meet us after the groundbreaking ceremony for the Alden Library,â said Henry. âYou can film the final chapter of the grinning gargoyle mystery. Will you do that?â
âWe sure will,â Annabel said. âI didnât think Iâd be making anymore gargoyle videos, but I suspect this is a good plan.â
âSpeaking of suspects,â said Jessie, âI think we know which suspect we need to talk to. Letâs eat our breakfast as we walk.â
The Aldens had finished their breakfast by the time they reached the old library. The stone gargoyles grinned down at them from high above. The papier-mâché gargoyle he had found the night before grinned up at the statues from Bennyâs arms.
Benny held onto his gargoyle until the children reached the desk where Miss Hollenberg already sat. The old librarian looked up from the book she was reading and was surprised when the youngest Alden dropped the papier-mâché creature into her lap.
âWhere did you get this gargoyle?â Miss Hollenberg asked, looking surprised and a little bit annoyed with the powdering of white dust that covered her red dress. âItâs papier-mâché. Did you children make it?â
âNo,â said Henry. âBut we think you did.â
âWhy would I do such a thing?â asked Miss Hollenberg.
âYouâre sad about the Alden Library replacing this old library,â said Jessie, âand you thought you could foil the plan by scaring people with the legend of the grinning gargoyles.â
Miss Hollenberg laughed. âWhy thatâs the silliest thing Iâve ever heard,â she said. âFor one thing, the Alden Library isnât replacing anything. But thatâs a secret for todayâs ceremony, so thatâs all I will say about that. And for another thing, the legend of the grinning gargoyles is fictionâ¦â
âWhat does âfictionâ mean?â Benny asked.
âIt means âmade up,ââ Henry said. âJust like Raven was made up. Or just like Holly Page, who wrote the newspaper article!â
âI havenât heard that name in years,â Miss Hollenberg sighed, taking the old, yellowed newspaper from her desktop.
âYou created the gargoyle legend, didnât you, Miss Hollenberg?â Violet asked. âYou were Holly Page.â
âI sure did,â said Miss Hollenberg. She pointed tothe authorâs nameon the newspaper article. âSee. Holly, like Hollenberg. And Page, like the pages in all these books Holly Page. Thatâs me.â
âBut why would you make up a legend like that?â asked Jessie.
âYears ago, even before your grandfather was a student here at Goldwin University, I had a problem with students misbehaving in the library,â Miss Hollenberg explained. âLike I told you when you arrived yesterday, gargoyles are supposed to protect the buildings which they decorate. I figured that a spooky legend about grinning gargoyles would make everyone behave. So I wrote this article in the Goldwin Gazette, using Holly Page as my pen name.â
âWhatâs a pen name?â Benny asked.
âItâs a made-up name an author uses instead of their own,â said Henry. âSort of like how Annabel used the name Raven for her videos. Did your article work, Miss Hollenberg?â
âIt did back then, and then it was forgotten for many, many years,â said the old librarian. âBut recently, the legend of the grinning gargoyles has been causing more trouble than it has solved, what with people talking about gargoyles scratching at windows and peeking in at scared students. It reminded me of the old article, which I found among my things. I donât know how anyone else knew about the legend, thoughâI highly doubt there are any other copies left.â
âThen how would someone find out about the legend,â Jessie wondered, âif they
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