I raced up the wooden steps that led to the roof. I opened the door, and suddenly I was surrounded by stars.

Two dark shapes followed me through the door. “Archie?” said Kermit in a low voice.

Ethel said, “Archie, are you there?”

“Here I am!” I said. “Do you see it?”

They approached slowly, with Kermit carrying the lantern. Its dim light illuminated the area where we stood, a flat, semicircular space above the south portico. A low wall lined the edge.

Kermit looked around. “Is there something up here you wanted to show us?”

“Not up here,” I said. “Up there!”

“I don’t get it,” he said.

“Me neither,” said Ethel. “And I certainly don’t see any treasure.”

Kermit snorted. “You just brought us up here because you were scared of that bear.”

“No,” I said, “I wanted to show you this bear.”

They looked around but still didn’t see anything.

“Did you fall on your head again?” asked Kermit.

I said, “You don’t understand. Up there.” I pointed to the sky.

“I see stars,” said Kermit. “There’s the Big Dipper. So what?”

“Don’t you remember what Pop taught us?” I said. “The Big Dipper is part of a different constellation, a bigger one. It’s called Ursa Major—Latin for the Great Bear. That’s the treasure!”

Kermit and Ethel gazed upward in wonder. The clouds had parted, and the moon shone down on us. Next to the moon, twinkling in the darkness, was the most famous constellation in the sky.

Kermit sighed. “You mean there’s no gold?”

“I think it’s beautiful,” said Ethel.

The wind blew. Somehow it didn’t seem as frightening anymore.

“Are you sure?” asked Kermit. “What about the other clues?”

Ethel said, “I’ll tell you part of it. Remember the new clue? We couldn’t figure out what it meant by ‘no colonel.’ Now we know. It’s not a colonel or a captain or a general. It’s a major—Ursa Major.”

“What about Jura Roams?” asked Kermit. “Who is he, and what does he have to do with Ursa Major?”

“That’s simple,” I said. “He is Ursa Major.”

Kermit stared at me. “Huh?”

“Don’t you see? It’s an anagram. That’s what I figured out in the attic. If you unscramble the letters of Jura Roams, you get Ursa Major.”

Kermit’s eyes lit up. “Ursa Major—Jura Roams. Of course!”

“One thing still puzzles me,” said Ethel. “Remember the very first clue, when we added the numbers of latitude?”

Kermit nodded. “It was seven, right? For seven o’clock?”

“But what did time have to do with it?” she said. “That didn’t help us solve anything.”

I glanced up at the sky, and suddenly I knew. “It was never referring to time. It’s the number of stars that make up the Big Dipper, the constellation that’s part of Ursa Major.”

Kermit said, “The stars are outside, so they’re above and behind the Constitution, like the clue said.”

“And they’re sparkly, like the chandeliers,” added Ethel. “That was the brilliant metaphor. Those lights representing these lights.”

Something occurred to me. I turned to Ethel. “Can I see those papers again?”

She handed them to me. Kneeling, I lined them up next to each other.

“These are floor plans, right?” I said.

“Yeah,” said Kermit. “So?”

“They were also a clue. Floor plans show the White House from a bird’s-eye view. The treasure was never in the White House. It was above it all along.”

We turned and gazed up at the treasure—Jura Roams, Ursa Major, glistening in the sky.

“It’s gorgeous,” Ethel said.

“Magical,” Kermit said.

“Gormical,” I said.

Ethel gathered up the papers. “How did you do it, Archie? How did you solve the mystery?”

I shrugged. “Well, as James says, a fellow can learn a thing or two if he listens. Also, there was that anagram. It got me thinking.”

“Astronomers,” said Kermit.

“No more stars,” said Ethel.

Kermit shook his head. “I still can’t believe it. Archie Roosevelt solved a mystery.”

I said, “Now maybe you’ll start listening to me for a change.”

They looked at each other. “Nah,” they said.

Just then, there was a noise from the stairway. Behind the door, steps were creaking. Someone was coming up to the roof.

“You know,” said Kermit in a shaky voice, “there’s one part of the mystery we never did solve.”

Ethel nodded. “I was trying not to think about it.”

I swallowed, then stared at the door.

“The ghost,” I said.