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violin when I peeked in the key-hole. Is it the famous one?” Benny asked as he scooted behind Tom.
    â€œWhat violin?” Tom asked. “There are many musical instruments in this house. We all know William Drummond collected quite a few of them.”
    By this time Benny had opened the doors of an old cabinet. “Like this one?” he cried when he spotted the neck of a violin.
    Tom Brady whirled around. “Don’t touch that!” he yelled at Benny. “It’s priceless.”
    Jessie stared at Tom with her steady brown eyes. “How do you know that violin is priceless?”
    â€œWell, everything up here is priceless until we catalogue it and get estimates from antique dealers,” he said. “That’s all I meant. We must get experts in here.”
    This did not stop Jessie Alden. “You said you were an expert when we first came here. Remember? You said you didn’t want us touching anything or working with you.”
    â€œTrue, true,” Tom looked nervously around the room. “We do have to go about things in a certain way. I can’t have people poking around all over the castle. These valuable things must be handled with care.”
    â€œThen why did you just shove the violin in this cabinet?” Benny asked. “Violet always puts hers carefully away in its case.
    Tom took the violin from the cabinet. He cradled it in his arms as if to protect it. “How did I have any way of knowing who was at the door? Many dealers have been after the violin for years, coming to the castle and wanting to look around.”

    Violet stepped forward. “Then this is the Stradivarius, isn’t it? Look how beautiful it is!”
    Tom pulled a violin case out from behind a bookcase. “I won’t know until I study it and compare it to photos of other violins of this type. Why, I can do that this afternoon.” He carefully laid the violin in its case and snapped the lock shut before the children could get a closer look.
    â€œWhy don’t we let Carrie decide what to do about this violin and some of the other things in here?” Henry asked. “After all she’s part of the restoration group at the castle, too.”
    Tom didn’t answer right away. But when he did, his whole mood had changed. He smiled at Henry and the other children. “You’re quite right, quite right, young fellow. This will be a feather in Carrie’s cap if the violin is the missing one. I think we should all surprise her at dinner tonight. That will give me time to look up my notes and find out if this is the Drummond Stradivarius.”
    â€œAre you going to look in your notebook?” Benny asked.
    Jessie grabbed Benny’s hand before Tom had a chance to answer. “Come on, Benny. Let’s go downstairs and wait for Carrie. I think Tom has a good plan. We can surprise Carrie tonight if the violin is the one we’ve all been looking for.”
    Benny didn’t like this idea one bit. Why did Jessie want to go along with Tom’s plan? It didn’t make sense.
    â€œBenny and I have a few things to do downstairs,” Jessie told Henry and Violet. “Maybe you can stay here and help Tom organize some of these things until we get back.”
    Henry and Violet had a feeling Jessie had a plan of her own. What was it?

CHAPTER 10
    One Last Song
    B enny and Jessie were glad when everyone came back early. From the window they could see their grandfather and Mr. Tooner unloading some bushes to plant along the drive. They heard Carrie drive the Jeep up to the kitchen entrance.
    Benny looked up at Jessie. She would make everything turn out right. But he was mixed up. “Why did we let Tom keep that violin?” he asked his sister. “Isn’t it the famous one?”
    â€œTom does have the famous violin, Benny,” Jessie said. “I am sure of it. That’s why I need you to help me with my plan. We have to make sure the violin