The Mystery at Maypenny's

Score—especially considering that he himself just came to Sleepyside a couple of days ago.”
    “He said he was just concerned with protecting his uncle’s interests,” Jim reminded him.
    “Then why would he start grilling Score, who claimed to be interested in helping Mr. Maypenny, too?” Brian asked.
    “Maybe it was because John Score doesn’t look as though he can take care of himself, let alone anybody else,” Trixie said.
    “That’s right,” Honey agreed. “He’s so thin and so sort of grubby-looking. He looks as if someone had just turned him out of his home. I can see how David might not trust him to save Mr. Maypenny’s.”
    The Bob-Whites had arrived at the Manor House, and they paused at the front walk. There was silence for a moment as each of them reviewed the scene between John Score and David May-penny.
    Finally Mart shrugged. “I question the efficacy of attempting to determine their motivations at present,” he said.
    Jim grinned and nodded. “Right. ‘Time alone will tell,’ as they used to say in the melodramas. We’ll see you later.”
    The Beldens said good-bye and turned toward Crabapple Farm. “ ‘Time alone will tell,’ ” Trixie repeated in a whisper. Then, in spite of the warmth of the September evening, she shivered.

    The next day, Trixie was too caught up in the usual Sunday activity at the Belden household, including taking care of rambunctious Bobby, to give much thought to Mr. Maypenny, his nephew, or the young environmentalist.
    Then, in the evening, Di Lynch called to tell Trixie that she was back from her vacation and would be at school in the morning.
    “How was your vacation?” Trixie asked.
    “Wonderful,” Di replied. “We went all through Wisconsin and Minnesota. I’d never seen that part of the Midwest before. It’s really beautiful, Trix.”
    “I’d love to see it,” Trixie told her. The Bob-Whites had done quite a bit of traveling, going to New York City, Williamsburg, and St. Louis, as well as to a farm in Iowa, a dude ranch in Arizona, and a national forest in Idaho. They’d even visited England. But those experiences had only whetted Trixie’s appetite for travel.
    “Maybe we will see it sometime,” Di said.
    “Mr. and Mrs. Renfer, who are friends of my parents, live in Minneapolis and have a summer cottage in northern Minnesota. They love young people, and they asked me about my friends in Sleepyside. I talked and talked about the Bob-Whites, and they said they’d love to meet all of you. They said we could come to visit whenever we liked.”
    “Yippee!” Trixie shouted. “When do we leave?” Di Lynch giggled at Trixie’s enthusiasm. “Not for a while, I’m afraid,” she said. “I just missed three weeks of school, remember? Even though I got some of the assignments before I left, I’ll have a lot of catching up to do now that I’m back. I can’t afford to go ‘gallivanting,’ as my Uncle Monty would say, for some time.”
    Trixie sighed. “Moms would never let me leave while school was in session, anyway. She knows I’d never catch up. But someday we’ll see Minnesota,” she concluded resolutely.
    “We will, for sure,” Di agreed. “But speaking of catching up, I called to find out what I’ve missed out on in Sleepyside, as well as to tell you about my vacation. What’s been happening here? Have I missed any good mysteries?”
    “Not one,” Trixie assured her, “unless you want to count the mysteries of algebra, which I’m trying to solve again this year. Although there is a controversy going on—the International Pine controversy, as everyone’s calling it.” Briefly, Trixie filled Di in on the furniture company’s offer to buy the parcel of land from Mr. Maypen-ny and Mr. Wheeler, the resulting argument between Dan and Jim, the appearance of David Maypenny, and the confrontation between John Score and David the previous evening.
    “Goodness,” Di breathed when Trixie had finished. “You may not have solved any mysteries, but you haven’t been lacking for excitement, either.”
    “I guess that’s true,” Trixie said, a little surprised. “It does sound like a lot, now that I tell it. But there’s really nothing mysterious about any of it—except we’ve been wondering why Dan doesn’t like David Maypenny, and why David took such a quick dislike to John Score, and whether—”
    Trixie was interrupted by Di Lynch’s gales of laughter. “Oh, Trixie,” she gasped, “it’s so good to