by Michael Dahl
“I have to practice every day, or otherwise I get rusty,” said Mr. Thursday. “I would have asked to use these things, but it was supposed to be a surprise.”
“A surprise for what?” asked Tyler.
“For the magic show,” said Mr. Thursday. “Of course.”
“Wait a second,” Tyler said. “What magic show? I haven’t heard about any magic show.”
“A magic show like the ones the Abracadabra had in the old days,” said Thursday. His voice was full of excitement. “And you haven’t heard about it because it’s a surprise,” he added. “The magicians here are all organizing it.”
“Wow!” said Tyler. “Mom will have to hear about all this. She’ll love it!”
Mr. Thursday smiled. “Uh, you don’t mind if I keep practicing, do you?” he asked.
“What? Oh, no, knock yourself out,” said Tyler. “But it would be better if you used your own stuff, since it’s here. Can you help me take these bowling pins back upstairs?”
“No problem,” said Thursday.
* * *
Later, after Charlie, Tyler, and Mr. Thursday had returned the missing objects to their rightful places, Charlie stood in the lobby next to the front doors. It was still raining outside.
He stared at the tall painting of the former Abracadabra, the hotel’s founder. He was studying the magician’s eyes.
Tyler walked up to him. “Hey, you might want this,” he said. He handed Charlie an umbrella. “People always forget theirs when they leave the hotel, so we have lots of extra ones around.”
“Thanks,” said Charlie.
“No problem,” said Tyler. “Well, so it wasn’t a ghost after all. And Mom won’t deduct my money to pay for the stuff.”
“Great,” said Charlie.
“Well, see you at school,” said Tyler. He started to walk away. But then he stopped and added, “Just don’t talk to me there.”
Charlie nodded and smiled. At school, he was the brain. Tyler was the bully. Everyone had their separate place at school. No one would ever suspect them of working together. But in the magicians’ hotel, it was as if they became new people.
When Tyler had disappeared, Charlie hurried over to the row of elevators. He pushed the button. Just as he had hoped, the car on the far left opened.
“Going up, Master Hitchcock?” asked Brack.
Charlie stepped briskly into the elevator. He watched his reflection in the shiny golden doors as they slid closed.
“This is where you saw the phantom of old Abracadabra, right?” asked Charlie.
“What’s on your mind, young man?” asked the operator.
“Puzzles,” said Charlie.
“More puzzles?” asked Brack.
Charlie nodded. “Someone stole the shower curtains from the other rooms on the ninth floor,” he said.
“So I hear,” said Brack.
“But it wasn’t Mr. Thursday,” Charlie said.
“Why not?” Brack asked.
“Why would he?” Charlie replied. “He only needed a dozen metal rings for practice. Besides, how would he get inside those rooms?”
“I’m not sure,” Brack said.
“Someone who knew how to get the passkey could do it,” Charlie said. “Someone who knew how to palm things.”
“Ah,” Brack said.
“Someone who could hang around the front desk and not be suspected,” Charlie added. He looked up at Brack. “For example, like an old and very trusted employee, maybe?”
“Maybe,” said Brack.
“And why would those other shower curtains be taken?” asked Charlie.
“Hmm,” said Brack.
“Maybe to throw off suspicion from Mr. Thursday,” Charlie said. “Because if his shower curtain was the only one that disappeared, people might investigate him.”
“That could be true,” Brack said.
“And if people investigated,” Charlie said, “they might find Mr. Thursday in the basement, practicing. And that would spoil the surprise of the show.”
“Perhaps,” said Brack. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“Also, how would Thursday know where to practice his juggling?” Charlie went on. “This was his first time in the hotel. Only someone who knew the hotel like the back of his hand could tell him where to find a great rehearsal space.”
“Could be,” said Brack.
“And finally,” said Charlie. “Who’s the mysterious cleaner?”
“Cleaner?” asked Brack. “What do you mean?”
“The old theater,” Charlie said. “The floor of the stage has been recently swept. Maybe mopped. It was shiny. It should have been dull and covered with dust.”
“Why do you think that?” asked Brack.
Charlie shrugged. “Tyler said no one had been in the theater for years,” he said. “So it shouldn’t have been clean.”
“I see,” said Brack.
“If anyone had been in there,” Charlie went on, “Tyler certainly would have heard about it. I mean, he hears about everything.”
Brack smiled. “That’s true,” he said.
“And I even rubbed my hand along the back of one of the seats,” Charlie said. “It was clean too. Someone was getting the theater ready for a show.”
“Incredible,” said Brack.
“And of course, I remembered certain things you said to me when Ty and me got off the elevator,” said Charlie. “You said I had juggled the clues together. Mr. Thursday turned out to be a juggler.”
“Isn’t that interesting,” said Brack.
Charlie nodded. “Then you said you hoped my solution to the ghost mystery would turn tragedy into comedy,” he went on.
“Did I say that?” Brack asked.
“Yes,” Charlie said. “The faces carved into the doors of the theater are the famous faces of Tragedy and Comedy. You can find them in lots of theaters. They’re an old tradition.”
“You know a lot of things, Master Hitchcock,” said Brack.
“I read a lot,” said Charlie. “And it helps that I have —”
“An acute visual memory,” finished Brack.
“That’s right,” Charlie said.
He and Brack smiled at each other.
“You know a lot, too, Mr. Brack,” said Charlie. “Your words to me in the elevator proved it. You knew what was going on all the time.”
“I keep my ears and eyes open,” said Brack.
“Someone is putting on a show,” said Charlie. “Like the shows in the olden days.”
“Is that so?” Brack said, a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes,” Charlie said. “You know all about it. Thursday was invited to be part of it. Mr. Madagascar, up on the thirteenth floor, is planning on his comeback.”
“So I’ve heard,” Brack said.
“I’m guessing Mr. Madagascar is probably going to be in the magic show too,” Charlie went on.
“Perhaps he is,” Brack said.
“And who better to plan a magic show like the old days than a magician from the old days?” Charlie said. “And who better from the old days than the greatest magician of them all?”
“Who indeed,” Brack said.
“Abracadabra,” Charlie said.
Brack smiled. “I think you would make a very good magician yourself, Master Hitchcock,” he said. “How did you solve this mystery?”
“Lots of little things,” said Charlie. “But I really started thinking about it when you told us you saw the ghost here in your elevator. I looked at where you pointed, at the shiny doors. I saw my reflection, and that’s when I started to put the pieces together.”
“Of course,” said Brack. “I am impressed, Master Hitchcock.”
“When you look at your reflection, you see a ghost from the past,” Charlie said gently. “Ab
racadabra.”
“Yes, yes,” Brack said. He smiled.
He looked at his reflection and added, “It’s the eyes. Hair turns gray and falls out, ears grow bigger, wrinkles attack your skin. But a person’s eyes stay the same.”
“Just like the painting,” said Charlie.
“I could never leave the hotel,” said Brack. “It’s my home. And I feel protective of the other magicians here. We don’t have many places left, magicians. Not the ones from the old days, anyway. So I decided on this new disguise, this new identity.”
“And a new name,” Charlie said.
Brack smiled. “Yes,” he said.
“Brack is short for Abracadabra,” said Charlie. “I guessed that, too.”
“You guessed very well,” said the magician. “And you seemed to have solved all the puzzles. Well done. So I guess this is for you.”
Brack pulled a gold card from his uniform pocket and handed it to Charlie. Charlie looked down at it.
“Thank you, Mr. Abracadabra,” said Charlie, holding the golden ticket.
“My pleasure, Master Hitchcock,” said Brack.
The elevator’s bell dinged. The elevator stopped. The doors slid open.
Beyond, Charlie saw the roof of the hotel.
Trees bloomed in concrete planters. Then Charlie saw the stone house with bright windows and towers that stood out against the rainclouds.
“Would you care for a cup of hot cocoa?” asked the magician.
“But who’ll operate the elevators?” asked Charlie.
“It’s all automatic,” said Brack, smiling. “I don’t think anyone will mind if the hotel’s two puzzle masters take a short break.”
Charlie opened his umbrella, and the magician and the boy walked toward the house.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL DAHL grew up reading everything he could find about his hero Harry Houdini, and worked as a magician’s assistant when he was a teenager. Even though he cannot disappear, he is very good at escaping things. Dahl has written the popular Library of Doom series, the Dragonblood books, and the Finnegan Zwake series. He currently lives in the Midwest in a haunted house.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
LISA K. WEBER is an illustrator currently living in Oakland, California. She graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2000 and then began freelancing. Since then, she has completed many print, animation, and design projects, including graphic novelizations of classic literature, character and background designs for children’s cartoons, and textiles for dog clothing.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why did Brack change his identity?
Have you seen a magic show? Talk about some of the tricks you saw.
Would you want to stay at the Abracadabra Hotel? Why or why not?
WRITING PROMPTS
Try writing one of the chapters in this book from Brack’s point of view. How does the story change? What does Brack see, hear, think, and feel?
Create your own magic trick. What is it? How does it work?
If you had to change your identity, who would you become? What would your name be, and what would you do? Write about your new identity!
GLOSSARY
acute (uh-KYOOT) — sharp
bizarre (bi-ZAR) — very strange or odd
circuit (SIR-kit) — a circular route
corridor (KOR-uh-dor) — a hallway
identity (eye-DEN-ti-tee) — your identity is who you are
investigate (in-VESS-tuh-gate) — find out as much as possible about something
orb (OHRB) — a circular object
phantom (FAN-tuhm) — a ghost
reputation (rep-yuh-TAY-shuhn) — your worth or character, as judged by other people
stickler (STIK-lur) — someone who insists on a certain level of quality
suspicion (suh-SPISH-uhn) — a thought or feeling
visual (VIZH-oo-uhl) — to do with seeing
MESSAGE FROM A GHOST
You can freak out your friends with this spooky trick. When your pet ghost sends you a creepy message, they’ll be too scared to move!
You Need:
A shoebox
2 sheets of paper
A marker
Performance:
Write a creepy message like “Boo!” on one sheet of paper. Crumple the message into a ball. Then place it into the shoebox with the blank sheet of paper. Keep the marker and cover of the shoebox in your magic box.
Tell your friends you have a pet ghost and that it likes to leave you messages. Get out the shoebox and take out the blank sheet of paper. At the same time, secretly hide the crumpled ball in your hand as shown.
Show that the paper is blank on both sides, then crumple it into a ball. As you crumple it, secretly switch it with the paper hidden in your hand. Then drop the message into the shoebox. Be sure to keep the blank paper hidden in your hand.
Next, get the marker and shoebox cover out of your magic box. When you reach in, drop the blank paper. Toss the marker into the shoebox and put on the cover. Then shake the box and pretend to wrestle with it as if your pet ghost was moving around inside.
Finally, remove the shoebox cover and take out the paper. Ask someone to open it and read it. Your friends will be amazed at the spooky message that has appeared!
MAGIC TIPS: Before doing this trick, try telling the audience a story about the ghost. Maybe you trapped it by the light of the full moon. Or maybe it’s a friendly ghost that likes to help out with your magic show!
Like this trick? Learn more in the book Amazing Magic Tricks: Expert Level by Norm Barnhart! All images and text © 2009 Capstone Press. Used by permission.
WAIT! DON'T FORGET!
Find More: Games, Puzzles, Heroes, Villains, Authors, Illustrators at www.capstonekids.com
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Hocus Pocus Hotel is published by Stone Arch Books
1710 Roe Crest Dr .
North Mankato, Minnesota 56003
www.capstonepub.com
Copyright © 2013 by Stone Arch Books. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dahl, Michael.
To catch a ghost / by Michael Dahl ; illustrated by Lisa Weber.
p. cm. -- (Hocus pocus hotel)
Summary: Tyler Yu, school bully, is convinced that there is a ghost stealing things at Abracadabra Hotel, and he enlists the help of Charlie Hitchcock to solve the mystery.
ISBN: 978-1-4342-4100-9 (library binding)
ISBN: 978-1-4965-3977-9 (e-book)
1. Magicians--Juvenile fiction. 2. Magic tricks--Juvenile fiction. 3. Hotels--Juvenile fiction. [1. Mystery and detective stories. 2. Magic tricks--Fiction. 3. Hotels, motels, etc.--Fiction.] I. Weber, Lisa K., ill. II. Title.
PZ7.D15134To 2012
813.6--dc23
2012000329
Designer: Kay Fraser
Photo credits: Shutterstock
Abracadabra Hotel illustration: Brann Garvey