The Top Secret Toys Page 6

  Vincent and Addy walked up the long marble staircase to the second floor. They turned right at the top of the stairs and headed to the Far East Art wing.

  As soon as he turned the corner he knew something was wrong. He could usually see the tips of the waves on his mother’s favorite painting from the top of the stairs. But there were no waves. As he got closer he saw a sign hanging where his mother’s favorite painting had been. It said, TEMPORARILY ON LEAVE.

  He looked around the room and noticed that most of the paintings in the room had been replaced with the same sign.

  “What’s going on here, girl?” Vincent said, patting Addy on the head. Vincent and his mom had spent countless hours sketching in this room. But now most of their favorite paintings were gone.

  Vincent and Addy walked back downstairs.

  “Hey, Mr. Wooler! Where did the The Great Wave off Kanagawa and the other Asian ink blocks go?”

  “What? Oh, did you see a temporarily on leave sign on the wall?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, yeah. Lot of folks around here getting upset about that. Mr. Jilliver, the new museum director, he has seen fit to loan out many of the museum’s pieces to private collections for cash. I think most of that Far East art is in a Las Vegas casino right now. Yes, it’s causing a big uproar. A lot of people come from all over the world to see their favorite paintings and find that same sign you did. I hear about it all day. Got a lot of people mad. Including the chairman of the board. I heard he’s not too happy with—”

  Mr. Wooler was interrupted by someone pounding on the door.

  “Mr. Jilliver! Good morning, sir,” the guard said as he jumped off the stool and pushed the door open.

  “Good morning, John. Boy, what a mess across the street,” Mr. Jilliver said as he wiped his feet on the rug.

  “What do you mean, sir?”

  “There are reporters and police cars blocking the streets out there. I hope they don’t clog the streets all day.” Mr. Jilliver walked up the stairs.

  Mr. Wooler and Vincent looked out the door and saw a crowd gathered in front of the Carlisle.

  “I wonder what’s going on?” Mr. Wooler asked.

  “I heard someone say that toy inventor guy died in his sleep last night,” Mr. Jilliver replied.

  Vincent felt faint. He handed Addy’s leash to Mr. Wooler and ran out the door. Flashing red lights filled his watering eyes as he ran down the sidewalk toward the Carlisle.

  Vincent’s entire family came to New York to be with him for Howard’s funeral. Vincent’s dad was worried that losing Howard, so soon after losing his mother, would be more than Vincent could handle. They were all gathered at Aunt Bonnie’s the morning of the funeral, trying to cheer Vincent up.

  “And you know what else was a little different about your uncle’s funeral?” Aunt Bonnie asked.

  “What’s that?” Norton replied.

  “All the picture-taking. The Finnish take a lot of pictures at funerals. Now you don’t see that every day. No, sir.”

  “No, you don’t,” Norton replied.

  “Of course the rest of the funeral was pretty straightforward. You know, dinner after, and everything else.”

  Vibs was walking around the room, obviously awestruck by the number of salt and pepper shakers in Aunt Bonnie’s salt-and-pepper-shaker collection.

  “This really is an amazing collection,” Vibs said as she picked up a set of lighthouse-shaped salt and pepper shakers.

  “Oh, thanks, hon. Those there really light up,” Bonnie said.

  “Really?” Vibs sounded surprised.

  “Oh yeah.” Aunt Bonnie walked over and twisted the tops of the shakers and a beacon of light emanated from each.

  “Oh, you know that Finns won’t hand a salt or pepper shaker to you directly? That’s true. I learned that at Uncle Ernie’s funeral too. If you ask them to pass a shaker to you, they will set it in front of you, but never hand it directly to you. That’s absolutely true.”

  Vibs set the lighthouse down. “Oh, you don’t say.”

  “Nope. That’s just how they do it,” Bonnie replied.

  Vincent looked at his dad and smiled. Maybe he was feeling a little better.

  Word of Howard’s death quickly spread around the world. Mr. Dennis decided that the Carlisle, home to both Howard and Whizzer Toys for over forty-three years, would be the perfect place to say good-bye to Howard.

  Earl smiled as he looked down at the others. “I’ve been asked to say a few brief words. And when it comes to Howard, I can think of more than just a few words. But ‘kind,’ ‘passionate,’ ‘loyal,’ ‘brilliant,’ and ‘friend’ would be near the top of the list. As many of you know, Calli, Royal, Grunt, and I have had the privilege of working with Howard for a very long time now. Most of our lives, really.”

  “And I couldn’t imagine better people to spend it with. If you knew Howard, you knew he was a simple man. He wore the same outfit every day.”

  The crowd laughed.

  “And he had a simple desire to bring joy to the world through the magic of toy inventing. And no one did it better than Howard. If you knew Howard, you would also know that he wouldn’t want us to be sad now. Rather, he would want us to rejoice and celebrate his life and the wonderful toys he brought into this world. In other words, he would want us to play. So—”

  Earl bent down and picked up a classic Whizzer Mega Fizzer.

  “Royal and Calli are passing out Mega Fizzers. Please join us in honoring Howard with a twenty-one-shot Whizzer Mega Fizzer salute.”

  Hundreds of people had made their way to New York to say good-bye to the world’s greatest toy inventor. Fans, friends, people old and young packed the Carlisle’s second-floor ballroom. A tear ran down Vincent’s face as Mr. Dennis handed him a Whizzer Mega Fizzer. His father held his own Whizzer Mega Fizzer in one hand and reached out to Vincent with the other.

  “Okay. On three, everybody. ONE! TWO! THREE!”

  A tremendous POP came from the Carlisle as they all shot their Whizzer Mega Fizzers at the same time. And then foam started to fill the room.

  POP!

  POP!

  POP!

  Billows of colored foam filled the room. The foam was ankle-deep by the thirteenth shot. Past Vincent’s waist by the eighteenth. The foam was almost touching the ceiling and a rainbow of color was flowing down the staircase by the end of the salute. People were swishing, swooshing, blowing, and sculpting the foam. Adults were spinning and skipping through the techno-colored suds. Vincent turned to Stella.

  “Seems like the perfect way to say good-bye.”

  “Look at this mess,” Earl said. “There must have been four or five hundred people here.”

  “I say we forget about the mess until Monday and order some pizza. I’m starving,” Fayman said, kicking what was left of the foam on the floor of the ballroom.

  “I second that. As long as it’s from DiCamillo’s,” Royal added.

  A man in a suit appeared at the top of the grand staircase. “Excuse me. Is there a Mr. Dennis Gordon Whiz here?”

  “Well, I haven’t been called that in a long time,” Mr. Dennis said. “I’m Dennis Whiz. How can I help you?”

  “My name is Mr. Potts. I was Howard’s attorney. And let me start by saying how sorry I am for your loss.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I have here Howard’s last will and testament.” Mr. Potts reached inside his briefcase and handed Mr. Dennis a thin envelope. “It’s very simple. As Howard’s only living relative, you will inherit his entire estate. That is the Whizzer Toy Company, the Carlisle, and everything in it. Congratulations, Mr. Whiz.”

  “What? I inherit what? That can’t be.”

  “Everything, sir,” Mr. Potts said. “You’ve inherited everything.”

  Mr. Dennis sat down on the wet floor. “What am I gonna do with a toy company?”

  “Well then, I guess this is now your mess to clean up,” Fayman said.

  “A toy company?
What do I know about running a toy company?”

  “There’s not much to it.” Calli tried to reassure him. “Whizzer practically runs itself.”

  “Yeah, it runs itself just fine with Calli’s eighty-hour workweeks. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Dennis. You need toys to run a toy company. And we ain’t got no toys.”

  “FAYMAN!” Calli yelled.

  “No, he’s right, Calli,” Royal said. “You have to admit it is a problem. And even if we had toys, who’s going to invent the new stuff going forward? I hate to say it, but—”

  Vincent cut Royal off. “There are toys. Lots of them.”

  “What are you talking about, Vincent?” Calli asked.

  “Upstairs. In Howard’s lab. He has lots of new toys. Enough to fill two Wishbooks.”

  “Seriously?” Fayman sounded skeptical.

  “Seriously. I saw them myself.” Vincent decided not to mention the part about the toys not working yet.

  “Well! Thataboy, Howie!” Mr. Dennis jumped to his feet. “Come on. Let’s go up to the sixth floor and get a look at these amazing new Whizzer toys!”

  “So this is what he did with all of those ties. Unbelievable,” Royal said as he examined row after row of ties. “I remember most of these.”

  “Ah, I remember the day Howard wore this one,” Earl said, pointing to a tie that was painted all black.

  “Oh, yeah,” Royal said. “The 1977 blackout tie.”

  “Well, my cousin had style. That’s for sure,” Mr. Dennis said.

  “The toys are in the room at the end of this hallway.” Vincent led Calli, Royal, Earl, Fayman, Mr. Dennis, and his dad down the long hallway into Howard’s main lab.

  “Oh, my,” Calli said as they entered the lab cluttered with Tesla devices and sketches. Then she saw the 120 toys carefully lined up on the workbench surrounding the room. “Look at this. How did he—Why didn’t he—” Calli was shaking. “I don’t think I’m ready for this.” She ran out of the lab.

  “I’ll go make sure she’s okay,” Earl said, running after Calli.

  “Wow, Vincent. You weren’t kidding. Look at all of these toys,” Fayman said.

  “What do you think all these machines do?” Mr. Dennis pointed to the Tesla devices covering most of the floor.

  “Probably more of Nikola Tesla’s stuff,” Fayman said. “Howard was obsessed with Tesla for the last few years.”

  “Hey, we had some of these machines at the Met. Remember, Vincent?” Norton asked.

  “Yeah, Dad. Most of the stuff here was at the Met.”

  “What was it doing at the Met?” Mr. Dennis asked.

  “All this stuff was discovered in an old hotel storage room about a year ago. We cleaned it up and helped auction it off.” Norton paused. “I used to be the assistant director at the Met. Howard paid ten million dollars for all this stuff.”

  “Yes, and there’s more where that came from,” Royal said. “Howard has some Telsa artifacts downstairs in the Room of Firsts. And all of those boxes on the first floor are full of Tesla stuff.”

  “And don’t forget the safe. Who knows what he has in the safe,” Fayman added, picking up one of the toy prototypes. “Look at these things. They’re amazing! Who knew Howard could build prototypes like this? I could’ve been out of a job.”

  “You still could be,” Royal replied.

  “Nonsense. We’re going to get through this—somehow.” Mr. Dennis tried to smile.

  Royal picked up one of the inventions. “It’s so light. What do you think this thing does?”

  “I don’t know. Is there an on button?” Fayman asked.

  “I don’t see any.” Royal picked up another prototype. “Maybe they’re just models of things he wanted you to build, Fayman.”

  “No,” Vincent insisted. “Mr. Whiz told me they were finished toys.”

  “But look, Vincent.” Fayman flipped over one of the prototypes. “They don’t have any buttons. Or switches. They don’t seem to do anything.” He flipped over two more prototypes. “And they’re light because they don’t have any batteries. There isn’t even a place for a battery. I hate to say it, kid, but I don’t think these things are real toys.”

  “No. Howard, I mean Mr. Whiz, specifically told me they were finished toys. But they didn’t work yet.”

  “Okay, okay,” Fayman said. Royal and Fayman both set the prototypes down.

  “But I still think we’re back to square one. A toy company with no toys.” Fayman walked out of the room.

  “Look at all these machines,” Mr. Dennis said. “Howard clearly had a passion for Mr. Tesla’s work. It would be a shame for all of these great inventions to remain hidden from the world. Norton, do you think the Met would be interested in a collection like this?”

  “I’m sure a lot of museums would be interested in this collection. I’d be happy to help you.”

  “What? But Mr. D, you can’t get rid of the Tesla inventions. Howard loved these.” Vincent wanted to tell them about Howard’s letter and their conversation on the roof. And the secret Tesla sketches now covered in pink bunnies. But he knew it was pointless. They would only think Howard had lost his mind. Vincent had to solve this on his own. He needed to figure out what the Tesla machines did—for Mr. Whiz.

  “Now, Vincent, please. We should be going. This has been a long day for Mr. Dennis,” Norton said.

  “Ah, yes. It’s been a long day for all of us. Let’s meet back here tomorrow and look at all of this with fresh eyes. There’s always more than one right answer. Right, Vincent?”

  “I hope so, Mr. D.”

  “Good news, everybody. You’re all staying in New York for the rest of the week,” Vincent said as he and his dad walked into Aunt Bonnie’s living room.

  Vibs, Gwen, and Stella were sitting on the couch. And Anna was sitting on the floor under a table full of salt and pepper shakers.

  “What? What is Vincent talking about?” Vibs stood up.

  “Well, dear, do you remember that exhibit of inventions I helped auction off last year? It turns out Howard Whiz not only bought those inventions, but many, many more like them. He has actually put together a very impressive collection. Well, Mr. Dennis doesn’t know what to do with all that stuff, so I offered to stay and, and help him. Just for the week.”

  Vibs stared at Norton.

  “I mean considering the situation… it seems like, ah, like the right thing to do. Maybe. And since Vincent obviously isn’t going to have his summer internship, this would at least give him—”

  “What?” said Vincent. “What do you mean I won’t have my summer internship? Why can’t I stay, Dad? Mr. Dennis is going to need all the help he can get. Who’s going to invent all the new toys they need?”

  “I don’t even know if Whizzer Toys is going to stay in business, buddy. You heard what they said. They need a lot of new toys to keep going. Even if you stayed all summer, Vincent, I don’t think—I mean, it’s nice of you to want to help, but I’m afraid it’s going to take more than one person to save Whizzer Toys.”

  “Howard was one person. And he built Whizzer Toys.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “And Calli told me Howard wasn’t much older than me when he started it.”

  “But those were different times, Vincent.”

  “What does that even mean, Dad?”

  “It means, let’s just focus on helping Mr. Dennis with the things that we can do. Now. I can help him find a home for all the Tesla artifacts.”

  “They have a home. Whizzer Toys is their home.” Vincent walked into the back bedroom and slammed the door.

  Norton exhaled loudly. “Maybe we should just go back to Minnesota.”

  “Oh, nonsense. I won’t hear of it,” Aunt Bonnie said. “It’s just been a long day for everyone. These things happen. They just happen. You can all stay right here. I’ve plenty of room. And I would love the company. The more the merrier. And I’m sure Mr. Jilliver would be more than happy to let you work out of the mus
eum while you help out this Mr. Dennis. At least I think he would. Everyone there misses you so much, Norton. It hasn’t been the same since you left. No, no, no. Not the same.”

  Vibs looked around Aunt Bonnie’s living room. It housed an impressive salt-and-pepper-shaker collection. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of salt and pepper shakers.

  “Oh, Aunt Bonnie. We couldn’t possibly impose on you like that,” Vibs said with an attempted smile.

  “No imposition whatsoever. Once we had Uncle Ernie’s Finnish second cousins stay with us for six years.” Bonnie looked around the room. “Of course, I hadn’t added the cat-shaped salt and pepper shakers then. So there was a bit more room. But, oh, those Finn boys were tall. Six and a half feet each! Even the little one. And they all fit. Yes sir. We were just fine. Of course, that Hessu was a bit odd. He slept up on the roof.”

  Gwen looked around the room. “I’ll sleep on the roof,” she offered.

  The next morning Vibs offered to take the kids to the Empire State Building, but Stella decided to spend the day helping Vincent at Whizzer Toys. Vincent and Stella could hear shouting coming from Fayman’s lab as they walked down the hall.

  “I’m telling you, Royal, we can’t sell a log-rolling game,” Earl said.

  “Why not?” Royal asked. “We could put a big plastic log on rollers and the kids could try to roll each other off the log. It would be great fun. Kids would love it. All kids want to be logrolling lumberjacks. Oh hey! We could call it the Log-Jack game.”

  “It would be too dangerous. A kid could get hurt falling off the log. And how about we leave the product naming to me?” Earl said.

  “Ah, there he is,” Mr. Dennis said as Stella and Vincent walked in. “Just the man we need. Good morning, Vincent. Good morning, Stella. Does everyone here know Vincent’s sister?” Mr. Dennis was standing at the far end of the room wearing a white lab coat. Fayman, Royal, and Earl were sitting around a large table.