The Mystery of the Velvet Gown

Ashbury was the man who helped her. We were there for quite a while, and I remember looking at a lot of the costumes. I asked Miss Trask about it, but she said she didn’t know what kind of work Mr. Ashbury did. And Mother and Daddy left for Miami last night and won’t be back until next week, so I can’t ask Mother if she remembers him.
    “After Bill and Jane and Mr. Ashbury finished talking,” Honey continued, “I waited a few minutes and then headed back to the auditorium for rehearsal. I saw Jane and Bill in the hallway, but Mr. Ashbury wasn’t with them.”
    “Unfortunately, I know where he was,” Trixie interrupted. “But I’ll tell you that later. Then what happened?”
    “I walked behind Bill and Jane for a few minutes. They didn’t see me at first. Bill said that he was going to do a whole article on the play, with pictures of Di and the rest of the cast in Shakespearean costume. Jane said that he’d better wait to take the pictures, because Di wasn’t going to be playing Juliet!
    “Unfortunately, Jane turned her head just then and saw that I was following them, so she stopped talking. She whispered something to Bill and then, very nicely, offered to walk to the auditorium with me. I didn’t let on that I had heard her, but I was seething!”
    “Whew!” Trixie exclaimed. “This gets stranger and stranger!” Then she related the whole story of what had happened in the drama office, including the argument she had overheard between Miss Darcy and Peter Ashbury.
    “And now this!” With a flourish, Trixie produced the envelope containing the pictures and safe-deposit box receipt.
    Honey looked at them quizzically. “What do these have to do with the rest of it?” she asked.
    “I must admit I don’t know yet,” Trixie answered slowly. She explained to Honey about Miss Darcy giving her the wrong envelope.
    “Something very strange is going on here,” Trixie sighed. “Remember how upset Mr. Ashbury got when I started opening the costume boxes at rehearsal? Maybe—if he is in the business—he wants to steal them. Maybe they’re very valuable costumes, and that’s why Miss Darcy is going to keep them in a safe-deposit box!”
    “Trixie,” Honey laughed, “safe-deposit boxes are too small for costumes. They’re for things like jewelry and valuable papers, not clothes!“
    “Oh,” Trixie said. “But what about fur coats? They’re valuable. Where do people keep them in summer?”
    “Certainly not in safe-deposit boxes!” Honey said. “In the summer, my mother has hers stored in a furrier’s vault.”
    “Well, scratch that explanation,” Trixie sighed. “Jane Morgan worries me, too. I wonder if we should tell Di about this. That’s the second time Jane’s said something threatening about Di playing Juliet. Maybe Jane plans to kidnap Di on the night of the performance!”
    Trixie said, her eyes widening.
    “Oh, Trixie, Jane wouldn’t go that far!” Honey rolled her eyes.
    “I don’t know about that,” Trixie began, but she was interrupted by Mrs. Belden’s call for dinner.
    “Uh-oh,” Trixie groaned. “I’ll probably get a talking-to about chores, plus some ribbing from Mart, who probably ended up setting the table for me.”
    Just as Trixie had predicted, Mart gave her a hard time once they were all seated at the dining room table.
    “Did you solve all the world’s problems while I did your work, Trixie?” Mart asked.
    “Almost,” Trixie answered. “We’ve got just one problem left: what to do about older brothers.”
    “Now, now,” Peter Belden interjected. “Let’s try to have a peaceful dinner—and, I hope, a calmer evening than the last one Honey spent with us.”
    “That reminds me, Peter,” Helen Belden said. “Reddy can come home tomorrow. I thought Brian could drive everyone to school, and then they can pick Reddy up on their way home. I’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow, and I won’t have time to drive into town.”
    “That’s fine with me,” Brian said. “I know someone here who will sure be glad to welcome Reddy home,” he added, ruffling Bobby’s hair.
    “I’ve got everything all set,” Bobby said. “I’m going to sign Reddy’s cast.”
    “You’re going to do what?” Mr. Belden asked.
    “When Jimmy Baker broked his arm,” Bobby explained patiently, “everyone in my class got to sign his cast. I remember how to do it, so I’m going to sign Reddy’s.”
    “Well, we’ll see,” Mr. Belden said, chuckling.