His jaw dropped open.
“What is it?” Violet asked.
“Joe’s jacket,” Henry said softly.
The others looked to see what had shocked Henry. Sewn into the back of the man’s jacket was a picture of a scary-looking spider. Above it were the words, BEWARE THE SPIDER’S BITE.
CHAPTER 7
The Bracelet
“Weird,” said Violet. “That can’t be just a coincidence.”
“We have been seeing a lot of spiders lately,” said Benny.
“How could I forget,” Jessie said, rubbing her back.
“Besides the ones on your back and Joe’s back, there’s the design on the Blackwells’ gate,” Violet said.
“And the one I saw in the glass case,” Benny added.
“And the red hourglass symbol on the boxes,” Violet said.
Henry had been silent while the others were talking.
“Henry, what are you thinking about?” Violet asked him.
Henry was startled out of his thoughts. “What?”
Violet smiled. “I asked what you were thinking about.”
“Oh — I don’t know. The words on Joe’s jacket, ‘Beware the Spider’s Bite.’ That sounds so familiar,” Henry explained.
“Really? Why?” asked Jessie.
Henry shook his head. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I can’t remember.”
“What do you think those guys were doing at the Blackwells’ house?” asked Benny.
“I don’t know, but they didn’t look happy,” said Violet.
“They said they made the Blackwells some sort of ‘offer,’ which the Blackwells refused,” Jessie recalled. “Joe said he thought he could convince them.”
“That must be why Joe had the Blackwells’ name on that piece of paper we found,” Violet said. “He was planning to go talk to them about something.”
“Maybe Joe and his friend are trying to get the Blackwells to do some sort of spy mission,” suggested Benny.
“Or a private investigation,” said Violet.
“Joe told us before that he’s interested in the Blackwells’ spider gate,” Henry reminded them. “But there must be more to it than that, since we’ve seen both Joe and his friend watching the house.”
“So what is going on?” Benny demanded.
“I don’t know yet,” said Jessie, “but I think we’re close to figuring it out.”
That night before bed, Henry peeked out his bedroom window. He was curious to see if Mr. Blackwell’s light would be on again. The windows of the Blackwell house were dark, but Henry spotted something even stranger. Bright flashes of light were coming from the Blackwells’ yard.
“What is that?” Henry said quietly to himself. The flashes were too bright to come from lightning bugs and too small to be real lightning. Henry thought they could have come from a strong flashlight, but why would someone be turning the flashlight on and off like that? Henry looked for flashes in the other neighbors’ yards, but they only came from near the Blackwells’ house.
Henry sat up, watching. Eventually the flashes stopped and Henry went back to bed.
The next morning over breakfast, Henry told the others what he’d seen. “Flashes?” asked Violet. “Like lightning?”
“Yes,” said Henry. “But it wasn’t lightning.”
“If there had been a thunderstorm last night, I’d have known,” said Benny. “I love thunder and lightning!”
“Come on, you guys,” said Jessie. “I want to get to the museum to see what we can learn about spiders. Maybe we’ll see something there that will help us figure out all these weird things that are going on.”
“We should stop by and let Mrs. Blackwell know we won’t be coming today,” Violet said. “At least not until later.”
The Aldens finished their cereal and put the bowls and spoons in the dishwasher. Then they got on their bikes. After they stopped at the Blackwells’ house they were going to ride to the museum.
As they pedaled down the street, Benny said, “Not again!”
“What is it?” asked Violet
“That man is there again, Joe’s friend. He’s in front of the Blackwells’ house,” Benny said.
The others looked. Sure enough, the man was standing on the sidewalk facing the house, holding his hands up in front of his face. “What’s he doing?” Henry wondered.
Jessie figured it out. “He’s taking pictures! He’s got a camera.”
“You’re right, Jessie!” said Violet. “Let’s go talk to him to find out why.”
Before they could reach him, the man tucked the camera into his jacket. He got into his car, which was parked at the curb. Then he sped off.
“You know, maybe that’s what I saw last night,” Henry said. “Maybe those flashes were from a camera!”
“You think that man was taking pictures in the Blackwells’ yard at night?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know,” said Henry. “I don’t know why he’s taking pictures at all.”
“I think we should tell the Blackwells,” said Jessie. “I wouldn’t want someone taking pictures of our house without our knowing. Who knows what he’s up to.”
“I agree,” said Henry.
The children were turning into the Blackwells’ driveway when Benny called, “Watch out!” A long, black limousine was coming down the driveway. The Aldens stopped just in time.
As the limo drove past, the children tried to see who was inside. There was a driver in front wearing a cap. But the back windows were tinted, making it impossible to see who, if anyone, was in the back.
The limo pulled out into the street, and the Aldens stood watching it for a moment.
“It’s weird that the people inside can see us, but we can’t see them,” Violet said.
“I can’t believe someone here in Greenfield drives around in a limo,” said Jessie, “like a movie star.”
“Or a top-secret spy,” said Benny.
As usual, Mrs. Blackwell opened the door as soon as the children reached the front step.
“Hi,” said Jessie. “Is it okay if we take the morning off today? We want to check out this spider exhibit we read about.”
A strange look passed across Mrs. Blackwell’s face.
“Would you like to go to the exhibit with us?” Henry asked.
“No,” said Mrs. Blackwell, a little too quickly. Then she smiled. “That’s fine — you’ve been working hard the last couple of days.”
Henry looked thoughtful but said nothing.
“Mrs. Blackwell,” said Jessie, “as we were walking here, we saw a man taking pictures of your house.”
“You did?” Mrs. Blackwell said. She looked surprised.
“Yes, and we think he was here yesterday, with another man,” Violet said.
“Oh, him,” Mrs. Blackwell said. “He was taking pictures?”
“Yes,” said Henry. “I think he might have been taking pictures last night, too. I saw some flashes of light in your backyard.”
Mrs. Blackwell raised her eyebrows. “You don’t miss anything, do you?”
Benny looked proud. “No, we don’t. We like mysteries and we’re good at finding clues. We haven’t found a mystery yet we couldn’t solve.”
Mrs. Blackwell smiled, as if she had a secret. “I see,” she said.
“So are you going to do something about the man taking pictures?” Jessie asked.
“Don’t worry about him,” said Mrs. Blackwell. “Have fun at the museum!”
“We’ll come by tomorrow to see what you need done,” Henry offered, turning to go.
“Great,” said Mrs. Blackwell. As the children stepped back outside, Mrs. Blackwell put her hand on the door to shut it behind them. As she lifted her arm, a thin gold bracelet slipped down her wrist and glinted in the sunlight. The bracelet held a single charm. Before she shut the door, the children caught a quick glimpse of the charm. It was a red hourglass.
CHAPTER 8
The Black Limousine
/> When the Aldens arrived at the museum, they were greeted by a large yellow banner hanging in front. Tall red letters on the banner spelled SPIDERS AND OTHER ARACHNIDS. Below the words was a picture of a giant spider.
“Here we are,” said Henry. The Aldens parked their bikes and walked up the front steps.
Inside, the children asked the woman at the information desk where the spider exhibit was. “In there,” she said, pointing to the main exhibit hall. The hall looked more crowded than the Aldens had ever seen it.
“This is the biggest exhibit we’ve had in a long time,” the woman said.
“Really?” said Jessie.
“I had no idea it would be so popular,” said the woman. “It just opened this morning and we’ve already had more people than some other exhibits draw in a whole week.”
“I guess people are really interested in spiders,” said Henry.
The Aldens entered the exhibit hall. Right in front of them was a model of a giant spider in a very realistic web.
“Wow!” said Benny.
“It’s like something from a horror movie!” said Jessie.
“Of course!” said Henry, hitting his forehead with his palm. “A movie! Beware the Spider’s Bite!”
The others looked at him strangely.
“Joe’s jacket,” Henry explained. “I knew it sounded familiar. Now I remember — Beware the Spider’s Bite is a movie title. I saw posters for it last summer.”
“I wonder why Joe has that jacket,” said Violet.
“He must have really liked the movie,” said Benny.
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “That jacket looked pretty special. I wonder if he actually worked on the movie — you know, helped to make it.”
But Benny was no longer listening. He had just spotted something at the back of the exhibit hall. “Cool! There’s a web back there you can climb on!” cried Benny, heading that way.
The others went off in different directions to see whatever interested them. Violet wanted to see the photographs of spiders that lined the walls. Jessie headed toward a diagram of a spider with labels identifying its different body parts. Next to the diagram there were models of spiderwebs and other kinds of spider traps. Henry studied some large maps showing which spiders came from which parts of the world.
When Benny reached the back of the hall, he quickly climbed onto the giant spiderweb made out of rope. Several other children were already climbing on it. Making his way to the top, Benny looked out at the room. He had a great view of the whole exhibit hall. It was crowded with visitors studying displays and museum staff helping them.
One person in the crowd caught Benny’s eye. He was a short man with dark skin and shiny brown hair. He was wearing a long black coat. He stood off to one side of the exhibit hall, leaning against the wall. He looked right at Benny. When Benny’s eyes met his, the man quickly turned and walked away.
The reason Benny noticed the man was that instead of looking at the exhibits like the other visitors, the man seemed to be studying the people in the crowd. As Benny watched, the man took a small notebook and a pen out of his jacket pocket. He jotted something down, then put the notebook quickly back into his pocket and strolled on.
Benny was fascinated. What was the man doing?
Benny looked around to see where his sisters and brother were. Henry and Violet were on the other side of the room, but Jessie was close by, studying the scorpion display.
Benny quickly climbed down the web. “Jessie,” he called, hurrying over to her.
“Cool stuff, huh?” Jessie asked.
Benny nodded. “Yeah, but —”
“You’ll never believe it — I touched a tarantula back there,” Jessie said, pointing to the back of the hall. “It was really furry. I’m just glad I didn’t have a spider like that on my back.” She turned back to the scorpion photograph she’d been studying.
“Jessie, listen,” Benny said.
Hearing the urgency in her brother’s voice, Jessie turned away from the photo and looked at him. “What is it?”
Benny scanned the crowd until he spotted the man with the notebook. He was standing at the back of the hall.
Benny motioned with his head. “See that man back there?” he asked. “The one in the long black coat?”
Jessie looked. “Yes.”
“Well, he’s not looking at the exhibit — he’s just watching the people,” Benny said. “He was even watching me for a while.”
“So?” Jessie asked.
“And he keeps writing in that little notebook,” Benny added. “See?”
“Don’t tell me you think he’s a spy,” said Jessie.
But Benny was too excited to notice that Jessie was teasing him. “Maybe he’s working with Mrs. Blackwell.” Then his eyes opened wider. “Or maybe he’s the man she’s trying to catch!”
Jessie sighed. “Wait a minute. Just because there have been some strange things happening on our street lately doesn’t mean everyone in Greenfield is up to something.” She strolled on to look at the next display.
But Benny was still focused on the mysterious man. He followed the man around the exhibit. The man definitely seemed to be studying the visitors more than the displays. Every now and then, he pulled out his notebook and made a quick note before tucking it back inside his coat. Benny tried to get a glimpse of what the man was writing, but he held the notebook too close to his chest.
“Hmmm …” said Benny. “Definitely up to something.”
The man approached a door with an official-looking sign on it.
Benny looked at the sign on the door and sounded out the words. “St … staff … only. Staff only. Hey!” Benny said to himself, “he can’t go in there!” The man wasn’t wearing a museum uniform but he was headed straight for the door.
Benny stood facing the closed door, wondering what to do. Should he tell someone?
Before Benny could do anything, the man pulled the door open and went inside.
As the man shut the door behind him, Benny caught sight of something unexpected. On the man’s wrist was a gold chain bracelet. The bracelet held a red hourglass charm.
Benny gasped. “I’ve got to find the others,” he said to himself.
“Stop right there!” said a voice behind him.
Benny froze, startled. But when he turned around, he saw it was just Jessie, a big smile on her face.
“Jessie, you’ll never believe it!” he said. “I was following that man and I saw something. He was wearing a bracelet!”
“So, some men wear jewelry,” Jessie replied. “Benny, you’ve really got to stop —”
“But it had a red hourglass on it!” Benny said.
Jessie’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Really?” She frowned. “Let’s go tell the others.”
She and Benny found Henry and Violet in front of the giant spiderweb. Benny quickly told them about the mysterious man and the bracelet.
“How weird,” said Violet.
“Come on,” Henry said. “I want to see this guy. Let’s try to find him.”
As the Aldens headed around the room, Violet stopped in front of a photo of a spider wrapping a fly it had just caught in its web. “These photographs are amazing,” she said.
“They are cool,” said Jessie.
Then Violet smiled. “Hey, did you notice the name of the photographer? It says Arachnia Borrero. Mrs. Blackwell’s name is Arachnia, too.”
“That’s funny,” said Henry. “Arachnia can’t be a very common name.”
Benny looked away from the photograph toward the museum lobby. “Hey,” he said. “There’s the man!” He raced out of the exhibit.
The others chased Benny into the lobby after the mysterious man.
The man quickly crossed the lobby and headed out the front door of the museum. He was already down the steps and standing by the curb when the Aldens stepped out of the museum door.
A black limousine with dark-tinted windows pulled up to the curb. The Aldens watched
as the back door opened and a white hand with shiny, red nails and a gold bracelet reached out. The hand grasped the man and seemed to pull him into the limousine. The car pulled away almost before the door was shut.
“That was Mrs. Blackwell!” said Benny. “She’s caught the man she was looking for!”
CHAPTER 9
A Mystery Solved
Henry sat down on the front steps of the museum. This was going to take some figuring out. The others plopped down beside him.
“All right, what do we know about that man?” asked Jessie, pulling a pad of paper and a pen from her backpack.
“He was at the exhibit but he wasn’t looking at the displays. He was just looking at the people,” said Benny.
Jessie wrote that down. “And didn’t you say he was writing in a notebook?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Benny. “He also went in a door that’s only supposed to be for museum staff.”
Henry looked up when Benny said that. “Really?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Benny. “The door said staff only.”
“I think that may be the answer,” said Henry. “I think that man must have worked on the exhibit.”
“You do?” asked Benny. “Why?”
“That’s why he went through that door,” Henry explained. “That’s why he wasn’t interested in the exhibits, that’s why he was watching the people. Remember this exhibit just opened. He was probably making sure things were running smoothly.”
“That makes sense,” said Jessie. “Maybe he’s some kind of expert on spiders.”
“He could be,” said Henry.
“But what about his red hourglass bracelet that matches Mrs. Blackwell’s?” Benny asked. “And the fact that he went off in her car?”
“That part makes sense to me,” said Violet, who had been thinking quietly. “I bet he’s her husband.”
The children all looked at Violet.
“You think Mr. Blackwell is a spider expert?” asked Benny.
“Think about it,” said Violet. “You saw a spider in a glass case in the room where he works. They’ve got a lot of books about spiders and maps labeled with their scientific names.”