“We were painting flowers,” Violet explained. “Anybody can take a class in the park, you know. There were some children painting and a few older people, too.”
“Did Ted want to take painting?” Benny asked. He couldn’t imagine that.
“No,” laughed Violet. “But he said he knew some ladies who might like to paint. And the next day, guess who came? Miss Douglas and her neighbor, Mrs. Fields.”
“I remember Mrs. Fields,” Benny said. “Ted and I put up the bird feeder for her. She had sprained her ankle.”
“That’s why she said she wanted to try painting,” Violet said. “I was a little afraid to have the ladies in my class. I’m not that good a teacher. But Miss Douglas and Mrs. Fields were so nice that we all had a good time.”
“How did Miss Douglas act?” Benny asked. “Was she really pleasant to you?”
“Oh, yes,” Violet exclaimed. “She asked Jessie and me to come over to her house after we were through with our work at the park. We knew how to find Woodland Path because Benny had told us so much about getting there.”
Jessie said, “Miss Douglas is a lot different in her own home. She’s not at all like the woman who goes shopping at Furman’s. She told us she had just moved here. She likes Greenfield very much.”
“I remembered that Miss Douglas helped me buy my blouse,” Violet said. “I asked her how she had learned so much about clothing. She told us she likes to test different fabrics. She washes samples to see if the color runs. She dries them in the sun to see if the colors fade.”
Benny said, “Miss Douglas told me she’s been testing the different coffeemakers, too.”
While the others talked, Henry had been quiet. Now he asked, “But why is Maggie Douglas asking everyone to come to a picnic next Wednesday? It seems like a lot of work just to be friendly.”
“You’ll have to wait and see,” was all Mr. Alden answered when Henry looked at him. And that ended the talk about Miss Douglas, at least for the day.
Benny and Henry were kept busy at the department store. There was a big back-to-school sale, and so Henry was working upstairs in the boys’ clothing department.
Benny carried up boxes of sweaters, T-shirts, and socks. He began to think every boy in town was going to have new clothes for school.
On the first floor Benny overheard Mr. Fogg talking to a customer. She had twin boys and wanted to buy them school outfits.
“Try to get Henry Alden to help you,” Mr. Fogg said. “He’s just working for us this month. But he tries to please his customers.”
“Well!” Benny thought to himself. “That doesn’t sound like Mr. Fogg at all. Maybe Miss Douglas is right. He growls like a bear, but he isn’t so bad when you get to know him.”
But Mr. Fogg sounded more like his old self when Benny asked, “Are you coming to the picnic?”
“What makes you ask?” Mr. Fogg answered gruffly. “Who cares if I come? But I guess I’ll have to go.”
On Tuesday evening, Benny and Henry were talking together about working at the store. Benny was thinking about the picnic. “You know what?” he asked. “I think I know why the picnic is being given. I think the new owner wants to meet all the store people.”
“What makes you think that?” asked Henry. “The new owner is in New York. Why would the owner want to come to Greenfield to meet people?”
“The owner is supposed to be in New York,” Benny said. “Supposed to be. That’s the part to remember. But we’ll soon see.”
When the buzzer sounded for closing time at noon on Wednesday, everyone at Furman’s hurried. Soon the dust covers were in place over the counters. Toni closed out her cash register. Salespeople made sure their sales books were in order.
This was the last day of work for Henry and Benny. August was over. It made the boys feel good when some of their new friends said, “See you next summer. We hope you’ll be working with us again.”
“I hope so, too,” said Benny.
Most of the workers drove or rode with friends, but Benny and Henry rode their bikes to Woodland Path.
It was a beautiful summer afternoon. The first thing the guests saw on arriving was a long picnic table covered with a red-and-white paper cloth. There were paper plates stacked at one end. There were platters with sliced ham and roast beef. There was chicken, too, and cheese and salads. Baskets were filled with rolls and whole wheat bread. It was a feast!
Standing behind the table, ready to help her guests, was Miss Douglas. But she was not the Miss Douglas most of the store people knew. Her hair was fluffy and no longer done up in a tight bun. She wore a red shirt and a denim skirt. Her new earrings looked fine.
“Help yourselves, everyone,” she called out happily. “I’m so pleased you could all come!”
Jessie and Violet served iced tea and coffee. They ran back and forth to the house to get more platters of meat and fresh salads. Ted Evans passed the baskets of rolls.
Mr. Furman and Mr. Alden found a shady place to sit. Doris and Toni sat nearby.
“Is Mr. Fogg coming?” Doris asked.
“There he is now,” Toni said. “But what’s he bringing with him?”
Mr. Fogg looked around at the guests and the food set out on the picnic table. He frowned, then a smile slowly spread over his face. “I thought this was a picnic where every guest brings something,” he said, holding out his paper bag.
“Oh, no,” laughed Miss Douglas. “I’m giving this picnic. But if you brought something, that’s fine.” She opened the bag and took out a huge jar of pickles, the largest anyone had ever seen.
“They’re sweet pickles,” Mr. Fogg explained.
Miss Douglas laughed, and so did the others. Maybe Mr. Fogg wasn’t exactly sweet, but he was trying hard not to be the sour pickle he’d often been called behind his back.
People laughed and talked. Miss Douglas made everyone feel at home.
After cake and ice cream, Miss Douglas stood up. Someone rapped on a glass, and everyone became quiet.
“Friends,” she said, “you all know me as Maggie Douglas. Now it is time to tell you who I really am. I’m—”
“Maggie Douglas Squires!” Benny exclaimed loud enough to be heard clearly. He clapped his hand over his mouth. He hadn’t meant to let anyone know he’d solved the mystery.
It didn’t make any difference. Maggie Squires laughed and said, “Benny’s right, that’s who I am. I’m the new owner of Furman’s Department Store. I want all of you to know that I’m pleased with the way the store is run.”
Some of the guests turned red. They remembered that they had not wanted to wait on this woman. They had found her questions hard to answer and had been rude.
Mr. Furman came over and shook Miss Squires by the hand. He said, “Until a few days ago, I only knew the name of the owner who had bought Furman’s Department Store. It was M. D. Squires of New York City. Mr. Alden had assured me this was a reliable person who had a lot of experience. He told me the new owner would be fair and not make sudden changes. I was afraid that might happen if someone new took over the store.”
“Benny, how did you know who I was?” Miss Maggie Squires asked.
“I just put a lot of clues together,” Benny said. “Those notes about the kind of work people were doing, you wrote those, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” nodded Miss Squires.
“And the lockets—you put them on the jewelry counter.”
“Yes, but I really should not have done that,” she said and laughed. “I never dreamed it would cause so much trouble. And Henry nearly caught me when I tried to get in the store at night and couldn’t use my key because the lock had been changed.”
Sam, the night watchman, was staring at Miss Squires. “Then I did hear someone in the store,” he said. “I just had a feeling I wasn’t by myself.”
“I was sure you were going to catch me,” Miss Squires said. “There wasn’t time for me to get out of the store. I didn’t know what to do. I stood very still and tried my best
to look like a store dummy. I was afraid I’d sneeze or something.”
“That was you?” Sam said. “Well, you fooled me!”
Mr. Fogg came up and shook Miss Squires by the hand. “You really do know all about merchandise,” he said. “Mr. Furman told us the new owner would know what would sell and what wouldn’t. And you really do.”
“Why, thank you,” said Miss Squires. “I moved to Greenfield a while ago, but I didn’t want to take over Furman’s Department Store suddenly. I wanted to learn to know Greenfield people and the workers in the store. It wasn’t easy to pretend I was cross, complaining, plain Miss Douglas. I want to thank Mr. Furman and all of you for being patient with me. Now we’ll all work together and have the best department store anywhere!”
Everyone clapped and one by one came up to greet Miss Squires.
“Benny and Henry, I hope you’ll work with us again,” Miss Squires said. “Maybe I’ll make Benny my store detective.”
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 book. And so she continued the Aldens’ adventures, writing a total of nineteen books in the Boxcar Children series.
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 MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE
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 NAME
D DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING
TOMATOES
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1976 by Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN: 978-1-4532-0830-4
This 2010 edition distributed by Open Road Integrated Media
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Gertrude Chandler Warner, Benny Uncovers a Mystery
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