Spy Game (6 page)

But Jessie didn’t answer. She was thinking hard. She had the strangest feeling that she knew something—something important. But it was stuck in the back of her mind and she couldn’t shake it loose. Then a funny look suddenly came over her face.

“Don’t keep us in the dark, Jessie,” Henry pleaded. “What are you thinking?”

“Remember when Amanda dropped a business card the other day?” Jessie said.

Violet nodded. “She tore it up.”

“Well, I just remembered something,” Jessie continued. “It was a business card for the Greenfield Modeling Agency!”

Henry’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure, Jessie?”

“Very sure.”

“Hey!” said Benny. “Isn’t that where Carly Boyd works?”

“Yes, it is,” Jessie said with a nod.

“Do you think it’s just a coincidence?” asked Violet.

“Maybe,” said Jessie. “Or maybe … maybe Carly Boyd doesn’t just
look
like Dora Penner—maybe she
is
Dora Penner.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“Listen, Carly looks just like Dora, right? Plus, she’s a model for the Greenfield Modeling Agency,” said Jessie. “And on top of that, Amanda just happened to have their business card.”

“You mean … you think Amanda hired Carly to pose for that photo?” Violet wondered.

“I think it’s possible,” Jessie replied.

“Amanda tried to fool us?” Benny asked. A frown crossed his round face.

“I can’t be sure,” said Jessie. “But it looks that way.”

“That’s interesting Jessie,” Henry said. “But why would she do such a thing?”

Before Jessie could answer, they heard the front door open.

“That must be Amanda!” said Violet.

“Let’s find out what this is all about,” Henry said.

Violet wasn’t so sure about this. “But … what if we’re wrong?”

“Don’t worry, Violet,” Henry assured her. “We’ll just ask a few questions and see how Amanda reacts. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“No, I suppose not,” Violet said.

The Aldens had plenty of questions. The problem was, they didn’t have any answers.

“Ah, here you are!” said Amanda, balancing on her crutches. She came into the kitchen with Steve close behind. “I hope Mrs. Dawson fixed you a nice dinner.”

“Yes, it was delicious,” Violet said.

Amanda looked around at each of the Aldens in turn. “What’s up?” she asked, as she sat down at the table. “Everybody looks so serious.”

Steve sat down beside Amanda. “Well, detective work is serious business,” he said. “Right, kids?”

Henry squared his shoulders. “Well, it’s not just a game to us,” he said, looking Steve straight in the eye.

Steve smiled a little. “You kids really don’t give up, do you?”

“No, we don’t,” said Jessie. “Actually, we’ve been wondering about something.”

“Fire away, Jessie,” Amanda told her. “Ask me anything.”

Jessie hesitated for a moment, then she said, “Was there ever an Abigail in your family?”

“What …?” The question seemed to catch Amanda off guard. But she pulled herself together quickly. “Hmm, let me just think about that.” She tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it,” she said at last, “I believe there was an Abigail … somewhere in the family.”

“Hard to keep track of everybody, isn’t it?” Steve put in, smiling over at Amanda.

“That’s for sure!” Amanda said with a nod. “I think there’s chocolate cake in the refrigerator,” she added, changing the subject. “Anybody have a sweet tooth?”

But the Aldens weren’t going to be put off so easily “The thing is,” Henry said, picking up where Jessie had left off, “Grandfather seemed very sure that Brandon Penner had married somebody named Abigail—not Dora.”

“And there’s a plaque at the library,” added Benny, “with Abigail’s name on it.”

“Plus, we found a photograph taken on Brandon’s wedding day,” Violet said in a quiet voice. “The bride didn’t look at all like Dora.”

Amanda was so startled she needed a few moments to collect her thoughts.

“Well … isn’t that strange,” she said.

Violet caught a knowing look pass between Amanda and Steve.

“But there can’t be two brides,” said Benny. “Can there?”

“You wouldn’t think so,” said Amanda. She forced a laugh as if trying to make light of everything. “If Dora isn’t Brandon’s bride, I’d sure like to know who she is.”

“Carly Boyd,” Benny blurted out. “That’s who!”

Amanda stared at the youngest Alden in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Finally, she let out a sigh. “Oh, dear.” She glanced over at Steve. “Things aren’t going the way we planned, are they?”

The Aldens looked at each other in surprise. Were Steve and Amanda working together?

“The photograph in the hallway,” Henry asked. “Is it really Carly Boyd?”

Amanda nodded. “It is.”

“But why?” Jessie said. “Why would you try to fool us?”

“It’s not what you think.” Amanda said quickly.

Violet’s mind raced. Hadn’t Steve said something on the phone about a partner in crime—and a plot? And weren’t those the very words used to describe the next book in the Detective Club series? Everything suddenly fell into place: Amanda winning awards at school for writing … the set of Detective Club books tucked away in the dining room … the way the plot of
The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery
sounded familiar.

Jessie looked over at her sister. “Is something wrong?”

Violet looked from Amanda to Steve and back again. Then, in a voice scarcely above a whisper, she said, “You’re Mila Jones and Jake Winston!”

Amanda and Steve looked at each other in surprise. Then Amanda slowly smiled.

“I guess you found us out,” she said.

“Didn’t I tell you they were top-notch detectives?” said Mrs. Dawson, chuckling to herself as she came into the room.

“Yes, you did.” Steve waved a finger at her. “But you didn’t tell us they’d figure out so much, Mrs. Dawson.”

“Is it true?” Jessie asked, her eyes huge. “Are you really the authors of the Detective Club books?”

“Yes, we are,” said Amanda.

The Aldens looked at one another. For a moment, they were too amazed to speak.

“I can’t believe it!” Henry said at last. “We’re sitting with our favorite authors!”

“We’ve read every book in the Detective Club series!” added Jessie. She sounded just as excited as her older brother.

“I don’t get it.” Benny looked puzzled. “You mean, you’re not really Amanda Penner?”

“Oh, I
am
Amanda Penner, Benny,” she assured him. “Mila Jones is my pen name.”

“And Jake Winston is
my
pen name,” added Steve.

“Sometimes authors use a different name on their books,” Henry explained to his younger brother. “It’s called a pen name.”

“I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark,” Amanda said sheepishly. “You see, Steve had his doubts about our latest plot.”

“The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery?” guessed Violet.

“Exactly,” said Steve, looking surprised that Violet knew that. “I thought some of the clues were too hard for kids to figure out—especially the one about the rings of time.”

Amanda added, “When Mrs. Dawson mentioned that you children had solved quite a few mysteries, it got me thinking.”

“You decided to test it out,” Henry concluded. “The plot, I mean.”

Amanda nodded. She explained how they’d needed a photograph of Dora to fit the clues, so they hired Carly Boyd to pose for it. Next, Steve carved the riddle into the stones. The only hitch was finding a good reason for removing the stones from the walkway.

“I twisted my ankle when I was out jogging in Fudge Hollow,” Amanda told them. “Why not pretend I tripped over a loose stone in the walkway?”

“I didn’t think you kids could solve this mystery,” Steve admitted. “But then I saw you at the library today, and I knew you’d figure everything out.”

“You were following us, weren’t you?” Jessie realized.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” said Steve. “I just happened to be passing by and I saw you go inside. I was curious to see how you were making out with the mystery. When I saw you browsing through books on Greek myths, I knew you were doing just fine.” Then he turned to Mrs. Dawson. “You were right about these kids,” he said. “They don’t miss a thing.”

“So you were in on this, too, Mrs. Dawson?” asked Jessie.

“Yes, that’s why I went out to your house the other day,” Mrs. Dawson confessed. “I knew if I mentioned the loose stones, you would offer to help.”

“Grandfather thought it was a coincidence,” said Henry, “that the kids you hired happened to be detectives.”

Jessie had a sudden thought. “When you were visiting with Mrs. McGregor the other day, you spilled the cream on purpose, didn’t you, Mrs. Dawson?”

“Yes, I did,” said Mrs. Dawson. “I didn’t want to talk about Amanda’s writing, so …”

“You tried to distract everyone,” finished Henry.

Mrs. Dawson nodded. “I knew what good detectives you were. I was afraid you’d have everything figured out in no time if I said too much.”

Benny looked confused. “There’s one thing I don’t understand, Mrs. Dawson,” he said. “If you were in on everything, why were you tracking down clues?”

“Me?”
Mrs. Dawson pointed to herself. Then she began to laugh. “Why would you think I was tracking down clues?”

“You said if you opened Pandora’s box,” Benny told her, “then all your dreams would come true.”

“Oh, you heard that, did you?” said Mrs. Dawson. Then she turned to Steve. “That must have been when you phoned.”

“Neither Amanda nor I could stand the suspense,” Steve said with a laugh. “We just had to find out if the bank had approved Mrs. Dawson’s business loan.”

“Well, guess what?” Mrs. Dawson’s face broke into a big smile. “The bank manager just called and gave me the thumbs up! Looks like my dream really will come true.” Turning to the youngest Alden, she added, “When you heard me on the phone, Benny, I was talking about opening my bookstore. You see, I decided to call it Pandora’s Box.”

“Oh!” The children looked at each other in sudden understanding.

As everyone congratulated Mrs. Dawson, Henry noticed the game of checkers on top of the refrigerator. He suddenly thought of something. In a flash, he was on his feet. Reaching the box of checkers down, he came back to the table.

Jessie could tell by the look on her older brother’s face that something was up. “What’s going on, Henry?”

“We missed something,” Henry said. “There was a clue in the first riddle, but we didn’t pick up on it.”

“What?” asked Benny.

Curious, Jessie tugged her notebook from her pocket. After flipping through the pages, she recited,
“Follow the clues/ both night and day;/ leave no stone unturned/ the game’s in play.”

Violet slapped a hand against her forehead. “Oh, the
game’s in play
!”

“The game of checkers,” Jessie realized. “How could we miss that?”

“Open it, Henry!” Benny inched his chair closer.

As Henry lifted the lid from the box of checkers, Amanda and Steve seemed to be holding their breath. Even Mrs. Dawson was standing as still as a statue.

Inside the box, they found a folded checker board and a cloth bag. Henry gave the bag a shake, but there weren’t many checkers inside.

“That’s odd,” said Jessie.

Henry held the bag upside down and gave it a shake. When Amanda caught a glimpse of what tumbled out, her jaw dropped.

“What in the world …?” she cried out in astonishment.

“Oooh!” cried Violet. “It’s a diamond ring.”

Sure enough, a sparkling diamond on a gold band came to rest in the middle of the checker board.

It was clear Amanda couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.

“But we put chocolate coins in that bag—wrapped in gold foil,” she said in bewilderment. “Do you know anything about this, Steve?”

Jessie couldn’t help noticing that beads of perspiration had popped up on Steve’s forehead. He was mopping at his face with a handkerchief.

“Steve?” Amanda repeated.

To everyone’s astonishment, Steve suddenly knelt down on one knee beside Amanda’s chair. Reaching for her hand, he said, “Will you marry me?”

For a long moment, Amanda stared at Steve. Then her face broke into a smile. “Of course, I’ll marry you!”

The Aldens let out a cheer as Steve slipped the engagement ring onto Amanda’s finger.

“Oh, how romantic!” gushed Mrs. Dawson, wiping away a tear of joy.

“You planned this all along, didn’t you, Steve?” Amanda said, admiring her ring.

Beaming happily, Steve got to his feet. “I wanted to propose in a special way,” he said. “I thought—what would be better than to make it part of a mystery.”

Violet smiled to herself. Steve hadn’t been looking for the “rings of time”—he was looking for an engagement ring for Amanda!

Benny had a question. “Did your grandfather really play the spy game with you, Amanda?” he wanted to know. “Or did you make that part up, too?”

“Oh, that was true, Benny,” Amanda assured him. “In fact, that’s how I got the idea for
The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery.
It’s because of my grandfather,” she added, “that I love mysteries so much.”