The Hudson River Mystery

help clear the table, to go to the girl’s side. ”Are you okay?” she whispered. ”You’ve hardly said a word—”
    Loyola giggled, embarrassed. ”Oh, Trixie, I’ll never learn! I’m thinking about a paper I have to write for history tomorrow!”
    ”And I thought I was bad,” Trixie said. ”My detective—or defective, I should say—brain has been scheming all evening, too!”
    The two girls laughed softly.
    After dinner, Mr. Belden suggested a round of gin rummy in the living room.
    ”Too many people,” Mrs. Belden said. ”What about poker?”
    Mart and Brian set up a card table and got out the poker chips, and a fast and furious game was soon underway. Despite the fact that only poker chips were at stake, the adults and teen-agers all threw themselves enthusiastically into the game.
    Bobby got into his pajamas and sat on a couch nearby, amusing himself and no one else with his spoonerism attempts: ”Gummy gum? No... gummy bum. No! Rimmy gum... he-he-he!” Several peals of laughter later, Mrs. Belden told him, ”Son, I think it’s more than past your bedtime.”
    Bobby pushed out his lower lip. ”Story,” he demanded.
    ”You want a bedtime story?” Loyola asked. ”You’re in luck tonight, Bobby! I know some really spooky bedtime stories.”
    Bobby looked entranced, but then he shook his head. ”No, just regular stories,” he explained. ”Thea—she’s a story writer. I bet she tells good stories.”
    ”Well, Thea, it looks like you’ve been nominated official storyteller,” Mr. Belden said heartily. ”Do you mind?”
    To Trixie, Thea couldn’t have looked less enthusiastic, but she said gamely, ”No, not at all. I’m not sure how satisfactory I’ll be, but— Bobby, shall we get you into bed first?”
    Bobby held out his hand, Thea slipped it into hers, and the two were off to his room.
    ”Poor Thea,” said Brian as Mart began dealing out another hand. ”I wonder how many stories she’ll have to listen to before Bobby lets her start one!”
    ”I hope we weren’t putting her on the spot,” Mrs. Belden worried.
    ”She’ll survive, I’m sure,” said Loyola. ”Thea told me once that children make her a little uncomfortable. But I’m sure she’ll love Bobby once she gets to know him. He’s cute, and so smart, too.”
    ”Smart like a fox,” grumbled Trixie, who had baby-sat Bobby often enough to know him very well indeed. ”Gleeps, Mart, I think you just cheated!”
    ”Beatrix, you may have had a full house the last game, but methinks it’s empty now!” said Mart, tapping his forehead meaningfully. ”You’re not playing with a full deck. I don’t know which
    is the more serious symptom—populating our river with sea serpents or accusing me of cheating!”
    ”You just dealt Brian and Dad one too many cards,” Trixie insisted. ”What gives—are the males in this family in cahoots or something?”
    ”How could they be, with such a quidnunc sister around?” asked Mart, rolling his eyes.
    ”What’s quidmonk or whatever got to do with it? I—”
    ”Quidnunc means busybody ,” said Mart, ”which, my dear samus shibling, is exactly what you are!”
    ”Now, children, it’s just a game,” Mrs. Belden said. ”Mart, why don’t you just start your deal over again?”
    ”To Trixie it’s no trifling diversion—it’s more like the Olympics,” said Mart. ”If I deal over again, my dear sister will probably have me excommunicated!”
    ”I think the word you want is expatriated , ” his father said.
    ”Uh-uh,” Trixie said suddenly. ”I seem to remember a rule that says if a dealer makes a mistake like that, he loses the deal to the next person—that is, me!”
    Mart began a pompous retort, but Trixie cut him off. She was tired of being insulted. ”And I can prove it,” she said triumphantly. ”I just happen to have the latest edition of Hoyle’s Official Rules of Card Games. And I’m going to go right up to my room and get it!”
    Before anyone could object, she pushed back her chair and raced up the stairs. She flipped on a light in her room and took the book out of her bookcase. A quick check told her she was right. Exultant, she went out into the hallway again.
    The door to Bobby’s room, just across the hall from Trixie’s, was slightly ajar. Trixie could hear Thea’s flat, droning voice. She didn’t sound like she was enjoying her new role.
    ”... and then the shark found the cove where the people were swimming,” Thea was