Free The Castle Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

playroom. Shouldn’t you be working downstairs where the real antiques are?”
    Jessie and Benny looked at each other. If Tom and Sandy were a team, they didn’t act like one. Sandy seemed to want Tom out of the room.
    â€œThose are my fairy tales,” she said when she saw a pile of books next to Tom. “I want to keep them.”
    â€œYour fairy tales?” Tom cried. “What are you talking about?”
    Sandy looked like she was about to cry. She ran to the corner and grabbed an armful of the books. She opened several of them to the title pages. “See, there. It says: ‘Sandra Munson’ there and there.”
    â€œSo you are the same Sandy?” a man’s voice said.
    The children turned around to see Mr. Tooner standing in the doorway.
    â€œYes,” Sandy said softly, “I am.”
    â€œI thought so,” Mr. Tooner said with a smile. Then he turned to the children and explained. “Sandy was the last child to ever live in Drummond Castle. Mr. Drummond hired her mother as a cook, and she and Sandy both lived here many years ago.”
    â€œMr. Drummond was old and kind,” Sandy said. “He let me use these rooms as my bedroom and playroom. He gave me these books and toys that had belonged to his children. I didn’t think Mr. Tooner would recognize me,” Sandy said. “I was only ten years old when we left. My mother found a job as a chef at a big hotel, so we moved there. But I always wanted to come back to Drummond Castle where I’d been so happy. I wanted to sit and look out of the tower, and find my old books and toys again.”
    Mr. Tooner patted Sandy’s hand. “Well, young lady, why didn’t you tell anyone who you were? Mrs. Bell, why she would have put out the welcome mat for you.”
    â€œWell, I wasn’t sure,” Sandy said. “And I wanted so much to come back — I couldn’t take the chance on being turned away. When I saw the ad for an assistant, I decided to tell the Drummond Foundation that I had researched everything about the castle. That’s what made them hire me. And once I’d made up that story, I didn’t want anyone to find out I’d lied about who I really was — or why I wanted the job.”
    â€œMy, my,” Mr. Tooner said quietly. “From the first day I had a feeling I had seen you before. But you know, I’m an old fellow now, and my memory’s not so good. I wasn’t sure. Besides, a man like me is set in his ways. Can’t say that I liked people coming in here and upsetting everything.”
    This made Sandy laugh just a little. “That’s just what I did, didn’t I? Upset everything. I was so nervous all the time, I kept making mistakes.”
    â€œIs this yours?” Benny said. He pulled out the charm bracelet he had found and forgotten to give to Sandy.
    â€œI found it under a dust sheet on a chair in the great hall,” Violet told Sandy. “How did it get there?”
    Sandy hung her head down. She started crying again. “I followed you children around. I was afraid that somehow you would figure out who I was. The day you were going to work in the great hall, I remembered that some of my old books were in there, and they had my name written inside. I went to hide them, but I didn’t have enough time. I hid under the dust sheet when you came in.”
    â€œThat was a good hiding place,” Benny said. “And a scary one.”
    Everyone laughed but Tom. He hadn’t said a word since Sandy started talking.
    â€œI was just so happy to be here, and I didn’t want to get caught in a silly lie. But you children were all over the place,” Sandy explained. “The day I thought you were going on a treasure hunt, I was afraid of what you might find. I only pretended to drive to town, but I came back and parked in the woods and watched you from the tower.”
    â€œAnd from the stained glass