Mystery of the Midnight Dog (6 page)

The girl grinned even more broadly and pointed.

The Aldens turned. A large snake was coiled around the branch of a small tree growing out of an enormous pot in the window.

Benny took a step back. “Uh-oh,” he said.

The girl said, “Don’t worry. Squeeze won’t hurt you. He’s a boa constrictor and not poisonous. Isn’t he beautiful?”

Looking at the snake made Violet nervous, so she looked somewhere else. “Oh,” she said. “Look, Watch. Sweaters for dogs!”

“Not that dogs need sweaters very often in this part of the country,” the girl commented. “Too hot. They don’t usually need those little booties, either. Those are for dogs that live in places with snow, where they put salt on the sidewalk. The salt hurts the dogs’ feet. I did sell a set of those booties a few days ago. A whole crowd of people came in the store at once, buying all kinds of things. Some tourists will buy anything!”

Glad to be out of the heat, the Aldens began to look around the store. Benny and Watch took a closer look at Squeeze, being careful not to get
too
close. Henry and Violet bent to study the tropical fish in the big aquarium next to the counter.

Jessie let her eyes wander across the peg-board hung with dog supplies: booties and sweaters, raincoats and fancy collars, in every imaginable color; bones and treats; whistles and toys. ...

She reached out and picked up a small, thin, silver whistle. She held it up. “About this whistle—” she began.

“Look, there’s Lainey!” Benny said. He waved, then dashed to the door and opened it. “Hey, Lainey. We’re in here!”

Lainey followed Benny inside the store—and began to scream.

“Nooo!” she shrieked, jumping back and dancing from one foot to the other as if her shoes were on fire. “Eeeek. Oooh! A snaaaaaaake!”

Henry raced over and grabbed Lainey’s arm. “This way,” he said, and led her outside.

“We’ll be right back,” Jessie promised. The Aldens all went outside to join Henry and Lainey.

Lainey was pale, with splotches of red on her cheeks. “Sorry,” she said. “The snake caught me by surprise. If I’d known it was there, I would never have gone in.”

“You
are
afraid of snakes, aren’t you?” asked Jessie.

“Terrified,” Lainey admitted. “I try not to be, but I can’t help it. ...” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head.

“That’s very brave of you to work at the park, then,” Violet said, trying to make Lainey feel better.

Lainey managed to smile. “Not so brave. I stick close to the trails and places where I know the snakes aren’t likely to be. And I wear big hiking boots that come up almost to my knees. When I had to help out during Stories Under the Stars, I worked in the parking lot directing cars. I didn’t even come down to the storytelling until Brad came along to walk with me. That’s how afraid I was.”

The Aldens exchanged glances. Lainey’s confession had just eliminated two of their suspects. There was no way Lainey could have had anything to do with the ghostly dog flitting through the woods around the edges of the storytelling crowd.

“Well, you’re safe now,” said Henry.

“But if you don’t mind,” Jessie said, “we’d like to go back into the pet-supply store for a minute.”

“Why?” asked Benny.

“You’ll see,” Jessie said.

Lainey said, “Go on. I’ll be at the bookstore. See you in a little while.”

“Let’s go,” said Jessie. The Aldens went back into the store and Jessie went straight to the whistle she’d been holding. “I’d like to buy this,” she said.

“The silent whistle? Sure,” said the girl. She took Jessie’s money and counted out the change.

As Jessie slipped the whistle into her pocket, she said casually, “Have you sold any of these lately?”

“Sure,” said the girl.

“To the same person who bought the booties?” Jessie asked.

The girl frowned. “I don’t know about that. The store was jammed. I just remember selling the booties because it was so unusual, you know? I
think
it was a lady. But what she looked like, I couldn’t tell you. I remember the booties were white, though. Silly color. Shows dirt.”

“Hmmm,” said Jessie.

“Thanks for all your help,” Violet said. “We really appreciate it.”

Jessie nodded. “I think you just helped us solve a mystery.”

Benny’s eyes grew wide. “What?” he gasped.

Jessie didn’t answer right away. They went outside and Benny hopped excitedly along next to her.

“We know Lainey’s not the one who did it, because she really
is
afraid of snakes, and we know Brad was with her the other night when everyone saw the ghost dog at the storytelling,” Henry said. “Is that what you mean?”

“Nope,” Jessie said. She held up the whistle in its package. “This is what I mean. This is a very important clue.”

Violet leaned forward and read aloud from the package, “ ‘Silent dog whistle. You can’t hear it, but dogs can. From as far away as a quarter mile or more.’ ”

“Silent whistle?” Benny asked. “How can a whistle not make any sound?”

“It does make a sound. It’s just such a high-pitched sound that only dogs can hear it,” Henry said. He was beginning to figure out the mystery, too.

They’d begun to walk back along Main Street.

“Can I try it? Can I blow the whistle?” Benny asked.

“May I,” Jessie corrected him automatically, just as Grandfather would have. “Okay, Benny, give it a try.”

Benny pulled the whistle from the cardboard and held it to his lips. He blew hard.

No sound came out. But Watch jumped up at Benny, his ears straight up.

Benny blew again. Again no sound came out.

Watch gave a short sharp bark. Across the street, a black Labrador retriever veered sharply and began pulling on his leash as if he wanted to run toward Benny.

“That’s enough, Benny,” said Jessie.

Violet said, “Wow, it works. It really works. And if you blew the whistle enough, I bet every dog that heard it would start howling and trying to find out who was whistling.”

“But who would do it?” Violet asked. “And why?”

“I think whoever did it was the same person who bought the booties. The ground was not damp enough to show any footprints—especially with that person’s dog wearing the booties. The dog turned into a ghost!” Jessie told them.

“The girl at the store said she was pretty sure a woman had bought the booties,” Violet said. “That means it wasn’t Joshua.”

“That just leaves Dr. Sage,” Henry said.

“I like Dr. Sage,” Benny said. “I don’t think she’s bad.”

“But she does have a good reason—she wants more money for her work. A ghost dog means publicity, and publicity might help her get more money for research,” Henry said.

“Who else could it be?” Jessie said.

“Wouldn’t the girl in the store know Dr. Sage?” Violet asked.

“Not necessarily. Dr. Sage isn’t from around here. And if she went into the store when a bunch of tourists were in there, the girl might not notice her,” Jessie argued.

But they didn’t get to suspect Dr. Sage much longer. They ran into her coming out of the hardware store.

“Hi, Dr. Sage,” said Jessie.

“Found the hole-digger yet?” was her answer.

“Not yet,” said Henry. Was this all a clever game Dr. Sage was playing so they wouldn’t be suspicious?

“Did you have a nice time at your dinner party?” asked Violet.

“Dinner parties,” said Dr. Sage scornfully. “I sat there from eight o’clock until midnight with the mayor and a state senator.

I’d better get some more money for my project, it was so boring!” With that, she stomped away.

Jessie raised her eyebrows. “I guess Dr. Sage really was at the dinner party,” she said.

“And that means she couldn’t have done it,” said Benny.

“We’re completely out of suspects,” said Henry.

They walked slowly on, not speaking again until they reached the bookstore. Lainey was waiting for them by the front door. “Ready to go home for lunch?” she asked.

“Yes!” said Benny, to no one’s surprise.

They began to walk back through town, but Violet stopped and stared at the bookstore window. “Look,” she said. “There she is!”

“There who is?” Henry asked.

“The lady who took Kate Frances’s picture that first day,” Violet said. “The same one who was saying she was going to tell everyone about the ghost dog at Stories Under the Stars the other night. That’s her picture on the poster in the corner of the window.”

“You’re right,” Jessie said.

“ ‘Book signing’ ” Henry read from the poster. “ ‘By Elizabeth Prattle, author of
The Lady and the Midnight Ghost.’
She’s here signing books tonight at the bookstore.”

“Listen to this.” Henry read aloud again, “ ‘The story of a lady haunted by a special kind of ghost in an old house in the historic town of Ankle Bend.’ ”

“Ankle Bend?” Violet giggled. “Just like Elbow Bend!”

“It probably
is
Elbow Bend,” Lainey said. “She probably just changed the name a little, in case anyone thought they recognized themselves in there.”

“Wow,” said Violet. “A famous author.”

“Not so famous. I think this is her first book, and it’s not on any best-seller lists yet that I know about,” Lainey said as they began to walk home.

“I guess she knows a lot about ghosts,” said Benny. “Maybe that’s why she was so upset about the ghost dog.”

“That’s it! That’s it! I have it!” Jessie cried. “Benny! You just solved another mystery!”

“I did?” Benny asked.

Henry looked at Jessie. He said, “I think I know what you’re thinking. But we need to prove it ... and I think I know how!”

“How? Who did it?” Benny almost shouted.

“Here’s the plan,” said Henry. He looked at Lainey. “And we’ll need you and Kate Frances to help us.”

“Wow. There sure are a lot of people here,” Benny said. It was after dinner, and the Aldens had returned to the bookstore to set their plan in action.

The lady standing next to him said, “Oh, it’s because of the ghost! Haven’t you heard about it?”

“Sort of,” Henry said quickly, in case Benny gave anything away.

“Isn’t it amazing? A ghost! Just like in the book!” the woman gushed, clutching her copy of
The Lady and the Midnight Ghost
to her chest.

“There’s a ghost dog in the book?” asked Violet.

“Well, no. Actually, it’s a horse. But it’s almost the same,” the woman said. She moved away.

Jessie rolled her eyes.

“Look,” Henry said. “Lainey and Kate Frances are talking to her now.”

The Aldens edged closer, so they could hear but not be seen by Elizabeth Prattle.

“So we were wondering if you’d like to do a reading, as part of our Stories Under the Stars program. Could you do it tomorrow night? I know it’s not much notice, but—”

“Oh, I think I could manage that,” Ms. Prattle interrupted. She smiled and signed another book, then turned back to Kate Frances.

“Wonderful,” said Kate Frances. “About seven-thirty? You can read and maybe answer questions, and after we take a break you can read some more and then sign books. How does that sound?”

“Fine,” said Ms. Prattle. “I’ll be there.”

“Great,” said Kate Frances. “We’ll start letting everybody know.”

Lainey said, as if it had just occurred to her, “Wow. What if the ghost dog shows up again? Wouldn’t that be amazing? I bet people will come just to see if—”

“Lainey, there is
no
ghost dog,” Kate Frances said sternly. “Come on, let’s get to work.”

Ms. Prattle watched them go with a little smile on her lips, and the Aldens watched Ms. Prattle.

“The crowd is just as big for Ms. Prattle as it was for the other storyteller,” said Kate Frances. “And nobody even knows her around here.” She shook her head before hurrying away to help.

“It’s because of the ghost stories. The ghost dog,” said Henry.

It was true. As the visitors streamed past them to claim seats in the clearing, they heard snatches of conversation. Almost everyone was talking about the ghost dog.

Then Kate Frances walked onto the stage to introduce Elizabeth Prattle. The audience fell silent, then cheered as the author walked onstage. She stepped up to the podium, took a sip of water, and smiled. “Welcome to all you believers in good writing—and in ghosts!” she said.