The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

little statue.”
    “Ugly enough to be Mephistopheles himself,” Mart said. “About so big”—he measured with his hands— “and almost all head. Why Trixie wanted it in the first place, I’ll never know.”
    “I wonder myself,” Trixie said to herself softly. “There’s one thing sure: The prophecy that Mexican woman made is mere coincidence,” Mrs. Reed said.
    “You’re right, Betty. I’m glad to see some of the fortune-tellers ousted from the city.” Dr. Reed’s face grew stern. “You have no idea how much occultism and how many crazy beliefs I run into in trying to treat some of the families here in New York City.”
    “It’s queer about the prophecy, though,” Trixie insisted. “Meeting that poor, bewildered Mexican woman seems strange, too. I don’t think she should have been sent away.”
    “I guess the police know what they’re doing,” Dan protested.
    “Right!” Dr. Reed agreed. “They’re of inestimable help to me in my work. They’re right on the ball when a child is involved in an accident. I set the bones and try to heal bodies, but the police furnish all the facts that help the poor families collect damages. That’s mighty important. Say, kids, how would you like to stop at the hospital with me on the way home to your apartment? There’s a little girl there who’d be thrilled to pieces to meet the singing twins of television.”
    “You know how I’d like to do that!” Brian exclaimed. “It’s the most marvelous hospital, Ned. Dr. Joe used to let me watch sometimes when he dressed Terry’s leg... he’s Di’s brother. I sure hope the time comes when I’ll be able to help handicapped children the way Dr. Joe does. Terry never cried once when the cast came off. I know it hurt him.”
    “Terry’s a soldier. Most children are. I sometimes wish grown-ups had half as much courage,” Dr. Joe said. “As for you, Brian, you’ll make a great surgeon one of these days. I can tell.”
    Brian’s eyes shone. “Thank you, sir!”
    After the Bob-Whites and their visitors had helped restore order to Mrs. Reed’s patio and kitchen, they thanked her, waved good-bye to the children, went down in the elevator, and all crowded into the big Reed station wagon.
    Dr. Reed guided the car slowly and skillfully through the hordes of screaming taxis and shining limousines carrying the theater crowd; past the blazing strips of multicolored neon lights in the theater district; past the food stands in open stalls—hot dogs, soft drinks, ice cream, red-hot chestnuts. Finally the big car moved away from the bright lights and picked up speed on the expressway. Bob leaned back with a sigh. “All those famous places... gosh!”
    “The most important one is just ahead—over there where you see the circle of lights along the driveway. It’s Dr. Joe’s hospital!” Brian’s eyes were like stars.
    “Jeepers, just look at the size of it!” Ned exclaimed. “I thought Mercy Hospital in Des Moines was big.”
    “It makes me sad to think of all the sick people there,” Trixie said. “There are hundreds of hospitals in New York City, too, all full of sick people.”
    “It makes me glad... glad they have a place to go and people like Dr. Joe to make them well,” Brian said.
    Dr. Reed parked the station wagon, and the young people jumped out and followed him through the emergency entrance and into a shining white elevator that shot them to the children’s floor. Everywhere nurses smiled and called greetings to Dr. Reed. When they saw all the young people, they smiled again.
    “May we go into Evalinda’s room?” he asked the gray-haired floor nurse. “All of us?”
    “Do, please, Doctor,” she answered. “She’ll be so glad to have visitors. She hasn’t had one all day.” When Dr. Reed stepped into the hospital room, a small face, with a halo of bristling pigtails, turned into one big smile that spread from ear to ear.
    “Dr. Reed!” the girl cried. “I was so lonesome.”
    “You won’t be lonesome long, Muggins,” Dr. Joe said with a warm smile. “See all the friends I brought to call on you. This is Trixie. She’s a girl detective. This is her partner, Honey, and their friends Barbara and Diana. This is Jim, Honey’s brother; Brian and Mart, Trixie’s brothers; and their friend, Dan Mangan.
    The others are Bob, who is Barbara’s twin brother, and their neighbor Ned. Barbara and Bob and Ned live in Iowa. Shake hands with everyone the way I taught you!”
    Since