The Mystery of the Emeralds

with a wink at the Bob-Whites.
    “No, no, no,” Miss Bates said impatiently. “I didn’t mean that at all. I only meant Trixie put her finger right on something that’s been puzzling all of us who had anything to do with this house. The outside measurements just don’t jibe with the inside, and I’ve checked them three times with my own tape measure!”
    “You mean there’s this little triangular space left over, like a gusset in a sleeve?” Honey said, pointing to the area in question.
    “Exactly,” Miss Bates replied, flipping shut the Japanese fan with which she had been cooling herself since her arrival and tapping it briskly on the arm of the chair. “Probably the mistake of the original builder. A man, I’m sure. But I mean to find out as soon as we start on the music room.”
    “And when will that be?” Trixie asked anxiously.
    “In the fall, probably,” Miss Bates answered. “As soon as the tourist season is over. I doubt if we’ll find anything of interest, but I’ll write you if we do.”
    “Then you don’t think it has anything to do with the secret passage?” Trixie asked, her face clouded.
    “One chance in a million,” Miss Bates replied, settling her hat more firmly on her head and jabbing an enormous hat pin through it. “In all my experience, I’ve never seen a three-cornered room, with no door and no window, only two feet at its widest point. Have you? It was a plain mistake, I’ll wager, and if not, I’ll eat this hat, complete with all the cabbage roses on it!”
    She got up and gave Edgar Carver’s hand a squeeze, pronouncing him to be the only man in Christendom who had any sense, although there were times when she despaired even of him. Then, waving in the general direction of the Bob-Whites, she was off.
    Everyone seemed a little breathless after her departure, and, although there were seven people present, the room appeared strangely empty.
    “I guess I should have warned you that Carolyn is something of a character,” Mr. Carver said. “I’ve known her for years, and she never seems to run out of steam.”
    “She does have a lot of energy,” Trixie commented, “and she also seems to have very positive ideas.”
    “Well, when you get to know her as well as I do, you’ll find out that when she is the most vehement about something, she may be covering up a secret reservation,” Mr. Carver replied.
    “You mean she thinks there’s more to the secret passage than she cares to admit?” Trixie asked.
    “Just that,” he answered. “She hates to think she didn’t discover it for herself, but you’ll find that if you locate it, she’ll be the first to give you credit. You wait and see. She’ll be back tomorrow, with her custard and poultices, to see what you’ve found.”
    “Jeepers, Mr. Carver,” Trixie said, “I hate to think of Miss Bates eating that enormous hat and all those roses, but I have a feeling she’s going to have to!”
    “Well, dressed up with a little mayonnaise, it might not be so bad,” Mart quipped.
    Trixie was only half listening. She walked over to the corner of the study nearest the controversial partition and began carefully looking over the bookshelves which lined that side of the room. Then, leaving the other Bob-Whites in a discussion with Mr. Carver, she slipped out into the hall and into the music room. She took a long time going over the beautiful paneling on the walls, frequently tapping her fingers on the wood or gently pushing against the wall with her shoulder. Having circled the room, she returned to that part of the wall that backed against the study and reexamined it with special care, even getting down on her knees to have a good look at the baseboard. As she felt along it, she noticed a depression under one of the moldings.
    “It’s just what I suspected,” she said to herself. “It’s almost as though I knew what I’d find. Now if my hunch only continues to work!”
    She felt a shiver of excitement run up her spine. Placing her fingers in the little hollowed-out space, she pushed up, as though opening a window, and after several jerks, she felt the panel begin to slide. She lifted it as far as it would go, revealing a space about half the height of the room. She took a fleeting glance into the dark opening, then dashed back to the study.
    “I’ve found it!” she cried. “Come here! Quick!”
    She grabbed Honey by the hand and, followed by the other Bob-Whites, ran back to the music room to show