“Who did run away?” Cecil Knight pursued.
“The person who stole the ruby,” said Jessie. “We found the ruby buried in the dump pile.”
Grandfather looked confused. “A valuable stone buried in a pile of dirt? That doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s the perfect place,” said Henry. “Who would think of looking in the dump pile? But the thief got nervous and checked on it one night. When we went down there, the thief ran away.”
Cecil Knight sat down at his desk. “Why would anyone be so dishonest?”
“Some people here are very interested in getting a star ruby for their collection,” Grandfather put in, looking at Sybil.
“You don’t think it was me?” Sybil asked, shocked. “Yes, I’d love a star ruby. But I wouldn’t steal one! I felt bad enough kicking over the children’s bucket the other day.”
“So that wasn’t on purpose,” said Violet. “We thought you took Jessie’s backpack at first, too,” she added. “We found a scrap of white shirt material at the creek the day it was taken. And the day I found my Mama Bear ruby, you left the gem line in a hurry. At lunch later, you seemed very interested in my pack, which looks just like Jessie’s.”
“I can explain,” said Sybil. “I had forgotten to take my medication and I remembered while I was in line. I went back to my cabin to take it. But I don’t understand about your pack. I thought Jessie’s pack was taken.”
“It was,” Jessie explained. “Mine looks just like Violet’s.”
“All this talk of rubies and backpacks!” Donald said scornfully. “What does this have to do with the robbery?”
“Because,” said Henry, “the thief was interested in winning the contest.”
“And who was it?” Cecil Knight demanded. “Who is the thief?”
Jessie produced the warning note. “The same person who wrote this. Donald Hodge.”
Everyone sat stunned.
Then Donald’s face turned a deep red. “How dare you accuse me! Anyone could have written that. What real proof do you have?”
“This.” Henry pulled out the black velvet bag. “This is your Papa Bear ruby. We found it in the Laundromat. Jessie, let me have the star ruby again.”
Jessie handed him the star ruby. Henry scratched the star ruby across Donald’s ruby.
“Our ruby leaves a mark!” Benny said. “That means Donald’s ruby isn’t a ruby at all!”
Mr. Knight was amazed. “You were going to enter a fake ruby in the contest? That would never work.”
“Donald must have known that,” said Henry. “What I don’t know is why he did it.”
Donald shoved his hands in his pockets and glowered.
Benny stared at him. The way Donald was standing reminded him of something …
He went over to the wall and looked at the picture of the two boys standing by the waterwheel. The taller boy had his hands jammed in his pockets and was frowning into the camera.
“Look,” Benny said, pointing to the photograph. “Donald looks just like the boy in this picture, the way he’s standing.”
Cecil Knight took the photograph off the wall. Then he looked carefully at Donald. “It is you!”
“Who?” asked Jonathan, puzzled.
“Mr. Knight’s cousin,” Benny said matter-of-factly. “He’s the cousin who came to visit once.”
“Cousin Don,” Mr. Knight said. “I haven’t seen you since you came with Uncle Josh and Aunt Cathy, forty years ago. So that’s why you’re always wearing sunglasses—you thought I’d recognize you. What are you doing here?”
“These kids think they’re so smart,” Donald sneered. “Why don’t they tell you?”
“We can guess,” said Henry. “You want Ruby Hollow.”
“That’s exactly it,” Donald confessed angrily. “The mine should belong to me. My father said we got cheated. So I decided to come back and make trouble. I tried to make people think you run a dishonest operation.”
“You took my backpack and returned it so we would complain,” said Jessie. “But you ripped your shirt that day. We matched the scrap to the shirt you left in the Laundromat.”
“You did things like complain about the buckets being salted,” said Violet. “When Jessie found the star ruby, you took it. If everyone knew there was a thief here, they might leave. But we never reported the robbery.”
“If you’re such clever detectives,” Donald said, “what else have you figured out?”
Henry had noticed something on the wall, too.
“We saw you spying on us the day we went creekin’,” said Henry. “But you were really watching Mr. Knight, weren’t you? You were in his office that day. Is that when you read about a star ruby being found here in 1988?”
“I was looking for Cecil’s account books,” Donald admitted. “I’d heard he was in debt.”
“I was in debt a few years ago,” Cecil Knight said. “But my business is doing better now. This winter I’m going to fix up the cabins.” He shook his head. “I still don’t understand why you had that fake ruby.”
“I was going to enter it in the contest, and when the judges called it a fake, I planned to tell everyone it came from one of the native-stone buckets you sold me,” Donald explained.
“And then Jessie Alden found a star ruby that upset your plans,” Sybil figured. “So you stole her ruby.”
“I wanted to take away anything else I could—like this resort.” Donald said.
“Never!” Cecil Knight stated. “Ruby Hollow Mine belongs to me and always will. I suggest you leave immediately. For Aunt Cathy’s sake, I won’t press charges.”
Donald left the room in a huff.
“Thanks, kids,” Mr. Knight said to the Aldens. “Don could have caused a lot of damage if it hadn’t been for you.”
“We’re just glad everything turned out okay,” said Jessie. “And if it’s all right with Grandfather, we’d like to sell the ruby to you, for your museum.”
Violet took her gem box over to Jonathan.
“I know this isn’t a star ruby,” she said. “It’s not even a Papa Bear ruby. But I’d like to give it to you for Carrie. I think it would make a pretty ring.”
Jonathan smiled at her. “Your ruby will make a very special ring. Thank you very much. I’ll tell Carrie all about you Aldens.”
Benny grinned. Another mystery solved!
Maybe, he thought, we won’t have to dig for our next case!
About the Author
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.
Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.
Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN
SURPRISE ISLAND
THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY
MYSTERY RANCH
MIKE’S MYSTERY
BLUE BAY MYSTERY
THE WOODSHED MYSTERY
THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY
MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY
SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY
CABOOSE MYSTERY
HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY
SNOWBOUND MYSTERY
TREE HOUSE MYSTERY
BICYCLE MYSTERY
MYSTERY IN THE SAND
MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL
BUS STATION MYSTERY
BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY
THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY
THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY
THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING
THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO
THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY GIRL
THE MYSTERY CRUISE
THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST
MYSTERY IN THE SNOW
THE PIZZA MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY HORSE
THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW
THE CASTLE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE
THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE
THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL
THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC
THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT
THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN
THE MYSTERY ON STAGE
THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC
THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK
THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR
THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE
THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN
THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE
THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY
THE HURRICANE MYSTERY
THE PET SHOP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE
THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO
THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY
THE SOCCER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC
THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER
THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL
THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY
THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY
THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY
THE PANTHER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS
THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY
THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY
THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP
THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN
THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL
THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK
THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY
THE POISON FROG MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE
THE HOME RUN MYSTERY
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES
THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME
THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE
THE HOCKEY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG
THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL
THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY
THE COPYCAT MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE
THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN
THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE
THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY
THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP
THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT
THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY
THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY
THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY
THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY
THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY
THE RADIO MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST
THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR
THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE
THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING BONES
THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT
THE GAME STORE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN
THE VANISHING PASSENGER
THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY
THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE
THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY
THE SECRET OF THE MASK
THE SEATTLE PUZZLE
THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW
THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND
A HORSE NAMED DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING TOMATOES
THE SPY GAME
THE DOG-GONE MYSTERY
THE VAMPIRE MYSTERY
SUPERSTAR WATCH
THE SPY IN THE BLEACHERS
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copyright © 2001 by Albert Whitman & Company
978-1-4532-2146-4
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