Mystery #26: Dawn Schafer, Undercover Baby-sitter
Dawn and Kristy get jobs baby-sitting for two sets of cousins at the fancy Livingston House, a mansion that looks like the White House and comes with a cute butler named John and an Olympic-size pool. Seems great, right? The weird thing is that the two sets of cousins are not allowed to play together; they must be kept separate. The kids’ mothers (who are sisters) are in some sort of feud and are only at the house to split up their late father’s estate.
Turns out, the late Mr. Livingston left behind a combination whimsical and diabolical will. It’s a puzzle, and the daughter who solves it — the “smartest” — will inherit everything. Dawn overhears Richard talking to his lawyer friend Ms. Iorio, the will’s executor, about it, and now her interest is piqued. And you know detective-ass Dawn is going to start snooping around.
It seems the three sisters — Mrs. Keats, Mrs. Cornell, and much-younger single and childless Amy — are beginning to realize that their father got off on withholding affection and keeping them competing with each other. They agree to let the children begin playing together, and the BSC starts to see some of the ice melting between them. Plus, the BSC starts putting clues together from what they overhear, and begin searching the house themselves. They also notice some weird stuff — there are some of Mr. Livingston’s seemingly freshly pressed clothes in the attic, there are weird noises as if someone is following them around the house, and there are checks signed by A. Livingston that are dated two months ago, even though Mr. Livingston supposedly died over a year ago. Is he still alive?! (I do have to interject here — youngest daughter Amy Livingston is also A. Livingston.) The clues they know of so far are “The first is always the best” and “the signature tells all.” My theory is that the “treasure” has to do with one of the many portraits of Mr. Livingston around the mansion. One had to be first, right? And art is usually signed. But that’s just me.
Hot damn, I’m a genius, because the third and final clue is “I didn’t do it, I was _____.” It has to be framed, right? So it’s def one of the creepy portraits of Ol’ Livingston. The sisters, at the urging of the kids, finally decide to work together to solve the puzzle and share the inheritance. Of course, Dawn is the one who ultimately solves it (in a dream… how Dawn) and helps lead the others to the code, which is found on the back of a portrait in the parlor done by Mr. Livingston’s wife. Oh, and Mr. Livingston is definitely dead AF; the person sneaking around and wearing his clothes is John the butler aka Patrick, the long-lost brother of the three sisters. Ms. Iorio informs them that they have successfully solved the puzzle, and the siblings decide to split the fortune four ways.
Next holiday season, the only gift given in Stoneybrook should be Ancestry.com DNA kits because this town has some crazy family drama around every corner.
