The Gatehouse Mystery

appears with a shiner, he's supposed to say he got it bumping into a door in the dark. How do you like that one, Trix?"
    "I see what you mean," she said, narrowing her blue
    eyes. "Maybe Dick left the house in such a hurry last night that the swinging door to the kitchen gave him that black eye." She shuddered reminiscently. "It was pitch-dark in there. Even if he didn't bang into the door, he might have stumbled over a chair and bruised his face against the sink."
    "Wouldn't you have heard such commotion?" Brian asked. "You or Jim or Miss Trask?"
    "I doubt it," Trixie said. "We were all talking at once right after I dashed into the hall. And then the grandfather clock began to strike. It dongs and whirs and wheezes like anything, especially when it has the chore of telling the world that it's midnight."
    "Let's not jump to conclusions," Brian said. "I don't like that Dick guy any more than you do, Trixie, even though his lips aren't too thin at the moment, and I can't tell, with that shiner, what his eyes normally are like. But who knows? He might have driven into town last night and got into a brawl at the dog wagon. That would explain why he lied and said that Jupiter kicked him."
    "That's right," Mart agreed. "When the head of the house is away, even the most highly recommended chauffeur might take a little liberty here and there. Is there any law up at the Manor House, Trixie, that says the chauffeur has to stay in when Regan is off?"
    "Oh, I don't think so," Trixie said. "Miss Trask may get around to that eventually, I suppose, but they never had a chauffeur until yesterday when they hired Dick."
    "And you found the diamond on Wednesday?" Brian shook his head. "It does seem like pretty much of a coincidence that both men applied for jobs so soon after that."
    "I tell you what," Trixie interrupted as she was struck with an idea. "While I'm helping Moms, why don't you try to find out what kind of shoes Nailor and Dick wear? If their heels match the prints Honey and I found inside the cottage and by the road, we'll know that it wasn't a coincidence."
    "Okay," Mart said, giving her a fond pat on the arm as he held the kitchen door open for her. "Get to your dusting, slave girl. We vacationing men will take over the sleuthing!"

Lost: A Diamond • 8

    EVEN THOUGH Trixie was busy every minute helping her mother, the morning dragged on and on. She kept wondering what the others were doing and if they had found any more clues.
    Brian and Mart did not come back to the house until she was setting the table for lunch. Brian's face was expressionless, but Mart gave her a secret wink.
    "Bobby," he said to his mother as he scrubbed his hands at the kitchen sink, "is getting to be quite a horseman. Jim gave him a ride on Lady a while ago, and the kid's really good."
    "Where is he now?" Mrs. Belden asked. "Didn't he come back from the Wheelers' with you?"
    "Don't worry about him," Brian said easily. "When last seen he was helping, or rather, hindering, Jim and Honey who are swapping rooms. I'll run up and see if he's still under their feet."
    "He probably invited himself to stay for lunch," Trixie said after Brian left. "Bobby is in full charge up there."
    "We must be careful not to let him become a nuisance," Mrs. Belden said worriedly. "He could talk of no one but his new friend when I put him to bed last night—Dick. Is he the new gardener, Trixie?"
    "No, Moms," Trixie said. "Dick's the new chauffeur." She crossed her fingers. "He and Bobby are just like this."
    "Here they come now," Mart said from the window that looked out on the back terrace. "Dick seems to be Bobby's fiery steed at the moment."
    In another minute Bobby burst into the kitchen followed by his older brother. "Dick and me," the little boy yelled excitedly, "has another see-crud."
    "Dick and I have," his mother corrected him patiently. "Come here, Bobby, and let me wash your hands. You're really naughty, you know. You should have come home when Brian and Mart did."
    "Couldn't," Bobby said loftily. "They wented home too soon. I was busy."
    "Oh, yeah?" Mart gently pulled one of Bobby's yellow curls. "Busy as a bear in the wintertime, I suppose."
    "Was so busy," Bobby said, raising his voice. "I was holping Dick. We had to clean the cars. He's going away this afternoon."
    "Where to?" Trixie asked suspiciously. "He isn't due for a day off yet. He just started to work yesterday."
    "He's got the day off," Bobby informed her as he climbed into his chair at the