From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Claudia and Jamie wake up early the next morning, while it’s still dark. Their stomachs feel empty, they feel unwashed, and it’s chilly. They hurriedly get dressed, then stash their belongings around the museum in different locations, so that if museum workers find one thing, the rest of their things will still be safe. Claudia hides her violin case in a marble sarcophagus, and her book bag goes behind a tapestry screen. She dissuades Jamie from hiding his things in a mummy case.

Then the kids “[man] their stations,” which means they hide in the bathrooms again until the museum opens. They both use this time to wash up and brush their teeth, then begin the long wait for staff to arrive. Claudia can’t stop thinking about how hungry she is. And a few minutes after 10 o’clock, Jamie makes a mistake: he hears water running and thinks it’s a museum guest, so he steps out of his stall and finds a janitor with a mop and bucket instead. When the janitor asks where Jamie came from, Jamie politely answers, “Mother always says that I came from Heaven.” He enjoys the brush with danger.

Since the snack bar won’t open for hours, Jamie and Claudia leave the museum and buy food at the automat. They also stop at a grocery store to buy peanut butter crackers for that night’s dinner. They figure that for lunch, they’ll just blend in with a school group at the snack bar. In the meantime, Claudia tells Jamie that they should take advantage of this amazing educational opportunity. She decides the two of them should learn everything about the museum, one artwork at a time. (Claudia probably doesn’t realize that the museum contains over 365,000 works of art.) They’ll take turns picking a gallery to explore each day. Jamie finds the idea of learning outrageous, so he chooses the Italian Renaissance, hoping the gallery’s size will change Claudia’s mind.

Jamie’s choice surprises Claudia, but she thinks she understands it—she took an art appreciation class last year, and the Renaissance seemed to have a lot to do with naked women. She’d thought Jamie was too young to be interested. He actually is—he just chose this gallery hoping Claudia would get bored. In any case, they head to the Hall of the Italian Renaissance as soon as they return to the museum. They find at least 1,000 people waiting in line. Figuring crowds aren’t unusual in New York City, they get in line, too.

Eventually, they see a Times photographer on the edge of the crowd and realize something unusual is happening. Jamie is eager to get his picture taken, but Claudia shoves him forward, knowing that if they wind up photographed in The New York Times, somebody in Greenwich will find out and tell their parents. By this time, they’ve reached the front of the line. They see a graceful statue of an angel with folded arms. Claudia thinks it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

As they exit the hall, Claudia can’t stop thinking about the angel. She wants to buy tomorrow’s New York Times so she can find out what’s so special about this exhibit. Still mad about Claudia shoving him, Jamie argues about spending a dime on the newspaper. Finally, they detour to the Egyptian wing since the Italian Renaissance hall was too crowded for today’s lesson. They find a sixth grade class doing a tour, and they join the group, listening to the guide’s interesting talk about mummies and tombs. When the guide asks for any questions, Jamie is the only one to speak up. The guide assumes he’s part of the class, the teacher assumes he’s been planted there to stir up discussion, and the students don’t care. Claudia is so mad that she wishes she could embalm Jamie on the spot.

The next morning, they don’t have to buy a copy of the New York Times; instead, they steal an abandoned copy from the museum. Claudia reads it while they eat breakfast. She finds the article about the exhibit in the second section (Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tells Saxonberg that she has filed an original in one of her many cabinets). The article says that a record crowd of 100,000 people came to see the 24-inch “Angel” statue, one of the museum’s newest acquisitions. Apparently, the statue might be an early work of Michelangelo. The museum bought it at auction for just $225, an incredible bargain. It’s from the collection of Manhattan collector Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, who says she bought it from a dealer in Bologna, Italy, before World War II. Mrs. Frankweiler started selling off her collection a few years ago. The article explains that she’s a widow with no children who now lives on a Connecticut estate and keeps to herself.

If Claudia hadn’t skipped over the paper’s first section, she would have noticed a small article reporting that two children of Mr. and Mrs. Steven C. Kincaid, Sr., of Greenwich, Connecticut, have been missing since Wednesday. The article describes what the children were wearing (nylon ski jackets, like most kids in the U.S.) and notes that police in several towns have been alerted.

Claudia, fascinated by the mystery, reads the article twice. Jamie isn’t impressed by the museum’s bargain, but Claudia explains that if this statue is really by Michelangelo, it would be worth $2,250,000 instead of $225. She suddenly has an idea. Instead of trying to learn the contents of the entire museum, she wants to focus on the angel statue instead. Claudia, blushing, asks Jamie if he thinks the statue resembles anyone in their family, but he thinks she’s being ridiculous. He suggests that they examine the statue for fingerprints, and though Claudia doubts it will work, she agrees this is a good first step.

That day, there’s an even bigger crowd waiting to see “Angel.” (Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is surprised that the newspaper article couldn’t get even Saxonberg to visit the museum. He seems to be completely unaware of the “magic” of Michelangelo.) Because of the crowd, the children can’t get close enough to look for fingerprints on the statue, so they decide to visit it after the museum is closed. Claudia is determined to solve the statue’s mystery; she feels that the statue, in turn, will somehow do something important for her.

After that, the kids search for a school group to tag along with for lunch. They’ve become good at getting near a group without ever being part of it. (Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler notes that some people never master this skill, and some people do it too well.)