The Mystery of the Velvet Gown

safe-deposit box—and some pictures of costumes!”
    “It is?” Trixie asked, her eyes widening.
    “She must have given you the wrong envelope. Will you return this to her tomorrow?” Mrs. Belden asked. She handed the envelope back to Trixie.
    “Sure, Moms,” Trixie answered, trying to contain her excitement. “Oh, Moms, can Honey have dinner with us and then spend the night?”
    “Honey is welcome for dinner any night, but you know how I feel about friends sleeping over during the school week,” her mother answered.
    “I know, Moms. But just this once, please?” Trixie pleaded. “We have something important to discuss.”
    “One of these days, you’re going to use up your quota of ‘just this onces,’ ” Mrs. Belden laughed, “but I suppose it’s all right—‘just this once.’ ”
    “Thanks, Moms! You’re super! And I promise we won’t stay up late.”
    “What’s so important that it has to be discussed tonight?” Mrs. Belden asked.
    “You know better than to ask Trixie to divulge her important business, Moms,” Brian laughed.
    But Trixie didn’t hear them—she was already on her way upstairs, the envelope clutched tightly in her hand.

Strange Happenings • 6

    HONEY CALLED to say that Miss Trask had given her permission to spend the night, on the condition that she finish her homework first.
    “Well, hurry up and finish,” Trixie said urgently, “and then come right over. I’ll finish my drudgery, too, and then it’ll all be out of the way.” She said good-bye and hung up the phone.
    Less than an hour later, Honey arrived with her overnight case. Trixie was upstairs, finishing the last of her algebra problems, when she heard Bobby’s enthusiastic welcome.
    Trixie slammed her book shut, raced down the stairs, and began to literally drag Honey toward the stairway.
    “Sorry, everyone,” Trixie called over her shoulder. “You can talk to her at dinner!“
    “What is going on?” Trixie heard her mother ask Mart, who was in the process of raiding the cookie jar.
    “It’s either one of Trixie’s clever ways of getting out of work—in this case, setting the table —or there’s been some terrible catastrophe. For as long as I live, Moms, I’ll never understand teen-age girls or aspiring detectives, especially if you combine the two. Then you’ve got a really volatile mixture!”
    “On that point, I agree with you, Mart,” Mrs. Belden said, laughing. “And I’m glad you brought up the matter of setting the table, because that’s exactly what needs to be done, as soon as you’re done with the cookies.”
    “Me and my big mouth,” Mart groaned. Upstairs, Honey and Trixie sat side by side on Trixie’s bed.
    “Finally!” Trixie exclaimed. “I’ve been on the verge of bursting all day long, waiting to talk to you.”
    “Me, too,” Honey said. “Do you want to go first, or should I?”
    “You first,” Trixie said anxiously.
    “Okay,” Honey began. “After you left the lunchroom, I took a couple of minutes to go to the library to get some of those new history pamphlets. And....”
    “Honey!” Trixie cried with exasperation. “Tell the story!”
    Honey giggled. “Sometimes I do get sidetracked. After I got the pamphlets, I was walking back to my locker, and I saw Mr. Ashbury talking with Bill and Jane Morgan in front of the newspaper office. I thought it seemed a little bit funny that he would be talking to them, and I was still bothered about where I had seen Mr. Ashbury before, so I turned down the side corridor and listened.”
    “Honey!” Trixie exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. “I’m surprised at you! Fm usually the one who does that sort of thing and gets scolded by you.”
    “I know,” Honey laughed. “It must be getting into my blood! Anyway,” she continued, “they were talking about the photographs that Bill took of the costumes today. Mr. Ashbury asked Bill for copies of the pictures, and then he gave him his address. I didn’t hear all of it—just New York City—and then I suddenly remembered where I had seen Peter Ashbury before!”
    Trixie was leaning forward, listening eagerly to every word and trying to piece this new information into the patchwork of things she had so far.
    “Mother was helping with a Halloween benefit dinner last October for some club in New York,” Honey continued, “and I went into the city with her one day. One of the stops we made was at a costume company, and I’m almost certain that Peter