"The Twisted Window" by Lois Duncan Quiz

Answer: Her mother was killed

Tracy first meets Brad Johnson in the school cafeteria. He sits down at the table with her and her friend Gina. Brad wonders why Tracy had moved from New York to Winfield, Texas, and he suggests that her father got a good job he couldn't refuse. Then Tracy tells him that she lives with her Aunt Irene and Uncle Cory.

Her mother had been an actress, but she was murdered walking home one day. Tracy's father had a traveling job as a film director, and he did not want to take care of her.

Answer: She was kidnapped by his stepfather

Brad comes over to Tracy's house that evening. They go for a walk down her street, and Brad tells her why he needs help. When he was thirteen, his father had died. Brad's mom had married a man named Gavin Brummer, and they had a baby girl named Mindy.

But they had divorced, and Brad claimed that Gavin had kidnapped Mindy four months ago. Since Gavin had relatives in Winfield, Brad had come to look for Mindy to take her back. He shows Tracy a picture of Mindy. In the picture, she has blond hair and is wearing a yellow dress.

Answer: A picture of a blond baby in a yellow dress

Brad located an apartment in Winfield where the names Brummer-Tyler are displayed beside the door. He takes Tracy to the complex, and asks her to go in and look for Mindy. When she does, Tracy meets Gavin's roommate, Jim Tyler. She requests to use his phone. Tracy goes into the back rooms when Jim receives a phone call.

She overhears him talking about Gavin, who is going to his brother's house for dinner. Jim also says that Gavin's brother and his wife are going to their anniversary dinner on Friday. Right before Tracy leaves, she finds a picture of a baby, similar to the one Brad showed her.

Answer: The window glass is warped

Brad and Tracy locate the house where Gavin is eating dinner with his brother, Doug Carver, and Doug's wife, Sally. Brad looks in the car parked by the house, and he finds Gavin's registration papers in the glove compartment. He and Tracy go to the side window, and try to look in.

The first thing they see is many toys scattered on the floor. Brad sees a small stuffed animal, and he says it is Mindy's teddy bear. They also see Gavin and Mindy seated at the dinner table. Brad comes up with the idea of having Tracy ask the Carver's if she could babysit on Friday, and they could take back Mindy. Tracy thinks it would not work.

As they are leaving, they see Gavin pick up Mindy. Tracy claims that she saw him crying as he held her, but Brad said he was probably laughing. Brad also adds that the window they were looking through was warped, and the view was unclear. That's most likely where the title "The Twisted Window" comes from.

Answer: He says he can only break from his job for a month to see her

When Tracy returns home, she finds a letter from her father. In the letter, he says that he might have a month off from work so he could see her. Angrily, Tracy throws the letter in the wastebasket. She can't understand why he would only want to see her for one month out of the whole year.

Answer: She let Brad in the house

Tracy was hired as a babysitter by Doug and Sally Carver. Just a few minutes after the Carvers had left, Brad comes over and discusses how he and Tracy will "re-snatch" Mindy. Doug comes back unexpectedly, searching for his theatre tickets, and becomes upset when he sees Brad in his house. Doug orders for Tracy to call home and tell her aunt what has happened, and Brad leaves. Seconds later, Brad comes into the house carrying his gun, and he forces Doug to get into the storage closet in the kitchen. Brad and Tracy secure the door with the dining room table, and they go upstairs.

They take Mindy, and drive away in Brad's car.

Answer: His father's cabin

The next morning, Tracy and Brad stop at a service station, on their way to Brad's home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Tracy goes in by herself, and hears part of a radio report about the kidnapping. She hears the full story in the car. But she finds out from the report that the kidnapped child was named Julianne Carver, not Mindy Brummer. Brad and Tracy stop at a diner for breakfast, and Tracy goes into the back.

There she phones Brad's mother, who reveals the shocking truth about Mindy: she was run over by a car four months ago. Mrs. Johnson also says she will send Brad's friend, Jamie, after her.

When Tracy returns, she discovers that Brad and Julianne have gone.

Answer: She looked like his friend Jamie

Brad's friend, Jamie, arrives at the diner to meet Tracy. When they are sitting at a table together, the waitress suggests the two are sisters. Tracy says no, but when she looks closely at Jamie, she realizes why Brad chose her.

Answer: no

Jamie and Tracy find Brad and Julianne at his father's cabin in the mountains. While Jamie distracts Brad, Tracy enters the cabin to find the child. She locates Julianne, and starts carrying her out the back door. But Julianne begs Tracy to let her go back and get her favourite toy, Monk-Monk, which had fallen under the bed. Tracy agrees, but when Julianne enters the bedroom, she hears a gunshot. Brad had been holding his gun behind him, and it accidentally fired in the direction of Julianne. She fell over a chair just as the shot passed her, so she was not wounded.

Answer: Brad

After Julianne was almost shot, Brad broke down, and revealed his mental pain. He confessed to Jamie that he had accidentally run over Mindy with his car on her second birthday. Brad made himself believe his sister was still alive, even though she had been dead for four months. Finally, Tracy takes Julianne home to her parents.