Mystery of the Queen's Jewels by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

anything valuable here, anyway. I had my money with me at the play.”
    â€œWait a minute!” said Benny. “There is something missing! My backpack!”
    â€œHere’s your backpack,” said Jessie, handing it him. “You left it in our room. The camera is still inside.”
    Benny took the backpack, a look of relief on his face.
    â€œHow did the burglar get in?” Grandfather wanted to know.
    â€œThese locks are pretty easy to pick,” said the bobby. “It could have been someone who works here, or one of the other guests. Or maybe someone sneaked in the front door when Mrs. Brown wasn’t around.”
    â€œMy family and I are the only ones who work here,” Mrs. Brown said. “And I can’t believe it was one of my guests. I suppose someone could have sneaked in — I’ve never had a problem like this, so I usually don’t lock the front door until I go to bed. Still, I can’t believe someone could have come in without my knowing.”
    â€œIt’s late now, so I’ll come back tomorrow morning to speak to the other guests,” the bobby said. “I’ll find out if anyone heard or saw anything suspicious.”
    Mr. Alden went with Mrs. Brown to show the bobby out, while the girls helped Benny and Henry put everything back where it belonged. At last their room was in order.
    â€œWe’ll have to make sure we don’t leave any valuables lying around until they catch the person who did this,” said Jessie.
    â€œI’ll put my money in Benny’s backpack for safekeeping,” said Henry. “I’ll just tuck it in this outside pocket.”
    As Henry unzipped the pocket and reached inside, the look on his face changed. “Hey, what’s this?” He pulled out a small wrapped bundle.
    The Aldens crowded around to see what Henry was holding. The package was flat and about three inches square. It was tightly wrapped and taped. “Did anyone put this in here?” asked Henry.
    They all shook their heads.
    â€œWhat is it?” asked Benny.
    Slowly Henry pulled off the tape and began to unwrap the package. Pulling off the paper, he uncovered a small sturdy box. The children were becoming more and more curious. When Henry opened the box, they all opened their eyes wide in surprise. Inside was a shiny gold brooch covered with diamonds and other sparkling gems. The letters HRH were engraved in the center. It was obviously quite old.
    â€œThat looks really valuable,” said Benny. “I wonder whose initials those are.”
    â€œThose aren’t just someone’s initials!” said Henry. “That stands for ‘Her Royal Highness.’ This must have belonged to … a queen!”
    â€œOh, my goodness!” said Jessie.
    â€œIt looks familiar,” said Violet.
    â€œFamiliar?” Jessie repeated.
    â€œYes, I think I’ve seen something just like it, but I’m not sure where,” Violet explained.
    â€œWhat I want to know is, how did it get into my backpack?” Benny asked.
    â€œIt was inside that zipped pocket, so it couldn’t have just fallen in,” said Henry. “Someone must have put it there on purpose.”
    â€œAnd he came back for it tonight!” Violet exclaimed. “Maybe that’s what the thief was after! He assumed the backpack was in Benny’s room, so he broke in. He didn’t know it was in our room.”
    â€œI was wondering why ours was the only room that was burglarized,” said Henry. “That would explain it — he wasn’t just looking for anything valuable, he was looking for one thing in particular, and thought it would only be in here.”
    Suddenly Jessie gasped. “Maybe that’s why someone’s been following us! Like Violet said the other day, he was following us because we had something he wanted. He’s been trying to get it back all week! We’ve had the backpack with us every