The Mystery of the Queen’s Jewels
Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Illustrated by Charles Tang
ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago
CHAPTER 1
An Exciting Phone Call
“I’ll get it!” twelve-year-old Jessie Alden called, running for the telephone. She and her brother, six-year-old Benny, had been playing checkers in the living room of their grandfather’s large house. Jessie reached the phone on the hall table just as it rang for the third time. “Hello?” she said, picking it up. “Yes, this is the home of James Alden. I’m his granddaughter.” She paused, listening to what the person on the other end was saying. “Really? How exciting!” Jessie said after a moment.
Benny had followed his sister into the hall. He wondered who was on the telephone, and what he or she had said that was so exciting. He liked solving mysteries, even small ones like this.
“I didn’t even know he was going away,” Jessie said into the phone.
“Who’s going away?” Benny said to himself.
“To London!” Jessie was saying. “I’ll tell him as soon as he gets home. Thank you. Good-bye.” She hung up the phone.
“Who was that? What’s so exciting? Who’s going away?” Benny asked.
“Slow down,” Jessie said, smiling at her little brother. “That was Grandfather’s travel agent. She said that his airplane tickets to London are ready.”
“Airplane tickets!” Benny cried with excitement. “But where’s London?”
“It’s across the ocean, in a country called England,” Jessie said.
“Did I hear you say Grandfather was going away?” asked their ten-year-old sister, Violet, who had just come downstairs.
“Yes, to London!” Benny said. “It’s across the ocean, in another country!”
“Let’s go look in the atlas, Benny, and I can show you exactly where it is,” Jessie suggested.
They all went into the den, which was lined with bookcases. Their fourteen-year-old brother, Henry, was sitting in a large comfortable chair, reading a book. Their dog, Watch, lay curled up at his feet.
The children had lived with their grandfather ever since their parents had died. At first they’d been afraid of him and had run away to hide in an old boxcar in the woods. But once they met Mr. Alden they’d realized what a warm, loving man he was and had come to live with him. And he had even moved the boxcar to the backyard so they could play in it.
Jessie told Henry about Grandfather’s trip. Then she pulled out the large leather-bound atlas from the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases. She turned the pages slowly until she found a map that showed the United States and England. “See, here’s where we live.” She pointed to the United States. “And here’s England,” she said, pointing to a small country on the other side of the page. “London is the capital city, just like Washington, D.C., is the capital of our country.”
“What’s all that blue in the middle of the page?” Benny asked, pointing.
“That’s the Atlantic Ocean,” said Henry.
“England looks pretty far away,” said Benny.
“It is,” Jessie said. “Grandfather’s plane ride there will probably take at least six hours.”
“Look,” Henry said, pulling another book from the shelf. “Here’s a guide to London.”
The children gathered around Henry as he slowly turned the pages. The book told all about London, the sights to see and things to do. It had lots of glossy colored pictures. Henry turned to a page with a picture of a palace.
“What’s that?” Benny asked.
“That’s Buckingham Palace, where the queen lives,” Henry said.
“Wow! A real palace, with a queen and everything!” said Benny.
The next picture showed a line of men marching, wearing bright red coats, and tall furry black hats on their heads. “Those are the queen’s guards,” Jessie said.
“Their hats sure are funny,” said Benny.
“That’s Big Ben,” said Violet, pointing to another picture.
“Who?” Benny asked.
Violet giggled. “It’s not a who,” she said. “It’s a beautiful old clock tower.”
“And there’s a double-decker bus,” said Henry. “It must be fun to ride on the top of one of those.”
“I bet Grandfather is going to have a good time in London,” said Benny. “I sure wish we could go with him.”
That night, when James Alden came home for dinner, his grandchildren were waiting for him in the front hallway.
“Your travel agent called today,” Jessie said. “She told me—”
“We didn’t know you were going away,” Benny interrupted. “To London!”
“Yes, I have some business to take care of there,” said Grandfather. “I just found out myself.” He took off his coat and hung it in the closet.
“I wish we could go with you,” said Benny.
“You do?” Grandfather said. Nobody noticed the slight smile on his face.
“We found some pictures of London in a guidebook,” Jessie explained. “It looks like a wonderful place.”
“It’s one of my favorite cities,” said Grandfather, his smile spreading. “I think you’ll like it.”
“You think we’ll like it?” asked Violet.
“Yes,” Grandfather said, breaking into a big smile. “You’re coming with me!”
“We are?” asked Benny.
“I guess the travel agent didn’t tell you,” Grandfather explained. “Those airplane tickets are for all of us.”
“Hooray!” the children chorused.
A week later, their suitcases packed, the Aldens were boarding a large airplane, bound for London. It was almost nine o’clock at night. Grandfather had explained that they would sleep on the airplane and the next morning they’d be in England.
“We’re in row three,” called Jessie, leading the way. “We can put our backpacks up here, Benny.” After putting her own backpack in the overhead bin, she reached for Benny’s. He had packed all sorts of games and toys in his little red backpack.
“But I wanted to do some of the puzzles I brought,” he said.
“Grandfather said we have to put everything away before takeoff,” said Jessie.
She settled into her seat and helped Benny buckle his seat belt. Henry and Violet were sitting right across the aisle, and Grandfather was in front of them, reading his newspaper.
Just then, a man came rushing down the aisle. He was wearing a wrinkled suit and a raincoat. His arms were filled with newspapers, and over his shoulder was a red backpack much like Benny’s. The man’s face was flushed, as if he’d been running, and his hair was a mess. He stopped when he got to the third row, and dropped everything onto the floor. After searching in all his pockets, he finally pulled out a crumpled ticket. He looked at it, then turned to Henry and spoke softly with a British accent. “Excuse me. I believe you’re in my seat.” He held out his ticket for Henry to see.
Henry looked at the man’s ticket. “I think you’re in this row,” he said politely, pointing to the seat in front of Jessie.
“I am? Yes, you’re right. I’m so sorry,” the man said. He looked down at his pile of things on the floor. “Oh, dear, what a mess.”
“Can I help you?” Henry asked. “How about if I put your backpack up here?” He placed the backpack in the overhead bin.
“Thanks so much.” The man put out his hand to Henry. “I’m Charles Finchley.”
“I’m Henry Alden, and this is my grandfather, James Alden, and my sisters and brother, Violet, Jessie, and Benny,” Henry said.
“It’s our first trip to London,” Benny said.
“It is?” Charles said. “London’s my home. I’m sure you’ll like it very much.”
A friendly voice began speaking over the loudspeaker. “This is the pilot. Please take your seats. We’re ready to taxi out to the runway.”
Soon all the passengers were settled in their seats, and the airplane taxied out to the runway and took off. After a while the flight attendants came down the aisles pushing large carts filled with drinks and snacks. While the children drank their juice and ate their small packets of peanuts, they chatted with Charles and some of the other passengers about London. Charles suggested some sights near their inn that they might like.