Mystery in the Sand

“Now what is going on?” Benny asked himself. “Two people looking at our house.”

He tried to tell whether the figures were men or women.

“I guess they are men,” he thought. “They have on pants.” One of the walkers on the beach was much smaller than the other. Could it be a man and a boy? But at that moment Benny remembered that everybody at the beach dressed in pants—men, women, boys, and girls.

“Oh, yes. I have ten cats. I like cats better than people, you see. I try not to have anything to do with people.”

Violet thought about that. Here was someone who did not want to make friends. If Ali had not escaped from the house, Violet would never have been invited to come in.

Without even having begun to paint, the artist said, “That’s all. Come tomorrow, child.”

And she handed Violet a note that said, “Please be ready for me at 10. Thank you.”

“I know it isn’t,” Benny said. “But I’m making it my business. I really want to know. I know it isn’t polite to ask.”

Miss Smith suddenly said, “I don’t blame you a bit. I think you are a very polite boy.”

"Is it some sort of Geiger counter?"

Benny said, "It must have been somebody with a lot of money. Look at those towards! One, two, three, four, five towers. Nobody would buy a house like that nowadays.