the museum through the manhole that connects underground. Thatâs why I didnât want them near me. And then Henry and Jessie and Violet saw those receipts from my stay here in town when I was supposed to be in Montana. I kept those out of habit.â He shook his head.
âWere you the shadow man the first night we came?â Jessie asked.
Now Dr. Pettibone looked confused.
âI was the shadow man,â Pete confessed. âI guess I should quit the museum, too. I figured out how to fix the lock in the dinosaur hall so I could visit T. rex anytime I wanted at night. I just like being around something like that.â
Mr. Diggs looked at his watch. âWhew! What a time to discover all this! Weâve only got about fifteen minutes before we let in everyone. Pete, you seem to know plenty about the fossils. You go help Dr. Pettibone wire those last bones to the skeleton.â
âWeâll have to see about getting you a job as one of our guides â that is, when youâre not helping Titus and Eve,â Mrs. Diggs said to Pete. âYou may not be cut out to be a night watchman, but you certainly know your way around stars and fossils.â
Dr. Pettibone looked relieved, âDoes that mean I can stay on, Emma?â
Mrs. Diggs nodded. âOf course. And Eve, too. Weâve all been overworked lately and not ourselves. Now that Pete will be around to give you both a hand, maybe the Pickering Museum can get back to normal.â
Mr. Alden laughed. âWhen things get normal, that means itâs time for the Aldens to go home!â
Dr. Pettibone bent down to show Violet, Benny, and Soo Lee the missing hinge bone. âAnd thank you for helping me so much. I couldnât live without my bones.â
âNeither could anybody!â Benny said.
Nosey barked, as if he understood what Benny had said.
âSee?â said Benny.
Everyone laughed.
Then Dr. Pettibone cleared his throat. âTime to open the exhibit and introduce T. rex âsbones to everyone â thanks to you Aldens!â
About the Author
G ERTRUDE C HANDLER W ARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read, She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded,
Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car â the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warnerâs books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldensâ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible â something else that delights young readers.
Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
T HE B OXCAR C HILDREN
S URPRISE I SLAND
T HE Y ELLOW H OUSE M YSTERY
M YSTERY R ANCH
M IKEâS M YSTERY
B LUE B AY M YSTERY
T HE W OODSHED M YSTERY
T HE L IGHTHOUSE M YSTERY
M OUNTAIN T OP M YSTERY
S CHOOLHOUSE M YSTERY
C ABOOSE M YSTERY
H OUSEBOAT M YSTERY
S NOWBOUND M YSTERY
T REE H OUSE M YSTERY
B ICYCLE M YSTERY
M YSTERY IN THE S AND
M YSTERY B EHIND THE W ALL
B US S TATION M YSTERY
B ENNY U NCOVERS A M