The Black Widow Spider Mystery (8 page)

When Benny reached the back of the hall, he quickly climbed onto the giant spiderweb made out of rope. Several other children were already climbing on it. Making his way to the top, Benny looked out at the room. He had a great view of the whole exhibit hall. It was crowded with visitors studying displays and museum staff helping them.

One person in the crowd caught Benny's eye. He was a short man with dark skin and shiny brown hair. He was wearing a long black coat. He stood off to one side of the exhibit hall, leaning against the wall. He looked right at Benny. When Benny's eyes met his, the man quickly turned and walked away.

The reason Benny noticed the man was that instead of looking at the exhibits like the other visitors, the man seemed to be studying the people in the crowd. As Benny watched, the man took a small notebook and a pen out of his jacket pocket. He jotted something down, then put the notebook quickly back into his pocket and strolled on.

Benny was fascinated. What was the man doing?

Benny looked around to see where his sisters and brother were. Henry and Violet were on the other side of the room, but Jessie was close by, studying the scorpion display.

Benny quickly climbed down the web. “Jessie,” he called, hurrying over to her.

“Cool stuff, huh?” Jessie asked.

Benny nodded. “Yeah, but —”

“You'll never believe it — I touched a
tarantula
back there,” Jessie said, pointing to the back of the hall. “It was really furry. I'm just glad I didn't have a spider like
that
on my back.” She turned back to the scorpion photograph she'd been studying.

“Jessie, listen,” Benny said.

Hearing the urgency in her brother's voice, Jessie turned away from the photo and looked at him. “What is it?”

Benny scanned the crowd until he spotted the man with the notebook. He was standing at the back of the hall.

Benny motioned with his head. “See that man back there?” he asked. “The one in the long black coat?”

Jessie looked. “Yes.”

“Well, he's not looking at the exhibit — he's just watching the people,” Benny said. “He was even watching me for a while.”

“So?” Jessie asked.

“And he keeps writing in that little notebook,” Benny added. “See?”

“Don't tell me you think he's a spy,” said Jessie.

But Benny was too excited to notice that Jessie was teasing him. “Maybe he's working with Mrs. Blackwell.” Then his eyes opened wider. “Or maybe he's the man she's trying to catch!”

Jessie sighed. “Wait a minute. Just because there have been some strange things happening on our street lately doesn't mean everyone in Greenfield is up to something.” She strolled on to look at the next display.

But Benny was still focused on the mysterious man. He followed the man around the exhibit. The man definitely seemed to be studying the visitors more than the displays. Every now and then, he pulled out his notebook and made a quick note before tucking it back inside his coat. Benny tried to get a glimpse of what the man was writing, but he held the notebook too close to his chest.

“Hmmm …” said Benny. “Definitely up to something.”

The man approached a door with an official-looking sign on it.

Benny looked at the sign on the door and sounded out the words. “St … staff … only. Staff only. Hey!” Benny said to himself, “he can't go in there!” The man wasn't wearing a museum uniform but he was headed straight for the door.

Benny stood facing the closed door, wondering what to do. Should he tell someone?

Before Benny could do anything, the man pulled the door open and went inside.

As the man shut the door behind him, Benny caught sight of something unexpected. On the man's wrist was a gold chain bracelet. The bracelet held a red hourglass charm.

Benny gasped. “I've got to find the others,” he said to himself.

“Stop right there!” said a voice behind him.

Benny froze, startled. But when he turned around, he saw it was just Jessie, a big smile on her face.

“Jessie, you'll never believe it!” he said. “I was following that man and I saw something. He was wearing a bracelet!”

“So, some men wear jewelry,” Jessie replied. “Benny, you've really got to stop —”

“But it had a red hourglass on it!” Benny said.

Jessie's eyes opened wide in surprise. “Really?” She frowned. “Let's go tell the others.”

She and Benny found Henry and Violet in front of the giant spiderweb. Benny quickly told them about the mysterious man and the bracelet.

“How weird,” said Violet.

“Come on,” Henry said. “I want to see this guy. Let's try to find him.”

As the Aldens headed around the room, Violet stopped in front of a photo of a spider wrapping a fly it had just caught in its web. “These photographs are amazing,” she said.

“They are cool,” said Jessie.

Then Violet smiled. “Hey, did you notice the name of the photographer? It says Arachnia Borrero. Mrs. Blackwell's name is Arachnia, too.”

“That's funny,” said Henry. “Arachnia can't be a very common name.”

Benny looked away from the photograph toward the museum lobby. “Hey,” he said. “There's the man!” He raced out of the exhibit.

The others chased Benny into the lobby after the mysterious man.

The man quickly crossed the lobby and headed out the front door of the museum. He was already down the steps and standing by the curb when the Aldens stepped out of the museum door.

A black limousine with dark-tinted windows pulled up to the curb. The Aldens watched as the back door opened and a white hand with shiny, red nails and a gold bracelet reached out. The hand grasped the man and seemed to pull him into the limousine. The car pulled away almost before the door was shut.

“That was Mrs. Blackwell!” said Benny. “She's caught the man she was looking for!”

CHAPTER 9

A Mystery Solved

H
enry sat down on the front steps of the museum. This was going to take some figuring out. The others plopped down beside him.

“All right, what do we know about that man?” asked Jessie, pulling a pad of paper and a pen from her backpack.

“He was at the exhibit but he wasn't looking at the displays. He was just looking at the people,” said Benny.

Jessie wrote that down. “And didn't you say he was writing in a notebook?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Benny. “He also went in a door that's only supposed to be for museum staff.”

Henry looked up when Benny said that. “Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Benny. “The door said staff only.”

“I think that may be the answer,” said Henry. “I think that man must have worked on the exhibit.”

“You do?” asked Benny. “Why?”

“That's why he went through that door,” Henry explained. “That's why he wasn't interested in the exhibits, that's why he was watching the people. Remember this exhibit just opened. He was probably making sure things were running smoothly.”

“That makes sense,” said Jessie. “Maybe he's some kind of expert on spiders.”

“He could be,” said Henry.

“But what about his red hourglass bracelet that matches Mrs. Blackwell's?” Benny asked. “And the fact that he went off in her car?”

“That part makes sense to me,” said Violet, who had been thinking quietly. “I bet he's her husband.”

The children all looked at Violet.

“You think Mr. Blackwell is a spider expert?” asked Benny.

“Think about it,” said Violet. “You saw a spider in a glass case in the room where he works. They've got a lot of books about spiders and maps labeled with their scientific names.”

“He must have been working late at night to get this exhibit ready to open,” Henry said, recalling the lights he saw in the middle of the night.

“And the bracelets?” asked Jessie.

“They're married,” Violet said, “and they're both interested in spiders. What could be more romantic than wearing matching bracelets with a special symbol?”

“That would explain his unusual job,” said Henry. “But what's hers?”

Benny frowned. “Secret agent,” he said stubbornly.

“Well, we're not going to figure it out sitting here,” Jessie pointed out. “Let's go back to their house.”

The children unlocked their bikes and rode back to their street. They were almost at the Blackwells' house when they saw Joe and his friend standing on the sidewalk in front of the Blackwells' gate. The two men held a large piece of paper stretched between them. The children could make out some sort of diagram on the paper. Joe was pointing to the diagram and then pointing to the Blackwells' house. Deep in conversation, the two men didn't see the Aldens coming.

Henry motioned to the others to be quiet. He wanted to know what Joe was up to.

The children got off their bikes. They walked forward slowly, trying to catch what the men were talking about.

“This is the perfect place for it,” Joe was saying. “We'll lay the trap right here and catch her in the web.”

“Sounds good to me,” said the other man. “Let's just hope the Blackwells make the right choice.”

Joe rolled up the diagram. The two men got in the car with the SPIDER2 license plate and drove off.

“Did you hear what they were saying?” asked Henry. “Setting a trap — catching someone in a web — the perfect place for it?”

“They're plotting to catch someone and it's going to happen here, in front of the Blackwells',” said Jessie.

“I'm worried,” said Violet. “What if Mrs. Blackwell is the one they're planning to trap?”

The Aldens hurried up the driveway and parked their bikes. For the first time, they actually had to ring the bell before Mrs. Blackwell opened the door.

“Coming!” her voice called from within. A moment later she pulled the door open. “How was the exhibit?” she asked.

“Great!” said Henry, “but —”

“I'm in the middle of something,” Mrs. Blackwell interrupted, a mysterious smile on her face. “You can go upstairs and start unpacking the boxes in the sitting room, if you'd like. I'll be up in a minute.”

“Okay, but —” Henry began. He found himself talking to empty space. Mrs. Blackwell had already walked away. Henry turned to the others. “It will have to wait.”

The Aldens went upstairs. The sitting room at the top of the stairs was filled with boxes labeled
UPSTAIRS SITTING ROOM.

“This will keep us busy for a while,” Jessie remarked, pulling over a box and ripping off the tape on top. The boxes were filled with books, framed pictures, and knickknacks. The Aldens got right to work.

Jessie had finished unpacking her first box when she noticed a box labeled
SECOND FLOOR STORAGE.
“That doesn't go in here,” she said to herself. She picked up the box and looked around, trying to remember if Mrs. Blackwell had showed them a storage room.

She turned to the door with the light-bulb above it. The bulb was off now, so there was no red glow. “Maybe that room is a storage room or closet.” Jessie walked over and slowly pushed open the door. Immediately she knew this was not an ordinary closet. This room was very dark and she could smell a strong chemical odor.

Jessie was so surprised, she didn't stop to think. She took a step into the room. It was larger than a closet but there seemed to be no windows. Jessie put the box down and felt on the wall for a light switch. There were two. When she flicked on the first, nothing happened inside the room, but Jessie noticed a red glow behind her. Poking her head back out, Jessie saw that the lightbulb over the door was on, as it had been that day she'd come upstairs.

Jessie remembered her idea that maybe the light was a warning not to go in the mysterious room. But why?

She flicked the other switch, and the lights inside the room came on. On the far wall was a counter holding several flat trays of fluid. Shelves underneath were filled with large bottles of chemicals. Strung up above was a sort of clothesline. But there was no clothing on this line. Instead there were long curls of film and photographs held up by clothespins.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Jessie stepped forward. She peered at one of the photographs. It showed a large spiderweb with a brownish spider in the center. The next photograph was also of a spider, but this one was yellow and black, like the one that had been on her back. She looked at the next photograph. It was a spider, too, and so was the next, and the next, and the next. All the photos were of spiders, different sizes and colors, taken from different angles. They were beautiful, just like the ones on display at the museum.

Jessie's mind raced back to the exhibit. The name below the photos had been Arachnia Borrero. Mrs. Blackwell's first name was Arachnia. As Henry had pointed out, Arachnia was an unusual name for two people to share. Maybe there weren't two different people, Jessie realized. Maybe there was just one Arachnia using two different last names.