Old Motel Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

Aldens biked, swam, and went into Lyndale, while the next day was rainy so they played games, visited with Aunt Jane and Kay, and played with Willie.
    That night, however, shortly after midnight, Jessie awoke to the sound of running water. Something’s wrong, she thought, and her heart began to pound.
    Quickly, she threw back her covers and stepped out of bed.
    To her horror her feet touched cold water.
    Drawing her legs back, she called hoarsely, “Violet! Violet, wake up!”
    â€œHmmmm?” Violet said drowsily. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What is it, Jessie?”
    â€œWater!” Jessie said in an alarmed voice. “Water is everywhere!”
    Fully awake, Violet reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. Sure enough, water covered the floor.
    â€œWhere’s the water coming from?” Violet asked urgently.
    â€œI don’t know,” Jessie replied, a prickle of fear running down her spine.

CHAPTER 11
    The Suspects
    H enry rushed out of his bedroom, followed by Benny. “What’s all the commotion?” Henry asked.
    â€œDon’t take another step,” Violet warned.
    Henry glanced down and saw the water edging toward him.
    Curious, Benny ran forward and stopped abruptly when he found himself standing in water. He lifted one bare foot, then the other. “Why is there water on the floor?”
    â€œWe’re not sure,” Jessie said as calmly as she could.
    Henry rolled up his pajama bottoms and raced to the front door where the sound of gushing water was loudest.
    Jessie hurried to Henry’s side, followed by Violet. Benny was last, splashing through the water.
    â€œThe garden hose!” Jessie exclaimed. “The nozzle’s stuck in the window box and all our poor geraniums plants are drowned!”
    The hose, pouring forth water, had overflowed from the window box through the open window, and into their room.
    Without wasting a minute, Jessie raced to the outside faucet and turned it off.
    Water ran along the outside wall, flooding the soil along the motel’s foundation. “This could have been serious,” Henry said.
    Violet hurried out and grabbed a mop from the supply closet. She swished the mop back and forth on the floor and then wrung it out in the sink. Henry grasped a broom and swept water outside.
    Jessie, using rags, soaked up water along the baseboards.
    Benny, though, hadn’t moved. He continued to stare at the wet floors. “Millicent was right,” he said. “The motel is jinxed!”

    Jessie rose and said, “No, Benny. A real person is causing the damage.”
    A frown crossed Henry’s face as he paused in his sweeping. “If the water kept running, it could have seeped through the wall cracks into the next unit.”
    Jessie’s brown eyes flashed. “Of everything that has happened, this is the worst!”
    â€œI knew something would happen,” Violet murmured.
    â€œLet’s go to bed,” Jessie said. “We’ve cleaned up the water.”
    â€œI won’t sleep!” Benny said.
    Henry smiled and put his hand on Benny’s shoulder. “Oh, I think you will.”
    But that night none of the Aldens slept well. Henry’s thoughts were on the prowler—was he still hanging around? Jessie thought of danger—would whoever was doing these awful things turn violent? Violet wondered what the prowler would do next. And Benny kept thinking he saw shadows and heard mysterious noises.
    In the morning, Jessie climbed the hill to inform Kay of the deliberate attempt to flood her motel.
    At first Kay didn’t reply, but then her eyes took on a steely look. “I can’t believe anything else is going to go wrong, but I’ll call Officer Miller just the same. He’ll patrol the place at night.”
    Aunt Jane, who had been standing in the doorway in her robe, now moved to Jessie’s side. “You poor children,” she said. “You must have