Notes for #33 The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim © 1980
| Page # |
Quote |
| 13 |
Jim: "I can't
go any faster without violating the speed limit - and my own common
sense." Trixie: "I wish you weren't always so sensible." |
| 14 |
- Their (Bob-Whites) current project was a community-wide rummage
sale to raise funds for the Sleepyside hospital.
- Brian was seventeen, a senior at Sleepyside Junior-Senior High
School.
|
| 15 |
Trixie: "What's
mysterious is that Mr. Burnside told us to come over and pick up a
donation for the rummage sale. What's mysterious is that he told me
all the Bob-Whites had to be along when we come
to pick it up." |
| 16 |
Di was the prettiest of the girls. She
was also the most fragile. Trixie:
"He's (Mr. Burnside) always been very generous. Why, when we
had the winter carnival to get books for the school library in Mexico,
Mr. Burnside donated all that lumber for a prize." Dan was the
quietest of the BWGs, but he had a lively sense of humor. |
| 18 |
Jim pulled the station wagon to one
side of the circular drive in front of Mr. Burnside's house. Everyone
stared at the huge, white colonial house. |
| 19 |
Nothing was ever out of place
in this room. It was furnished in beautiful, well-preserved antiques.
Every bit of wood gleamed, every coffee table held just enough odds
and ends to be interesting without looking cluttered. |
| 20 |
Backyard was the wrong word for the
expanse of beautifully kept lawn that seemed to go on and on for miles.
There was a two-car garage attached to the house. |
| 21 |
Mr. Burnside:
"My donation is a genuine, beautifully restored and working Model
A Ford. It's a 1931 Deluxe Phaeton Model A!" |
| 23 |
Mr. Burnside:
"This car is worth several thousand dollars." |
| 24 |
Mr. Burnside: "I
figured you could letter a sign to put on the car, telling where and
when it will be sold. If you drive it around town for a few days while
you're picking up other donations, you're bound to attract a lot of
attention." |
| 25 |
Brian: "How
can you bear to part with this beautiful piece of machinery?"
Mr. Burnside: "I was in the hospital
for a couple of weeks last year, and I had excellent care. The Model
A was in the garage until last week. Then it lost out to
this!" The vehicle inside the garage was the strangest-looking
thing she'd (Trixie) ever seen. It stood high off the ground, like
the Model A, but it had only two seats, and they were out in the open.
The steering wheel stuck up from the front of the car on a long shaft.
|
| 26 |
The wheels of this car were thin, with
open spokes that looked like those on a wagon wheel. Under the car
she saw a round, silvery metal tank with faucet handles attached to
it. Brian: "It's a Stanley Steamer!"
|
| 29 |
- Mr. Burnside: "You know, my wife
has been an antiques collector for years. It started with an old
rocking chair her mother gave here, and it took off from there.
Now she scours flea markets and antique shops all over the country."
- Honey: "What does the car club
do?" Mr. Burnside: "We meet
once a month at someone's house. We trade information on where
to find replacement parts and what kid of car just brought what
price at an auction. Most of us have lots of money - and incredible
amounts of time and work - tied up in our old cars."
|
| 32 |
Trixie: "While
the sale is on in the school gym, the people in Mr. Burnside's car
club display their cars in the parking lot. Having the display at
the same time will attract lots more customers to the sale."
|
| 33 |
Brian: "I'm a
little bit nervous about being responsible for such a valuable item
for the next seven days." |
| 34 |
Mr. Burnside: "The
car is well insured, and you're a very responsible young man."
|
| 36 |
Next to her parents, Trixie and Jim
were the two most important people in Honey's life and kind words
from them were the most valuable things in the world to her. |
| 37 |
Honey: "We're
pretty famous around Sleepyside already for solving all those mysteries.
When we're through school and open the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency,
we'll probably get to be even more well known." Trixie:
"Why they'll probably ask us to ride in the Sleepyside Junior-Senior
High School homecoming parade as the most famous graduates of this
school." |
| 38 |
The headlights caught the reflection
of a man in baggy clothes, walking in the road just ahead of them. |
| 40 |
Honey: "One of
the schools I went to was way out in the country, and sometimes we'd
get so bored that we'd feel we just had to go to town and browse through
the stores or have a soda in a real restaurant." |
| 41 |
When Mart abandoned his complicated
vocabulary, it usually meant he was worried. |
| 43 |
Brian: "I want
you (Trixie) to get behind the wheel and turn the key and step on
the starter." Trixie: "I've never driven
a car in my life!" |
| 46 |
Trixie stared up into the hitchhiker's
face. There was a growth of stubble on his chin and upper lip. His
face was so thin that the cheeks seemed to have collapsed beneath
the cheekbones. Above his long, pinched-looking nose, his dark eyebrows
were drawn together in a menacing frown. The eyebrows relaxed, and
the thin lips drew back in a smile, revealing crooked teeth. |
| 51 |
Stranger: "I was
more interested in the car than the people in it. Your parents are
right. You shouldn't give rides to strangers. In fact, if you'll take
my advice, you won't get involved with anybody anytime in any way." |
| 52 |
Stranger: "Cars
are my hobby, my passion, and from time to time, my livelihood." |
| 53 |
Her (Trixie) oldest brother had a calm,
logical mind and a slow temper. But he also had a deep sense of independence
and a dislike for being told what to do - especially by strangers. |
| 54 |
- Stranger: "Tell me how close I am to Glenwood
Avenue."
- The large green van behind the lights sped down on the stranger.
The van sped away, not even slowing down.
|
| 56 |
Stranger: "Can't
... stop. Find the - Miser." |
| 63 |
Trixie: "That
van did come out of nowhere. It was parked, waiting for the
stranger to walk into the street. That man was run down on purpose!" |
| 71 |
Honey smiled down at Trixie's six-year-old
brother. Bobby: "You always read me two stories
or three stories or four -" Bobby was at an age when he enjoyed
the sound of his own voice. |
| 74 |
Trixie: "When
Moms mentioned the hospital volunteers, I remembered that I've a volunteer
there, too." |
| 76 |
In the den, Mart and Brian had already
taken their places on the couch. Sgt. Molinson was standing in front
of the fireplace. Sgt. Molinson: "My first question
is whether anything ever happened in this town that you young people
aren't involved in." |
| 77 |
Sgt. Molinson: "There
are a lot of houses on Glenwood Avenue." |
| 78 |
Sgt. Molinson: "There
are also two restaurants, a laundromat, and a drugstore." |
| 82 |
Sgt. Molinson: "It
isn't just criminals who have prints on file with the FBI. Their victims
often do, too. Some government employees are on file. So are people
who worked in defense plants during the war. These days, with all
the terrorists taking hostages all over the world, some international
companies urge their top executives and their families to be fingerprinted
for identification in case of abduction." |
| 86 |
- Jim: "It was stupid of me to take off
in the station wagon. I ought to have driven along behind the
Model A, to make sure you made it home all right." Brian:
"There's no way that's your fault, Jim. If I hadn't been
so sure I could handle it, I would have asked for an escort. So
it has to be my overconfidence that's to blame."
- Trixie: "Do you mean you believe my theory
about the hit and run?"
|
| 87 |
Jim: "I believe
you believe it. I've seen your hunches be right too many times to
dismiss this one totally." |
| 88 |
Jim: "I think
we ought to go from door to door asking for donations. We have six
days. I think we could cover most of the houses in Sleepyside." |
| 89 |
Jim: "These lines
divide the town into roughly equal residential districts." Trixie:
"Let's divide into teams for the next six days. And the team
that collects the most wins a prize." |
| 90 |
Mart: "Let us
say that the winning team will earn five hours time from the team
that comes in last." |
| 93 |
A middle-aged woman with neatly combed
gray hair spoke to them through the screendoor. "My name is Mrs.
Manning. I'm something of a collector. I've been meaning to get rid
of some of this junk for quite a while." |
| 94 |
Mrs. Manning: "It's
an antique canteen. It's a canvas bag with a rope handle so it could
be hung over a saddlehorn." |
| 95 |
Mrs. Manning: "Women
used to wash everything by hand in big metal tubs. Rising up between
them is a wringer." |
| 98 |
Mrs. Maurer: "My
children are both in college now, and the last time they were home
for vacation, they sorted through all their books and set aside the
ones they decided they'd outgrown." |
| 99 |
Trixie: "Look!
There's a Lucy Radcliffe novel!" |
| 103 |
Trixie: "Is your
mom home?" Melissa: "We're all home. We don't get to go
out." |
| 108 |
Honey: "I think
he's (Jim) a perfectly perfect brother. You (Trixie) think he's pretty
special, too." |
| 118 |
Jim: "The drapes
are all shut tight. There are no trikes or bikes or balls or bats
lying out on the lawn." |
| 120 |
Mrs. Manning: "Is
Glenda Maurer giving you the books her children sorted out over vacation?" |
| 121 |
Mrs. Manning: "There
are the Greens. They're newlyweds. And then there are the Greens'
neighbors. They certainly do keep to themselves. I never
see anyone coming or going. In fact, I don't even know exactly how
many people live there." |
| 126 |
Brian: "Do you
think people could take their things directly to the school gymnasium?"
Mr. Belden: "I doubt it, Brian. A custodian
would have to be on duty every day at the school. Paying for his time
would eat up most of the proceeds from your sale." |
| 128 |
At the hospital, Trixie reported to
the director of volunteers, Ms. Lee. |
| 130 |
Stranger: "I had
a Model A once. I bought it for fifty dollars back when they were
used cars, not antiques. I held it together with chewing gum and bailing
wire for a year. It's what got me started with -" |
| 133 |
Stranger: "I bet
the Stanleys could have solved those problems, if they hadn't been
railroaded out of their own company." Trixie:
You'd almost think it had happened to him. |
| 139 |
Trixie: "Mr. Burnside
is going to let us store the rummage sale donations in one of the
warehouses at the lumberyard, isn't he?" |
| 140 |
Brian: "Mr. Burnside
came through for us there, too. He's lending us two pickup trucks,
complete with drivers." |
| 141 |
Mr. Maypenny had agreed to work for
almost no salary, patrolling the area in search of poachers, wounded
animals, and forest fires. |
| 146 |
Brian: "The tires
are flat because they were slashed. And if you walk around to the
front, you'll see that both the headlights are smashed." |
| 147 |
Trixie took the note and stared at it.
LEAVE THE MISER ALONE. |
| 149 |
Sgt. Molinson: "He
(stranger) sneaked out during the night. The victim's name is Henry
Meiser. He escaped last week from a state prison. He was serving a
six-month sentence for assault with a deadly weapon." |
| 150 |
Sgt. Molinson: "It
seems that Meiser is the classic eccentric inventor. He was harmless
enough though, until a few years ago. Then he claimed he'd had an
invention stolen from him. After that, he got more and more secretive.
He didn't trust anyone except his secretary, a young widow who had
worked for him for a number of years. He wouldn't even patent his
inventions, because he was sure that the patent officers were idea
thieves. One night the janitor was mopping up the floor, when Meiser
suddenly flew into a rage." |
| 151 |
Sgt. Molinson: "He
pulled a gun on the man and accused him of trying to steal his most
recent invention." Trixie: "Did Mr. Meiser
admit that it happened the way the janitor said it did?" Sgt.
Molinson: "He claimed that the janitor pulled the gun
on him and that he managed to knock the man on the head with a piece
of lead pipe, take the gun away, and haul the man to the alley." |
| 154 |
Sgt. Molinson: "I
wish I could charge you (Trixie) with something. I'd like a judge
to sentence you to a year's silence." |
| 164 |
Brian: " I wish
they offered a course in logic at Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School.
I'd force you (Trixie) to sign up for it." Mart:
"Our distaff sibling would be incapable of attaining a passing
grade! She would become the oldest freshman enrolled in our alma mater." |
| 167 |
Melissa: "She's
(Mommy) happier now, though, ever since Uncle Hank came to visit." |
| 174 |
Trixie saw a vehicle parked at the curb.
She knew that their captor was parked at the curb. She knew that their
captor was pushing them toward the open back doors of a green van. |
| 175 |
Trixie: "You're
the man who ran down Henry Meiser." Driver:
"Who I am is Andy Kowalski." Trixie: "You're
the man who used to work for Mr. Meiser." |
| 176 |
- Mr. Kowalski: "I saw you going to visit
Eileen, his secretary."
- Trixie: "The miser again!" Mr.
Kowalski: "He'd come up with the most revolutionary new invention in
a hundred years."
|
| 180 |
Mr. Kowalski: "I
bribed a friend of mine who was in jail with Meiser to organize an
escape. Then I just followed Hank to Sleepyside." |
| 187 |
Mr. Kowalski: "We're
going to a couple of places. We're going to a trash can at the edge
of Memorial Park first. After we leave there, we're going to the Sleepyside
police station." |
| 188 |
Trixie: "Your
plan is for Mr. Meiser to drop the invention off in the trash can,
then go to the police station and turn himself in." |
| 191 |
Honey was more timid than Trixie about
plunging into mysteries, but she was far from spineless in the face
of trouble. |
| 196 |
Jim: "The sale
of the Model A has turned into an auction. Three buyers turned up
early this morning, all ready to write a check." |
| 197 |
Jim: "Mart and
Di are about to become the unwilling slaves of Dan and me!" |
| 200 |
Brian: "The fact
that he (Meiser) called the police as soon as Kowalski called him
and told them exactly what was happening is bound to work in his favor
too." |
| 201 |
Trixie: "Did you
decide to take your contributions back?" Mrs. Manning: "These
are all new things." |
| 205 |
Honey: "Sometimes
I think we lead more exciting lives than Lucy Radcliffe ever dreamed
of!" |
| 208 |
Mr. Meiser: "Eileen
finally put her foot down. She resigned as my secretary. At least
she agreed to interview replacements. As soon as she finds one, she'll
stop being my employee - and start being my wife!" |
| 209 |
Mr. Meiser: "The
miser is a special carburetor. With my miser, a car will use about
one-third as much fuel as the carburetors now use." |
