Movie Star Mystery (6 page)

“I think she’s gone now,” said Jessie.

Cautiously, Tate got up from his hiding place. He pushed his glasses into place on his nose and said, “Whew! That was a close call.”

“Why don’t you go down the alley behind the bank,” Jessie suggested to Tate. “We’ll get the bikes and meet you at the other end of it.”

“Good idea,” said Henry.

“I’ll see you there,” Tate said. He slipped out from behind the bench and almost ran to the alley.

A few minutes later, the Aldens and Tate were on their way out of Greenfield back to Tate’s house.

“Who was that lady?” asked Benny.

“That was Monica Tripe,” Tate said. “She’s a reporter for
True Star Stories
.”

“She’s the one who wrote that story about the bad luck jinx on your last movie,” Jessie exclaimed.

“That’s right. If it hadn’t been for Monica, nobody would have paid any attention to what had happened,” Tate said. “But she was
always
lurking around the movie set. That’s how she found out about everything.”

“She’s looking for you now,” Benny said. “And she knew Greta’s real name. But we didn’t tell her.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. That would have given me away for sure. But what I don’t understand is how Monica knew to look for me in Greenfield. Hardly anyone knows where I am,” Tate said.

“Stefan and Harpo know,” said Violet.

“And your mother and your bodyguard,” added Jessie.

“And your agent,” Henry said. “Anybody else?”

Tate thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Even if there are other people working on the film who know where we are going to shoot it, they don’t know I’m here yet. In fact, we told everyone that I was going to France for a vacation.”

“Someone must have told her,” said Violet.

“But who?” Tate said. “We were so careful not to let anyone know.”

When they reached Tate’s house, the Aldens said good-bye to Tate and Greta. As they pedaled up to the gates, they saw Courtney standing by one of the gateposts. She had her arms folded and her mouth set in a thin line.

“Uh-oh,” said Benny. “She looks mad!”

Courtney said, “Well, there you are! Are you trying to make me lose my job?”

Tate looked startled. “No,” he said.

“Well, I will, if anything happens to you,” she said crossly. “Come inside. We’ve all been out looking everywhere for you.”

“But I left a note,” Tate protested.

“I didn’t see any note,” Courtney snapped. “We thought you might have been kidnapped. It wasn’t until I noticed that the bike and Greta and her leash were gone that I was able to convince your mother to stop worrying.”

Tate shrugged. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’m sorry. But I did leave a note. And nothing happened.” He said to the Aldens, “Thanks. Greta and I had a great time.”

As Tate and Greta walked in the gate, Violet said impulsively, “Why don’t you come to dinner at our house tonight?”

“That’s impossible,” Courtney snapped. “The security risk is too high.”

“I’d love to,” Tate said, ignoring Courtney. “What time should I be there?”

“Seven o’clock. And you can come, too,” Violet said, smiling shyly at Courtney.

“See you then,” Tate said.

Courtney closed the gate and locked it. Tate took Courtney’s arm as they walked up the driveway. “Don’t worry,” the Aldens heard him say to her. “If you’re with me, what can happen?”

“What a good idea, Violet,” said Jessie.

“Let’s hurry home so we can tell Mrs. McGregor,” Henry said.

“Yes. And we can ask her to make an extra-special dessert,” Benny put in.

“Tate will be safe at our house, won’t he?” asked Violet anxiously.

“Sure he will. We have Watch to stand guard,” Benny said.

“A movie star for dinner!” exclaimed Mrs. McGregor. “Goodness gracious.” Her eyes twinkled. “I’d better make a special dessert. What do you think, Benny?”

“Yes!” cried Benny. “Cake and ice cream and pie and—”

“I’ll make a cake,” Mrs. McGregor said. “Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.”

“Chocolate cake is my favorite,” said Benny.

“Every cake is your favorite, Benny,” teased Henry, smiling at his younger brother.

“Today it is chocolate cake,” said Benny “Mrs. McGregor’s chocolate cake.”

“Let’s go pick some flowers,” Violet suggested. “We can fill a vase with flowers to go on the table for dinner.”

“That sounds great,” said Jessie.

The Aldens went out into the yard to gather flowers for a bouquet for the dinner table. They gathered roses and the long stalks of a lacy fern.

Benny found the feather of a blue jay. “Let’s put this in the flower arrangement, too,” he suggested. “It’s a pretty color.”

“It will look nice with the pink roses,” Violet said.

Jessie looked over at Henry. Henry’s mouth had suddenly dropped open. “What is it, Henry?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“The feather!” said Henry. “I’d forgotten about the feather. It’s still in my pocket from yesterday.”

Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of red feather that the Aldens had found the day before near the car tracks by Old Farm Road.

Violet gasped. “The red feather. It’s the same color as the one on Monica Tripe’s hat!”

T
hey all stared at the piece of red feather. Then Jessie said, “It must have been Monica who had a car hidden in the bushes by the side of the road. But why?”

“To spy on Tate,” said Benny

“She must suspect that he is at his mother’s house,” agreed Henry. “And she wants to write a story about it. But she can’t until she has proof.”

“Do you think she was the one who left the letter?” Violet said.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “I didn’t see whoever it was clearly enough to know.”

Violet said, “She was there that day we saw Harpo and Stefan out in front of the bank. Remember when they jumped into their van and drove away so fast?”

Henry nodded. “And I remember you saying something about a lady in a green scarf.”

“It was Monica Tripe,” said Violet. “Maybe she wasn’t angry with us like I thought. Maybe she was mad that Harpo and Stefan got away.”

“Stefan and Harpo must have recognized her, too,” said Jessie. “That’s why they left in such a hurry, and not because of the police car!”

“Do you think she’s behind all of Tate’s bad luck?” said Violet.

“He did say she was always snooping around the set of his last movie,” Jessie pointed out.

“Maybe she caused the bad luck so she could have a good story to write about,” Henry said.

“I think it was Courtney,” said Benny. “She’s mean.”

“Oh, Benny. She’s just doing her job,” Violet said. “She’s supposed to protect Tate.”

“Benny, you might be right,” Jessie said thoughtfully. “If Tate isn’t in danger, then he doesn’t need Courtney. She’d be out of a job.”

“And he did say that they hired her right after all those things went wrong on his other movie,” Henry said. “Maybe she caused things to happen after they hired her.”

“She could have sneaked out of the Radley place and put the letter in the mailbox,” Violet said. “She could have just climbed over the fence.”

Jessie nodded. “And maybe she’s the one who told Monica where we were.”

“Or maybe she and Monica are even working together,” said Henry.

He stopped and held up the red feather. “But we don’t have any proof.”

“We’ll find some new clues,” Jessie said. “Don’t worry. Well solve this mystery so that Tate can make his next movie without being afraid.”

That evening, Courtney and Tate arrived at the Aldens’ promptly at seven o’clock.

Benny answered the door. “Oh, good,” he said. “I’m hungry.”

Courtney smiled a little. But she stepped inside ahead of Tate and looked around. She walked to all the front windows and pulled down the shades. When they got to the dining room, she pulled the curtains closed in there.

Grandfather Alden looked surprised. “She’s my bodyguard,” Tate explained.

“Oh,” said Grandfather.

Henry introduced Tate and Courtney to Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor. Courtney nodded. She said to Mrs. McGregor, “Does that door lead to the kitchen?”

Surprised, Mrs. McGregor nodded.

“And is there a back door?” Courtney asked.

“A kitchen door, yes,” said Mrs. McGregor. “I’ll show you.” Courtney followed Mrs. McGregor into the kitchen.

A moment later Courtney returned. She said to Tate, “I think you should sit at the end of the room away from the window and near the door to the kitchen. That way you can make a quick exit out the back way if necessary.”

Jessie looked from Courtney to Tate and back again. “Has something else happened?” she asked suspiciously.

Slowly Tate nodded.

“What?” asked Henry.

“A phone call,” Tate said. “Courtney answered the phone.”

“What kind of a phone call?” asked Violet.

“An anonymous phone call,” Courtney said. “Someone with a disguised voice. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. Whoever it was said, ‘Tate, Tate, it’s your fate. Come out and play or you will pay.’ Then the person hung up.”

“That sounds like a threat!” Henry said.

“Yes,” said Courtney. “That’s why I’m being so careful.”

“But who knows where I am? And how did this person find out?” Tate cried in frustration. “We’ve been so careful.”

“We’ll just have to keep on being careful,” Courtney said. “Extra careful.”

Grandfather said, “Well, I think you’re safe here. Why don’t we sit down and enjoy Mrs. McGregor’s excellent dinner.”

It was a good dinner. Both Tate and Courtney seemed to relax a little as they ate the delicious food Mrs. McGregor had prepared. The Aldens told Tate and Courtney about mysteries they had solved. Tate told the Aldens about life as a movie star.

“It sounds like a lot of hard work,” said Benny, wrinkling his nose.

“And not nearly as exciting as some of the mysteries you’ve solved,” Tate answered.

“I think it would be fun to be a movie star,” said Henry.

“I’d rather be the director,” said Jessie. “Then I could be in charge of everything.”

“You’d be good at that, Jessie,” Grandfather said, smiling at his oldest granddaughter.

Suddenly Watch came running out of the kitchen, where he had been napping on his pillow by the stove. He was barking wildly.

“What is it, Watch? What is it, boy?” asked Benny.

Watch ran to the front door and started scratching at it. And at that moment, all the lights went out.

S
omebody’s outside the window,” said Henry. He jumped toward the window and pulled the curtain back.

Jessie ran to join him and said, “Look!”

They saw a shadowy figure scuttling across the lawn.

Then Benny said, “I can see the lights in the neighbor’s house.”

“You’re right, Benny. Only our lights seem to be off,” said Grandfather. “Someone must have made them go off.”

“Stay here,” Courtney told Tate. “I’m going to check this out.”

“We’ll come with you,” Henry said.

But it was too late to catch whoever had turned the lights off. By the time they got outside, the shadowy figure was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly the lights in the house came back on. “Grandfather must have fixed the lights,” said Henry.

“Look,” said Violet. “Footprints.” She pointed to the soft earth beneath the dining room window.

“Boot prints,” said Courtney, kneeling to examine them. “Not much bigger than my own. They could belong to a man or a woman.”

Suddenly Henry looked around with a frown. “Where’s Jessie?” he asked.

At that moment, they heard Jessie call, “Stop! What are you doing?” and then saw a flash of light.

They ran around the corner of the house toward Jessie’s voice.

“Jessie? Are you okay?” called Henry.

A woman’s angry voice said, “It’s only you!”

The Aldens and Courtney stopped. Jessie stood in front of them near the sidewalk. A brown car was parked at the curb. A woman with long red hair stood near the open door of the car, lit by the interior light. Jessie was holding her arm. The woman had a small camera in her other hand.