Null Pointer

CWE24: Fixed It!

1. How could you explain the Jonesy and the Music Box timeline fiasco in Mysterious Code? (#7)



2. Why and how is Regan sending money to a sister he’s lost track of? (#8)

   He sent money to the orphanage, who sent it to their last known address, who sent it along, who in turn sent it along, until it eventually made it to the sister while she was alive and the landlord that kicked Dan out on the street without calling social services after. They may not be able to prove anything illegal happened, since Regan sent cash not a check, but Honey and Trixie and Di will find a way to bring consequences.



3. What is the story behind Thunderer and/or Spartan? Thunderer was mentioned in Black Jacket but never mentioned again. Spartan was brought up in the same book as a horse for Dan but had never been mentioned previously. (#8)

   Thunderer was injured – Dan’s not an experienced rider and didn’t see a hazard in the Preserve soon enough to prevent it – and the horse vet Regan/Matt use has a horse rescue at her home. She offered to take Thunderer in exchange for Spartan, a horse more accustomed to navigating obstacles even without rider guidance, and an easier ride for an inexperienced rider.



4. Why are Jim’s green eyes blue in Bob-White Cave? (#11)

   Contacts, with a screen sensitive compound. Jim wears glasses when he’s experiencing screen fatigue after that because he doesn’t like the blue anymore than Trixie does. Plus (though he doesn’t learn it until later), Trixie thinks the glasses are sexy.



5. Why is Dan referred to as Mr. Maypenny’s nephew in Bob-White Cave? (#11)

   Dan doesn’t always want to get into the whole explanation about how he’s an orphan and his uncle claims him, but couldn’t take legal guardianship due to his live-in job and Dan’s legal issues, so Mr. M – who has no biological relationship to any of them – is actually Dan’s legal guardian. Given Mr. M’s age, Dan felt people would judge Mr. M for having a kid that young, assuming he’d married a much younger woman, so he tells people he’s a nephew and lets them assume Mr. M’s sister is considerably younger. The Bob-Whites and co. all understand this and don’t want to make Dan uncomfortable around strangers, so they use the same story until Dan’s said something else.



6. Why does the Manor House suddenly have a swimming pool in Emeralds? And why don’t the Bob-Whites ever swim in it? (#14)



7. Why are Honey’s hazel eyes blue at the beginning of Chapter 9 in Uninvited Guest? (#17)

   ≫ need to look up this scene and see who it is that reports this. Head trauma? Mental health issues?



8. In Phantom Grasshopper, it states Trixie helped capture a gang of sheep-rustlers in Arizona. Was this Trixie adventure never written about? (#18)

   We know the BWG girls have pen pals. They stayed in touch with the AZ crew and the crew wrote about sheep troubles at the surrounding ranch. Trixie pulled on what she’d learned in Iowa, and wrote back with some musings. The musings led to an arrest, which led to a confession, which led to multiple arrests.



9. Why does Phantom Grasshopper refer to the criminals in Mississippi as a Spy Ring instead of Gun Runners? (#18)

   That was the original supposition and some of the Bob-Whites (and, though he won’t say it to them because the Bob-Whites are children, Matt) aren’t convinced that they were just gun runners. If they were, why not just move the stashes when they knew the map was compromised. Why hang around when it was clear the BWGs were on to them, unless the location mattered. If they’re stirring trouble in South America, and the rebels win, a new regime would be extra grateful for a strong hand to play in their foreign policy debut, especially something that might keep the U.S. from meddling.



10. What’s Bud doing at Manor House on page 28 of Unseen Treasure? (#19)

    You didn’t honestly think Honey and Trixie went to all that trouble to reunite the Darnells, that Mr. Lynch went to the effort of calling off the search for the red trailer after hearing it was the Darnells (who were good enough neighbors prior to that the Lynches trusted them to house sit), and then everyone just forgot about them after bringing Jim home. The Darnell parents can’t both get off work very often, but once in a great while, they do come to visit old friends. Having fewer children, Manor House has more room for the whole family, plus, Mrs. Lynch is allergic to dogs.



11. Why are Honey’s eyes brown in Castaway Children? (#21)

    The author works for DMV, who—at least in my state—don’t recognize hazel as an eye color and label hazel as brown.



12. In Castaway Children, how can Di go home but also be somehow standing on the porch steps? (#21)

    Di’s parents reliably turn out twins but somehow Di is twin-free? Diane and Diana. :D



13. What is the story behind the cringe-worthy “Uncle Jim/Brian” moments in Headless Horseman? (#26)

    Teenagers in love are stupid.



14. In Ghostly Galleon, how does Mr. Appleton’s “charred” mattress make its way back into the room on page 83 when the firefighters dragged it out on page 78? (#27)

    Mr. Appleton has a box spring mattress. The firefighters dragged out the top mattress, but the charred box spring remains in the room. Trixie, our narrator, being more excited by the mystery than the vocabulary, refers to both as mattresses.



15. Why does Patch become a cocker spaniel in Midnight Marauder, when he was a springer spaniel in the previous books? (He is also referred to as undisciplined but was well-trained before that.) (#30)



16. How did Lady turn from dapple-gray to black in Missing Millionaire? (#34)



17. Why is Sgt. Molinson described as “good-natured” in Memorial Day Fire? (#35)



18. In Memorial Day Fire, why is Bill Regan referred to as the Wheelers’ chauffeur? (#35)



19. Why does Dan suddenly have an evil stepfather in Memorial Day Fire? (#35)



20. In Antique Doll, why does it say Dan is the only BWG who doesn’t attend Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School? (#36)



21. Why is Trixie knitting scarves in Antique Doll? (Also, what did those scarves look like and how did people feel about receiving the scarves Trixie knitted? ;) ) (#36)

    The only logical explanation is that Trixie is knitting for an Aunt Alicia related cause. I assume a cancer diagnosis. :bluehug:



22. Why is Trixie’s favorite horse Lady and Honey’s Susie in Indian Burial Ground? (#38)



23. How does Tom really feel about horses? In Gatehouse (#3), Mart states Tom likes both cars and horses. In Mysterious Code (#7), Honey says, “If there’s anything Tom hates more than a horse, I don’t know what it is.”



24. If Trixie bought Susie for Miss Trask with the reward money in Gatehouse (#3), why was it reported in Black Jacket (#8) that the Wheelers bought the little mare so Trixie could ride with Honey?

    The reward was nowhere near enough to pay for a horse. But Trixie was so excited, both about Susie and about the gift for Miss Trask, so Matt took care of it. As Trixie spends more time around horses and millionaires, she eventually figures it out, and it’s not a secret by Black Jacket.



25. In Off Glen Road (#5), when Honey offers Mr. Maypenny the gamekeeper job, she assures him that Mr. Wheeler will buy him a horse. In Black Jacket (#8), Mr. Maypenny has an old nag, Brownie. Why would millionaire Matthew Wheeler buy the gamekeeper a tired old horse?

    We’re talking about Mr. M. He doesn’t want charity. He just wants to be left alone on his pie-shaped piece of land to live in peace. He certainly doesn’t want some high-strung purebred prancer. So, he gets his own horse.



26. Why is Di’s brother named Terry in Mysterious Code (#7) and Jerry in Missing Heiress (#16)?

    Terry gets teased in school by some of the guys on the sports team, since Terry could be a girl’s name, too. He goes by Jerry for a while, until Bobby convinces him that if he lets bullies control him, he’ll never have any kind of life.



27. Why did the BWGs need a wood stove for the clubhouse in Memorial Day Fire (#35)? What happened to the oil burner Mr. Lynch gave them in Mysterious Code (#7)?

    Once they had their very own full-blooded adopted wood-chopper 😉 they realized wood was cheaper than oil, and given their insistence that all club things be earned on their own merits, not their families’ wealth… Plus, given their usage patterns in the clubhouse, and their conscientiousness about replanting any trees that get cut down in the Preserve, wood is more environmentally sustainable than oil.



28. Why does Tom berate Brian for messing with his jalopy’s engine in Unseen Treasure, (#19) when in previous books, Brian was praised for being a good mechanic? (#5 and others)

    The particular part he was messing with is dangerous, or there’s something else in that part of the engine and it really takes two people to do it right, and if you don’t do it right… :fire:



29. Why does Honey’s hair change from light-brown or honey-brown (#1 and many others) to blonde in some of the later books? (#16,#24)

    Brian took too long to ask her on a date. Media tells all young women that men are looking for slender blondes, so she gives it a try, until she overhears Brian and Mart talking once and Brian mentions that he hates the new hair color, but what is he supposed to say? He’s smart enough to know you don’t tell a woman – especially one you like – that you think her hair color choice is awful/ugly.



30. What about “The Robin?” In Mysterious Visitor (#4), Mr. Lynch gives it to Trixie and Mart as a reward, who give it to Tom and Celia. In Black Jacket (#8), Honey says Regan may be planning to lend Tom and Celia money so they can buy the trailer for $5000.00. In Cobbett's Island (#13), it says Tom and Celia moved into the Robin, which Mr. Lynch gave them as a wedding present. What’s the true story?

    The 5K plus Mr. Lynch’s wedding present are upgrades to turn the trailer from a few days / vacation / sufferable dwelling into a home.



31. In Black Jacket (#8), Dan wins wood for the clubhouse floor in a skating race. So, why is the Clubhouse floor dirt in Whispering Witch (#32) but back in Memorial Day Fire? (#35)

    Spring flooding somewhere just before #32 does major damage, so they pull it up. The supplier they get the lumber from warns them to make sure the ground underneath and the inside of the clubhouse have dried out completely so they don’t seal mold in when they relay the floor.



32. Why does Marshland Mystery (#10) state it was Brian and Mart who tutored Trixie in Arizona (#6)? Is this somehow related to Mart being described as the smartest Belden in Antique Doll? (#36)

    Brian and Mart were the ones who were supposed to tutor Trixie, as part of the Belden parents’ conditions for the trip. But patience ran out, so…



33. How can Brian be 17 in Castaway Children(#21), have a birthday in Hudson River (#28) and still be 17 in Midnight Marauder (#30)?

    Tainted timeline. The books are not in chronological order.



34. What is the deal with Brian and Mart’s room(s)? They share a room in Black Jacket (#8), have their own rooms on page 179 of Missing Heiress (#16) and then share on page 214 of Missing Heiress (#16)! They also have their own rooms in Uninvited Guest (#17), share in Whispering Witch (#32) and Mart has his own room in Missing Millionaire (#34)!

    They share a room most of the time, but every once in a while, the shared space grates on their nerves, and one or the other escapes to the daybed in the den. When this is happening, everyone describes the den as the escapee’s room, because it’s basically quick code for “Mart and Brian are squabbling and one or both might be in a bad/touchy mood, so be careful” because actually saying that would probably set one or both of them off.



35. What is the deal with the boys and their grades in school? In Gatehouse (#3), Brian and Jim are entering their senior years. In Mysterious Visitor (#4), Brian and Jim are Juniors. In Black Jacket (#8), Dan is a 9th grader. In Happy Valley (#9), Dan is being tutored to stay in the same grade as Jim and Brian. In Marshland (#10), Jim is a senior. In Blinking Eye (#12), Cobbett's Island (#13), and Emeralds (#14), none of the boys have graduated. Are one or more of them repeating their senior years?

    Tainted timeline. The books are not in chronological order.



36. Why does Bobby stay 6 when everyone else ages a year in the later books? (too many to list)

    Tainted timeline. The books are not in chronological order.