That afternoon, Benny looked for Miss Chase from the parlor window. Finally, very late in the day, she came around the corner. Benny flew downstairs, through the courtyard, and out to the street.
“Goodness, I didn’t know we were expecting Hurricane Benny,” Miss Chase said with a laugh. “What’s up? Watching the bookshop get painted can’t be that exciting!”
“This is what’s exciting!” Benny handed Miss Chase the old newspaper with Mabel Post’s picture.
“Phew, you’re going awfully fast for me, Benny,” Miss Chase said. “Let’s go upstairs so I can get my reading glasses. Then I can see what you have here.”
“It’s . . . it’s about Mrs. Post buying a stamp with a flag that’s the wrong way. And Henry said wrong-way stamps are worth lots more than right-way ones.”
“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about,” Miss Chase said. “And Rex Phillips has been bothering me all day. He tracked me down to the office where I was meeting with some book people and waited for me until I came out. I only got rid of him by telling him that we have our book sale tomorrow, rain or shine.”
“Oops, I almost forgot,” Benny said. “He told us to tell you he wanted to buy all the books all by himself and not have the book sale. But Henry said no way. And know what else?”
Miss Chase laughed again. “No, what?”
“He said he wasn’t in our pictures and that he went to a stamp show.”
By this time, Benny and Miss Chase were back in the apartment with the other Aldens.
Miss Chase rummaged in her purse for her reading glasses. Then she took a good long look at the old newspaper Benny handed her and read the headline: “FLOODWATERS DAMAGE HISTORIC FRENCH QUARTER.”
“No, not that side.” Jessie flipped over the page so Miss Chase could see Mabel Post’s picture. “This side.”
“My goodness, doesn’t Mabel look young here?” Miss Chase said. “This is way before I moved to New Orleans, of course. Ah yes, I’d heard these stories about her buying a valuable stamp in a box of old books at a yardsale. But Mabel never admitted to it, and I never bothered to track down the story. Now I see why people didn’t really remember the facts too well.”
“Why’s that, Miss Chase?” Henry asked.
Miss Chase flipped over the newspaper page. “Mabel’s picture appeared on the same day as a terrible flood here in New Orleans. We get many of them during hurricane season. The day Mrs. Post’s picture was in the paper was one of the worst floods ever. No wonder people don’t remember about the stamp.”
“Did Mrs. Post ever mention the backwards flag stamp to you?” Jessie asked.
Miss Chase thought a bit. “Not really. Sometimes when Rex came around, she’d joke about having lots of valuable stamps hidden away. But she always wound up telling Rex that stamp collecting was just child’s play or that stories about her having a valuable stamp were nothing but fairy tales. Of course, this upset Rex to no end. Pretty soon he’d try to get something out of her. But as far as I know, he never had a bit of luck.”
“Speaking of luck, we didn’t have any luck finding the missing books,” Violet said.
“It’s just the oddest thing the way those books just disappeared off the sleeping porch,” Jessie said. “I bet Mr. Bindry had something to do with it. He was in the courtyard this morning.”
“And after that he shooed me and Violet away,” Benny complained. “Anyhow, at least I found this boring old newspaper in the mouse hole.”
Miss Chase patted Benny’s hand. “Now, Benny, a good detective like you knows that a clue doesn’t have to look exciting to be exciting.”
This got Benny thinking. He picked up the old newspaper and went over to the mirror with it. Holding it up, he said: “Now the stamp doesn’t look backwards. It looks like a regular old stamp now. But everything else in the picture looks backwards.” Then he put the newspaper on the table and ran over to Miss Chase’s desk. “Can I borrow the magnifying glass?”
“Sure,” Miss Chase answered. “Do you want a better look at the stamp?”
“Not the stamp!” Benny cried. He slid the newspaper under the light over the kitchen table.
“What do you see?” Violet asked when she looked over Benny’s shoulder. “Omigosh! Look what else is in the picture! Mrs. Post is holding the boxed set of fairy tales on her lap with one hand and the stamp album with the other!”
Now everyone crowded around to see what Benny and Violet were hollering about.
“You’re quite right, children,” Miss Chase said when she got a good look at the photo, too. “Mabel Post has her other hand resting right on The Little Mermaid.” |