Chapter Five

L'endroit pour des fleurs et des hommes mystérieux

Lizz: I didn't get this riddle. In fact, none of us did.

Meg: But it is solvable, at least!

Lizz: Good luck!

I cleared my throat.

The old butler came into the room. "Mrs. Butler, an Inspector Douglas from Mouseland Yard would like to ask you some questions."

Mrs. Butler frowned. "Tell him we're busy."

Basil touched her arm and leaned in close to her ear. "Mrs. Butler, you had better go. We don't want the Yard to get suspicious."

Mrs. Butler pursed her lips. "But... oh, I suppose you're right. I'm not helping much anyway."

"That's not true-" Dawson began.

She waved her hand at him. "I haven't helped with solving any of these clues so far. Go ahead. You all can go anywhere you wish to in this house. I'll be with you as soon as I can."

When she left the room, Basil nodded to me. "Go ahead."

"'Just the start of a word can mean so much in

Answering a clue,

Remember where I love to sit,

Danielle, Rose, and Michael with me

In spring, summer, and fall.

Never forget, the answer is in each beginning.'"

Basil frowned. "Read it again."

I did. He took the paper from me and studied it for a few seconds.

"I believe Mrs. Butler would be better able to assist us with this one," Dawson said.

"But she just left."

"'The answer is in each beginning?'" I repeated.

"'Just the start of a word can mean so much...'" Dawson read. "What does that mean?"

I flipped through the pages of Don Quixote, trying to find another clue.

"Each beginning..." Basil muttered. "Each beginning?"

"Why doesn't this clue rhyme like the other ones did?" Dawson questioned aloud.

"Yes, that's very strange," I said.

Basil nodded slowly, as if something was coming to him. "Yes, that is strange. He could have reworded it to say:

'Just the start of a word can mean so much in

Answering a clue,

Remember where I love to sit with you,

Rose and Michael in tow

Where we'd sit every spring, summer, and fall.

The answer is the beginning of it all.'

"Then the wording wouldn't be so awkward, or the rhyming so off." Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "Dawson!" he cried.

I coughed. Basil winced. "And… Meg."

"Thank you. You were saying?"

"Butler meant the sentence structure to be awkward for a reason. It's a part of the clue."

I reread the poem. "The beginning? Start of a word? What word?"

"In each beginning!" Basil exclaimed. "The first word of each line!"

He grabbed a pencil and wrote J-A-R-D-I-N.

"Jardin? That's French for garden!" Dawson said, astonished.

"Let's go."

We raced out to the garden. There were a few Mouseland Yard officials searching for clues. "Figures," Basil muttered.

He went back inside, Dawson and I at his heels. He sidled up to one of the maids out in the hallway. "Lovely garden you have out there," he said to her.

"Yes, sir. It's gorgeous, isn't it?"

"Yes. Can you tell me, was it a habit of your master to sit out there in the spring, summer or fall?"

She shrugged. "I suppose he did go out there once in a while."

Basil frowned again. Apparently he was not satisfied with that answer.

"Didn't he go out at all? With his wife? Or his children?"

The maid shrugged again. "He'd play with them in the garden."

"But did he have a certain seat where he would sit?"

"Not that I know of."

Basil drew a deep breath. "Thank you," he said stiffly as he walked away.

Basil questioned a few more of the household staff. I went back outside and walked around the garden. There were several stone benches among the rows of flowers and shrubbery.

I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the bench. Nothing. I wondered if the clue was buried under on of these benches. But we couldn't start digging anything up without attracting some attention.

I went to the next bench, but with the same result. I checked each of the five benches, but came up with nothing. Frustrated, I sat down on the last bench I had checked. I closed my eyes.

"Where he loved to sit... now, if I was a steel tycoon, where would I want to sit with my wife and children?"

"Perhaps a chair of steel?" a male voice with a heavy Irish brogue suggested.

I spun around. "What?"

A young man stepped out from the shrubs. He was dressed in a slightly soiled gray suit and a black tie. "A chair of steel. Isn't that what those steel industry men want?"

I nodded dumbly, speechless from the embarrassment of having someone overhear me.

He extended his hand. "I don't believe I have had the pleasure of makin' your acquaintance."

I shook his hand. "I'm Megana Havers."

He smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Megana. What's a lass like you doin' here, at the scene of a crime?"

"Actually, I'm here with Mr. Basil."

"Oh!" he said, sounding disappointed.

"And you are?" I said, my face turning red.

"Oh, pardon my manners. Arlen Gillespie's the name. I'm here with Mouseland Yard."

"Really?"

"Meg? Meg!" That was Dawson's voice.

"Oh, I must go..." I started.

Arlen bowed. "It was a pleasure, Megana."

I was still blushing when I reached Dawson.

"Where were you?"

"Trying to find a clue," I answered breathlessly.

He looked at my face. "Get a little too much exercise?" he asked.

"Yes..." I said slowly. I looked back at the path from whence I came. Arlen was just walking out of it. He waved to me. I waved back shyly as I followed Dawson inside. "Where's Basil?"

Dawson chuckled. "You remember the answer to the riddle? Jardin?"

"Of course! That's where we're trying to find the next set of clues!"

Dawson shook his head. "Not that 'garden.' Basil managed to pull aside Mrs. Butler for a few moments and ask her about the clue. She told us that there is a park called "Le Jardin," not far from here, where the Butlers go with their children nearly every afternoon."

"We were in the wrong garden the whole time?" I said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Mrs. Butler could not get away from the Yard officials, so she sent her children's nurse to show us the spot where the family usually sits.

The middle-aged nurse pointed to the wooden bench, next to two petunia bushes. "'Ere is where the family," she said in a heavy Cockney accent, sounding slightly annoyed.

Basil turned to me. "Distract her," he whispered, motioning to the nurse.

"What? How?" I hissed back.

"Lead her away somewhere."

I rolled my eyes, but went over to the nurse anyway. "How big is this park?" I asked.

"It's pretty large."

I looked back at Basil. The detective nodded encouragingly. "Is there a water fountain here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Can you show it to me?" I blurted out.

Basil groaned at the direct way I had asked that question. The nurse gave me a strange look. "Yes... follah me, miss..."

I glared at Basil as we walked away.

At the fountain, I tried to engage the nurse in some small talk. I suddenly saw Arlen Gillespie walking towards us.

"Well, if it isn't Meg Havers!" he beamed. "What a coincidence!"

"Mr. Gillespie! How nice to see you again," I said, failing to mask the surprise I felt. My cheeks began to burn.

"Thought you were with Mr. Basil."

"I... I was..." I said cautiously.

"Mr. Basil s'over there," the nurse said, motioning in their direction. "We were jess lookin' at th' fawntain."

The Irish mouse perked up even more. "Oh? What are you all doin' at Le Jardin?"

The nurse looked at me. It seems she had wanted to know this all along. I was sweating.

"Erm... well, Basil thought that... I mean... It's like this... he thought that the attacker had... been watching his family when they went to the park... because they go so often... you know... and he was hoping he'd get some sort of clue." I was aware that my face was burning again.

The nurse did not look satisfied. Arlen laughed. "Sounds silly to me, but then again, Mr. Basil is not one to do things th' ordinary way."

To my relief I caught sight of Basil and Dawson approaching us from behind Mr. Gillespie's shoulder.

"Well, I had better get goin'," Arlen said. "Good luck on the search, Miss Havers." He vanished among the bushes.

Basil took my arm. "Who was that you were talking to?"

"A man from Mouseland Yard," I answered. "Arlen Gillespie."

"Gillespie? I've never heard of him," Basil said, scowling. "Why'd he leave so quickly?"

I felt guilty for some reason. "I don't know."

Sarah: Who is that guy, Arlen Gillespie? Is he hot? Is he Sean Biggerstaff hot?

Emma: I don't even know who that is.

RAEB: I do! He's Oliver Wood from the Harry Potter movies!

Leigh: (sighs) He is so HOTT!

Meg: (groans) On with the story people!