The Wrong Number

by R. L. Stine

  “Oh, sure,” said Jade bitterly. “They didn’t believe a word we said. And if they didn’t believe us before, what makes you think they’ll believe us now? They’ll probably just think we’re desperate, which we are.”

  “But it was him, Jade!” said Deena. “I’m going to call Detective Frazier first thing in the morning.”

  “Lots of luck,” said Jade. “Especially since the police don’t even believe there was a masked man.”

  “Well, we saw him,” said Deena. “If it was Mr. Farberson, that means he broke into his own house.”

  “And murdered his own wife,” Jade added in a soft voice.

  “Why would he do such a thing?” said Deena.

  “I don’t know,” said Jade. “There must have been a reason.”

  Deena sat thinking for a moment, wondering what reason anyone could possibly have for committing such a terrible crime. “Maybe he and Mrs. Farberson had a big fight,” she said finally.

  “Maybe,” agreed Jade. “And maybe he killed her during the fight. But why would he break into the house? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Wait a minute,” Deena said. “What if that’s the reason he did it?”

  “Huh?” said Jade. “You lost me on that last turn.”

  “What if he broke into the house to make it look as if a burglar did it? What if it was all part of a plan to kill his wife?”

  Jade was silent for a moment. “I see what you mean,” she said. “But why would he want to kill her?”

  “I don’t know,” said Deena. “But I’m sure the police can find out, and then they’ll have to let Chuck go.”

  “I guess so,” Jade said doubtfully.

  “Sure they will. You’ll see. And then we can forget about this whole thing and start living normal lives again.” If the police listen to me, she thought. And somehow she didn’t feel as sure of that as she sounded.

  “Now let me get this straight,” Detective Frazier said slowly. It was early the next morning, and Deena had intended to leave the detective a message, but he answered his own phone. From the skeptical tone in his voice she almost wished he hadn’t. “You and your friend both contend that the masked man you claim to have seen at the Farbersons’ place was actually Mr. Farberson?” Frazier went on.

  “We’re positive,” said Deena. “When we saw him on TV last night we both knew—instantly—from his voice. It couldn’t be anyone else.”

  “His voice,” Frazier repeated dryly.

  “And since it was him,” Deena went on, ignoring the detective’s lack of response, “that means he did it—broke into the house and killed his own wife.”

  “Does your voice analysis tell you why Mr. Farberson allegedly committed these crimes?” asked Frazier.

  “I don’t know. Maybe his wife had a big insurance policy,” said Deena. “Or maybe they just had a fight. I’m sure you can find out.”

  “You are, are you?” said the detective. He was silent a moment, then he sighed. “That’s an interesting story you’ve dreamed up,” he said. “But that’s all it is—a story. For your information, Mr. Farberson is a respected businessman in this town. I understand your desire to divert suspicion from your brother, but we’re not buying any tall tales today.”

  Deena hung up the phone, feeling sick. Jade had been right—the police wouldn’t listen to them. That meant it was up to her and Jade to prove that Mr. Farberson was the masked man. But how?

  She yawned and finished getting ready for school before calling Jade. “What are we going to do?” she asked with a sigh when she had finished telling her friend what the detective had said.

  “I’m not sure,” said Jade. “Meet me at my locker before lunch. I think I’m getting an idea.”

  Just before lunch Deena found Jade bent over her locker stuffing two huge boxes into the tiny space.

  “Hi,” Jade said, looking up. “We definitely ought to campaign for bigger lockers.”

  “What in the world have you got in there?” said Deena.

  “Props,” said Jade.

  “Props?”

  Jade managed to get the locker door shut and clicked her lock on it, then looked at Deena with her familiar mischievous smile. Jade, Deena thought, was definitely up to something. But what?

  Jade went right on, sounding excited and pleased. “Right after we talked this morning I reread the piece in the Shadyside Press,” she said.

  “I never want to see that again!” said Deena. “It’s the worst newspaper article I’ve ever read.”

  “It’s full of information about Mr. and Mrs. Farberson, though,” said Jade. “For instance, it says that he owns and operates the Alberga Three.”

  “So?” said Deena.

  “So,” said Jade, “what better place to find out more about Mr. Farberson than the place where he works?”

  “You mean go into the Alberga and talk to him?” said Deena. “Are you crazy?”

  “Some people think so,” said Jade. “But this idea is smart. Look, Deena, he’s the owner and manager. The article said he came home early Saturday night. That means he’s probably not there during the day.”

  “I’m beginning to catch on,” said Deena.

  “Right,” said Jade. “We’ll drive over there right after school gets out. My dad’s out of town, so I have the ’vette. We’ll just poke around. See if we can find out anything.”

  “I don’t know,” said Deena. “It still sounds kind of dangerous. What if he comes in early? Don’t forget he knows who we are.”

  “True,” said Jade. “But he thinks I’m a redhead with long hair, and you’re a blond with a layered cut.”

  “We are,” said Deena, beginning to feel exasperated.

  “But we won’t be this afternoon,” said Jade. She gestured toward her closed locker. “I stopped by my mother’s beauty shop this morning before school and borrowed a couple of wigs. I told her we needed them for a Drama Club production.” She smiled impishly. “Believe me, Deena, even our own parents won’t know us—let alone Farberson!”

  Deena met Jade in the Drama Club room after school. She had left a message for her parents that she had to go to the library.

  Squinting into the brightly lit makeup mirror, the girls put on the wigs and extra makeup. When they had finished Deena thought they both looked great. Jade was now a blond with a bubble cut and green eyeshadow, while Deena had curly auburn hair in a frizz. Jade dotted a beauty mark on Deena’s cheek with an eyebrow pencil.

  “We both look at least eighteen now,” said Jade. “Come on, this will be a snap.”

  The Alberga III was a few miles away, in the Old Village. Jade had never been in it but knew her parents ate there sometimes.

  Despite the disguises, Deena felt a nervous knot begin to grow in her stomach as Jade pulled her red Corvette into a parking place right in front of the Alberga.

  “I don’t know, Jade,” she said. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. . . .”

  “Listen,” said Jade. “We have no choice. No one will believe us. We’ve got to get Chuck out of this mess. Now just follow my lead.”

  The Alberga III wasn’t open for lunch, so the dining room was nearly empty. It was dark and cool looking, with big booths and banquettes covered in a dark, velvety cloth. On one wall was a large mural of Italy, and candles burned in glass holders at each table.

  “Let’s just order a pepperoni pizza to go,” Deena cracked to break the tension.

  “Get real,” said Jade. “Now remember—keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking.”

  After a moment a tall, dark-haired woman came over to greet them. She was dressed in a white silk blouse and calf-length green skirt; she was as elegant as the restaurant.

  “May I help you?” she said.

  “We’re here to apply for jobs,” said Jade.

  The woman looked at the girls, not hiding her surprise. “Did the agency send you?” she said.

  “That’s right,” said Jade.

  “But there’s only
one opening,” the woman objected. “Mr. Farberson can’t use more than one assistant.”

  “I’m the one applying,” said Jade. “My friend just came along to keep me company.”

  “I thought you said—oh, never mind,” said the tall woman. “You look a little young, but we’re fairly desperate since Miss Morrison quit last week. You do take dictation and do bookkeeping?”

  “Absolutely,” said Jade.

  “Then come with me,” said the woman. “You can fill out the forms in the office.”

  Jade turned and winked at Deena, then both girls followed the tall woman through the restaurant kitchen into a small corridor. The woman knocked on a closed door, then called, “Mr. Farberson?”

  “I thought he worked at night!” said Jade in a panicked-sounding voice.

  “He has to get an early start,” said the woman. “In fact, that’s one reason we need an assistant at night.” She knocked again.

  Deena and Jade exchanged a quick glance. Deena got ready to turn and run in the opposite direction, but before she could do anything the door opened.

  There stood the man with the broken nose. The man identified on television as Mr. Farberson. The man that both Deena and Jade knew was the masked man.

  “Yeah?” he said in his low voice.

  “One of these young women is here to apply for Linda’s job,” said the woman. “The agency sent her.”

  “Oh, yeah?” said Farberson. He looked at Jade, hard, then turned and looked at Deena. Deena felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

  Farberson took his time looking both girls up and down. Then he spoke again. “How old are you girls?” he said.

  “I’m nineteen,” said Jade. “I have a business certificate from the Commercial School.”

  “Oh, yeah?” said Farberson. Deena was beginning to find his limited vocabulary annoying. “Well, you might as well fill out an application,” he said.

  Deena began breathing again.

  “Just have a seat,” Farberson said, indicating two battered folding chairs. He thrust an application form at Jade. “Fill this out,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He turned to the tall woman. “Come on, Katie,” he said. “Let’s check the wine inventory before Ernie gets here.”

  Mr. Farberson and the tall woman left the office, shutting the door. Deena and Jade glanced at each other.

  “I don’t believe it,” Deena said.

  “Believe it,” said Jade. “Now, quick—we don’t have much time!” Quickly she scurried behind Mr. Farberson’s large, littered wooden desk.

  Deena followed her. “What are we looking for?” she said.

  “I don’t know,” said Jade. “Anything. Especially anything that tells us more about Mr. Farberson.”

  “What a mess!” Deena said, looking at the clutter of papers. Almost at random she picked one up. “Here’s a work schedule,” she said.

  Jade turned to look at it. “According to this, Mr. Farberson only works every other Saturday night,” she said. “That means he was off last Saturday!”

  “That’s interesting, but it doesn’t really prove anything,” said Deena. “Jade, this is hopeless. What do you think we—”

  “Shh!” said Jade. “Just keep looking!”

  Both girls continued picking up papers, glancing at them, and then putting them down as neatly as possible, so Farberson wouldn’t be able to tell they had gone through the desk. Nothing either one of them found seemed to have anything to do with Mr. Farberson or his wife. Deena glanced at her watch. They’d been there for almost ten minutes. Jade frowned, then started to open the drawers one by one.

  “Hurry,” said Deena. “He might come back any minute.”

  “I know,” said Jade. “But I just want to find—Wait a minute. I have an idea.”

  “I hope it’s a fast one,” said Deena.

  “Whenever my mother wants to hide something—like the extra car keys—she tapes them to the underside of a drawer. . . .” She began pulling the drawers out again and feeling along the undersides with her fingers.

  “Hurry!” whispered Deena, wondering how old you had to be to have a heart attack.

  Jade had searched the undersides of all but one drawer.

  Deena heard a sound in the hall, then the muffled voice of Mr. Farberson calling something to someone named Ernie.

  “Jade—”

  “Aha!” said Jade. She had her hand under the drawer. “Wait a minute. I think I’ve found something!” Her expression changed quickly from triumph to defeat. “Just a wad of chewing gum.”

  Shaking her head sadly, she started to close the desk drawer when a sealed envelope caught her eye. It was from the Shadyside Travel Agency. She picked it up to examine it when the office door started to open.

  Jade shoved the envelope into a pocket and scurried across the stained carpet to her chair just as Mr. Farberson entered the room. Deena forced herself to look at his face. And felt cold all over.

  “All right, girls,” Farberson growled, his face frozen in a mask of anger. “Let’s stop playing games. I knew the truth as soon as I saw you!”

  chapter

  15

  “Did you hear me?” Mr. Farberson repeated. “I said I know the truth.”

  Jade recovered her voice first. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

  “Don’t hand me that,” Farberson growled. Deena thought he had the meanest face she had ever seen. She tried not to think about what he would do next—now that he knew who she and Jade really were.

  To her surprise, he just walked behind his desk and sat down. He still looked angry, but not dangerous. In fact, he let out a big sigh. “Come on, girls,” he said. “I know you’re not from the agency. I doubt if you’re really eighteen. What’s your game?”

  Deena had never felt so relieved in her life. She tried to keep her face from changing but sneaked a peek at Jade.

  Jade could be a great actress, Deena thought. She was staring right back at Mr. Farberson, her eyebrows raised haughtily. “What makes you think I’m not from the agency?” she said.

  “I wasn’t born yesterday,” said Mr. Farberson. “Neither was Katie, the hostess. She thought something was a little funny about you gals, so we called the agency. They haven’t sent anyone today.”

  “All right,” said Jade, “I’ll tell you the truth.” She made it sound as if she was doing him a big favor. “The fact is I heard about this job from my cousin. She’s a friend of your last assistant, Linda Morrison. My cousin told me Linda wasn’t working here anymore, and I need a job. I didn’t know you were hiring through an agency till I got here.”

  Farberson continued to look at her, an almost admiring look on his face now.

  “I got to admit you have spunk,” he said. “I’m halfway tempted to try you out.”

  “Thank you very much,” said Jade, “but I wouldn’t want the job now. I could never be happy working for someone who is so suspicious.”

  “Hey, listen,” said Mr. Farberson, “I’ve got to take care of myself, you know? You’d be surprised how many people try to take advantage.”

  “I’m sure I would,” said Jade, her voice like ice. “Come on, Sally,” she said to Deena. “Let’s go find someplace a little more congenial.”

  With that she stood up, grabbed the application she had started to fill out, and headed for the door. Deena, her legs a little weak, followed her out the door, down the corridor, through the restaurant, and into the car. Neither girl said a word until they were a block away from Alberga III, and then Deena let out a whoop.

  “Jade, you were fantastic!” she shrieked.

  “I can’t believe it!” Jade had finally let herself start to laugh. “When he said he knew the truth, I thought he meant—”

  “I know,” said Deena. “Me, too. I was scared to death. But you were cool as a cucumber.”

  “Are you kidding?” said Jade. “I thought my heart had stopped beating! But I knew I had to keep talking.”

/>   “How did you know his former assistant’s name?” Deena asked.

  “The hostess told us,” said Jade. “First she called her Miss Morrison, and then Linda.”

  “Wow,” said Deena. “I was so scared I wasn’t even listening. I think you deserve an Academy Award.” She laughed again. “ ‘I could never work for someone who’s so suspicious,’ ” she said, mimicking Jade. “That was great! And the way you calmly kept going through his desk drawers.”

  “Which reminds me,” said Jade, slamming on the brakes and stopping in front of the 7-Eleven. She reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope she had taken. Jade carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of folded paper.

  “What is it?” said Deena.

  Jade scanned the paper. “It’s a plane reservation,” she said.

  “A plane reservation?” said Deena.

  “Get this,” Jade went on. “It’s to Buenos Aires, Argentina. One way.”

  “Wow,” said Deena. “It looks as if Mr. Farberson is about to take a trip.”

  “And he’s not planning to come back,” Jade added. “The ticket’s for Saturday morning.”

  “Saturday!” exclaimed Deena. “This is Tuesday already. Jade, we’ve got to take this to the police.”

  “No, wait.” Jade stared at the paper in disbelief. “The ticket reservation is for two people. Not one.”

  “Huh?” Deena grabbed the paper away from her and read it. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. I guess it means he was planning to take his wife.”

  “On a one-way trip to Argentina?”

  “Maybe they were planning to take a ship back or something,” Jade said. She put a hand on Deena’s shoulder. “Sorry, kiddo. This paper I stole is useless. It doesn’t prove anything. We struck out. If we show this to the police, they’ll laugh us out of the station.”

  “We’ve got to let the police know that Farberson is leaving the country in three days,” Deena insisted.

  “How are we going to explain how we know that?” Jade asked. “He’s a respectable businessman, remember? And we’re two lying teenagers who just ransacked his office.”