“An heirloom!” said Benny. He knew that word from talking to Mrs. McGregor about her antique collection. “Does that mean it’s worth a whole lot of money?”

  Ms. Spritz gently set down the clock. “Sometimes,” she said. “But in this case, I don’t think the clock is worth a lot of money. It was probably made by a local person who wasn’t well-known.”

  Ms. Spritz turned to Mr. Muldaur. “And you remember nothing about this clock?”

  Mr. Muldaur stared at the clock and sighed. “No,” he said. “There is something special about it, but I can’t say why.”

  “Well, I really like it too,” said Benny. “I want to see how it ticks.”

  Ms. Spritz laughed. “Maybe you’ll get to see just that,” she told Benny. “I’ll write up an appraisal. Then Mr. Muldaur can see if he can get the clock working. But now, let’s take another clock down from that shelf.”

  Henry helped put other clocks onto the counter. Meanwhile, Jessie, Violet, and Benny talked.

  “Mr. Muldaur knows that the clock is special to him,” said Violet. “But he doesn’t remember how. What if the clock is an heirloom from his family?”

  Jessie snapped her fingers. “That would explain why Henry and Mr. Muldaur weren’t able to find any paperwork for it,” she said. “Because it isn’t for sale!”

  “If the clock is important to Mr. Muldaur’s family,” said Benny, “does that mean it’s what the person who wrote the note is after?”

  “I’ll bet that’s right, Benny,” said Jessie.

  “But how do we figure out who that person is?” said Violet.

  Benny put his fingers up to his chin, thinking. “Maybe we missed someone in the big name book!”

  Jessie and Violet laughed.

  “It’s called the white pages, Benny,” Jessie said. “And we didn’t miss anyone.”

  But Benny had a good point. If it wasn’t another Muldaur, who could it be?

  CHAPTER

  Strange Conversations

  After Ms. Spritz had gone, the Aldens got to work organizing. Violet spread out her map of the shop across Mr. Muldaur’s desk. Jessie started making labels for the shelves and writing the same numbers into the map. Henry went back to listing items in the shop.

  “Come over here, Jessie, Henry. Come, Violet,” Benny called. “You should see all the toys!”

  Benny had found dozens of antique toys, which had been hidden on shelves behind a big desk. One shelf had delicate dolls with porcelain heads and fancy clothes. Another had mechanical toys. Some had keys in them, but many did not. There were animals, like the bear Benny had found. There were also clowns, farmers, kings and queens, and magicians. Some rode bicycles, and some looked as if they did tricks. There were marionettes and hand puppets, toy trains and cars, and sets of toy soldiers. There was even a wooden farm, complete with a farm family, buildings, and animals.

  “I want to know how old these toys are,” said Violet. “Then I can picture the boys and girls who might have played with them.”

  “I want to play with them—all of them!” said Benny. “But I won’t. I promise. Hello, Bear.” He took the mechanical bear off a shelf and petted it. “We have to get to work so all of these toys can have their keys. Then they can come to life.”

  Jessie reached to the back of a shelf and pulled out a fancy, red mechanical car. “I’d like to know how these were made,” she said, turning the car over and over. “Mr. Muldaur’s papers should give us some clues.”

  “Yes, they should tell us something,” said Henry. “And Mr. Muldaur’s stories are coming back too! Today, he told me all about the rocking chair and lamp at the front of the shop.”

  “Hmmm,” said Violet. “This is giving me some ideas. I think I have a way for Mr. Muldaur to sell more things.” She wandered off down another aisle.

  As she did, Mitzy barked a friendly hello and the doorbell jingled. Benny, Jessie, and Henry peered toward the front of the shop to see who it was.

  There stood the young man with long brown hair again, scratching Mitzy’s head. He looked up—and sneezed.

  “Oh, excuse me,” he said. “Hi, Mr. Muldaur!” He waved as Mr. Muldaur came out of the office with some boxes. “How are you feeling? It’s good to see you back on your feet.”

  The young man walked along one of the aisles, looking at the shelves. He took a deep breath. “It seems less dusty now,” he said. “Did you do something different?”

  “I, uh, don’t know about that,” said Mr. Muldaur. “I’m sorry. I really don’t recall.” He put down the boxes and went back to his office.

  The young man looked confused.

  “Mr. Muldaur had a fall last week,” Henry explained. “His memory is coming back slowly.”

  The young man shook his head. “Yes, I heard that he had gotten hurt. But I didn’t know it was so bad.”

  The young man was quiet for a moment. Then he let out a big sneeze, which seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

  “I’m Gary,” he said, turning to the Aldens. He noticed the mechanical car Jessie was holding. “Hey, that’s the car we were trying to find last spring.”

  Jessie handed Gary the car, and he admired the old toy. Then he sneezed again.

  “Well, I’m glad you found it,” the young man told Jessie. He handed back the car. “Put it in a place where Mr. Muldaur can find it easily next time, okay?”

  Jessie nodded.

  Gary blew his nose. “Well, I’ve got to run now. Nice to see you all again.” He left the shop.

  Jessie looked at the others. “That was a little weird, wasn’t it?” she said. “It’s the second time he has been here. He still wasn’t looking for something to buy. So why was he here?”

  “It does seem strange,” said Henry. “I wonder. Is it possible Gary could be the missing family member? The one who wrote the note?”

  “He could be,” said Violet. “He sure knows Mr. Muldaur. He didn’t seem very angry though.”

  “He knows Mitzy,” said Benny. “He knows about things in the shop.”

  “Too bad we don’t know Gary’s last name,” said Jessie. “If we did, we could call him and ask him some more questions.”

  As the Aldens got back to work, a few customers came to the shop. One woman who came in with two small children bought a desk lamp. Another woman looked at the jewelry. She finally bought an old ring with a red stone in it. As Violet watched the customers, she kept thinking and thinking. Things were easier to find now, but there was still something missing.

  Meanwhile, Benny had a very special job to do. He took all the wind-up toys off the shelf and placed them on a table. Next, he got the box of keys. He tried each key on the toys until he found a match. Then he wound up the toy to see if it worked.

  Benny found keys for every toy that didn’t have one. The cars raced along, some in straight lines and some in circles. The animals walked or hopped or squawked and stood on their hind legs. The clowns turned somersaults. The kings and queens strutted around and bowed. The farmers raised their pitchforks or dug with hoes. The magicians laughed and spun around.

  It had been a good morning. The shop was finally starting to become more lively. At lunchtime, the children took a well-earned break. They brought their lunches to the park, and Mitzy came along for a walk. On the way, Mitzy suddenly stopped and started to growl. A woman was coming toward them on the path.

  “Look!” said Benny. “It’s that teacher you know, Jessie.”

  It was Lydia Sweeting, Jessie’s history teacher. Jessie waved. “Hi, Ms. Sweeting!”

  The woman looked up. “Oh! Hello, Jessie,” she said. “I didn’t know you all lived around here.”

  “We don’t,” said Jessie. “We’re still helping out in the antique shop.”

  Mitzy growled right at Ms. Sweeting.

  “Don’t do that, Mitzy,” Benny told the dog, holding tight to her leash. “That’s rude.”

  “Oh, yes, the antique shop,” said Ms. Sweeting. “How is the shop? Are you enjoying yourselves?”

  “It’s fun,” said Benny. “But why were you there the other day, Ms. Sweeting? You didn’t buy anything.”

  “Benny!” Jessie put her hand on Benny’s shoulder. Sometimes her little brother did not know when he was being rude. Even still, she was glad he had asked. Jessie had wondered why Ms. Sweeting had stopped by the shop, and she wanted to hear what the history teacher might say.

  For a moment Ms. Sweeting said nothing at all. She just looked startled. “You know,” she said finally, “I work in a jewelry and watch repair shop in the summer. I came to the antique shop hoping to find some old watches. Sometimes we take them apart and use their parts to fix other watches. Maybe I’ll come back again. When I have more time.”

  Mitzy barked, and Ms. Sweeting took a step away. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Jessie. Have a good afternoon, children.” Ms. Sweeting steered wide of Mitzy and hurried down the path.

  “What’s with Mitzy?” asked Violet. “I thought she liked everybody.”

  “Almost everybody,” said Jessie, looking down the path after Ms. Sweeting.

  The Aldens settled onto a park bench to eat their sandwiches. Henry spoke up. “We need to find out more about that mantel clock. I just know that it’s important in this whole thing.”

  “Ms. Spritz said we could see makers’ marks on the internet,” said Violet. “We should take the clock home and study it.”

  “Good idea, Violet,” said Henry. “Let’s ask Mr. Muldaur if we can do that.” He fed Mitzy a corner of his sandwich. “I’m thinking about that clock too. If the clock has been in the family for generations, and it’s what the person is upset about, maybe the person we’re looking for isn’t a brother or sister.”

  “Good point, Henry. It could be a more distant relative,” said Jessie. “We need to learn more about Mr. Muldaur’s whole family.”

  Just as the children finished eating, it began to sprinkle. Together, the Aldens ran with Mitzy back to the shop.

  CHAPTER

  A Timely Clue

  Mr. Muldaur gave the Aldens permission to take the clock home. Henry called Grandfather. Because it was raining, he wanted to make sure Grandfather could pick them up right at closing time.

  “We’ll need to wrap this clock very well and carry it home carefully,” Henry said. “I wouldn’t want it to get wet.”

  The children worked with Mr. Muldaur for the rest of the afternoon. They got a lot of organizing done, but there weren’t as many customers as there had been when the sun was shining.

  Back at home, the Aldens unwrapped the clock. They all sat around a table with the clock in front of them. Mr. Muldaur had gotten it working that afternoon. The children watched as the many wheels, springs, hands, and gears moved smoothly along, telling the time.

  “It’s amazing that something made so long ago could work this well,” said Jessie.

  “It was probably well taken care of for most those years,” said Henry. “And it was probably well made in the first place.”

  Violet peered at the clock face. “Those etchings are beautiful,” she said. Violet had learned about etchings in her art class. Seeing them up close, she was amazed at the tiny details. Some showed pictures of animals. One was of a sun, and another showed a moon. There were also tiny pictures of a wooden house, a shop on a street, and a horse and carriage.

  “These etchings might have clues for us,” said Jessie. “We could magnify them to see details. We could try to find similar etchings somewhere.”

  “Good idea,” said Jessie. “Do you remember what Ms. Spritz said? That the clock was made locally? We could go to the library to do research. I know there’s a lot of local history we can find there.”

  “Let’s ask Grandfather to take us tonight!” said Benny. He didn’t like being stuck inside the house when it was raining, and he loved visiting the library.

  “Good idea, Benny,” said Violet. “First, I’ll take some photos of the clock. Then we won’t have to bring it along.”

  That evening, Grandfather drove them to the local library through the rain. Inside, the children worked at the computer. Violet magnified her photos of the clock on the screen. The children could clearly see the maker’s mark on the bottom of the clock now. There were initials, M. M., and a curly design underneath the letters.

  “I hope we can find this maker’s mark on the internet,” said Violet. “But let’s look at the etchings now.” She moved on to a picture that showed a store with a horse and carriage outside.

  “Hey!” said Benny. “Are those tiny words across the top of the shop? I can read them, I bet. Can you make the picture even bigger, Violet?”

  Violet worked at it. Then she frowned. “The letters just get blurry when I make them bigger,” she said. “Can you read them the way they are, Benny?”

  Benny tried. “I think…there are two big M’s on a sign. Then it says…‘Time’ and something too small to read.” He jumped up. “Maybe it’s an antique shop, like Mr. Muldaur’s!”

  “Maybe,” said Jessie. “Or maybe, those two big M’s have something to do with the maker’s mark.”

  “So we could be looking at a tiny picture of the shop where this clock was made,” said Henry. “I wish I had eagle eyes like yours, Benny. Who knows what else I could find in the world?”

  Benny grinned. “These are my eyes,” he said. “They’re people eyes, not eagle eyes.”

  The Aldens all laughed—even Benny.

  Next, the children went online to look for the maker’s mark. The internet had some famous marks for clockmakers, but nothing about lesser-known ones. Henry asked for help from the librarian, Mr. Stockwell. The man brought the Aldens over to the part of the library that had local history materials.

  “Here you’ll find newspapers, books, and other files,” said Mr. Stockwell. “Most of this information isn’t online. One day we hope to organize it all and upload it though.”

  “That would be a great project for another rainy day,” said Jessie. “But now we’re looking for information about clockmakers from a long time ago.”

  Mr. Stockwell polished his glasses. “Hmm…” he said. “What year do you think these clockmakers might have been in operation? The town of Greenfield has been around for quite a long time.”

  Violet thought about the etchings on the clock face. “We think it was before the twentieth century,” she said. “Maybe from the days of horses and carriages. Wasn’t that before nineteen hundred?”

  “Very good,” said Mr. Stockwell. “There were horses and carriages in the early nineteen hundreds. Soon, though, most were replaced by cars and other motor vehicles.”

  “Like tractors and motorcycles?” asked Benny.

  “Exactly,” said Mr. Stockwell. “Let me know if you children need more help finding things. Right now, I need to head back to my desk.”

  The Aldens thanked the librarian and turned to the stacks of books and newspapers.

  “Well,” said Henry, “what do we know about this clock so far? That will help us decide where to start looking.”

  “It might have been made in the eighteen hundreds,” said Violet. “That’s the nineteenth century.”

  “We found it in Mr. Muldaur’s shop,” said Jessie. “And people in his family might still be fighting over it.”

  “What if we look for the name Muldaur along with anything about clocks?” said Henry. “We don’t have to go all the way back to the nineteenth century. We can start with our century, the twenty-first, and go backward.”

  So Jessie and Benny looked in books. Violet and Henry checked newspapers. Some of the books had indexes in the back. Luckily, there were also indexes to the newspapers. That way, the children could look for subjects and find the location of articles and chapters.

  “Let’s make a list of the subjects we want to find in the indexes,” said Jessie. She took out her notebook to write down the list of words.

  “How about ‘Muldaur’?” said Violet. “Also, ‘clockmaker’ and ‘antique store’?”

  Jessie wrote down the list of words, and everyone got to work.

  It didn’t take long before Benny got antsy. He got up and ran around the table with his arms spread out like a bird’s.

  “What are you doing, Benny?” Henry asked.

  “I’m trying to look with eagle eyes,” he said. “But it’s a lot harder this way.”

  The children all laughed.

  After a few more minutes of searching, Jessie looked up. “I found something about Muldaur’s shop!” she said. “And there’s a photo from 1897.”

  Violet came over to see the photo. “That looks a little bit like Mr. Muldaur’s antique shop,” she said.

  “It looks even more like the picture on the clock face,” said Benny. “See? There’s the sign above the shop!” Benny pointed excitedly to the photo and read: “‘Muldaur’s Time Pieces.’ And there are the two big M’s with the swirly shape underneath them.”

  “Just like the etching!” said Violet. “This is a great clue.”

  The next thing that happened gave the Aldens more clues.

  Henry called Jessie and Benny over. “Listen to this!” he said. “We found an article in an old newspaper. It’s about the Muldaur family shop.”

  The others gathered around Henry as he read aloud. “‘In the early days of Greenfield, the name Muldaur meant fine clocks and watches. The Muldaurs had a shop on Main Street. They collected clocks. They also repaired timepieces for many years. One of the Muldaurs—Melissa—designed and made her own clocks for the family.’”

  “Hey,” said Violet. “That must be whose initials are on the bottom of our clock: Melissa Muldaur!”

  “Hooray!” said Benny. “Is that the person we’re looking for?”

  Jessie grinned. “I don’t think Melissa is alive today, Benny. Remember, the clock was passed down from one generation to another.”