Mystery on the Ice (4 page)

At the dinner table, Henry asked Grandfather how William and Sara Murray were getting along.

“They’re a little better,” James Alden said, “although Sara is naturally sad to lose her jewels. Many years ago her grandmother gave her the ruby bracelet.”

Henry hesitated. “I hate to ask, Grandfather, but could Mr. Murray have hidden the jewels and just
pretended
they’d been stolen? Maybe he needs the insurance money.”

Grandfather threw back his head and laughed. “No, no, Henry. William has just donated a very large sum to build a new wing on the hospital. He’s a wealthy man.” Then Mr. Alden sobered. “I know that you are just trying to find the thief. Everyone must be considered a suspect.”

Henry was glad Grandfather understood. It was awkward to accuse Grandfather’s friend.

“What do we have for dessert?” Benny asked, looking up and down the table, after he’d eaten his dinner.

“Are you able to eat dessert after two pieces of chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas?” Amused, Violet waited for his answer, even though she knew what it would be.

“You bet!” Benny answered.

“We have chocolate ice cream with fudge topping,” Jessie said.

Benny had an expectant look on his round face. “Anything else?”

“And peanut butter cookies,” Jessie finished.

“Good!” Benny said, holding up his spoon.

The next day at the Civic Center, Jessie practiced twirling on skates, the boys played hockey, and Violet happily examined the beautiful skating costumes. Green, blue, gold, black, and silver ones hung on the rack. Her favorite was a lavender costume, dotted with purple stones. A few were decorated with feathers, but all glittered and sparkled with beads, sequins, and rhinestones.

Later, when the children were ready to leave, and all the skaters except Ollie had left the rink, Violet bent down and picked up a program. Startled, she noticed a crudely drawn map of Greenfield on the back. “Look at this,” she whispered, handing the program to Jessie.

“I wonder who drew it,” Jessie said. “Whoever it was underlined the Murray house in green ink!
And
wrote, ‘windows at ground level’ on it.”

Benny sank down on a bleacher seat, puzzling over this latest development.

Henry studied the map. “Who would have a copy of Friday night’s skating program on Tuesday?”

“It could be Janet O’Shea! She’s in charge of things,” Benny said firmly, coming back to his prime suspect.

For a moment all that was heard were skates scraping on ice as Ollie practiced his spills.

“I’ll keep this,” said Henry. “Maybe it means something.”

Jessie hoped the burglar was the mystery man, but now she wasn’t sure. All the skaters were friends. She didn’t want any of them to be guilty. But a shiver ran up her spine with the dreaded thought that
someone
in the troupe had stolen the jewels.

By Wednesday more snow fallen, and although Greenfield was shoveling out, major highways and the airport still were closed.

The Aldens again rode the bus to the Civic Center. Along Main Street, the bus stopped at a red light. Jessie, gazing out the window, drew in a sharp breath. “There’s Carl!” She pointed to a jewelry store, where Carl stood peering in the window.

“He’s going into the shop!” Henry exclaimed.

“Why is he going into a jewelry store?” Benny questioned.

No one answered. “Oh,” Benny said in a low voice. “I know. He’s seeing how much diamonds and rubies are worth!” He felt sad.

Suddenly Benny jumped up and down in his seat. “Look! The mystery man!” he shouted.

Sure enough, leaning against a lamppost, the man with the black hat watched Carl disappear inside the shop. Now Violet could see he had a mustache.

“Why is he watching Carl?” Benny asked.

“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “Could he think Carl is the thief?”

At the Civic Center, Alex met them. “We have the rink to ourselves,” Alex said. “There’s no practice today.”

“You mean we can play hockey on the whole rink?” Benny asked in an eager voice.

“The whole rink!” Alex repeated. “When Carl gets here, we’ll begin.” She looked around. “He’s late. I wonder what’s keeping him.”

None of the Aldens said a word.

Oh, Jessie thought, if poor Alex only knew what Carl was up to!

Finally, Carl arrived. “Let’s have a game!” he said, acting as if nothing was wrong! Violet frowned.

Jessie started to warm up, skimming to the opposite side, then back again.

Then they all began to play hockey. Henry, Alex, and Violet were on one team, and Carl, Jessie, and Benny on the other. The game started. Alex made a quick pass to Henry, and Henry hit the puck through Carl’s legs.

“Good move!” yelled Carl.

Soon the puck was flying back and forth.

“Time out!” Benny yelled, sliding across the ice on his stomach. “I fell!”

He tried to get up, but his feet went out from under him and down he went again. “I’ll get up this time!” he declared. But once more his skates slid back and forth, and he tumbled.

“Are you all right?” Henry asked, with concern, skating to Benny’s side.

“I’m okay,” Benny said, taking Henry’s offered hand. Unsteadily, he stood, rubbing his hip. “It’s my rear that’s sore!”

Alex’s gentle laugh rippled over the group. “That’s the danger of being an ice skater!”

“But you don’t fall as much as I do!” Benny complained.

“We did when we first learned to skate,” Carl said with a chuckle.

For an hour they played hockey, then Marcia called, “Time for hot chocolate!”

“Everyone for hot chocolate say, ‘Yes’!” Benny shouted.

“Yes!” everybody yelled, heading for the bench to remove their skates.

Walking over to the coffee shop, Jessie lagged behind with Marcia. “It’s too bad you can’t play hockey. It’s such fun.” She hesitated. “Tell me, do you do the camel spin in your routine?”

Marcia shook her head.

“How about the double or triple axel?”

“Both,” she said.

“And the salchow?” Jessie asked.

“What’s a salchow?” Marcia asked. “I’m from Canada. I’m not familiar with that term.”

Jessie had thought all ice skaters knew what a salchow was. But maybe the term wasn’t used in Canada.

“A salchow is a one-revolution jump,” she explained.

“I see,” said Marcia. She was staring at the courtyard, next to the Civic Center, where several snow sculptures had been made. “Isn’t that clever?” she asked, pointing to an unfinished mermaid.

Jessie just nodded.

As they were about to leave the coffee shop, Henry held up his hand. “Wait. Carl is in the courtyard, working on an ice sculpture.”

Sure enough, Carl was shaping the mermaid’s face, stopping every so often to nervously glance about.

“Why does he keep looking over his shoulder?” Benny asked.

“He doesn’t want anyone to see him.” Henry narrowed his eyes. “Look! He’s hiding something in the mermaid’s hand.”

Jessie said, “Let’s find out Carl’s secret.” She paused, watching Carl pat snow over the sculpture’s hand. “We’ll wait until he leaves.”

Carl stepped back and examined his work. Then, with a final look around, he walked into the rink office.

The Aldens hurried outside. Benny dashed ahead to the ice mermaid. He dug into her snowy hand and held up a bright object.

“Wh-why,” Violet stammered in disbelief, “it’s a diamond ring!”

In astonishment the Aldens stared at the ring, sparkling in the sun.

“Put it in your pocket, Violet,” Henry urged, “before Carl returns. This is one diamond he won’t be able to sell!” He felt disappointed. His friend had betrayed him!

Sadly, Violet slipped the diamond ring in her pocket. It was hard to believe Carl was a thief. “We’d better go home and tell Grandfather,” she said.

“I suppose you’re right, Violet.” Jessie felt sad, too.

“Wait!” Benny shouted. “I forgot my scarf!”

“Hurry back to the shop and get it,” Henry said. “We need to catch the bus.”

Benny ran inside and dashed back, his red scarf around his neck. “Hide! Hide!” he said, waving his arms in the air. “Carl is coming back!”

The Aldens rushed to hide behind some bushes.

Carl glanced around, then returned to his mermaid. He brushed the snow off the sculpture’s hand. When he couldn’t find the ring, he dug deeper. “Oh, no!” he said out loud. He bent down, scooping snow away from the base of the sculpture. “It has to be here! It has to!” His voice shook as he searched the ground.

Spying Benny’s red scarf fluttering in the wind, Carl strode over. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a puzzled tone.

“Are you looking for something?” Benny asked.

“Yes, yes, I am,” Carl admitted.

“Is this what you’re searching for?” Violet asked, holding up the ring.

Carl’s face lit up. “My diamond ring!” he exclaimed.

“Is it
your
diamond?” Henry asked. “Does it belong to
you
?”

Carl stared at Henry. “Of course, it’s my diamond! I bought it at Morton’s Jewelry Store!”

“You
bought
this ring?” Jessie asked.

“Yes,” Carl answered. “The diamond is an engagement ring for Alex. I was planning to show her my ice sculpture and let her find the hidden ring!”

Sheepishly, the children looked at one another. Violet handed the ring to Carl.

Carl snapped his fingers in sudden understanding. “You thought
I
was the jewel thief?”

“We didn’t
want
to think that!” Benny exclaimed quickly.

Carl heaved a happy sigh of relief. “I’m just glad to have the ring back.” He chuckled. “I suppose I did look suspicious.”

“Yes,” Henry said. “You not only carried a lot of cash and went into a jewelry store, but you were nervous every time diamonds were mentioned.” He grinned. “Now I know why.”

Carl returned the ring to the mermaid, nestling it in her hand and piling snow over it. “I’m still going ahead with my surprise. I asked Alex to meet me here.”

“She’ll be thrilled,” Jessie said. “I’d love to see her face.”

“Not me!” Benny said, shaking his head. “There will be kissing and hugging and all that gooey stuff!”

“That’s true, Benny,” Violet said with a shy smile. “We don’t want to be in the way. This is between Carl and Alex.”

Jessie nodded. “We were just leaving.”

“Good luck, Carl,” Henry said.

On the bus the children talked about mistaking Carl for a burglar.

“Now we can scratch Carl off our suspect list,” Jessie said.

“Maybe we should concentrate on Janet O’Shea and the Mystery Man,” Violet said.

“Yes!” Benny said in a loud voice. “Especially Janet O’Shea — because she’s always frowning!”

“And we know she needs money to keep the troupe going,” Jessie said.

The next morning, the Aldens arrived at the rink where Alex was skating. After finishing a figure eight, she skated over to the children. “I understand you knew about this before I did,” she said, giving a silvery laugh and holding up her left hand. The diamond ring sparkled and glistened.

“Were you surprised?” Benny asked.

“Very surprised!” Alex replied. “I guess I’m the happiest person alive.”

Jessie and Violet leaned over to study the beautiful ring.

Henry admired Alex’s pretty, glowing face. “You and Carl make a good pair.”

“And not only on the ice!” Jessie added, smiling. She was happy for Alex.

At the far end of the rink, Ollie was practicing his clown routine. He leaned forward in a lopsided spin.

“We forgot about Ollie!” Benny said. “Maybe
he
stole the diamonds!”

“Maybe,” Alex said. “But he doesn’t have much time. He practices a lot. He seems more interested in skating and making people laugh.”

“I’m glad!” Benny said. “He’s a funny clown!” But he wondered. How long did it take to crawl in a window and steal a bagful of jewels?

“There’s Miss O’Shea,” Henry said. “I wonder if she’d tell us who the man in black is.”

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” Alex said, skating backward. “You’re good detectives!” She smiled. “I’m glad you know Carl is innocent!”