Bobby Belden jumped up and down with excitement. He was with his sister visiting Manor House. A package had just arrived by Federal Express. Margery Trask had accepted the package and brought it into the library where the Bob-Whites had gathered.

"I'm so glad that Mr. Whitney agreed to let us borrow this antique Santa Suit for our Christmas tea," Honey said. "It's perfectly perfect."

As Miss Trask carefully lifted the fragile garment from the box it had arrived in, Diana gasped, "Honey, it looks just like the one you and Ella Kline created for the Christmas tea. It's amazing."

"It was so much fun to work with Ella. She had some great ideas on aging the fabric so it looked old. And Dad was able to find a company to match the buttons. Of course, we didn't use real emeralds and rubies for them," Honey said.

Bobby reached out to touch the garment. Brian quickly grabbed his arm. "Don't touch," he warned. "The material is very fragile and it's irreplaceable. One wrong move and it could tear."

"I'm going to put this right back in the box and contact Mr. Wheeler," Miss Trask said. "He has made arrangements with the Sleepyside State Bank to store this in the vault until the tea party tomorrow."

Bobby was so excited about the tea party. It was a fundraiser for the Sleepyside Humane Association. They needed to raise about $20,000 in order to remain a no kill facility. They needed more cages for their cats and if they didn't get them by the end of the year, they would have no choice but to change their practices. Half of the money would go toward the cages and the other half would be used not only to spay and neuter cats that were up for adoption but to help people pay for fixing their own cats.

It really wasn't a tea party, more like a Christmas celebration. The Bob-Whites had been instrumental in the planning and the original plan was a Victorian tea party. But the guys protested that they wanted something that everyone would enjoy. They had worked with the Historical Society and the event was planned to be held at the museum.

George Rainsford had approached Matthew Wheeler looking for a place to display his extensive model train collection. It involved a dozen different trains, as well as a huge layout complete with trees, buildings, and other landscaping. They had worked with the Historical Society to put the collection on permanent loan to the museum and the local model train club had been creating Sleepyside buildings and landmarks to add to the exhibit. The grand opening of the exhibit coincided with the tea party making it appealing to both boys and girls.

There would be all sorts of activities throughout the day for kids and adults to partake in. There would be raffles and silent auction items. The response had been so strong that they had to have two sittings for the actual tea. At the end of each sitting, Santa Claus, played by Ed Lynch, would make an appearance and deliver gifts to all of the participants. The entire community had gotten behind the project.

Matthew Wheeler and Ed Lynch had been very active in the planning of the event. Someone had even commented once that it might have been easier for them to just donate the money. Matthew's response was that while he could, he was having much more fun helping plan the event and if he donated the money then it wouldn't be a community project. He and Ed had both, however, pledged to match all of the funds raised.

"Well, we'd better get back to work," Jim said. "There is a lot to do before tomorrow."

The Bob-Whites each had a list of things that needed to be done. They loaded up into the Bob-White station wagon and headed over to the museum.

"Head back home," Mart instructed Bobby as they left.

Bobby started to protest and then realized that they couldn't hear him.

"You can stay here," Miss Trask said. "Mr. Wheeler will be home in a few minutes and you can go with him to take the suit to the vault and then go over to the museum. I think Larry and Terry Lynch will be there, too."

Bobby was so excited. He loved Mr. Wheeler. When they rode in the limo, he always let him ride up front with Tom and play co-pilot. And he never got mad if he pushed the wrong button. His favorite thing to do was to raise and lower the privacy window.

As they got in the car, Mr. Wheeler changed his mind and decided to go to the museum before going over to the bank. He wanted to check to see how the suit would fit on the mannequin. As soon as they pulled up to the museum, Honey came out to greet them.

When she saw the package she said, "I thought you were taking this over to the bank."

"I was but then thought you might want to see how it worked with the mannequin," her father replied.

Honey and Mr. Wheeler headed into the exhibit area that featured Victorian Christmas decorations. Bobby found Larry and Terry and they headed over to the train exhibit to see what had been added since the last time they had been there. The model train club was in a deep discussion about the placement of several buildings.

Bobby was disappointed that they weren't testing the trains yet. The boys wandered around the museum looking at all of the different areas that were planned. Most of the Christmas trees and decorations were up. The caterers were setting up the tables for the tea. There were areas to make different Victorian era ornaments and candies.

"I can't wait until tomorrow," said Terry. "It's going to be so cool, even if I have to wear my shiny shoes."

As they headed back toward the lobby, they saw Peter, Matthew, and Ed heading into the train room along with the president of the model train club. They all looked concerned.

"Let's go and look at the Santa suit," Bobby suggested. "I saw it at the Manor House but I want to get a better look. Trixie said the buttons are worth a bazillion dollars."

When the three boys entered the room, there didn't seem to be anyone else in it. In the middle of the room stood the mannequin with the Santa suit hanging from it. Bobby started to tiptoe over to it.

"Why are we tiptoeing?" asked Larry.

"Shh," said Bobby. "We are on a secret mission. "

As they approached the mannequin, Bobby gasped. "The buttons are gone. Someone stole the buttons."

"We have to get out of here," Terry said. "They will think we did it." He turned to head toward the door.

"No. That's why we have to stay here. It's a real life mystery and we need to solve it, or they will think we did it, and we'll go to jail," Bobby said dramatically.

"Jail?" Terry asked. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Well, Trixie said they were worth lots and lots of money," Bobby defended. "Come on, let's take a closer look."

They carefully walked over to the suit. "Don't touch anything," Bobby said knowingly. "We don't want to tear it. Then we would really be in super big trouble."

The three peered at the suit for several minutes. There were no buttons on the outfit.

"Look," Larry said. "There's some string on the floor."

"A clue," Bobby said. "I bet someone cut the buttons off and the threads fell on the ground. Let's pick them up."

Larry and Terry didn't seem to be quite as excited about solving the mystery as Bobby was. They stood back as he tried to pick up the snippets of thread.

While he was bent over, he noticed a piece of paper on the ground near the mannequin. "Another clue," Bobby exclaimed.

"Be careful," Larry warned. "I saw on TV that you should pick up the paper by the corner so you don't destroy any evidence. I'm not sure what that means but we should do it."

"I'll do it," Terry volunteered. "I saw the same show. I know what to do." He bent down and gently picked up the piece of paper between his index finger and thumb. As he lifted it off the floor, he used his other hand to open it up. They walked over to table to look at it. Bobby grabbed the piece of paper, opened it up, and then used both hands to smooth the paper before they bent down over it to read.

"Scissors, bag, trap door, escape," read Larry. "What does that mean?"

Just then they heard Ed Lynch. "We're ready to leave," he called out.

"In a minute," Terry called back.

Quickly, the boys put their heads together and began whispering.

"What do we do?" Larry asked. "Do we tell our dads?"

"No," Bobby insisted. "We are going to solve this ourselves. Not a word to anyone."

Larry and Terry both looked skeptical. "I'm not sure," Terry said. "I don't want to get into trouble."

"We'll be in more trouble if we don't solve this mystery," Bobby reminded them. "Now you guys need to invite me to spend the night, so we can solve this mystery before tomorrow morning."

Reluctantly, the twins agreed and they headed out to the lobby, hoping that no one would notice the missing buttons.

As they walked out the door, Larry asked his dad if Bobby could spend the night. After a bit of discussion, it was decided they would stop off at Crabapple Farm to get Bobby's pajamas and clothes for the next day.

When they finally arrived at the Lynch home, the boys headed directly upstairs, wanting to start solving the mystery.

"Don't stay up too late," Ed admonished. "Tomorrow is a busy day."

The boys raced up the stairs and into the twins' bedroom. They changed into their pajamas and then sat down to begin their investigating.

"What do we do now?" Larry asked.

"I don't know," Terry said. "Bobby, you must know what to do. Trixie is your sister and she is always solving mysteries."

Bobby puffed out his chest in pride. "We need to review the clues," he said decisively. "We found the suit without the buttons on it with pieces of thread on the ground nearby.

"Don't forget about the note," volunteered Larry. "I don't know what scissors, bag, trapdoor and escape mean, though."

For several minutes the three just sat there. Larry seemed to stare off into space, not really caring about the mystery. Terry looked at the piece of paper. He wanted to solve the mystery but didn't have any idea how to do it. Bobby was deep in thought, not really paying attention to what the other boys were doing.

Suddenly he said, "I've got it. Someone used scissors to cut the buttons off the coat. They put them in a bag so they wouldn't get lost. There is a trap door that they used to escape."

"That's it," Terry said. "Bobby, you solved the mystery. Trixie and Honey are going to be jealous. They've never solved a mystery so fast."

"I can't wait to tell everyone about it," Larry said with a big yawn.

"We'll tell everyone in the morning," Bobby said. They talked for several minutes and then decided to call it a night.

The next morning, Bobby woke up to the smell of bacon frying. "Terry," he whispered. "Are you up?"

Terry stretched and yawned. "I am now," he replied.

"Let's get going," Bobby said. "We have to decide how we are going to tell everyone about the suit."

They hurriedly put on their good clothes for the day and raced downstairs to the dining room where Larry and Terry's parents were already seated and eating breakfast.

The three boys sat down and Harrison placed plates filled with eggs, bacon, and toast in front of them.

"Be very careful," warned Caroline Lynch. "You don't want to ruin your clothes."

Ed Lynch was on his phone in deep conversation. "This is serious," he said. "I'll be there in twenty minutes and we'll figure this out."

Bobby poked Terry and whispered, "Did you hear that? They must have found out about the buttons. I just know that Trixie and Honey will get involved. They will get all of the credit for solving the mystery. They always do."

"We've got to do something," Larry said.

Bobby took charge. "We need to go into town with your dad to see what is happening. Hurry up and finish your breakfast so we can go."

The boys shoveled their food down and when Ed was at the front door ready to leave, they were standing there with their coats on, ready to go.

"Where are you guys going?" Ed asked.

"We want to go to town with you," Larry said. "We promise not to get in the way."

Ed thought for a few minutes then agreed they could go. "I have some important things to take care of and I don't want you guys getting in the way." They solemnly promised they would be good.

Ed had never gotten used to having a chauffeur and preferred to drive himself. Today was one of those days.

The boys piled into the back of the car and soon they were headed toward the museum.

When they arrived, Matthew, Peter, and the male Bob-Whites were standing outside the building.

"I spoke with Regan this morning and he said we have a couple of extra gates that can be used," Matthew was saying to the group. "He also said he had called Tomlinson Farms and they could spare a few as well."

"I don't think that will be enough," Jim said. "Santa's Village has five reindeer that they said they could bring over. I wish we would have known before this morning that they were coming."

"I agree," said Peter. "But it will be a nice addition if we can pull this off. Maybe Tractor Supply has some gates they will lend us."

"Did you hear that?" Bobby whispered.

"Yes," Larry said excitedly. "There are going to be reindeer here. That's so cool."

"I wonder if Rudolph will be here," Terry said.

"You idiot," Larry said. "Rudolph is a fictional character."

"He is not," Terry insisted. "He's on TV, so he must be real."

"Stop it you two," Bobby insisted. "I'm not talking about the stupid reindeer. Don't you realize what that means? They aren't talking about the missing buttons. They are talking about something different. They haven't discovered the missing buttons yet."

By now, the Bob-White males had gone off to set up the pens for the reindeer. Matthew, Ed, and Peter were talking.

"I think it's time to tell our dads what we have found and how we solved the mystery," Bobby said.

The trio headed over to the men. "Dad," Terry said. "Can we talk to you?"

The adults took one look at the solemn faces of the boys and knew there was trouble.

"Okay, boys, what did you do?" Peter asked.

"We didn't do anything, Dad," Bobby replied. "Really, we didn't."

Quickly, the boys tried to explain what had happened. Everyone tried to talk at once.

"The buttons are missing."

"And we found a note."

"Scissors, bag, trap door, escape."

"We found some clues."

"Even Trixie couldn't solve the mystery as fast as we did."

"Hold it," Ed said. "One at a time and start at the beginning."

The three boys started over, each taking turns telling the story. Finally, Bobby said, "And we solved the mystery. Someone cut the buttons off the suit with a scissors, they put them in a bag, and then found a trap door and escaped through it."

"And we solved it all by ourselves," Larry said proudly.

"And quicker than Trixie or Honey could," added Terry.

The men looked at each other and smiled. "Let's go in and look at the suit," Matthew suggested trying to keep the twinkle out of his eye.

The group headed over to the Victorian exhibit. They entered the room and noticed that Honey and Ella were working on the suit.

"Be careful," Bobby said importantly. "You don't want to rip the antique suit."

Larry noticed that buttons were now attached to the jacket. "Hey, how did that happen?"

Honey and Ella looked confused but Honey tried to explain, "We sewed them on. Yesterday afternoon as they were setting up the final decorations in this room, they wanted to see how it would look with the Santa suit. I knew we didn't want the suit to be sitting out where anyone could damage it, so I brought over the one I made for Mr. Lynch to wear. It was all finished except for the buttons that arrived yesterday. I put the suit on the mannequin and left it, knowing we would have time this morning to sew the buttons on and do a final fitting."

"You mean that wasn't the real suit we saw yesterday," Terry said.

Ella and Honey nodded their heads. The three boys hung theirs in dismay.

"What's wrong?" Honey asked as she bent down to be at their eye level.

"We thought there was a mystery and we solved it," Larry explained. "Even quicker than you and Trixie."

Honey nodded understandingly at them. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

The boys once again told the story about how they found the suit with the missing buttons and all of the clues they found. She listened to everything they had to say.

"You guys did some good sleuthing," she praised. "You found some good clues and made some educated conclusions."

"But they weren't right ones," Bobby moaned.

"Bobby," Honey said. "Trixie and I have had our share of wrong conclusions. It happens sometimes. You think that the clues are telling you one thing when they are really telling you something else. You will learn to try not to jump to conclusions and to look at the clues from different angles."

"But we didn't solve the mystery," Terry said.

"You didn't solve the mystery of the missing buttons, but there is one mystery that still hasn't been solved," Honey said.

"What mystery is that?" Larry asked.

Honey looked up into the adults' faces and winked.

"What about that note? We know it doesn't have to do with the suit, so what could it mean?" she explained.

Bobby excitedly pulled the note out of his pocket. "Here it is," he said.

Honey took it from him and carefully examined it. "Well," she said. "One thing that would help is if we knew who wrote the letter. Does anyone have any ideas?"

The boys gathered around her and looked at the note again. They were still a little confused, so she guided them. "Does anyone recognize the handwriting? Is there something unique about how the words are written?"

Bobby looked at it closer. "I know," he said. "I've seen that funny thing on the 's' at the end of the word."

"Very good," Honey encouraged. "Do you remember who does that?"

Suddenly, Bobby's eyes widened and he got very excited. "Mart does that sometimes. He says it makes him look scholarly. What does scholarly mean?"

"I think you might be right," Honey said. "Scholarly means smart. So, we think Mart wrote the note. Now we have to figure out what it means."

"Why don't we just ask him?" Larry said.

Honey chuckled. "We definitely could do that and I'm sure he would tell us. Maybe you want to figure it out a different way just for fun."

"Okay," the boys agreed.

"Does anyone know what Mart might be working on?" Honey asked.

Bobby thought for a few minutes. Then his eyes lit up. "He said something the other day about how to get Santa into and out of the room like magic."

"Well, that's something," Honey said. "Let's look at where Santa is going to greet the kids."

Before they left the room, she checked with Ella to make sure she didn't need anything. Then she followed the boys into the area where the food would be served. Intrigued by how Honey was handling this, Ed, Matthew, and Peter followed them at a distance.

The boys started to walk around the room looking for all sorts of clues. Honey spotted Mart and tried to get his attention without the boys noticing. They were busy checking under the tables and behind pillars. "Just be careful so you don't ruin the decorations," she warned.

Honey and Mart conferred for a few minutes. He laughed at what she told him and then whispered something in her ear. She nodded and then went back to the boys.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"Well, there is a door right behind that curtain. That could be the trap door that Santa escapes from," suggested Terry.

"That's good," Honey encouraged. "What else did you come up with?"

"Well, Santa carries a bag so maybe it was just a reminder that he needed to take it with him," Larry suggested.

"That works," she agreed. "Now what about the scissors?"

"I heard Trixie tell Mart that she needed a scissors to cut out the colored paper to make for the paper chain project," Bobby contributed.

"That sounds like a good possibility," Honey said. "What do you guys think? Do you think we've solved the mystery?"

The boys were all excited again. They were sure they had solved the it. "Let's go ask Mart," Bobby suggested.

They hurried out of the room and found Mart waiting in the lobby.

The three boys ran up to him once again all speaking at once.

"One at a time, please," he said.

Again, the boys told their story. They started with the coat without any buttons and explained in detail all of the things they had been up to. Each shared how they had finally helped to solve the mystery.

"Were we right?" asked Bobby.

Mart winked at Honey. "You guys are as good as Trixie and Honey. You solved the mystery."

The boys beamed with excitement. Over their heads, Honey mouthed "Thanks" to Mart.

Honey looked at her watch. "I have to get back to work. People are going to start arriving and there are a few finishing touches that I need to take care of."

Just then, Helen and Caroline entered the museum. Caroline held the hands of her twin daughters, Sherry and Kerry. They were going to accompany the boys to the day's events while everyone else worked behind the scenes to make sure things ran smoothly.

The event was a huge success. In the end, they raised $12,372, which was matched both Matt and Ed. There would be enough money to complete the updates, as well as provide money to fix quite a few cats. There was talk of making it an annual event and everyone seemed to agree it was a great idea. Not only did the event raise money for a good cause, the entire community pitched in to make it successful.

Bobby, Larry, and Terry were still basking in their sleuthing skills. They had enjoyed the model trains and petting the reindeer. The best part was that the school librarian, Ms. Blyton, had recently returned from a trip to Australia and had donated nine boxes of Tim Tams for the silent auction. The Bob-Whites had bid on that item and, to their surprise, they won the bid. As a reward for solving the mystery, the club gave the cookies to the boys, who proceeded to eat about half of them. Helen and Caroline groaned when they heard that. It could be days before the boys came down from their sugar high.

 

This website is © 2005-2025 Mal and WendyM. All rights reserved. Graphics copyright by MaryN, 2019.