Stuffed Bear Mystery (7 page)

Miss Sayer waved off Violet’s question. “Oh, I’m just using him to get attention for my new bears. Everyone wanted to see a talking bear, but parents don’t seem to want to buy one for their children,” she said. “I’ve been told children like bears they can talk to, not the other way around. Is that true?”

Violet thought about Mister B. “Yes,” she said, so quietly Miss Sayer didn’t hear her. Not that it mattered, since she was already trying to interest another customer in her All-Natural Cubs.

With all the commotion going on with the Three Bears, Chatter Bear, and the new bears, Henry saw his chance. He squeezed himself into the booth. Bending down, he took a close look at some of Miss Sayer’s new bears on the bottom shelf. He even searched behind some of them. Maybe he would find one bear that wasn’t new—the one-of-a-kind Swiss Herr Bear. But Sayer’s All-Natural Cubs were brand-new, all-of-a-kind bears.

“Well, don’t you three bears want a few of my All-Natural Cubs to bring home?” Miss Sayer asked the Alden bears.

Benny couldn’t stop himself from speaking up. “We like Peggy Bears!” he said, so loudly his voice rose even louder than Chatter Bear’s.

Miss Sayer moved away. “Then I guess you’re not interested in anything new and exciting.” She turned to a child who had arrived with her mother. “Perhaps you are, young lady. Meet one of my new All-Natural Cubs,” Miss Sayer told the child. “Would you like to hold it?”

“The stuffing is coming out,” the little girl said. “It’s too skinny.”

Miss Sayer bustled around the booth. “Not to worry. I’ve had so much … uh … interest in my bears, I had to order more before they were quite done. Let me show you what I can do.”

Miss Sayer unlocked a small storage cabinet. She pulled out the orange tote bag that was never far from her. “See all this fleece?” She grabbed a fistful from her bag. “This is the finest lamb’s wool around. That’s what goes into my bears.”

Henry overhead this. He stepped between Miss Sayer and the child. “Fleece like this goes into Peggy Bears, too. Where did you get it?”

For once, Miss Sayer couldn’t speak. “From a farm,” she finally answered, more slowly than usual.

“Oh, do you own a sheep farm?” the mother of the child asked. “With your own lambs?”

Miss Sayer took the rest of fleece from her bag. It began to expand into a big puff as she tried to come up with a truthful answer to the woman’s question.

“No, actually, I don’t have my own sheep farm.”

“But I do.”

The Three Bears, along with Henry and the other visitors, turned around.

Peggy Firman stood in Miss Sayer’s booth, looking over the rows of copycat bears on the shelves.

Miss Sayer put her hand down on the fleece puff and tried to hide it. Of course, it was much too big to hide.

Jessie was too quick for Miss Sayer. “I need some stuffing, too,” she said to the people in the booth. She patted her furry belly. “I didn’t eat enough porridge.”

Peggy broke into a smile. “Thank you, Papa Bear. My fleece somehow walked out of my barn without being on one of my sheep. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad you helped me find it.”

Miss Sayer went over to Chatter Bear. She pushed a button. Finally the booth quieted down. “I’m sorry, Peggy. When Doc couldn’t get Chatter Bear working, I decided he was right. Children want bears to cuddle, not to talk. So I decided to finish some bears I’d started last year and use some natural wool to stuff them. I didn’t call them Hazel Bears, though.”

“That’s because you couldn’t,” Peggy said. “Putting your own name on these bears would have been wrong. You used some of my designs and now my wool fleece.”

The customers began to drift away. Henry and the Three Bears stayed with Peggy.

“The day Peggy taught us how to sort fleece, were you up in the loft?” Henry asked.

Miss Sayer stared at Peggy. “Yes. You never let me help out with shearing the fleece or cleaning it. I wanted to learn how it was done in case my bear business became successful and I could buy a nice farm like Woolly Farm.”

Peggy sighed. “Miss Sayer, Doc and I have offered you a great deal of help over the years. We even let you into the studio and the toy hospital to borrow things. But I couldn’t give away
all
our secrets.”

Miss Sayer held one of her bears so tightly some of the stuffing squeezed out. “I know, Peggy. I’m sorry. I get ideas, but then I don’t stick with them very long. I like bears, but I can’t figure out how to make children like
my
bears.”

Peggy seemed a little less upset. “Well, that’s the real secret, isn’t it? Why don’t you ask these three bears?”

Miss Sayer looked at the Aldens in their bear outfits. She still had no idea who they were. “Well, what’s the secret about bears?”

Benny spoke up first. “They have to be fat, not skinny. And soft.”

“They shouldn’t talk too much,” Violet said.

“Or be too big, because then you can’t hold them,” Jessie added.

“What about old bears?” Miss Sayer asked, forgetting everything the children had just told her. “I could find old bears, fix them up, and sell them for a lot of money. Yes, that’s an idea I never thought of.”

Henry looked at Miss Sayer. “Are you sure you never thought of it?”

The jamboree was so crowded, and the Aldens were so busy being bears, the last day arrived much too quickly.

“I finally finished sewing up Mister B. for the Best Bears Contest,” Violet said when the children met outside the Town Hall.

Benny was worried about something. “How can we eat at the Teddy Bears’ Picnic with our costumes on? The bear mouths are too small.”

Henry laughed. “Not small enough for you to stop talking, Benny. I guess the three of you can take turns being people again.”

“Peggy said it’s okay to be half bears and half people at the picnic with our bear heads off,” Jessie said. “She told me people like finding out who the Three Bears really are.”

“I’d like to find out who our suspects really are,” Jessie said. “I decided Miss Sayer isn’t one of them.”

The other children couldn’t see Violet’s thoughtful face under her costume. “I wish we could find out if Mrs. Keppel is really Elsa Berne. If she took Herr Bear, maybe she had a good reason.”

Henry noticed Professor Tweedy walking quickly in the Aldens’ direction. “What about him?” Henry asked. “We still don’t know why he’s been acting so strangely.”

“For someone who reads bear books, he doesn’t even seem to notice you’re the Three Bears,” Henry said when the professor passed by.

“I’m going to introduce myself,” Jessie decided. “Maybe we’ll get some clues from what he says.” Jessie stepped in front of the professor. “Hello. I’m Papa Bear from
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
.”

This seemed to be a huge surprise to the professor. “Well, whoever put you in that costume should read a few different editions of the story. In the old books, the Three Bears do not grin like cartoon bears as you do in those costumes.” The professor walked away, leaving the Aldens to wonder about him.

Violet lifted her arm to check her watch, but of course it was hidden beneath her costume. “Henry, isn’t it almost time to show Mister B. to the judges? They’re going into the hall. That’s where Professor Tweedy went, too.”

Henry checked his watch. “Time to go, with or without the Herr Bear. I guess all we can do now is keep an eye out for Mrs. Keppel and Professor Tweedy, too.”

“Now Mister B. can keep two eyes out,” Benny reminded everyone.

Streams of teddy bear lovers made their way into the Old Mills Town Hall. They brought their beloved bears in wagons, baskets, baby carriers, and strollers. There were bears of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

“Psst—there’s Mrs. Keppel in front of the ladies’ room,” Jessie whispered to Violet. “She’s got a baby carriage. Let’s follow her. See you two later,” she told Henry and Benny.

Mrs. Keppel gave Violet and Jessie a big smile when she saw them in their bear suits. “Ah, two of the Three Bears,” she said to the girls, whom she didn’t recognize. “Where is Baby Bear?”

Jessie nodded in Benny’s direction. He was standing near the judges’ table with Henry and Mister B. “He’s over there.”

Mrs. Keppel tried to push her carriage into the ladies’ room when the security guard came by. “Sorry, no carriages in there, Mrs. Keppel. Don’t worry, it’s safe out here. I’ll be just down the hall.”

After the guard moved away, Jessie had an idea. “Would you like us to watch your carriage? After all, we’re bear parents, too.”

Mrs. Keppel laughed but hesitated. “
Ja
… I mean, yes. I shall be back within minutes.”

Within seconds, Jessie tugged at the baby blanket covering the carriage.

“Two bears!” she and Violet cried at the same time when they saw two nearly identical bears staring back—one with blue eyes and one with golden eyes.

Violet quickly covered the bears again. “You were right, Jessie,” she said. “Mrs. Keppel did take Herr Bear. I saw his eyes.”

Mrs. Keppel returned. “
Danke.
I mean, thank you,” she said. She pushed her carriage forward and walked off.

When the girls found Henry and Benny again, they had to wait to tell them their news. Grandfather was back and talking to Peggy, Doc, and Herr Bear’s owner, Mrs. Withers. Even Miss Sayer was there, standing next to Mr. Alden. As always, she was holding Chatter Bear. Jessie’s news would have to wait.

“Hi, Grandfather,” Jessie whispered. “It’s me under this costume, and Violet’s in that costume.” They took off the heads of their costumes so Grandfather could see their faces.

Grandfather hugged his plump, furry grand-bears. “You’ve been eating too many berries,” he said, chuckling until he saw some long faces. “Oh, my, I’m afraid my joke won’t cheer up this group. Doc already told me a valuable bear he was fixing for Mrs. Withers here was stolen from the toy hospital. Have you had any luck solving this mystery?”

“Follow me,” Jessie said, waving everyone toward the front of the hall.

“Something’s up,” Violet whispered to the boys.

When the Aldens came to the judges’ table, they were in for another surprise.

“Professor Tweedy!” Henry said. “What are you doing behind the judges’ table?”

Unlike the smiling judges at the table, the professor looked as if he were about to examine machines, not sweet bears. “As you may know, I am a history professor,” he explained. “I’ve been interested in historical bears since I wrote about President Theodore Roosevelt years ago.”

Benny smacked his furry forehead. “I know why! My kindergarten teacher said teddy bears were named after him, because he wouldn’t shoot a cub on a hunting trip. Neither would I.”

The Aldens thought they saw a smile cross Professor Tweedy’s face, but they couldn’t be sure. “That’s quite correct. Mr. Roosevelt was a very popular president, so some toy makers named their bears after him. Not that you’ll see a genuine teddy bear here. They are extremely rare, as I wrote in one of my articles on bears.”

Doc stepped forward to shake the professor’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me you were an expert? I would have given you the run of my collection of bear magazines and books.”

The professor looked over the top of his glasses at Doc. “Don’t mention it. I helped myself to your library. Here,” he said, opening his briefcase. “I borrowed these magazines. You can take them now. As for not telling anyone, I certainly didn’t want all these people with their bears following and pestering me. I’m only here to judge the antique bears—those of historical interest.”

That’s when Jessie made her move. “What about these? Are they of historical interest?” She slowly pulled away the baby blanket covering Mrs. Keppel’s bears.

“That’s my bear!” Mrs. Withers cried. “That woman stole my bear.”

Mrs. Keppel looked around at everyone. “I’m not ashamed at all that I took this bear. Look, Professor,” she said, handing over two yellowed sheets of paper. “You will find my childhood name listing me as the parent of Fraulein Bear. My dear brother Kurt’s name is on the Herr Bear birth certificate. The movers stole our bears when we had to leave our home in Switzerland. I have searched for my bear children for many years. Two years ago I found Fraulein. This week I found her twin, Herr Bear. I would have offered to buy him, but I don’t have the money. I wasn’t going to keep Herr Bear—I just wanted to have the two of them together for a short while. Herr Bear is all I have left to remind me of my dear brother.”

Doc stepped forward. “I’m sad to say, Mrs. Keppel, that Mrs. Withers purchased the Herr Bear at an auction of rare toys years ago. I believe, after all this time, you cannot really claim Herr Bear as your own.”

Mrs. Withers looked shocked. “I had no idea that the bear was stolen,” she said. “If I had known that there was someone who cared about it this much, I would have come looking for you a long time ago.”

“What are you saying, Mrs. Withers?” asked Henry.

“I’m saying that this bear belongs with the person who loves it the most,” said Mrs. Withers. “I have many more valuable bears in my collection. But it’s clear to me that no bear would be more valuable to Mrs. Keppel than the Herr Bear. I’d like you to have it,” she said, turning to Mrs. Keppel. “I only wish you had just told us all who you were to begin with.”