The Gymnastics Mystery

  Violet nodded. “Nobody questions why members of the press are here.”

  “I just wish we could get all the sweatpants people sorted out!” Jessie said. “First that red-haired lady, then the person in the square, and then that guy in the park.”

  “And now Lucas,” said Benny.

  At that moment, a blond woman breezed past them. It was Denise’s mother, Mrs. Patterson.

  Denise’s team and Katya’s team were both practicing on the vault. The two teams were lined up. Each girl ran, hit the board, and vaulted over the horse.

  Mrs. Patterson stood to one side, frowning at Katya. When it was Katya’s turn, Mrs. Patterson said loudly, “That girl’s hair is a mess.”

  The Aldens heard her and so did Katya.

  It wasn’t much of a remark, but it was enough to rattle Katya’s concentration. Her double-twisting vault went well, but she stepped out of her landing.

  Irina frowned. “Katya, I have told you, you must stick the landing,” Katya bit her lip.

  Jessie turned to the others. “That wasn’t fair. Mrs. Patterson made Katya nervous.”

  Katya’s next vault was perfect. So was Denise’s. The two girls seemed evenly matched in that event.

  Benny wished he could sail over the padded horse. Gymnastics looked like so much fun! Then he saw a movement on the other side of the horse. A man was crouched at the edge of the mat, snapping pictures.

  “It’s him again, our mystery man!” he exclaimed.

  Henry saw him next. “So Al Stockton is here. And he seems to be taking pictures only of Katya. She was right.”

  “I hope he doesn’t make her mess up,” said Jessie.

  Just then Katya gave a wail. The Aldens rushed over. Jessie thought Katya had fallen and hurt herself.

  But Katya was standing over her sports bag. Her warm-up suit spilled out of the zippered opening.

  Irina reached her first. “What is it?”

  “My music,” Katya cried. “It is not in my bag.”

  “Not to worry,” said Irina. “We will use my copy.” The coach searched her own bag, pulling out several cassette tapes. But not the right one.

  “What’s going on?” Violet asked, concerned.

  Now Katya was sobbing. “The music for my floor routine is gone from my bag!”

  “And the backup copy I keep is missing as well,” said the coach. “How very strange.”

  The Aldens stared at one another. Two cassette tapes kept in two different bags were missing. It wasn’t just strange. It was downright suspicious.

  CHAPTER 6

  The Box in the Window

  The Aldens rushed forward to help. They searched under the bleachers and around the equipment. They even asked other gymnasts if they had seen two cassette tapes.

  But the tapes had definitely disappeared.

  “It’s like they walked away,” said Jessie, though she knew better. Tapes don’t walk off—someone had taken them.

  Katya was still crying. The music was for her floor routine, her favorite event.

  “We can get you another cassette,” Violet offered.

  “Grandfather can buy it at the music store this afternoon,” added Henry.

  Irina shook her head doubtfully. “Thank you. But the music for Katya’s floor routine is a Russian piece. You would not be able to find it in Greenfield.”

  Jessie had an idea. “I bet Grandfather could find it in another city. He has friends all over.”

  “Perhaps,” said Katya’s coach. “But the competition is tomorrow. We cannot take that chance.” She looked at Katya. “There is only one thing to do. We’ll make up a new routine to a new piece of music.”

  Katya stopped crying. Her eyes widened. “How will I learn a new routine so fast?”

  “Because you are the best gymnast on the team,” Irina declared. “Now dry your tears. We have much work to do.”

  Irina flipped through the extra cassettes she had brought and selected one. “You will like this, Katya.”

  They began designing a new program to the bouncy tune. Soon Katya had learned four tumbling passes. The last pass was a crowd-dazzler with a round-off, cartwheel, handsprings, and three saltos, or aerial somersaults.

  Katya’s shiny red leotard was damp with sweat when Irina finally nodded with satisfaction.

  “Remember to use the entire floor,” she coached. “And give those leaps good height. You cannot lose points on the floor routine. It is your best event.”

  “We have a mat at home,” said Henry. “We’ll help Katya practice some more.”

  Irina smiled. “Katya is lucky to have such good friends. Go back to the Aldens’ for a break, Katya. You do not want to become overtired.”

  On the way home in Grandfather’s station wagon, Katya admitted her fears.

  “Things happen at competitions. But I have never had to learn a new routine one day before the event! I spend months learning new routines. I hope I can remember it!”

  “We’ll write down the moves,” Violet suggested. “And you tell us where that move is when the music is playing. When you practice tonight, we’ll keep saying the move.”

  “Good idea,” said Grandfather as he pulled into the driveway. “Repetition is the key to remembering.”

  Benny frowned. “Repe—what?”

  “Repetition,” Henry answered, getting out of the car. “It’s another word for ‘repeat.’ If you keep doing something over and over, you’ll start to do it automatically. You won’t have to think about it so much.”

  Katya nodded. “Henry is right. Irina always tells me, practice, practice, practice. Even if I think I can do it perfectly, I should practice anyway.”

  Inside, Mrs. McGregor had lunch ready.

  “You’re a little late today,” the housekeeper remarked.

  Grandfather explained about the missing tapes. “Katya had to learn a brand-new routine from scratch this morning.”

  “Well, I’ve made a nice hot lunch from scratch,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Shepherd’s pie and cranberry sauce.”

  Everyone washed up and sat down at the table. Then Mrs. McGregor brought in a large glass dish. Grandfather served helpings of the hamburger, vegetable, and gravy pie topped with whipped potatoes. Cranberry sauce on the side added a pleasant tang to the meal.

  Since she had worked so hard that morning, Katya didn’t have to return to the sports arena until late afternoon.

  But when she was supposed to be napping, the children found her outside pacing around the boxcar.

  “I could not lie still,” she said ruefully. “So I came out here. Is it all right?”

  Benny hopped up on the steps. “You can go inside our boxcar anytime you want.”

  Katya peeped through the doorway. “I cannot believe you really lived here.”

  “We did,” Henry assured her. “As long as we were together, it didn’t matter where we lived.”

  “Though Grandfather’s house is a lot better,” Benny said, making them all laugh.

  Jessie realized that Katya had precompetition jitters. “Why don’t we take a walk? You haven’t seen much of our neighborhood except from the car.”

  “That would be nice,” Katya said eagerly.

  Everyone was already bundled in jackets and scarves against the chilly day. They strolled down the sidewalk, talking about everything but the competition. Benny pointed out a cat sitting on a doorstep.

  “Do you have any pets?” he asked Katya.

  She shook her head. “There is no room—I mean, no time to care for a pet. I am always training, you see.” She fell silent.

  Violet knew Katya had started to say something about not having a cat because of no room. What did she mean by that? But she couldn’t question Katya farther. The gymnast was nervous enough over the upcoming competition.

  They had wandered out of their neighborhood and into the local shopping district. Benny pointed out the grocery store, the dry cleaner’s, and the post office.

  “Mrs. McGregor goes to all
these places,” he explained. “Sometimes we go with her.”

  They crossed the street and found themselves in front of a wide window. In arching gold letters, the words NEARLY NEW were painted on the glass.

  “I’ve never noticed this store before,” said Jessie, pushing back her ponytail. “Has it always been here?”

  Henry nodded. “A few years. It’s one of those places you never notice.”

  Benny pressed his nose against the window. “I would. Look at that cool drum set!”

  He pointed to a snare drum set on a platform in the middle of the display. Surrounding the drums were other musical instruments, silver teapots, china vases, bronze statues, and many other items.

  “Just what Grandfather needs,” Jessie said, giggling. “You learning to play the drums!”

  “Do they sell headphones here?” Violet joked.

  “Looks like they sell just about everything,” Henry replied, scanning the contents of the crowded display.

  Jessie was staring at a small golden box set up high on a velvet-draped shelf. She gasped.

  “What is it?” Violet asked.

  Jessie couldn’t take her eyes off the box. “That little box. I’d like a closer look at it. Let’s go in.”

  Violet gave her older sister a meaningful glance, then led the others inside Nearly New.

  A silver-haired man sat behind a counter filled with jewelry. He glanced up from the crossword puzzle he was working on and said, “Good afternoon. May I help you?”

  Benny spoke first. “How much are the drums in the window?”

  The man looked at Benny over the rims of his reading glasses. “Well, young man, those particular drums aren’t for sale. At least not yet.”

  Benny frowned. “I don’t get it.”

  Henry did. “This is a pawnshop. People who need money bring in things like that drum set and get cash for it.”

  “That’s right,” agreed the owner. “I take the item and give them a claim ticket. The person needs to pay back the money within a certain time period. If he doesn’t, I keep the item and sell it.”

  “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.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Switch

  “Okay,” said Jessie, with her hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. “The big question is, did Al Stockton rent the locker and put his stuff inside and then drop the key?”

  “Or did he lose the key before he could put anything inside?” Henry finished for her. “And what did he want to put in the locker? He had Katya’s bag, which he thought was his. What was he using the locker for?”

  The Aldens sat around the kitchen table.

  Benny’s key lay in the middle. They had fixed hot chocolate to drink with the plate of oatmeal raisin cookies Mrs. McGregor had made that afternoon. Katya was upstairs, resting before her special late-afternoon practice.

  “Questions, questions,” Jessie said. “How do we find the answers?”

  “We could always go to the airport and open locker number seventeen,” Violet suggested. “See what’s inside.”

  Henry shook his head. “It’s a long drive to the airport. What would we tell Grandfather we’re looking for? I think we need to find out more about Al Stockton.”

  “I bet he took Katya’s music,” Benny said, reaching for his sixth cookie.

  “Either him or Lucas Tripp,” said Jessie. “Al is always following Katya. And Lucas keeps trying to interview her. I still think he’s the one who sold the gold box to the man in Nearly New.”

  “The same box that was in the clipping in Katya’s letter,” said Violet. “This is the most complicated mystery we’ve ever had to solve!”

  Henry got up to pour more cocoa into everyone’s mugs. “I don’t like talking about the case when Katya isn’t around. But she’s part of it somehow.”

  Benny sighed. He really liked Katya. If only she weren’t mixed up in the mystery.

  It was nearly dark when Grandfather dropped the children off at the arena. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot.

  Inside, only a few athletes were still working out. Most had finished their practice sessions and had gone home. The big competition was the next day.

  Irina began stretching with Katya immediately. As soon as Katya had warmed up, the coach put the tape in the cassette recorder. Katya began the new floor routine.

  The Alden children wandered around the arena. The press box was empty except for phones and typewriters.

  “All the reporters and photographers are back at their offices, working on the deadline,” Henry guessed.

  “No, there’s Lucas,” said Violet.

  Lucas sat in the bleachers, his notebook beside him. He beckoned for the Aldens to join him.

  “Are you still working?” Jessie asked him.

  She looked at the young man intently, trying to match his features to the description the Nearly New shop owner gave of the man who pawned the gold box. Something was different about Lucas this evening.

  “No, I’m off duty,” Lucas replied. “I filed my story earlier. I just like to watch the kids perform. I want them all to win, but of course that’s not possible.”

  “We sure hope Katya wins,” Benny said. “I think she’s the best.”

  Lucas nodded as Katya flew by on a tumbling pass. ?
??She’s very good. Let’s hope the judges agree.”

  Jessie searched her brain for a way to bring up the gold box. “Have you ever been to Russia?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Lucas said. “I’d love to do foreign reporting someday.”

  Then Jessie realized what was different about him. “You’re not wearing your glasses,” she commented.

  He grinned. “Contacts. Sometimes I wear them instead.” Slapping the wooden seat with his notebook, he rose to his feet. “I should be getting home. My dog will be wanting his supper.”

  “You have a dog?” Violet wanted to know. “What kind?”

  “A golden Lab,” Lucas answered. “All he wants to do is eat and play! See you guys tomorrow.”

  When Lucas had left, Jessie whirled on the others. “Lucas has a golden Lab ... just like the guy in the park!”

  Henry frowned. “But the guy in the park wasn’t Lucas, Jessie. We saw him clear as day.”

  “I know,” Jessie said, biting her lip. If only she could remember where she had seen the man in the park! “This mystery is so confusing, with gold boxes and golden Labs and people in sweatpants. I know there’s a connection somewhere!”

  “We’ll find it,” Benny said confidently.

  On the morning of the competition, Katya had only a glass of orange juice and a banana.

  “I cannot eat too much before a big event,” she told Mrs. McGregor.

  Jessie and Violet helped Katya get ready. Today the gymnast wore her team leotard, blue with a shiny white stripe. They pulled her thick blond hair into a neat ponytail and tied it with a white ribbon. A circle of silver clips kept loose hairs from falling into Katya’s face.

  Then Katya pulled on a shiny satin blue-and-white warm-up suit. Her cheeks were rosy with excitement.

  Then everyone piled into the station wagon, including Mrs. McGregor. Grandfather had bought tickets for the whole family.

  “Too bad Watch has to stay home,” said Benny.

  Katya laughed. “A dog would be a funny sight on the balance beam!”

  But at the main entrance of the arena, Katya stopped.