The Hayloft. A 1950s Mystery

east from the high school. I drove down the first hill, passing Sylvia’s house, into the hollow. I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Aunt Dorothy. I had to wait a few minutes for it, and by the time I drove up the hill on other side and parked on the street in front of the white, two-story, wood house, the bus had already dropped Barney off.
    I went up the wooden steps to the porch that went around two sides of the house and rang the doorbell three times. That was the signal that I was here on personal business and not to see the doctor. I opened the door and went inside. The waiting room was to the left of the entrance. Half a dozen people sat on chairs, waiting for their turn in the examining room. Barney came downstairs and motioned me to follow him up the stairs to the second floor.
    “Your dad does a good business,” I said as he led the way into his bedroom.
    “Now if they would only pay him. Have you seen the poem in his office? It goes like this:
    The Lord and doctor we implore
    On the brink of danger, not before.
    When the danger is over both alike are requited:
    The Lord is forgotten, the doctor slighted. ”
    “I assume Uncle Jeff and Aunt Dorothy pay their bill.”
    “That wasn’t meant to be personal.”
    Bookcases lined two walls, filled with a variety of books. Barney must read a lot. On a third wall was taped a newspaper article about anti-vivisectionists, which I took to mean people who opposed cutting up animals for scientific research. Barney had taped a hand-lettered sign above the article that read, “Anti-anti-vivisectionist.”
    “Let’s get something to drink,” Barney said.
    He led the way through what must be the living room into a small kitchen. An equally small woman who was busily working at the counter turned at our entrance and, speaking with what sounded to me like a German accent, said, “How was school today?”
    “The usual,” Barney said. “Unicorns in science and Ben Franklin in history. Or maybe it was the other way around. This is the new boy I told you about—Gary Blanchard. Gary, this is my mother.”
    “Nice to meet you,” I said.
    “He doesn’t talk that way in school, does he?” Mrs. Weiss asked me. “If he did, I’d think they would throw him out on his ear.”
    “He answers all the questions right in math class,” I said.
    “He has you brainwashed,” she said with a smile. “Well, as long as he gets decent report cards…”
    “I see you’ve spotted the clock,” Barney said.
    I was looking at the clock on the wall over the refrigerator, which was fifteen minutes fast. I checked my cheap watch to make sure.
    “It’s always been that way,” Barney continued. “Once we tried setting it to the correct time, but it made us late.”
    So that’s how the smart people lived. Barney opened the refrigerator and extracted sodas for each of us.
    As we left the kitchen, Mrs. Weiss said to me, “Gary, you look as if you have a good head on your shoulders. Maybe you can help to keep Barney on the straight and narrow, so that he won’t act so wild.”
    “Don’t be too sure,” Barney said. “Gary’s not exactly Mr. Clean.”
    Fortunately, he didn’t elaborate on that. Back in his room, Barney said, “I promised to tell you about Natalie and me. But first, tell me what you know about her.”
    How should I answer that? Officially, we just barely knew each other. “Well, she’s the most beautiful girl in the school and she’s head cheerleader and she’s dating the captain of the football team—”
    “Okay, cut the crap, Gary. I saw you two dancing together at the sock hop. You were the only boy with guts enough to do that. And even though you’re as tall as Joe, you’re too thin to be a match for him physically. You have some connection with her.”
    I shouldn’t have underestimated Barney. “I taught Natalie how to play nim.”
    Barney stared at me for a moment and then started to grin. “Of course. It all makes sense. Mysterious new guy appears on the scene and starts overshadowing me in math class. Sylvia obviously likes him more than her job of showing him around the school would require. Sylvia and Natalie are tight. Natalie, who didn’t have a clue about nim, suddenly becomes an expert. If I had any brains, I would have figured it out. Well, I don’t feel so bad, knowing that I really lost to you.”
    “Thanks. All right, you know my secret. What about you and Natalie?”
    “What did she tell