Free Haunted Clock Tower Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

arms.
    The children climbed the winding stairs very slowly because of the treasure box. They stopped a couple of times so that Henry and Jessie could put the box down and rest.
    At last they reached the top of the tower. As Professor Meyer pushed the door open, they were surprised to see their grandfather, Joel, and Don all waiting inside. Ezra was there, too, having just finished the morning concert.

    “Hello, children!” Grandfather said. “What have you got there?” The adults all crowded around the heavy metal box, which still had clumps of dirt clinging to it.
    “Grandfather! Wait until you see!” Benny cried.
    “What are you doing here?” Jessie asked.
    “I got a phone call from Professor Meyer this morning asking me to meet her here,” he explained. “Joel and Don were over having coffee, so they came along.”
    Grandfather looked at the box. “Is this the treasure you were hunting for?”
    “It is!” cried Benny. “It really is!”
    “What? You found the treasure? Where?” Don exclaimed. He was walking slowly around the large box, looking at it curiously.
    “In the Quad,” Jessie said. “The groundskeeper lent us shovels and we dug it up!”
    “Let’s open it!” Don said.
    Slowly Henry lifted the lid of the box, revealing the cloth-wrapped bundles. One by one, he unwrapped the bundles for everyone to see. Don bent over and picked each piece up, turning it over in his hands, but saying nothing.
    “Look at that beautiful pocket watch!” Ezra said.
    “That silver goblet is stunning,” said the professor.
    “But how did you know the children were going to find this treasure?” Grandfather asked.
    “Remember they showed me the letters last night?” Professor Meyer began. “I didn’t figure out everything that second letter meant until this morning. I looked out at the sunrise and suddenly everything fell into place! I realized that the tower’s shadow would point the way! When I called, I was planning to tell them, but they’d already figured it out. They’re your grandchildren, Jimmy, so I should have known they’d be smart. I asked you to join me here so that I could tell you about my project.”
    “Yes, please, tell us,” Jessie said.
    “I have been treasure hunting myself,” she began.
    “We thought so!” Benny cried.
    Jessie explained. “We found this letter up here in the tower, and we saw lights in the middle of the night. So we figured out that someone was up here looking for the treasure. And when we found your glasses …”
    “But I was not searching for the sort of treasure you see before you,” Professor Meyer went on. “I have been searching for information about the past.”
    “Why are you looking for that?” Benny asked.
    “I am writing a book,” the professor said. “A history of Goldwin University.”
    “Is that how you’re going to make money?” asked Jessie.
    “Yes, a little bit, if I can sell a few copies,” Professor Meyer said. “I have done a great deal of research. Some of my research has been up here, looking at these old photos.”
    “So that’s when you left your glasses up here!” Henry said.
    “Indeed I did,” Professor Meyer said. “But I haven’t been up here late at night. I’ve only come during the day. Much of my research has been speaking with people connected with Goldwin. One such person is Laurence Chambers, the great-great-grandnephew of the university’s first president, Joshua Chambers.” The professor paused and looked around. “He told me an interesting tale. He said that all of the family’s valuables were mysteriously missing after the Civil War. There was a story in the family that his great-great-granduncle, Joshua Chambers, had hidden them to keep them safe from the army. But no one ever knew for sure what had happened to them. So when I read that letter last night, it answered a lot of questions—but raised many more.”
    “Is that why you said, ‘So that’s what happened to it,’ when we showed you