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Authors: Julie Campbell
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drawer of the desk in the library. She and Trixie went upstairs, and she handed Trixie one pad and pencil and kept the others. “Let’s do the depositions first,” she said. “I think we should each do ours separately, then compare them to see if we missed anything.”
“All right,” Trixie agreed. She sat down on one of the twin beds in Honey’s room. She wrinkled her forehead and chewed on the eraser end of the pencil for a moment, wondering where to begin. “Begin at the beginning,” she muttered to herself finally, and she started to write.
After a couple of paragraphs, she hesitated. “Do you think it’s all right to put in the part about Mr. Lytell’s loan? It’s supposed to be a secret.”
Honey looked up and frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, it is supposed to be a secret, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to keep the secret, once the case goes to court. Still, if we write it down now, Mr. McGraw will know the secret as soon as he reads the depositions.”
“Let’s just leave it out for now,” Trixie said. “After all, it didn’t have anything to do with the mystery. Besides, the reason Mr. McGraw asked us to write everything down now was so that we wouldn’t forget anything. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way I felt when Mr. Lytell came out of that back room holding two thousand dollars in cash!”
“Oh, Trixie, I won’t, either,” Honey said breathlessly. “Would you ever have imagined, in your wildest dreams, that Mr. Lytell would have that much cash?”
“I wouldn’t have before yesterday noon,” she said. She repeated to Honey the rumors her mother had told her.
“Mr. Lytell!” Honey exclaimed disbelievingly. “You don’t think he has as much money as my father or Mr. Lynch, do you?”
Trixie thought for a moment. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe Moms heard those rumors before you came to Sleepyside. Mr. Lynch hasn’t always been rich, either. Still, if Mr. Lytell had two thousand dollars in cash stashed in the back room of his store, imagine how much more he must have in the bank!”
“He might not have anything in the bank,” Honey said.
“Do you mean you believed him when he said he had nothing left to beg, borrow, or steal?” Trixie asked.
“No-o-o,” Honey told her hesitantly. “But remember how Miss Trask’s brother kept his every cent hidden behind that pirate picture? All Mr. Lytell’s money might be in that back room.”
“It’s a possibility,” Trixie agreed. “Mr. Lytell is strange enough to do something like that. It would be foolish, though. That old store, miles from anywhere, is a bad place to keep a lot of money.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Honey said. “You know he wouldn’t listen to us if we told him to put his money in a bank. So I think it’s even more important that we leave the part about the loan out of our depositions for now. We can do that much to protect Mr. Lytell’s money.”
“Right,” Trixie agreed. She lowered her eyes to her paper and once again began to write. Before she knew it, she had filled four sheets of paper.
“Done!” she exclaimed, crossing a final t with a flourish.
“I am, too,” Honey said. “Let’s compare.”
The girls traded papers and read one another’s statements. Trixie began to giggle. “They’re almost the same, word for word, Honey. Brian and Mart are right. We do spend too much time together.”
“Not too much,” Honey said, smiling. “Just enough.”
Trixie looked at her best friend gratefully. This, she knew, was Honey’s way of telling her that nothing, including a beautiful, wealthy houseguest, could come between the two best friends.
“I have an idea,” Trixie said impulsively. “I got it from reading Snow White last night.”
“Don’t you think you’re a little old for that kind of thing?” Honey teased.
Trixie giggled. “Sometimes I wonder. Most of the time, I seem to get more out of those
“All right,” Trixie agreed. She sat down on one of the twin beds in Honey’s room. She wrinkled her forehead and chewed on the eraser end of the pencil for a moment, wondering where to begin. “Begin at the beginning,” she muttered to herself finally, and she started to write.
After a couple of paragraphs, she hesitated. “Do you think it’s all right to put in the part about Mr. Lytell’s loan? It’s supposed to be a secret.”
Honey looked up and frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, it is supposed to be a secret, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to keep the secret, once the case goes to court. Still, if we write it down now, Mr. McGraw will know the secret as soon as he reads the depositions.”
“Let’s just leave it out for now,” Trixie said. “After all, it didn’t have anything to do with the mystery. Besides, the reason Mr. McGraw asked us to write everything down now was so that we wouldn’t forget anything. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way I felt when Mr. Lytell came out of that back room holding two thousand dollars in cash!”
“Oh, Trixie, I won’t, either,” Honey said breathlessly. “Would you ever have imagined, in your wildest dreams, that Mr. Lytell would have that much cash?”
“I wouldn’t have before yesterday noon,” she said. She repeated to Honey the rumors her mother had told her.
“Mr. Lytell!” Honey exclaimed disbelievingly. “You don’t think he has as much money as my father or Mr. Lynch, do you?”
Trixie thought for a moment. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe Moms heard those rumors before you came to Sleepyside. Mr. Lynch hasn’t always been rich, either. Still, if Mr. Lytell had two thousand dollars in cash stashed in the back room of his store, imagine how much more he must have in the bank!”
“He might not have anything in the bank,” Honey said.
“Do you mean you believed him when he said he had nothing left to beg, borrow, or steal?” Trixie asked.
“No-o-o,” Honey told her hesitantly. “But remember how Miss Trask’s brother kept his every cent hidden behind that pirate picture? All Mr. Lytell’s money might be in that back room.”
“It’s a possibility,” Trixie agreed. “Mr. Lytell is strange enough to do something like that. It would be foolish, though. That old store, miles from anywhere, is a bad place to keep a lot of money.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Honey said. “You know he wouldn’t listen to us if we told him to put his money in a bank. So I think it’s even more important that we leave the part about the loan out of our depositions for now. We can do that much to protect Mr. Lytell’s money.”
“Right,” Trixie agreed. She lowered her eyes to her paper and once again began to write. Before she knew it, she had filled four sheets of paper.
“Done!” she exclaimed, crossing a final t with a flourish.
“I am, too,” Honey said. “Let’s compare.”
The girls traded papers and read one another’s statements. Trixie began to giggle. “They’re almost the same, word for word, Honey. Brian and Mart are right. We do spend too much time together.”
“Not too much,” Honey said, smiling. “Just enough.”
Trixie looked at her best friend gratefully. This, she knew, was Honey’s way of telling her that nothing, including a beautiful, wealthy houseguest, could come between the two best friends.
“I have an idea,” Trixie said impulsively. “I got it from reading Snow White last night.”
“Don’t you think you’re a little old for that kind of thing?” Honey teased.
Trixie giggled. “Sometimes I wonder. Most of the time, I seem to get more out of those
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