“Well, isn’t that a funny coincidence,” Grandfather said.
“If it is just a coincidence,” Henry said.
“What do you mean?” their grandfather asked.
“I think we’d better tell you about this in the car,” Jessie said. She and the others quickly put on their coats, hats, and mittens. Once they were in the car, Jessie told Grandfather about their torn posters, which had been replaced by Cassandra’s posters, and about the angry phone call Cassandra had made to Mr. Grayson. They also told him about the conversation they’d overheard in Party Time. “We’ve been wondering if we’re the ones she was talking about—if she’s mad at us for taking away some of her birthday party business. We’re afraid she’s trying to get rid of us—or at least our party business. And now that empty safe trick really makes me wonder …”
“You don’t think she robbed those two families, do you?” Grandfather asked.
“I can’t believe she’d really do that,” said Henry. “And yet …”
“She’s such a successful magician,” Mr. Alden said. “Why would she risk committing crimes to make money, when she does so well with her magic shows?”
“Yes, but not with her birthday party business, and she said that was a big part of her income. Anyway, maybe she didn’t rob the safes for the money,” Jessie offered. “Maybe she just did it as a prank, because she was mad at the families that used us for their parties.”
“That’s a pretty dangerous prank,” Henry said.
“Yes, it is,” Jessie agreed.
“I noticed something else,” said Violet, who’d been quiet since the show ended. “Remember when we went up on stage and Cassandra asked our names? Did anyone notice something strange about her reaction?”
“Yes, I’d forgotten, but I did notice that,” said Benny. “When we told her, she looked surprised. She said, ‘Did you say Alden?’ as if she’d heard our name before.”
“That would make sense if she knows about our birthday party service,” said Jessie.
“Maybe Cassandra isn’t to blame at all,” said Henry. “Maybe it’s her manager using her party service as a cover for his own burglaries.”
“You kids and your mysteries,” said Grandfather. “I agree that there have been some strange coincidences happening lately, but I hope you’re not going to jump to any conclusions about Cassandra.”
“Don’t worry, Grandfather, we won’t,” Henry assured him. “But we’re not going to rest until we’ve solved this.”
CHAPTER 8
The Watcher in the Woods
That weekend was Sara’s birthday party. The day before, the Aldens went to her house to bake the cake and put together the last of the games. Sara had wanted to help and her mother offered their big kitchen.
“So what kind of cake do you want?” Jessie asked Sara.
“Chocolate!” Sara said without pausing for a moment. “A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.”
“That’s a lot of chocolate!” said Benny.
But he was excited because he loved chocolate, too.
Henry came up with the idea of making the cake in the shape of a rocket ship. “We’ll decorate it with candy and marshmallows to look like a real rocket.”
“And remember those little plastic astronauts we bought at Party Time?” Violet recalled. “We can attach some of those to the cake with long strings of licorice, so it looks like they’re floating outside the spaceship.”
Jessie had borrowed a cookbook from Mrs. McGregor, and Benny searched the dessert section for a good recipe.
“Use this one. Mrs. McGregor has made it a lot of times,” Benny commented.
“How can you tell?” Sara wondered.
“Look at all the grease spots and chocolate stains on this page,” he said, pointing.
Everyone laughed. “You’re right, Benny. This is probably the chocolate cake she always makes for Grandfather’s birthday,” said Henry. “It’s great!”
Jessie wrote the ingredients down on a small sheet of paper and stuffed it into her pocket. Then the children all set off for the grocery store.
After they bought everything they needed, Sara and the Aldens returned to Sara’s house and got to work. They went straight to the kitchen, where they unloaded all the groceries and put on aprons.
While the cake was baking, the children made the chocolate icing by beating together butter, powdered sugar, and melted chocolate. Then they cleaned up, putting away all the unused supplies, washing the bowls and measuring spoons and cups, and wiping the counters with a sponge.
Ding! At last the timer went off, telling them the cake was ready.
After the cake had cooled, Henry carefully cut it in the shape of a rocket. Benny and Sara eagerly gobbled up the extra bits. “Yum! This is almost as good as when Mrs. McGregor makes it!” said Benny.
While Benny and Sara were licking their chocolaty fingers, the older children frosted the cake and decorated it.
“Wow!” said Sara when she saw what they’d done. “I love it!”
“Now we’d better finish making the games,” said Jessie.
“What’s left to do?” asked Sara.
“Remember that big box we brought over here the other day?” Jessie asked. “We’ve got to turn that into a rocket for you and your friends to ride in.”
“How are we going to do that?” Sara asked.
“You’ll see,” said Violet.
Sara led the way out to the garage, where they’d stored the large box.
“It’s such a beautiful day, we can work on it outside in your driveway,” Jessie suggested.
“That way we won’t have to worry about dripping paint and making my father mad!” Sara said.
The box had held a large television set, so it was big enough for two children to sit inside. Jessie and Henry cut large windows on the sides of the box and covered them with black paper. Then they decorated the outside of the box with an American flag and made panels of buttons and knobs and dials and switches on the inside.
They’d been working for a while when Jessie noticed that Violet wasn’t helping. She was just looking off into the woods beyond Sara’s house.
“What’s wrong?” Jessie asked her sister.
Violet didn’t answer.
“Violet?” Jessie said again.
“Oh!” Violet seemed startled. She looked around at the other children, who were all hard at work on the rocket ship. She motioned to Jessie, and the two girls moved a little bit away from the rest of the group. Then Violet began speaking quietly. “I saw someone in the woods out there watching us. A man. I saw him a few times—but it seemed as if every time I’d get a good look at him he’d see me and hide. Then he’d show up in a different spot.”
“Was it Mr. Woodruff?” Jessie asked.
Violet thought for a moment. “It might have been. It’s so dark in those trees that it was hard to tell for sure.”
“Or maybe it was Cassandra’s manager,”
Jessie suggested. “I don’t know what he looks like—I only know his voice, from the party store.”
The two girls were quiet for a few minutes as they looked out at the woods to see if anyone was there.
“He seems to be gone now,” said Violet.
“That reminds me of something I wanted to ask Sara,” Jessie said, moving back over to where the other kids were.
“Sara,” she said, “Benny said he saw your dad limping the other day. Did he hurt his leg?”
Sara looked confused. “No. I’ve never seen my dad limp.”
The Aldens all looked at one another.
“Are you sure?” Jessie asked. “Maybe he’d pulled a muscle or something.”
“No,” said Sara. “Not that I know of.”
“Well, never mind,” Jessie said.
Sara and the Aldens finished painting and decorating the rocket ship. When at last they were done, they slipped inside two at a time to see how it felt to “fly” the ship.
“My friends are go
ing to love this!” Sara said.
When they got home from Sara’s a short while later, they gathered in the old boxcar in the backyard. Violet told the others about the man she’d seen watching them.
“That’s pretty strange,” said Henry.
“But isn’t it even stranger that Sara said her father doesn’t have a limp—and never did?” said Benny.
“It sure is,” said Jessie.
“I’ve been worrying about something else,” Henry said. “We’ve done two parties, and during both there was a burglary. What if it happens again tomorrow?”
“I thought of that, too,” said Jessie. “Whoever’s doing the burglaries seems to know when we’ve got a party scheduled.”
“Cassandra knew about Hallie’s party,” Violet recalled. “Mr. Grayson said he’d canceled her when he heard about us.”
“I wonder if she knew about Alex’s party,” said Henry.
“Only one way to find out,” said Jessie. “Let’s call and ask.”
The children went into the house, and Jessie led the way to the family room. There, she picked up the phone and dialed the Pierces’ number. A moment later she said, “Hello, Mrs. Pierce, it’s Jessie Alden. I have a question to ask you, and it may sound a little strange.”
Mrs. Pierce said, “What is it, Jessie?”
Jessie asked, “Did you ever think of having a magician at Alex’s birthday?”
“It’s funny you should ask,” Mrs. Pierce said. “As a matter of fact, we did. Alex has always loved magic, so I called some of the magicians in the area.”
“Was Cassandra the Great one of them?” Jessie asked.
“Yes, that name sounds familiar. I think she was,” Mrs. Pierce said. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s a long story,” Jessie said. “There’s just one other thing I was wondering. Did you tell the magicians what day you were planning to have the party?”
“Yes,” said Mrs. Pierce. “That way they could let me know if they were available.”
“Thanks so much for answering all my questions,” Jessie said. “Urn, have the police caught the burglar?”
“No, we haven’t heard anything from the police.” Mrs. Pierce sighed. “I guess they’re still working on it.”
“I hope they catch the burglar soon,” Jessie said.
“So do I,” Mrs. Pierce agreed. “And I hope your birthday business is going well,” she added. “I’ve got to run. Good-bye!”
“Thanks,” said Jessie as she hung up the phone. She quickly told the others what Mrs. Pierce had said.
“So Cassandra and her manager did know about both parties,” Henry said.
“What I want to know,” Violet said, “is, do they know we’re doing a party tomorrow?”
The Aldens all looked at one another, wondering what the answer to that question could be.
Then Jessie added another question. “And if they do … what are they planning?”
CHAPTER 9
Setting a Trap
“Is there any way to find out if Cassandra and her manager know about tomorrow’s party?” Benny asked.
“I remember the day we met the Woodruffs they said they were thinking of hiring her,” Violet said.
“Yeah, and Mr. Woodruff kept saying he wanted to stick with her instead of us,” Benny added.
“I think it’s time for another phone call,” said Henry, picking up the phone. He quickly dialed the Woodruffs’ number.
“Hi, Mrs. Woodruff?” he said. “This is Henry Alden. I was just wondering … you mentioned that you’d thought of hiring Cassandra the Great to do Sara’s party … Did you actually hire her before you heard about us?”
“I didn’t hire her, but I did call to see if she’d be available that day. I had a lot of different ideas—bowling, or a movie—before I hired you. But I did tell Cassandra that she was asking for too much money and I’d rather use you kids. She sounded pretty annoyed when I said that.” Mrs. Woodruff chuckled.
“Really,” Henry said.
“Why do you ask?” Mrs. Woodruff wanted to know. “There isn’t any problem with tomorrow, is there?”
“Oh, no,” Henry assured her. “Everything’s all set to go. The cake’s ready, the decorations have been made, the games have been planned.”
“Great. Then I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon,” said Mrs. Woodruff.
“Okay!” Henry said, hanging up the phone.
Before he’d even said anything, the others could tell from the look on his face that he had bad news. “She said she did call Cassandra before she hired us. And when she told Cassandra she was thinking of using us instead of her, she said Cassandra got pretty mad.”
“We’ve certainly heard a lot about Cassandra’s bad temper,” said Violet, her face worried.
“But would she get so angry she’d actually rob someone’s house?” Benny wondered.
“I have an idea of how we can find out who the burglar is,” said Henry.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jessie asked. “Let’s set a trap.”
“Exactly,” said Henry. “But I think we had better have a long talk with Grandfather first.”
The Aldens showed up at the Woodruffs’ house the next day, their arms laden with party supplies. The Woodruffs didn’t notice, but Grandfather stayed parked outside while Sara led them down a long hallway into a large sunny room at the back of the house.
“This is our family room,” she told them. “This is where the party is going to be.”
Violet, Benny and Sara got to work immediately putting up the pictures of moons, planets, comets, and sparkly stars they’d painted.
Sara stood in the center of the room, turning slowly around. “Wow! This looks great! I feel like I’m in outer space!” She pretended to float around the room without gravity. Everyone laughed.
When the decorations had all been arranged, the children went into the dining room to set the table. Violet made sure they had all the supplies they’d need for the kids to make space helmets from paper bags. Henry made sure they had enough party favors for all the guests.
Sara’s mother and father came down from upstairs and looked into the family room to see how the kids were doing.
“Your decorations are wonderful,” Mrs. Woodruff said. “You’re real artists.”
“That’s Violet,” said Benny proudly.
“And Sara helped us a lot, too,” Jessie added.
“Didn’t they do a great job?” Mrs. Woodruff said, turning to her husband.
“Yeah, I guess it looks pretty good,” Mr. Woodruff grumbled, without seeming to really mean it.
Just then the doorbell rang.
“My friends are here! My friends are here!” Sara cried, running to open the front door for them.
Mrs. Woodruff and the Aldens followed Sara, excited for the party to begin. But Mr. Woodruff went back upstairs as if he wasn’t even interested in the party.
Several minutes later, all the guests had arrived. Sara led them into the family room.
“Wow!” several of the children said when they saw all the wonderful decorations.
“We’re in outer space!” cried one little girl.
Violet had all of Sara’s friends sit down on the floor in a circle. The children had fun decorating the helmets with colored paper and markers, making moons and stars, and gluing them onto the paper bags.
Once the children were done with their space helmets, they took turns sitting in the rocket ship and pretending to fly. As each new pair of children sat in the cardboard box, Jessie would count down from twenty, shouting, “Blast off!” at the end.
While the children were enjoying themselves, Mrs. Woodruff walked around with her camera, taking pictures of all the kids.
Meanwhile, the Aldens had put their secret plan into action.
While Jessie, Violet, and Benny ran the birthday party, Henry had a special job. He was hiding in the Woodruffs’ living room. Sara had mentioned that her house had a safe there like the other h
ouses in the neighborhood, and the plan was for Henry to keep an eye on it through the whole party. If anyone tried to break into it, he’d be there to see.
Henry huddled behind the couch, which sat in front of a large picture window. He peered around the end of the couch, his eyes on the front door. If anyone came in, he would see them, but they wouldn’t be able to see him. Then he peered out between the curtains to Grandfather sitting in the passenger seat of his car and looking toward the house. They had agreed that if anyone suspicious showed up, Henry would signal Grandfather from the window.
Henry glanced around the elegant room at all the valuable pieces of art. He was sorry to be missing the party, which he could hear faintly down the hall in the family room. But he knew it was important that he stay where he was. Otherwise, the Aldens might never solve the mystery and find the thief. Henry wondered if it would turn out to be Cassandra, as they suspected.
For a long time nothing happened, and Henry began to wonder if maybe no one was going to show up. Maybe they’d been wrong, and the burglaries during their birthday parties had just been a coincidence.
At least they hadn’t upset the Woodruffs by sharing their suspicions.
But suddenly Henry heard a sound at the front door. He held his breath and listened. Yes, it sounded as if someone was turning the knob. The door was slowly, slowly creaking open. All the guests had already arrived, so Henry knew it wasn’t another guest.
Was it the thief?
Henry saw someone dressed in dark clothes enter the house very cautiously. At first Henry couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. He saw the person look around to see if anyone was there. Luckily he or she didn’t spot Henry. Slowly the person moved toward the living room, peering nervously from side to side. Henry was just about to shake the window curtains to signal Grandfather.
Then all at once Henry realized who the stranger was. Mr. Woodruff! But how could that be? Mr. Woodruff was upstairs, wasn’t he? And why would he sneak into his own house? He certainly wouldn’t be coming to steal his own things!