The Mystery of the Empty Safe Read online

  “I’ll come with you,” Benny offered.

  Jessie and Benny put on their coats and walked to the store. At Party Time they walked straight to the arts and crafts aisle. Jessie picked out a large container of silvery glitter. She was just about to bring it up to the front of the store to pay for it when she overheard a man and a woman talking in the next aisle.

  “Cassandra, you can’t do that!” the man was saying.

  “Oh, can’t I?” a woman replied in a strong, confident voice. “If I don’t do something soon, my whole birthday party business will be ruined. And you know as well as I do that it’s a big part of my income.”

  “Benny!” Jessie whispered. “That might be Cassandra the Great in the next aisle.”

  Benny’s eyes opened wide. “Do you really think so?”

  “Shhh!” Jessie hushed him, so she could hear what the two were saying.

  “I know lately things haven’t been working out the way you’d like—” the man had been saying, but the woman named Cassandra cut him off.

  “No, they haven’t—and it’s all because of them,” she said angrily. “You do agree that they’re the whole problem, don’t you?”

  “Yes, it does seem that way,” the man agreed.

  “If I can’t get them to do what I want, then I’ll just get rid of them,” said Cassandra.

  “You wouldn’t do that, would you?” the man asked.

  “Just watch me,” said Cassandra.

  Jessie and Benny heard quick, strong footsteps walking up the aisle. Then they heard the bell on the store’s front door ring, and the store grew quiet. They knew that Cassandra and the man had left.

  “Wow, what do you think they were talking about?” Benny asked Jessie.

  “I don’t know,” Jessie replied. “But before we start trying to figure that out, let’s find out if that really was Cassandra the Great.”

  “How many Cassandras could there be in Greenfield?” Benny asked.

  “Probably only one, but I want to be sure,” said Jessie.

  The children brought the container of glitter up to the front of the store. Ms. Fox was behind the counter as usual. “More glitter?” she asked. “Didn’t you just buy some of this a few days ago?”

  “You have a good memory,” Jessie said, getting the money out of her pocket to pay. “We were wondering, did you see that woman who just left?”

  “Yes,” said Patti Fox. “That’s Cassandra the Great.” She pointed to the poster on the wall. “You know, the magician. She and her manager come in every once in a while to buy supplies for her shows. Did you know she’s doing a show right here at the community theater tomorrow night?” Other customers entered the store, and Ms. Fox turned to help them. “See you kids later!” she called.

  The Aldens walked out of Party Time. “So that was Cassandra the Great and her manager,” Jessie said. “Too bad we didn’t get to see what they looked like.”

  “Ms. Fox said she’s doing a show tomorrow night!” Benny said. “Can we go see it? I love magic.”

  Jessie was silent for a moment before she spoke. “You know, Benny, that’s not such a bad idea. It will be fun. And I think it’s about time we found out just who this Cassandra person is, and if she’s trying to put us out of business. I’ll call Grandfather from that pay phone on the corner. If he says it’s okay, we can stop at the theater and buy tickets.”

  As the children walked to the phone, they talked about the conversation they’d overheard in Party Time.

  “What do you think she was talking about?” Benny asked his sister. “She sounded pretty angry.”

  “Yes, she did,” Jessie agreed. “She said that if she didn’t do something soon, her birthday party business would be ruined. I wonder what that meant.”

  “Do you think she could have been talking about our taking some of her business?” Benny asked.

  “Maybe. She also said, ‘They’re the whole problem,’ ” Jessie reminded him.

  “You mean, ‘they’ might be us?” Benny asked.

  “Maybe,” Jessie said.

  “But Jessie, don’t you remember what else she said?” Benny asked, his voice becoming anxious. “She said, ‘If I can’t get them to do what I want, then I’ll just get rid of them’!”

  Jessie and Benny both stopped walking and stared at each other.

  CHAPTER 6

  Mr. Woodruffs Workshop

  When Jessie and Benny got back to the Woodruffs’ house, they wanted to tell the others what had happened in town. But Sara was there, and they decided to wait until they were alone.

  All the decorations were done except the stars. The children quickly mixed the glitter with the yellow paint and painted the stars.

  As they were working, Mr. Woodruff came downstairs, as grouchy as ever.

  “Are you kids here again?” he asked.

  “We’ve got a lot to do if we want this party to be really great,” Henry explained.

  Mr. Woodruff walked slowly around the basement, looking at all the decorations the children had painted. He was frowning the whole time. The children waited anxiously wondering what he would say about them. But he said nothing. Instead he noticed some spots on the linoleum floor. “You spilled some paint here,” he said, annoyed.

  “Don’t worry Mr. Woodruff. It’s washable paint,” said Henry quickly. “We’ll clean everything up before we go.”

  “Make sure you do,” Mr. Woodruff grumbled. “There are cleaning supplies in there.” He motioned to a door. “And Sara, have you cleaned your room yet?”

  “No, Dad,” Sara said quietly. “I was going to do it later.”

  “You’d better have it done before dinnertime,” her father said before heading upstairs.

  Benny was sitting silently. He had a thoughtful look on his face.

  Sara was also sitting quietly, her face red. At last she spoke softly. “I’m sorry about my dad. He’s not usually like this. It’s been a hard year. Ever since Uncle John …” She stopped, and said nothing more.

  “That’s okay,” Violet said. “Sometimes people act differently when they’re feeling sad or something is bothering them.”

  “Yes, I guess so,” Sara muttered.

  Henry opened the door Mr. Woodruff had indicated, looking for a sponge. The door led into a large workshop. There were some large pieces of machinery and some long wooden boards propped up in a corner. The floor was covered with sawdust.

  Sara followed him in. “This is my dad’s workshop,” she explained.

  “Looks like he’s good with his hands,” Henry said, impressed by all the tools. “What kind of things does he make?”

  “He doesn’t make things as much as fix things,” Sara said. “You know, anything that breaks—my mom’s radio, my Rollerblades. Once he even had to fix the lock on our safe when it got stuck.”

  “The lock on your safe?” Henry repeated.

  “Yeah, we have a safe built into a cabinet in our living room,” Sara said. “My parents keep jewelry in there, you know, expensive stuff like that.”

  Henry nodded quietly, but his mind was racing. He’d had no idea that Mr. Woodruff was good at fixing things—like locks on safes. Could he be the one who’d been breaking into safes? He’d have to discuss this with the others on their way home.

  Sara and Henry found cleaning supplies in a corner cabinet. They returned to the main part of the basement and wiped up the drips of paint. Violet was setting out the last few painted stars to dry.

  “Well, we’re all done here. We’d better get going. We promised Mrs. McGregor we would help her with chores today,” said Jessie.

  “And she’s making macaroni and cheese tonight!” Benny said excitedly.

  “You wouldn’t want to miss that,” Sara said with a smile.

  On the way home, Jessie said, “Wait until you hear what Benny and I overheard today at Party Time,” and she told them the whole story of Cassandra’s angry words and of the magic show she had gotten tickets for.

  “Cassa
ndra the Great?” Henry asked.

  “The one and only!” Jessie said. “She’s doing the show tomorrow night at the community theater. I thought we should see who our competition is!”

  “Do you really think Cassandra was talking about us in Party Time?” Violet asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Jessie. “It’s possible. Right, Benny?”

  But Benny didn’t answer. He hadn’t been listening.

  “Benny, what’s the matter?” Jessie asked. “Is something bothering you?”

  “I was just thinking about when Mr. Woodruff came down to the basement,” Benny said. “Did anyone notice how he was walking?”

  “Was there something odd about the way he walked?” Henry asked.

  “No,” Benny said.

  Now the others were really confused.

  “Benny, what are you talking about?” Jessie demanded.

  “Don’t you see?” said Benny. “He walked like everybody else. Mr. Woodruff didn’t have a limp!” Benny said.

  “Oh,” Jessie said, understanding at last. “But when you saw him following us, he was limping.”

  “Yes,” said Benny. “I just don’t get it.”

  “Maybe he only limps when he walks a long way,” Jessie said. “Or maybe he had pulled a muscle and now it’s healed.”

  “Yes, or maybe it wasn’t really Mr. Woodruff you saw,” Violet suggested.

  “But I was sure it was,” Benny said, looking confused. “Now I don’t know what to think!”

  “Well, listen to this,” Henry said. He told the others what Sara had told him about her father fixing the lock on a safe. And then he added, “If he can fix a lock, he probably knows how to break into one.”

  CHAPTER 7

  The Magic Show

  “I can’t find my new shoes!” Benny called.

  “Can someone tie my purple hair ribbon?” Violet asked.

  It was the following night and the Aldens were getting ready to go to the magic show. They were all getting dressed up in their best clothes. The boys were in slacks and jackets, and the girls wore pretty dresses. Even Grandfather was wearing a suit and his red flannel vest.

  “Here are your shoes,” Henry said, pulling them out from under Benny’s bed.

  “Oh, is that where they were,” said Benny. “How did you know?”

  “Because that’s where I always find them when you forget to put them away in the closet, silly,” Henry said.

  Meanwhile, Jessie was tying a purple satin ribbon in Violet’s hair. “There,” Jessie said, standing back and looking at her work. “You look very pretty, and the bow matches your dress perfectly.”

  “Thanks,” Violet told her sister. “And you look nice, too.”

  In a short while the Aldens arrived at the community theater. A large crowd filed into the auditorium. There were lots of young children, and the air was filled with the buzz of excited voices.

  Jessie heard a boy next to her say, “This is the same magician that I saw at Billy’s birthday party. She was great!”

  A man in front of them was telling another man, “Yes, we saw her here last year. She puts on a great show.”

  As soon as the lights began to dim, the voices hushed. Music played and the lights came up on the stage. Then Cassandra appeared, dressed magnificently in a purple satin dress with a matching top hat and cape. The audience broke into applause.

  Cassandra was a tall woman with long, flowing brown hair. She walked gracefully back and forth across the stage, smiling out at the audience and bowing her head slightly in thanks for the applause. As soon as she spoke, Jessie and Benny recognized the voice they’d heard in Party Time. Only now she didn’t sound angry. Now her voice was calm and cool.

  Cassandra began with some small tricks, pulling silk flowers and scarves from her cape and hat. She heaped the colorful scarves and flowers on a small round table to her right. She juggled some sparkly balls and made them disappear. She poured a glass of milk into her hat, and the milk vanished. With each trick she invited the audience to help her by repeating the magic words she recited. The Aldens eagerly joined in, laughing and clapping at the tricks.

  The next trick was a card trick. A girl Cassandra had chosen from the audience had to pick cards from a deck and Cassandra guessed the numbers. Amazingly, she was right every time. After the girl sat down, Cassandra called up another volunteer—this time a boy sitting near the stage.

  Cassandra asked the boy to write his name and favorite ice cream flavor on a piece of paper. She took the paper from him.

  Everyone was very surprised by what she did next. She tore up the paper into little pieces and dropped them into her hat. Then she waved her hand over the hat and pulled out—a whole sheet of paper. The paper wasn’t even crumpled. When Cassandra turned the hat upside down, there was nothing else inside—no torn scraps. Next Cassandra held up the paper and read from it. “Mint chocolate chip,” she said. “Is that your favorite kind of ice cream?”

  The boy nodded.

  “And your name is Kevin?” Cassandra asked.

  “Yes,” said Kevin, obviously amazed. “But you just tore up what I wrote. How did you …?”

  “That’s my secret,” Cassandra said, sending Kevin back down to his seat. “And now we’re going to take a short break. But make sure you’re back in your seats for the second half of the show!” The audience began clapping, and Cassandra smiled and curtsied before the curtain fell.

  “That was great!” Benny said as the lights came back on.

  “It sure was,” Henry agreed.

  “She seems so nice,” said Violet. “It’s hard to believe she said all those mean things and might be trying to run us out of business.”

  “You’re right,” said Jessie. “She doesn’t sound anything like she did yesterday at Party Time.”

  “How about some Cokes?” Grandfather suggested. They all walked out to the lobby and enjoyed drinks and popcorn before returning to their seats.

  The second half was even more exciting than the first. Cassandra was now wearing a sparkly red outfit with a matching red top hat. She took a live dove from her top hat and placed both dove and hat on the little round table, where the dove settled comfortably on the brim of the top hat among the silk scarves and flowers. Then she blew up some long thin balloons and twisted them into animal shapes—a dog, a bird, a monkey in a tree. She threw the first two balloon animals to eager children in the audience. But the monkey she put under her cape—and when she lifted her cape, it was gone. She did several more tricks and then paused and spoke dramatically. “I need three volunteers for my last and most amazing trick,” Cassandra said.

  “Pick me, pick me!” Benny whispered under his breath as he reached his arm up as high as he could.

  “You in the blue jacket,” Cassandra said, pointing right at Benny, “and the girls on either side of you.”

  Benny, Jessie, and Violet turned around to make sure she was really pointing at them. “Us?” Benny asked.

  “Yes,” Cassandra said with a smile, “you three.”

  “Go on!” Henry said, patting each of them on the back as they slid down the row of seats and walked up the aisle to the stage.

  “What are your names?” Cassandra asked Benny.

  They each said their names in turn.

  Cassandra seemed surprised. She paused for a minute. “Did you say Alden?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Benny said.

  Then Cassandra recovered from her surprise. “Well, do you see this big box behind us that’s covered by a cloth?”

  “Yes,” they answered.

  “Benny, Violet, go pull the cloth off,” Cassandra said.

  They did as they were told. Underneath the cloth was no ordinary box. It was a safe.

  “This trick is called the Mystery of the Empty Safe,” Cassandra said. “Jessie, will you hand me what’s inside the safe?” Jessie opened the door to the safe, which was not locked. Inside was a large bag with a dollar sign on the front. She lifted out the b
ag and gave it to Cassandra. It was quite heavy.

  “What’s inside?” Cassandra asked, holding out the bag so Jessie could put her hand in.

  Jessie reached in and pulled out some gold coins. “Looks like gold,” she said.

  “Ah, money,” Cassandra said, her eyes lighting up. “Now, Violet and Benny, look inside the safe and tell me if you see anything else.”

  “No,” Benny said after he’d looked.

  “Just an empty safe,” said Violet.

  “Now, all of you, feel the safe—try to move it. Is it heavy? Does it feel solid, like a real safe?” Cassandra asked.

  Benny, Jessie, and Violet banged on the safe with their hands, tried to push it, and walked all around it, inspecting it closely.

  “It feels very solid,” said Jessie.

  “Put the money bag back inside, please, Jessie,” Cassandra instructed.

  Again Jessie did as she asked. Then Cassandra shut the door of the safe and turned the lock on the front. “Now, each of you see if you can open the safe.”

  Benny Jessie, and Violet each tried pulling the door open, but it was locked shut. Benny even tried turning the lock, but the door still wouldn’t open.

  “I bet I can open it,” Cassandra said. She stepped in front of Benny and waved her hand over the safe. Then she knocked two times on the top of the safe, stepped back, and the door swung open by itself. Inside, the safe was empty.

  The audience gasped and then began applauding. Jessie, Violet, and Benny smiled in surprise. Cassandra bowed deeply, and then showed the Alden children off the stage. Cassandra bowed one more time, the curtain fell, and the show was over.

  Grandfather was standing up, putting on his coat and wrapping his scarf around his throat, when he noticed that none of his grandchildren were ready to go. They were all staring at the curtained stage, looking amazed and confused.

  “Can you believe that last trick she did?” Jessie said at last.

  “Wasn’t that wonderful?” said James Alden. “I’ll never guess how she did it.”

  “That’s not what Jessie means,” Henry said. “That trick was … well, it’s exactly what’s happened to the two families we’ve given parties for. At the end of the parties their safes are empty.”