Karen's Spy Mystery

  “Okay,” Nancy called back. Then Nancy turned to me. She looked very excited. “Karen, Pokey has an eye infection. He needs drops three times a day.”

  “Poor Pokey,” I said.

  “But he is very good about getting the drops. Anyway, Karen, thinking of Pokey just gave me a great idea.”

  I looked at her.

  Nancy explained that the house-sitter could give Pokey his drops in the morning and evening. But someone else would have to do it in the middle of the day. And guess what? That someone could be me.

  Nancy’s parents agreed this was a good idea. So I discussed my salary with Nancy’s mother. Then she showed me how to unlock the back door so I could let myself in and out of the house. I felt gigundoly grown-up. Now I had two summer jobs!

  Karen Brewer: House-sitter

  “Did you pack your camera?” asked Hannie.

  “And lots of paper so you can write us letters?” I asked.

  “What about an umbrella?” Hannie added. “I heard it rains a lot in Seattle.”

  “Yes, yes, and yes,” answered Nancy as she lugged her suitcase down the stairs with Hannie’s help. I carried her backpack.

  “Are you sure you packed enough?” Mr. Dawes joked as he loaded Nancy’s suitcase into the car.

  “We are going to be gone for two whole weeks,” Nancy reminded her father. “And my hiking boots are heavy.”

  “True,” Mr. Dawes agreed.

  Mrs. Dawes was busy closing up the house. Danny was already in the car.

  “You are going on an airplane,” I said to him. “Airplane.”

  He cooed and smiled at me.

  Mrs. Dawes came out of the house carrying a big bag stuffed with toys and snacks.

  “This should keep Danny busy on the plane,” she said.

  “It should,” I agreed. Then I cleared my throat because I had something important to tell Nancy’s parents. “I will make sure your house is all right while you are away,” I said. “I promise.”

  “I am sure you will, Karen,” said Mrs. Dawes.

  I nodded. (After all, I had a lot of responsibility. Bill Barnett would be away all day. And when he was at work, I was in charge. It was a good thing I had a key to the house.)

  “Good-bye, Nancy,” I cried. I wrapped my arms around her, and we hugged. Then Nancy and Hannie hugged. Then all three of us hugged one another together.

  “We will miss you soooo much,” I said.

  “I will miss you too,” said Nancy. She looked as though she might cry. I felt like crying a little too. But I did not.

  “I will take good care of Pokey,” I promised Nancy. “And your house too.”

  “I know you will,” said Nancy. She got in the car and buckled her seat belt.

  “Good-bye, good-bye,” Hannie and I shouted as the Daweses pulled away. We waved until the car was out of sight.

  “What do you feel like doing now?” I asked Hannie.

  “Nothing,” Hannie answered. “I am too sad to do anything.” We walked to my house and went inside.

  Merry (our nanny) and Andrew were in the kitchen playing with clay. Merry was making a sculpture of Andrew. It was so good, I could tell right away who it was. Andrew said he was making a cat.

  “Would you like to play with us?” Andrew asked.

  “No, not today,” I answered.

  “Would you like a snack or anything?” asked Merry.

  We did not feel like eating either. Hannie and I wandered outside. We sat underneath the maple tree in the backyard and talked. I sat facing Nancy’s house. I did not want anything bad to happen to it.

  When Hannie left, I went to Nancy’s to give Pokey his eyedrops. I had to chase him around the house a little. Finally, he jumped on Nancy’s bed and curled up on her pillow. Maybe he missed her too.

  “Good kitty,” I said as I gave him his drops.

  Pokey followed me while I checked all the rooms in Nancy’s house. Everything looked just the way it was supposed to. Then I walked around the outside of the house. I made sure the windows were closed. I checked the doors to make sure they were locked. (I did not want anyone to break in.)

  Then I came home, found my binoculars, and sat on a chair in my front yard, facing Nancy’s house. Someone needed to watch the house during the day. If I had been chosen as the house-sitter, I would have been at the house all the time. I would have been much more responsible than Bill Barnett.

  Silver and Gold

  I was still sitting outside when Mommy came home from work. I told her I needed to stay outside until the other house-sitter arrived. I could not let anything happen to Nancy’s house.

  “Why do you need the binoculars?” asked Mommy.

  “To see anything that looks suspicious.”

  “Karen, it is not polite to spy on people.”

  “I am not spying on anyone, just on the house. No one is in it,” I said.

  Mommy said I had to come inside for dinner when it was ready. She also told me she needed my help with jewelry-making tonight.

  “Sure,” I answered. (I was excited about starting my other job too.)

  Soon a red car stopped in front of Nancy’s house. A tall man with blond hair and a mustache stepped out. A bag was slung over his shoulder.

  I figured he must be the other house-sitter. So I put down my binoculars and raced to Nancy’s to introduce myself.

  “Hello, I am Karen Brewer,” I said. I held out my hand. “You must be Bill Barnett.”

  The man nodded. He was getting two suitcases out of his trunk. He did not shake my hand. “How did you know my name?” he asked.

  “The Daweses told me you will be staying in their house. I am the daytime house-sitter,” I said proudly.

  “Oh,” said Bill Barnett. He looked a little surprised.

  I explained how Pokey needed eye drops three times a day. And that it was very important to remember to give them to him, so he could get over his eye infection.

  “Remind me who Pokey is.”

  “Pokey is the Daweses’ kitten,” I answered, frowning.

  “Oh, that’s right. I had forgotten his name. I know he needs to get eyedrops,” Bill said gruffly.

  I was worried. If Bill Barnett did not know who Pokey was, could he be trusted to look after a whole house?

  I followed him up the steps to Nancy’s front door. I watched him unlock the door and take his suitcases inside. I was hoping he would invite me in. But he did not.

  “I can show you where everything is,” I said. I began to follow him inside. Bill put his suitcases down and turned to face me. Then he started to close the door. “Mr. Dawes already showed me around,” Bill said. “Good-bye, Karen.” I decided I did not like Bill Barnett.

  At dinner I told Mommy, Seth, and Andrew how unfriendly he was.

  “You are not giving him much of a chance,” Mommy told me.

  “He slammed the front door right in my face,” I said.

  “It is his first night here,” said Mommy. “Maybe he was tired and just wanted to get settled in peace.”

  “I was not bothering him at all,” I huffed.

  After dinner Mommy and I spread Mommy’s bracelets on the dining room table. It was my job to polish each one, put it in a plastic bag, then tie the bag with a bright ribbon. I loved helping Mommy. The job was so much fun I forgot about Bill Barnett.

  The bracelets were all different. Some had wide bands with designs on them. Others were in links that looked like grains of wheat. Some even had small jewels set in them. I polished the bracelets carefully so they would look their best. I put each one in its own plastic bag. Then I picked turquoise ribbon to tie the silver bracelets with, and purple and green ribbons for the gold bracelets.

  When we were done for the night, Mommy put the bracelets away in a metal box with a lock on it. They needed to be kept in a safe place because they were made of gold or silver. They were very valuable.

  The Spy Notebook

  That night it was so hot that I could not sleep. I tos
sed and turned. I fluffed up my red pillows, shook off my sheet, then put it on again. Finally, I sat up in bed. I could see Nancy’s house outside my bedroom window. The lights were still on. Maybe Bill Barnett was having trouble sleeping too.

  I decided to see what he was doing. I found my binoculars on my desk. Mommy had told me it was not polite to spy on people. But I had to make sure Nancy’s house was okay. After all, I promised Nancy and her parents I would look after it.

  I walked to my window and focused the binoculars. The curtains in Nancy’s house were open, so I could see a lot. And guess what?

  Bill Barnett was in Nancy’s parents’ bedroom, looking at their books! Once in a while he took a book off the shelf, opened it, then put it back on the shelf. He carried a red notebook with him. Then he sat on the bed to write in it. Was he making a list of the books in Nancy’s house? Was he looking for something valuable? Or maybe something to help him sleep? It was the middle of the night, after all.

  Bill walked to the dresser. He picked up a vase and studied the bottom of it. Then he lifted all the pictures off the walls and turned them over to see what was on the back. How nosy!

  I spent a long time watching Bill. He didn’t take anything. In fact, he put everything back just where it was. Even so, I thought he was acting suspicious. What if he was planning to rob Nancy’s family?

  I decided I would need to spy on Bill some more no matter what Mommy said. This was too important. I would write down everything he did in a notebook. (I had kept the same kind of notebook in Chicago after someone in Mommy’s apartment building was robbed. I wrote down any clue, any suspicious behavior that might help me solve the robbery. And I ended up solving it, with the help of my notes.)

  I needed that notebook now. But where was it? I wasted valuable time looking for it. Who knew what Bill was up to while I searched? I finally found the notebook in the bottom drawer of my desk, buried under a pile of pink construction paper.

  I flipped to a page with no writing on it. In big letters, I wrote MY SPY MYSTERY at the top. Then I took it to the window and began writing.

  The Woman in Black

  “Hannie, You Have to Believe Me!”

  “You sure slept late,” Andrew said to me. I sat at the kitchen table, still in my pajamas, eating a bowl of cereal. Mommy and Seth had already left for work.

  “I had trouble falling asleep,” I explained.

  “Why?” Andrew wanted to know.

  “Andrew, let Karen have her breakfast,” said Merry.

  I looked up at the kitchen clock. It was ten A.M. I am usually up much earlier. “I could not sleep,” I said, which was true. I thought about telling Andrew and Merry about spying. But I did not. Andrew might say something to Mommy. And Merry would probably tell me not to spy on people. Besides, I needed more proof that Bill was doing something wrong. Right now, I just had proof that Bill was nosy.

  “Karen, will you play with me?” asked Andrew when I finished breakfast.

  “Not right now,” I answered. “I have to get dressed.”

  “After you get dressed?” asked Andrew, following me to my bedroom.

  “No, Andrew. I do not feel like playing right now.” I closed my door. When I finished dressing, Andrew was still outside my door. He followed me down the hall, down the stairs, and around the house.

  “Andrew, I am thinking,” I said. “I need to be alone.”

  “Why? What are you thinking about?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Andrew,” I pleaded, “I need some privacy.”

  “Andrew, come here,” Merry called at last. Thank goodness. I really did need to think. I also needed to tell someone about Bill. Someone who would understand why I was so worried.

  I called Hannie from the upstairs phone so no one could hear me. She answered on the second ring. “Hannie,” I said, “you will not believe what is happening in Nancy’s house.”

  “What?”

  I told Hannie how unfriendly Bill was and how he snooped around Nancy’s house, writing things in a notebook. I even told her about the woman in black. I finished by telling her Bill was still up at 2:00 A.M. talking on the phone.

  “So?” said Hannie.

  “So?” I repeated. “Don’t you think all this makes Bill seem very suspicious? He is probably going to rob Nancy and her parents.”

  “Oh, Karen. Bill did not take anything, right?”

  “Right,” I was forced to admit. “But he was listing practically everything in the house.”

  “What is wrong with that? Maybe Bill is writing a book or something.”

  “Hmmm,” I said. I could not believe Hannie was not taking me seriously. “But what about the woman in black?”

  “I am sure the Daweses did not tell Bill he could not have guests. She is probably his girlfriend.”

  “Hannie, you have to believe me.”

  “Bill has not done anything wrong.”

  “He was talking on the phone at two A.M. I am sure he was calling the woman in black to tell her what he stole.”

  “How do you know what Bill was saying? What if he was calling Nancy’s family?”

  “At two A.M.?”

  “They are in a different time zone,” Hannie reminded me. “Seattle is three hours earlier.”

  I sighed loudly. If Hannie did not believe me, who would?

  Bill Barnett

  When Hannie came over to play, I lent her my binoculars so she could spy on Bill when he came home from work. I still hoped to convince her that Bill was up to no good.

  Hannie told me spying was a waste of time. And not nice, besides. But after I begged her, she finally looked through the binoculars.

  “Karen, Bill is just reading a magazine,” Hannie reported. “I cannot see what the title is.”

  “Is the family silver near him? Has he taken the china out of the cabinets?” I asked nervously.

  “No, Karen. He is just sitting at the kitchen table.” Hannie sounded impatient.

  I sighed. Maybe Hannie was right. Maybe Bill was not a burglar. I just wished I knew for sure.

  * * *

  The next day, I saw Bill mowing Nancy’s lawn. He had even come home early to do it. Maybe Bill was okay after all. I decided to give him another chance. I threw my Frisbee into Nancy’s yard so I would have an excuse to run over there and talk to him.

  This time Bill looked happy to see me. He turned off his lawn mower and picked up my Frisbee. “This must belong to you,” he said as he handed it to me.

  “It does,” I answered politely. “Thank you.” I was not sure what to say next. Luckily, Bill spoke first.

  “You must be a good friend of Nancy’s to be taking such good care of her cat,” he said.

  “Oh, I am. Nancy and I are best friends.”

  “You are?” Bill sounded interested.

  “Oh, yes.” I went on to tell Bill how Nancy, Hannie, and I do everything together. He laughed when I told him we were the Three Musketeers.

  Bill and I talked for a long time. He did not seem to want to finish mowing. In fact, he wanted to know all about Nancy: what her stuffed animals were called, what she liked to read, what songs she liked to sing. I was very proud I could answer everything. Bill was even interested in old stories about Nancy and me. “When I first met Nancy, she had a dog called Percy. We used to take him for walks.”

  “The dog’s name was Percy?” Bill said.

  “Yes. He died awhile ago. Her parents named him. Nancy told me Percy was one of the first words she learned to say.”

  “Really.” Bill smiled. “Nancy must have been very smart.”

  I nodded. I could not believe how well Bill and I were getting along. Bill was not unfriendly at all.

  Before I went to bed that night, I peeked out the window with my binoculars. (I could not help it.) Bill sat at the kitchen table writing in his red notebook. Nothing looked suspicious at all. Hannie was probably right. Bill had not done anything wrong.

  I slept soundly knowing Nancy’s house was safe.
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  The Junior Detective Kit

  “Doesn’t this bracelet look shiny?” I held it up so Andrew could see.

  “I like the rock in it,” said Andrew.

  “That is a small ruby,” I said. I had been helping Mommy most of the day. I knew all about the bracelets now.

  “Can we go fly our kite?” asked Andrew.

  “Andrew, it will be dark soon. We do not have time. Besides, I am working.” I put the bracelet in its bag and tied it with a purple ribbon.

  “Karen, you are so busy with your jobs that you never have time to play with me anymore.”

  I sighed. Andrew was right. I had been very busy. “All right, Andrew, I will play with you,” I said. “We can pretend the couch is a spaceship. Our stuffed animals are the crew. We will visit Mars.”

  Andrew beamed. He loved games like this. I must admit I liked them too. Andrew and I played until it was time to help Mommy put the bracelets away for the night. Soon it was time for Andrew to go to bed. I was allowed to stay up a little later.

  I walked down the hall to the bathroom. I noticed something strange from the bathroom window. From the corner of my eye I could see a blue light shining through the blinds in Nancy’s house. I did not think Nancy’s family had any blue lightbulbs. This light was bright—and very mysterious.

  I checked the time. It was a little after nine. That was late, but not too late to call Hannie. Not with important news like this.

  Hannie did not think my news was so important. “Karen, maybe Bill is watching television,” she said.

  “I thought of that. But I do not think the light is coming from the TV room. This light is near the kitchen, I think.”

  “Maybe Bill moved the TV,” Hannie suggested.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “Karen, why are you still so suspicious of Bill? I thought you liked him now.”

  “I do. I just want to be sure Nancy’s house is okay. You know, I am the assistant house-sitter. I have a lot of responsibility.”

  * * *

  I stayed up late writing in my spy notebook. When I went to bed, the blue light was still shining through the blinds. Bill must have been watching a lot of TV.