Gymnastics Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner [Warner, Gertrude Chandler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-2130-3
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2011-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

“So the person who pawned the drums still has time to pay you back,” Violet said, trying to understand the system.

The owner nodded.

Henry touched a saxophone. “You have so many musical instruments.”

“I get a lot of them,” said the owner. “And jewelry. Watches and class rings, mostly.”

Jessie whispered to Violet, “Can you take Katya over there so I can talk to the man?”

“Yes,” Violet whispered back. Louder, she said, “Katya, have you ever seen such pretty rings?” They moved down the display case, admiring the jewelry.

Jessie leaned closer to the owner. “That gold box in the window. What is it?”

“It’s the strangest thing,” said the man, scratching his chin. “I’m sure it’s a fine work of art. But the young fellow who sold it to me only wanted two hundred dollars!”

“Do you remember what he looked like?” Jessie inquired.

“Let’s see. He had light hair, blue eyes. And he wore blue sweatpants.”

Blue sweatpants again! Did everyone in town wear them? Jessie wondered. But the description sounded familiar.

Henry and Benny gathered around her.

“Why the interest in that gold box?” Henry asked.

Sneaking a glance at Katya, who was still with Violet, Jessie replied, “It looks like the one in the newspaper picture that was in Katya’s letter. Remember? She didn’t want us to see it.”

“I remember the picture,” said Benny

“How could a gold box in a Russian newspaper wind up in a pawnshop in Greenfield?” asked Henry.

Jessie shrugged. “I don’t know. But the person who pawned it sounds like Lucas Tripp! He has light hair and blue eyes.”

“A lot of people do,” Henry pointed out practically. “Lucas wears glasses. The owner didn’t mention glasses.”

Jessie didn’t want to give up the clue. “But Lucas is also interested in Katya. And she got the newspaper clipping in her letter. Maybe the printing on the clipping was a code!”

Benny was studying a small item in the display case. It was a tiny silver key with the number 11 stamped on it.

“This key,” he said to the owner. “What does it go to?”

“Oh, that’s my airport locker key,” the man replied. “I make a lot of last-minute trips, so I keep a packed carry-on bag at the airport in a locker. This way I can leave right from the shop. And I keep my locker key in the case so I don’t lose it!”

Benny felt the key he kept in his pocket. A piece of the mystery suddenly became clear.

He owned the key to an airport locker. And he found it the day Al Stockton, mystery man, ran into them at the airport. Al Stockton had dropped it.

The day they picked up Katya.

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