Midnight Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

house.
    Benny held the periscope to the window. “It’s Mr. Percy,” he whispered to Henry. “He’s tapping on walls. Uh-oh. He just went out to the entryway. I can’t see him anymore. Okay, you can let me down. I thought we could see if somebody was sneaking around.”
    Henry laughed. “Somebody was. You! I wonder what Mr. Percy is up to.”
    Jessie and Violet walked over, holding empty dog bowls. Ruff and Tumble trailed happily behind.
    “I spotted these empty water bowls on the porch using my periscope,” Violet announced.
    “We can fill them from the outside faucet near the entryway,” Jessie said.
    “Good idea,” Henry said. “You know, I like to see things with my own eyes. They’re a lot sharper than my periscope.”
    The Aldens went to the side of the house, but the garden faucet didn’t work.
    Henry grinned. “Now we have to get water from the house.”
    “Let’s just go in,” Jessie suggested. “We can come right out as soon as we get the water.” She walked over to the front door, pushed it open, and stood there, staring. “Mr. Percy!”
    The Aldens couldn’t believe their eyes. Mr. Percy was trying to pry open the front of the grandfather clock with a screwdriver!
    Violet stepped forward. “What are you doing to the clock, Mr. Percy?”
    “Please don’t break it,” Jessie said. It looked as if Mr. Percy was trying to force the panel open. “It’s one of Alice Putter’s most beautiful clocks.”
    Mr. Percy faced the Aldens. “Break one of Alice Putter’s clocks? I’m here to fix them, not break them. But this one has stumped me since the day I laid eyeson it. Every time I’m in the house, I puzzle over it.”
    “You do?” Violet asked. “I thought you knew about all of Alice Putter’s inventions.”
    Mr. Percy pushed down his glasses and looked at Violet. “Well, you see, that’s the great thing about Alice Putter’s inventions, especially her clocks. Nobody knows everything about them, not even me. What keeps me going in circles with this grandfather clock is how to get inside the wood panel. It’s locked tight — I can’t get to the gears to clean them! I’ve tried tapping the walls behind it in case Alice somehow built it against an opening in the wall. I even wondered if there were a secret space or some such thing behind it. Can you kids figure the thing?”
    Benny looked up. “Not yet. We’re too afraid to touch it.”
    Mr. Percy packed up his screwdriver. “Well, if you think of anything, let me know. And good luck with your inventions.”
    “Thanks, you, too!” Jessie said.
    Mr. Percy stared at Jessie. “Me, too? I’m not an inventor!”
    “Oh,” Henry said. “We just thought you might be inventing something, too, since you seemed so interested in the other inventions coming in.”
    “And since you didn’t want us to look in your box,” Benny added.
    “I like to check out everything that comes in — I’m always interested in new gadgets and ideas,” Mr. Percy said. “But I’m not an inventor myself—I’m a Mr. Fix-it.”
    “What about Brad?” Henry asked. “Is he an inventor?”
    Mr. Percy sighed. “He’d like to be. I don’t know that he can come up with anything original and make it work. But good luck to him.” Mr. Percy looked up at the grandfather clock again. “Now there’s an invention to beat! Alice Putter’s last puzzle.”
    “Or riddle,” Henry said after Mr. Percy went out the front door.

CHAPTER 9
The Search Goes On
    The day of the invention convention was getting close. Thanks to Mr. Percy, Alice Putter’s clocks ticked and tocked along. Soon Grandfather and Ms. Putter would be back. The children could hardly wait to show them the new inventions and ask Ms. Putter about the riddle book they’d found. They still had one more big job to do — finding Alice Putter’s plan book. They kept on searching as they finished up their last-minute chores.
    Jessie sent Violet and Benny out to gather wildflowers to brighten up