A Small Memory

I recently reread The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, because I thought it had in it a scene that I have had in my memory for some time now. It didn't, but this is a favorite from my teen years, so I enjoyed rereading it anyway.

Then I asked my sister, who has a great memory for things she reads. Unfortunately, my description of the scene was just too vague.

Basically, I told her, I remembered a scene where a girl is with a guy who likes to dress up in costumes and he was some sort of detective. The scene in particular is him wearing something on his face and standing behind her while she looks at him in a mirror. She realizes that the thing she thinks is on one side of the face is actually on the other, and this leads to solving the mystery. I also explained that I remember it being written in a similar style to Ellen Raskin's book, which is why I thought it was in The Westing Game.

My sister couldn't remember that scene, but had some suggestions for ways I could search for it and maybe at least narrow down the book list.

In the meantime, M ordered some more Raskin novels from the local library. One of them caught my eye and the moment I looked at the cover I knew-- that was the book!

I read The Tattooed Potato last night. Sure enough, starting on page 55 of the book is the exact scene I remembered; Garson is an artist who is helping the police with some detective work. Dickory is his new assistant. They are trying to solve the case that the Inspector has given them, and Garson paints a mole on his cheek and asks Dickory which side of his face it is on while she looks at him in a mirror. And the realization that she guesses the wrong side due to the reflection allows them to narrow down who the criminal is and gets the Inspector an arrest. And it was written in Raskin's style because Raskin wrote it!

Both are good books and I may add them to my wish list.