Mystery Bookstore (2 page)

Trying to hide a smile, Mr. Alden scratched his chin. “Hmm. If only we knew someone who knows all about books . . . someone who has always wanted to run a bookstore.”

Violet slipped her hand into her grandfather’s. “You bought it for Miss Chase, didn’t you, Grandfather?” Violet whispered.

Miss Chase was still sitting in her seat, looking awfully confused.

“No, Violet,” Mr. Alden said, shaking his head. “I didn’t buy it for Miss Chase. I bought it as an excellent investment at a good price. I expect to rent it to whomever can get a bookstore up and running right away.” Mr. Alden smiled at his old friend. “Now you wouldn’t happen to know anyone who can do that, would you, Olivia?”

“Oh, James, I couldn’t possibly let you give the shop to me. You won it fair and square,” Miss Chase said.

“Ah, but I wouldn’t be giving it to you, I’d be renting it to you until you can pay me back. And who knows? The bookshop was called Old Treasures. You might find something valuable tucked away. What do you say to my plan, Olivia?”

Miss Chase broke into a beautiful smile. “I’ll say yes, but only if you lend me your grandchildren, too. With their help we’ll sell all these old books at a big outdoor sale. That will give us money to buy brand-new mysteries for my mystery bookstore.”

“Can we, Grandfather?” Benny asked excitedly. “Can we stay and help Miss Chase?”

“Of course,” Grandfather said. “As long as Olivia doesn’t mind looking after four children.”

“Hooray!” the Alden children yelled.

Suddenly, a young woman with curly reddish hair rushed into the courtyard.

“Is this where the book auction is?” the woman asked, out of breath. “Has it started yet?”

Rex Phillips stepped forward to answer the young woman’s question. “Start?” he said in a snarling voice. “The auction started and ended quickly when someone bid too much for this rundown old property and all the junk inside it!” With that, Mr. Phillips left.

The young woman raced over to the auctioneer. “Please,” she said. “Let me put in a bid for some of the books in the shop. My plane was late, and the taxi driver got lost. That’s why I didn’t get here on time. If you’ll only tell me what the other bidders paid for the books, I’ll pay more.”

The auctioneer pointed to Mr. Alden. “All the books were sold with the shop, Miss. The new owner’s over there. You’ll have to speak to him about buying any of the books inside the shop. Once my hammer comes down on the last bid, my job is over.”

The young woman wouldn’t give up. “
Everything
was sold?”

The auctioneer packed up his papers. “Everything. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take matters up with Mr. Alden.”

The woman pushed her way past the auctioneer and walked straight toward James Alden. “Mr. Alden, Mr. Alden. May I speak with you? I’m Sarah Deckle. I heard you’re running this shop now. I must discuss something with you. You see, I’d like to buy some of the books from you. The only reason I didn’t bid at the auction was that my plane was. . . .”

“Whoa, Miss Deckle,” Mr. Alden said to calm down the woman. “First off, I’m not running the shop. In fact, I’m only visiting New Orleans. I have to leave tomorrow morning. My good friend over here, Olivia Chase, is in charge now. She’s going to turn the Old Treasures Bookshop into the Mystery Bookstore. So anything you need to discuss, well, you’ll have to talk to her.”

Sarah Deckle grabbed Olivia Chase’s arm. “Can I meet with you to talk about the store? It’s not fair that I didn’t get here in time to bid at the auction. Is there any way I can take a look inside?”

Miss Chase took a while to answer. “Of course, young lady. We’re planning to hold a big book sale this weekend and will open the Mystery Bookstore shortly afterwards. You’re more than welcome to come.”

“But you don’t understand,” Sarah interrupted. “I need to look . . . I mean, couldn’t I just look through the shop right now? I have money with me.”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m sorry, my dear. There are several things we must do before I let any customers look over anything. First of all, I have to get a rare-book expert to come in. There may be something of value in the old books and papers Mrs. Post left behind. I can’t let any customers in just yet. You understand, don’t you?”

Sarah Deckle did not understand at all. Looking quite upset, she left the courtyard without another word.

“My goodness,” Miss Chase said. “What was that all about? Well, never mind. We have lots to do, including getting you children settled in my apartment. I have a special surprise for you.”

After everyone left the courtyard with their auction items, Miss Chase locked the gate. “This will be your own private little backyard.” Then she pointed up to a beautiful screened-in balcony above the bookstore. “That’s a sleeping porch with four cots — one for each of you. On hot nights, we Southerners sometimes like to sleep out on our porches. You’ll be perfectly safe, since the courtyard is always locked when the bookshop is closed.”

Miss Chase led the children up ironwork stairs to the porch.

“Yippee,” Benny said. “We like sleeping outside.”

“I knew this would be just right for you,” Miss Chase said with a laugh. “Your grandfather will be in the guest room.”

“I like your cozy apartment,” Violet said as Miss Chase gave the children a tour. “The front of it is like a city apartment where we can watch all the people and cars. But the back is just as quiet as Grandfather’s house in Greenfield.”

“I was very lucky to rent this apartment from Mrs. Post when I came to New Orleans a few years ago,” Miss Chase said, as she handed sheets and towels to the Aldens. “To live above a bookstore is perfect for a writer. Now I can always keep an eye on the Mystery Bookstore, too.”

“There’s even a small night table for each of us,” Violet said, putting down her backpack and tote bag. “Thank you for letting us stay out here.”

“You’re welcome, Violet,” Miss Chase said. “Now, it’s been a long day. Good night.”

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Benny said.

The next morning, the Aldens sat around the breakfast table making their plans for the day. From the kitchen in Olivia Chase’s apartment, they could look down at the courtyard. But the children were busy chatting and eating, not looking outside.

“These are the best doughnuts I ever tasted,” Benny said between bites of warm, powdered doughnuts.

“Those aren’t just ordinary doughnuts, Benny,” Miss Chase said. “They’re a special New Orleans kind called
beignets.
I picked them up at the French Market this morning. As for your coffee, James, that’s our New Orleans-style coffee. It has chicory in it.”

“Grandfather’s coffee has chickens in it?” Benny cried.

Everyone was laughing so hard, they didn’t hear the courtyard door open down below.

“Not chickens, Benny.” Miss Chase laughed. “It’s
chicory
, a special coffee flavoring.”

It was only later, when Benny and Henry were washing dishes, that Benny saw something move. “Is the bookshop open?” he asked Miss Chase. “I think somebody wearing a blue top is down in the courtyard.”

But when Benny and the other children ran to the sleeping porch to check, the person in the blue top had vanished.

“Hey, where did that person go?” Benny yelled. “Nobody went out that door.”

“Are you sure you saw someone?” Miss Chase asked Benny. “I’m sure I locked the courtyard door. Remember? Maybe what you saw was one of those boxes blowing around from the auction yesterday.”

“But boxes don’t wear blue tops,” Benny said. “We better go check it out.”

“Good for you, Benny,” Miss Chase said. “A careful detective follows every lead. You children can go downstairs. Let me know if anything seems disturbed. I’ll be right down. I’m just going to call in an ad to the newspaper. I need a book expert to help us price Mrs. Post’s old books for our book sale.”

“Then I’ll be off too, Olivia,” Mr. Alden said. “My taxi will be here any second. I’ll be back in a week.”

The children hugged their grandfather, then raced down to the courtyard. They had just reached the bottom step when they heard the courtyard door click shut.

“See!” Benny cried. “Somebody
was
here. They must have left when they heard us.” He pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t open.

“I guess it locks from both sides,” Henry said. “I’ll get Miss Chase’s key.”

When Henry returned, he unlocked the courtyard door. Benny raced out to the sidewalk. “See, there’s someone with a blue shirt going down the block! I told you.”

Violet put her arm around Benny, then pointed to another person on the busy street. “And there’s someone else with a blue top.”

“There’s that woman who came late to the auction,” Jessie said. She pointed to Sarah Deckle, who was staring into the bookstore window. “She has on a blue jacket.”

“Even Grandfather is wearing blue today,” Henry said to a disappointed Benny. “Look, he’s getting in his taxi to go to the airport. He has on his blue blazer.”

“Even I’m wearing a blue shirt,” Benny said. “Today must be Wear-Something-Blue Day.” Then Benny had to laugh.

The Aldens walked back into the courtyard to begin cleaning up. There was plenty to do before the big book sale.

“Any luck with the mystery person?” Miss Chase asked when she came down to see how the Aldens were getting on.

“No,” Benny answered, “but somebody was here all right. And they left in a big, big hurry when they heard us.”

Miss Chase stopped to look at something under the sleeping porch. “I think Benny’s right. Come here and tell me what you see.”

The Aldens stared down at the patch of dirt and weeds under the porch.

“Look! There are clumps of dirt from here to the courtyard door,” Violet said. “And some of the weeds are squished. But couldn’t that be from yesterday? There were a lot of people walking around the courtyard during the auction. Maybe some of them tracked the dirt out.”

“Good detective work, Violet,” Miss Chase said. “But think some more.”

Violet’s blue eyes lit up. “Wait! It rained a little bit this morning. If somebody walked through the dirt yesterday, the clumps would have washed away!”

“Very good,” Miss Chase said.

“Shh,” Benny whispered when a few people wandered into the courtyard to look around. “There’s that lady again.”

“Why, hello, Miss Deckle,” Olivia Chase said to the young woman. “What brings you here so early?”

“I still can’t get over missing out on the auction yesterday,” Sarah Deckle told Miss Chase. “I would just love to look through your bookshop. Couldn’t I take a peek now, please?”

Miss Chase finally gave in. “I guess you can look around. But I can’t sell a thing until our book sale on Saturday.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Sarah Deckle said. As soon as Miss Chase opened the bookstore door, the young woman disappeared inside the store without another word.

T
he hours flew by. Miss Chase spent her time making business calls. The Aldens carried books from the shop out to the tables in the courtyard where the book sale would be held. And Sarah Deckle spent the morning buried in the children’s book section where she seemed to be reading every book from cover to cover.

“This is practically the hardest job I’ve ever done,” Jessie said.

“Harder than cleaning up a boxcar or working in a pizza restaurant?” Henry asked in amazement.

“These books are just so tempting,” Jessie said. “I keep wanting to stop work so I can read them. I wish we were living in the bookshop instead of above it.”

“Me, too,” Violet confessed. “Here’s a neat old book on needlepoint. It’s full of patterns I’ve never seen before.” Then Violet showed the others something else she had found. “This beautiful boxed set of fairy tales was mixed in with some stamp collecting books in the hobby box. There are four stories in the set,
Tom Thumb
,
Goose Girl, Briar Rose
, and, my favorite of all,
The Little Mermaid.
I’m going to show it to Miss Chase.”

Violet found Miss Chase working in the bookstore. “Look at this pretty set of fairy tales, Miss Chase. Should I put it aside? It’s got beautiful illustrations.”

Miss Chase came over and put her arm around Violet. “The books are lovely. I never noticed them in Mabel Post’s shop before, but I guess it’s because they were jumbled up with the hobby books. That Mabel. She liked to just throw everything together! Anyway, you found the set, so I’d like you to keep it, Violet.”

Violet shook her head. “No, I couldn’t, Miss Chase. What if the set is valuable? You need every penny to buy new books for the Mystery Bookstore.” Violet handed the boxed set back to Miss Chase.

“It couldn’t be that valuable if Mabel just threw it in with the hobby books. Take it as a thank-you present. You children are saving me many, many more pennies with all your help than this set could possibly be worth,” she said.

Violet ran her fingers over the beautiful fairy tale collection. “Thank you. I’ll take very good care of them.”

Violet and Miss Chase then went back out to the courtyard to see how the work was coming along.

“What else can we do, Miss Chase?” Jessie asked. “We organized all the books out here. We’ll put out the children’s books after Sarah Deckle leaves.”