved into the mansion. So we still haven’t solved that mystery.”

“We have lots of mysteries,” Benny said happily. “Bank robbers and who lives in that old house and why that mean lady acts so weird and why Jessie thinks Jonathan is handsome.”

Jessie blushed a little. Violet said, “Jessie’s right. Jonathan is handsome. Like a movie star.”

“That’s it!” Jessie exclaimed.

“What?” said Violet.

“Come on,” Jessie said. “I’ll show you!”

W
hy are we going into the grocery store, Jessie?” Henry asked.

“You’ll see,” Jessie answered mysteriously. She led the way to the magazine section and stopped. She studied the rows of magazines, then reached out and picked up a magazine called
True Star Stories.
On the front of the magazine was a big, slightly blurred photograph of a star with his face half hidden by sunglasses and a cap pulled low over his face. Beneath the photograph in big black letters the caption read “Tate’s Last Date?????”

Jessie walked back toward the front of the store.

“You’re not going to buy that magazine, are you?” Henry said in astonishment.

“Yes, I am,” Jessie said.

“But those stories aren’t really true. They’re just gossip and exaggerations, to try to make you buy the magazine,” Henry said.

“Junk,” said Benny, repeating a word he had heard Grandfather Alden say.

“Junk or no junk, it’s going to help us solve at least one of our mysteries,” Jessie insisted. She paid for the magazine and went back outside, where Watch was waiting patiently by the bicycles. She sat down next to Watch on the grass and the others gathered around her.

“Does this picture remind you of anyone?” Jessie asked.

They all studied the picture.

“Well . . .” Violet began, then stopped.

“It reminds me of Jonathan,” said Jessie.

She opened the magazine and read the story inside. According to the report, the movie star Tate Radison had last been seen at a movie premiere with an actress in Hollywood two weeks before. After the date, he’d just disappeared from sight.