The Mystery Girl (6 page)

“But there's something strange about it,” Violet said quietly, looking around. “I don't know what it is. But this room doesn't look right.”

On the stone mantel of the fireplace were two photographs in silver frames. Violet walked over and looked at them. One was a picture of a man and a woman. The second was a picture of a young boy and girl. They were standing near a tree, and the boy's face was in shadow. But the girl's face was in sunlight. “This girl looks a little like Nancy,” Violet said. “But she has long, brown hair. Nancy's is red and short.”

Jessie didn't answer. She was staring at a small shopping bag on the kitchen counter. “Look,” she said to Violet, pointing.

The bag was white, with green letters that spelled the words
Elmford Shopping Center.

Just then, Nancy came into the room, ready to go. Jessie and Violet didn't say anymore to each other. But they both wondered why Nancy would buy things at the new shopping center when she knew how worried Mr. Taylor was about it.

There were a lot of customers at the general store in the morning. But the afternoon wasn't very busy. Violet decided to make a new sign. When she finished, she showed it to Mr. Taylor.

“Something Aunt Jane said made me think of it,” Violet told him. On the sign, she had drawn a picture of the general store. It looked just like the real one. Below the picture were the words,
Taylor's General Store. Old-fashioned Quality. Old-fashioned Prices.

Jessie said to Mr. Taylor, “Aunt Jane said your things were just as good as the ones in the new shopping center. But not as expensive.”

“It's a perfect sign, Violet,” Mr. Taylor said. “Thank you. I'm going to put it out on that tree by the road.”

“I'll help you hang it up,” Henry said.

Violet went out with Mr. Taylor and Henry. Jessie stayed inside to help Benny fill one of the candy jars with sour balls.

“I haven't tried one of these yet,” Benny said, as he held the jar steady. When Jessie was finished pouring the candy, he took a penny out of his pocket and put it on the counter. Then he popped a sour ball into his mouth.

“Benny!” Jessie said, laughing. “You should see the face you're making.”

“It
is
sour,” Benny mumbled because his mouth was full. “But I like it.”

“I don't think there is any candy you
don't
like.” Jessie was still laughing. But when she looked across the room, she saw Nancy, and she stopped laughing.

Nancy was standing by the shelves of clothes. A new shipment of T-shirts had arrived that morning. As Jessie watched, Nancy took a yellow shirt off the shelf. Then she rolled it up and tucked it under the shirt she was wearing. It hardly showed.

Jessie could hardly believe that Nancy was really stealing something. But she had seen it. She was so shocked that she gasped, and Benny heard her.

“What's wrong, Jessie?” he asked.

Jessie shook her head. She didn't want to tell Benny about it now. “I'll explain later,” she said.

Just then, Mr. Taylor, Henry, and Violet came back inside. “Time to close up for the day,” Mr. Taylor said. “Remember, Nancy, you have tomorrow morning off.”

“I haven't forgotten, Mr. Taylor,” Nancy said. “Maybe I'll go see a movie tonight.”

Everyone helped to clean up the store for the day. As Henry swept the floor, he noticed that Jessie was very quiet.

“What's the matter, Jessie?” he asked.

“I asked her the same thing,” Benny said. “But she wouldn't tell me.”

“I can't right now,” Jessie said. She looked at Nancy, who was nearby, dusting the counter. “I'll have to tell you . . .”

“Later,” Benny finished. He made a face. “I'm always having to wait.”

Henry smiled. “This time, we both have to wait, Benny.”

Jessie tried to smile, too, but it was hard. She couldn't forget that she had seen Nancy Baldwin stealing from Mr. Taylor's store.

CHAPTER 8

The Visitor

T
hat night, Benny got his pancake dinner. Jessie cooked bacon, too, which everyone liked. But when they sat down at the table, Violet noticed that Jessie wasn't eating much.

“What's wrong, Jessie?” she asked. “Do you feel bad?”

“Yes, but not the way you mean,” Jessie said. “I saw something awful happen at the store earlier.”

“Is that why you were so quiet?” Henry asked.

Jessie nodded.

“Well, tell us,” Benny said. “It's ‘later,' isn't it?”

“Yes, it is,” Jessie agreed. “It happened while Henry and Violet were outside with Mr. Taylor. Benny was eating a sour ball and I was laughing. Then I saw Nancy. She didn't see me.”

“What did she do?” Henry asked.

“She took a T-shirt from the shelf and tucked it under the shirt she was wearing,” Jessie told them. “I watched her the rest of the time we were there, but she didn't take it out. When we all left, she still had the shirt hidden on her.”

The others didn't say anything for a moment. They were as shocked as Jessie had been.

Finally Benny said, “How could Nancy steal from Mr. Taylor? He's so nice.”

Violet looked troubled. But she said, “I just can't think Nancy would do something like that unless she had a good reason.”

“That's what I keep thinking,” Jessie said. “But what reason could she have?”

“Maybe she took the shirt because she doesn't have enough money to buy one,” Violet suggested.

“But Mr. Taylor pays her,” Jessie said. “And she has that ring, remember? She can't be very poor.”

“Should we tell Mr. Taylor or Aunt Jane?” Violet asked.

“We'll have to tell someone soon,” Henry said. “We won't be here much longer. And we can't leave without saying something.”

“I know,” Jessie agreed, pouring syrup on her pancakes. “But I wish we could solve this mystery ourselves.”

Jessie ate some of her dinner. Then she stopped. “I just remembered something, Violet,” she said. “The shopping bag. When Violet and I were in Nancy's cabin this morning, we saw a bag from the Elmford Shopping Center.”

“If she can buy things there, then she doesn't have to steal,” Henry said.

“She didn't buy much,” Violet said thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“Now I know what bothered me about her cabin,” Violet said. “It was so empty, remember, Jessie? There weren't any books, or little knick-knacks, only those two photographs.”

Jessie nodded. “Nancy said she has been on her own for a year. But she just doesn't have any
things.
”

Henry shook his head in confusion. Then he snapped his fingers. “I just remembered something, too,” he said. “The first day we were here, Mr. Taylor had to order more socks. He was surprised that there were so few left.”

“And when he asked Nancy about them, she got real nervous,” Jessie said.

“Then the next day, Jessie and I saw Nancy put money into the cash register,” Henry continued. “And today she took a shirt.”

Benny stopped eating. “I don't get it,” he said.

Henry and Jessie had to laugh. “I don't either, Benny,” Henry said. “This is a real puzzle.”

“I like most puzzles,” Benny said. “But not this one.” He got up and took his plate to the sink. On his way back to the table, he glanced out of the front window. He stopped suddenly.

“What is it, Benny?” Violet asked.

Benny gestured for the others to join him. They did. Outside, they saw Nancy and Mrs. Edwards. They were walking together toward Mrs. Edwards's car.

In the morning, the Aldens were still puzzled. “I guess Mrs. Edwards and Nancy
do
know each other,” Violet said, as they all walked to the store. “But I still wonder why Mrs. Edwards asked us about her.”

“So do I,” Jessie said. “And I didn't say anything about this yesterday, but when I saw that shopping bag in Nancy's cabin, I started to wonder if Mrs. Edwards and Nancy
both
might have something to do with the Elmford Shopping Center.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“I don't know exactly,” Jessie admitted. “Maybe they both work for the center in some way. Maybe they're spying on Mr. Taylor's store to see if he's losing business or something.”

“If they are, that could be why Mrs. Edwards went to Nancy's cabin during our picnic,” Henry said. “And why we saw them leaving together last night.”

Violet looked upset. “I don't believe Nancy would do anything to hurt Mr. Taylor,” she said.

“I have trouble thinking that, too, Violet,” Jessie said. “In fact, I really
don't
believe it. But something funny's going on.”

“It sure is,” Henry said. “I hope we have a lot of work today. It will take our minds off of Nancy.”

There
was
a lot of work to do. No one had a chance to talk about Nancy.

At ten-thirty, a young man came into the store. Jessie was measuring some material for a customer. Henry and Benny were in the storeroom with Mr. Taylor. Violet was putting bunches of carrots on the vegetable table.

“Good morning,” said the young man.

Violet smiled shyly. “Good morning,” she said. She was a little nervous about waiting on someone by herself. “May I help you?”

“No, thank you. I just came in to look around,” the man said. He walked over to the building tools.

Violet finished with the carrots and went to the counter. The young man was still walking around. He had light brown hair and a friendly face. He looked familiar to Violet, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him.

After a few minutes, the man came to the counter. “Is Nancy here?” he asked. “Nancy Baldwin?”

“This is her morning off,” Violet told him. “She'll be back after lunch.”

“Then she
does
work here!” the man said. He seemed happy. “I'll come back later,” he said to Violet.

“What's your name?” Violet asked. “I'll tell Nancy you were here.”

The man suddenly looked concerned. “No, please don't do that!”

“But . . .” Violet started to say.

“It's a . . . a surprise visit,” the man said, smiling again. “It would spoil it if you told her.”

Before Violet could say anything, the young man walked to the door. “Remember,” he called as he left, “don't spoil the surprise!”

Violet waited until Jessie's customer was gone. Then she told Jessie about the young man.

“I heard you talking,” Jessie said. She looked worried. “He sounded afraid that Nancy might not want to see him.”

“That's what I thought,” Violet said. “But I wonder why she wouldn't. He was nice.”

“I think we should tell Nancy about him,” Jessie said. “She can decide if she wants to see him or not.”

When Henry came out of the storeroom, they told him about the man. He agreed that they should tell Nancy about her “surprise” visitor.

A few minutes later, Violet stepped outside to shake out the dust cloth she'd been using. As she shook it over the side of the porch, she glanced down the path toward the cabins. There were two people standing in front of Nancy's cabin. One of them was Mrs. Edwards. The other was the young man who had been in the store earlier.

As Violet watched, Mrs. Edwards gestured toward Nancy's cabin. Then the young man walked up on the porch and turned the door handle. Violet gasped. The door opened, and the young man walked right inside!

Violet wanted to tell Henry and Jessie, but she didn't want to leave until she saw what happened. Before she could decide what to do, the young man came back out and shut the door behind him. From the way he shook Mrs. Edwards's hand, Violet could tell he was excited. In just a couple of seconds, the two of them walked to the end of the path and went into Mrs. Edwards's cabin.

Violet ran back into the store. “Jessie, Henry!” she cried, when she saw her sister and brother. “I just saw the man who was here, asking about Nancy. He was with Mrs. Edwards. Nancy must have left her cabin door unlocked, because he opened it and went inside. I thought for sure he was a robber, but when he came back out, he wasn't carrying anything.”