The Radio Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  Frances made her voice high and breathless. She sounded exactly like a scared child.

  Henry nodded. “I get it.” He found one of his own lines and read it. “‘Look! The dog went right through the wall, just like the wall wasn’t there!’” He made his voice sound like he was astonished.

  Jessie read one of her lines, too. She enjoyed acting and was very good.

  “Now let’s hear Benny,” Frances said.

  Benny practiced howling and barking.

  “Good. Practice reading your parts to yourselves for a few minutes and then we’ll do the run-through,” said Frances.

  Then they all headed to the soundstage, where Frances arranged three standing microphones and Gwen set up her box of sound effects props.

  Violet felt fluttering in her stomach, like butterflies. She had stage fright! “What if we make a mistake?” she said nervously.

  “Mistakes happen. Just keep going,” Frances said. “We’re broadcasting live, after all. Keep your place in the script and you’ll be fine.”

  Gwen selected the tapes she needed for that day’s sound effects. She told Benny, “I’ll do some of the sound effects with props, but mostly I’ll use tapes. You can hit the PLAY button on the cassette player when I signal you.”

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet read through the script, complete with sound effects, with only a few mistakes. Then it was airtime.

  Frances counted down the seconds. The red ON AIR sign in the hall flashed on. They were on the radio!

  Violet’s nervousness vanished as soon as she read her first line. Benny was so good in his part, she almost believed there was an invisible dog.

  Henry was surprised at how fast twenty minutes passed. All too soon, Frances was announcing that the show would continue tomorrow. The red ON AIR light went off. They heard the familiar Earl’s Auto Sales jingle playing through the speakers.

  “I can’t believe we just did a radio show!” Violet said as Gwen turned off the microphones. “I hope the listeners liked it.”

  As Violet spoke, the phones in the soundstage and Avery’s control booth lit up. Frances and Avery were busy answering one call after another.

  Avery ran out of the control booth. “Kids love the program!”

  “I wrote a hit show!” Frances crowed.

  “Our actors deserve a lot of the credit,” Avery said. “You were terrific!”

  Frances took the next call. Jessie watched her happy smile turn into an expression of concern. Something was wrong.

  When Frances hung up, she said, “Well, not everyone is thrilled with our show.”

  “Who was that?” Gwen asked.

  “Earl Biggs,” Frances said.

  “The guy whose car commercials come on after the show?” Benny asked.

  Frances nodded. “Exactly. He listened to the show from his office next door,” she said. “He called to complain. He said he doesn’t want to sponsor a kiddie show. Kids don’t buy cars.”

  “He doesn’t know the entire cast walked out yesterday,” Avery said. “I’ll tell him. And I’ll tell him we’re just doing a children’s mystery program this week. And that the listeners loved it. Let’s hope he isn’t mad enough to pull his advertising.”

  “He seems to be looking for excuses to cancel his account,” Frances said, leaving the room to answer another phone.

  “Do you think it’s possible that Earl could be the ghost?” Jessie asked Gwen.

  Gwen looked sharply at her. “What makes you think that?”

  “Everyone is a suspect in a case like this,” Henry told her. “And Earl has a key, right? So he could sneak in and out without much trouble.”

  Gwen scowled. “I guess so.” She turned abruptly from the Aldens and picked up the garbage can. “This place is a mess,” she said. “I should clean.”

  “May we help?” asked Violet.

  Gwen shrugged. “Sure. Gran can’t afford a cleaning crew, so everyone who works here takes turns emptying the trash, mopping, and dusting.”

  “I’ll sweep the floor,” Jessie said.

  “And I’ll empty the trash cans,” Benny offered.

  “Thanks,” said Gwen. “The Dumpster is out the side door.”

  Benny collected the trash in one wastebasket, then opened the door at the end of the hall. Benny didn’t have a key, so he propped the door open with a second wastebasket.

  A large Dumpster stood at the edge of the parking lot. On the other side was Earl’s Auto Sales. The small cinder block building was surrounded by shiny cars.

  As Benny watched, a man in a cowboy hat came out of the building. He walked over to one of the cars and slapped a SOLD sign under the windshield wiper.

  When the man saw Benny, he crossed the parking lot.

  “Don’t believe I know you,” he said in a gravelly voice. “I’m Earl Biggs.”

  “I’m Benny Alden,” Benny replied.

  The man’s fluffy gray eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “You must be one of the kids in the radio show.”

  Benny nodded. “I was the ghost dog! My brother and sisters are in the play, too. It’s fun.”

  “Well, the fun’s over,” Earl said. “You won’t be doing the show anymore. I need to talk to Avery.” He walked into the station through the propped-open door.

  Benny emptied the wastebasket, then hurried back inside the station. He heard a phone ringing. Both Avery and Frances were already tied up on other calls.

  Benny spied an extension in the break-room and picked up the receiver. Before he could say anything, he heard a man saying, “I must have an answer.”

  Benny’s mouth dropped open in surprise. The gravelly voice sounded like Earl Biggs! Was he on another phone in the station?

  Then another person spoke. “I need more time,” she said.

  Benny recognized the other voice, too. It was Jocelyn Hawley. She sounded upset.

  What was Earl Biggs demanding from her?

  CHAPTER 5

  The Face in the Photograph

  Before Benny could hear any more, Frances St. Clair swept into the breakroom.

  “What are you doing?” she said sharply. “The station phones are not toys.”

  Benny quickly hung up the receiver. “It kept ringing, so I answered it.”

  “From now on,” Frances said frostily, “let the grown-ups answer the phones.”

  She fetched a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then left without another word.

  Why is she always so grouchy? Benny wondered.

  Violet stuck her head in the door. “We’re ready to go, Benny. How come you look so funny? Did something happen?”

  Before Benny could reply Frances came back in with Gwen. Gwen tidied the counter while they talked about the next day’s show.

  “Tell you later when we’re alone,” Benny whispered to Violet.

  Gwen walked back to Jocelyn’s house with them. She seemed distant. When they reached Jocelyn’s, Gwen went straight to her bedroom and shut the door.

  Grandfather and Jocelyn were in the office, studying a chart on the computer screen.

  Henry, Jessie, Benny, and Violet settled on the couches in a small study upstairs. They were eager to discuss the mystery.

  “Does anybody have anything to report?” Henry asked. “Suspicious behavior, clues …”

  “Frances St. Clair might be a suspect,” Violet said. “She doesn’t like kids very much.”

  “A lot of people don’t like children,” Jessie pointed out. “That doesn’t make them thieves.”

  “I think Frances is kind of strange, too,” Henry said. “But why would she take the microphones and the records? What’s her motive?”

  “She doesn’t seem to like writing the mystery show,” Violet said. “Remember, she wanted to quit, too, when the cast left yesterday.”

  “I think Frances is just grumpy,” Benny said. “My top suspect is Earl Biggs. And I have a clue!”

  “Earl Biggs?” Jessie said. “We’ve never even seen him!”

 
“I have,” Benny said. Benny told the others about meeting Earl by the Dumpster and the overheard phone call. “The woman was definitely Jocelyn. And I think the man was Earl Biggs!”

  “Wow,” said Henry. “This is major. What kind of answer do you think he needs from her?”

  “Maybe Earl Biggs is trying to get Jocelyn to sell the station,” Violet suggested.

  Jessie nodded. “That would make Earl a strong suspect. And his auto shop is right next door to the station. He could easily sneak in and out during the day.”

  “He wasn’t very nice, either,” Benny said. “And he said we won’t be doing the mystery show anymore! It sounded like a threat.”

  “We’ll watch out for Earl Biggs,” said Henry. “We could have this mystery wrapped up by tomorrow!”

  After breakfast the next morning, Jessie, Violet, Henry, Benny, and Gwen left for the station.

  “I have a feeling the ‘ghost’ will pay us a visit today,” Gwen predicted as they walked down the street.

  Henry patted his backpack. “I brought flashlights, just in case.”

  When they got to the station, Gwen and the Aldens waved hello to Avery, who was busy in the control booth, then went to the breakroom to wait for Frances to arrive with the script.

  Gwen handed them each a paper cup filled with water. “Sipping water will help your voices,” she advised.

  Violet examined the framed photographs in the display case. “Do you know who these people are?” she asked Gwen.

  “The cheerleader is Gran. That football player is my grandfather,” said Gwen. “The other football player is Earl Biggs.”

  “Earl must be sad that Jocelyn married Luther instead of marrying him,” Benny said.

  Gwen shrugged. “That was a long time ago. I don’t think he’d still be sad. Besides, Gran and Earl are good friends. And Earl was friends with my grandfather, too.”

  “Who’s this girl?” Violet asked, pointing to a photograph of a girl with a ponytail, speaking into a microphone. “She’s in all the radio station pictures.”

  “That,” Gwen said, “is Daphne Owens.”

  “Really?” Violet looked at the pretty face more closely. “I wonder what happened to her …”

  Just then, Frances walked briskly into the breakroom. She nodded hello and handed each of them a script.

  “You kids are good readers,” she said. “I’ll let you go over your lines by yourselves. Then we’ll do the run-through.”

  Jessie, Henry, Benny, and Violet headed for the soundstage. As they passed the sound booth, Avery looked up and smiled. An opened box of chocolate doughnuts sat on the counter near his sports water bottle.

  Jessie remembered Avery had a box of doughnuts on the console the day before, too. “Avery sure likes doughnuts,” she said.

  Benny tapped on the glass. He pointed to the doughnuts. That chocolate one sure looked good.

  But Avery, who was talking into the mike, shook his head.

  “He doesn’t want to share,” Benny said, disappointed.

  “Maybe he didn’t know what you wanted,” said Jessie. “Anyway, you just had breakfast.”

  “I think it’s a little strange,” Violet remarked. “Usually Avery is so nice. He can’t eat all those doughnuts himself.”

  “He ate all the doughnuts yesterday,” Jessie said, opening the door to the soundstage. “Maybe those doughnuts are Avery’s breakfast and lunch.”

  Henry pulled up four folding chairs. “I wish we had time to memorize our lines,” he said, “in case the lights go out.”

  “I could! I only have to remember ‘woof’ and ‘arf,’” Benny said, making them all laugh.

  Then Gwen came in. “How’s the script?”

  “Today’s episode is really good,” Jessie said. “Our characters get caught outside in a storm. They see the ghost dog in a graveyard on a hill, and he leads them to shelter and then disappears.”

  “When they go into the graveyard again, they find a tombstone with the dog’s picture on it,” Violet added.

  Gwen looked over her own copy of the script. “Hmmm. I’ll need my thunderstorm tape. I can make the wind sound effects with a fan.”

  After Gwen had assembled her props, the cast did a run-through with Frances.

  “Fine,” she said crisply. “You’re ready to go on the air.”

  The kids began the live show at ten o’clock. Everything was going well until the windstorm scene. Right after Gwen turned on her fan, the lights flickered, then died. Only the red ON AIR light remained on.

  “Don’t stop!” Henry whispered to the others, clicking on his flashlight.

  Violet and Jessie turned on their flashlights, too. Without a pause, they read their parts as if nothing was wrong.

  At least this time there isn’t any horrible screaming, Jessie thought. She aimed her flashlight around the soundstage. She saw the fan on Gwen’s stool, still blowing mightily. But Gwen wasn’t at her station. Before she could beam her flashlight into the shadow-draped corners, the lights came back on.

  Avery, who was just entering his booth, gave them a thumbs-up signal through the soundproof glass. Frances paced in the hallway.

  Then Jessie noticed that Gwen was at her station, changing tapes in front of her microphone. Had she been in the room all along, hidden in the shadows?

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny exchanged eyebrow-raised glances, but they kept going through the last scene in the play. At last the show ended. Avery cued up the Earl’s Auto Sales commercial and came into the soundstage.

  “You kids were terrific,” he praised. “You too, Gwen. It was great how you kept the play going even when the lights went out. You’re just like professionals!”

  “What happened?” Gwen asked breathlessly.

  Jessie stared at her. Why was Gwen short of breath? Had she left the room, then hurried back under cover of darkness? Or had the incident genuinely frightened her?

  “Some of the fuses were pulled,” Avery said. “Whoever is doing this knows our fuse box is by the side door. And he knows exactly which fuses to loosen to make the lights go out.”

  “What do you mean?” Benny asked, confused.

  “The fuse box in the hall controls the electricity in the station,” Avery explained. “One fuse is for the electricity to my equipment. Another fuse controls the lights. Still another controls the microwave and refrigerator in the breakroom. So to make the lights go out, the ghost has to pull the right fuse.”

  “The fan stayed on,” Jessie pointed out, “and so did the red ON AIR light. Those fuses weren’t touched.”

  Avery nodded. “The equipment stayed on, too. The commercial is about over. I’d better start some music.”

  Avery dashed back to the sound booth. Suddenly he cried out. The Aldens, Frances, and Gwen ran into the control booth.

  Avery stood before the counter, holding up several frayed cables.

  “The turntable!” he exclaimed. “It’s gone!”

  “You didn’t see this before?” Henry asked.

  “No!” Avery said. “I punched a button on this side to play the commercial. I didn’t even look over here where the turntable is plugged in.”

  Frances put her hand to her mouth. “Someone stole it! We were both in the back working on the fuse box, but surely we would have heard something.”

  “Not necessarily,” said Violet. “That fan made a lot of noise. And we were still broadcasting.”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Gwen said — a little too quickly, Jessie thought. “I’m going to pack up my sound effects stuff,” she added, and left.

  Avery sighed. “I can use the CD changer for now, but a lot of our best music is on records. Jocelyn will have to buy a new turntable. That won’t make her happy.”

  A gravelly voice spoke from the hall. “What won’t make Jocelyn happy?”

  Henry turned to see a tall man in a black cowboy hat standing in the doorway. He held a key ring loosely in his fingers.

  “Hello, Earl,” said
Frances.

  So that’s Earl Biggs, Henry thought.

  “Nobody answered my question,” Earl said.

  “We had another robbery,” Avery told him. “The turntable was stolen this time.”

  Earl shook his head. “Tough luck. I know that equipment is expensive.”

  Avery seemed annoyed. “Did you come over for a reason, Earl?”

  “Yes,” said the older man. “Is Jocelyn here?”

  “No,” Avery said, sighing.

  “Oh,” said Earl. “Well, I … I, uh, I thought I told you to stop running that kiddie show.”

  “But it’s popular,” Frances said. “Watch, the calls from kids will be coming in any second.”

  “I don’t care,” Earl said. “Kids don’t buy cars. Put on the regular program!”

  “We can’t,” Avery said. “You know the cast from the diner quit. We’re lucky to have the Aldens fill in for them.”

  Benny stared at the key ring in Earl Biggs’s hand. “Is that a key to the side door?”

  “Yup,” Earl replied. “Jocelyn gave me a key. My office is right next door.” Earl attached the key ring to his belt. “I’m a . . . a family friend.”

  “You’re only supposed to use that key in emergencies,” Avery said tightly.

  Earl shrugged. “It hardly seems to matter. Somebody — or something — is coming into this station anytime he or she wants.”

  While Avery, Frances, and Earl argued, the Aldens slipped out the side door Earl had used. Again, Benny propped it open with a wastebasket.

  “Let’s split up and look for clues,” Jessie told the others. “If Earl stole the turntable, he didn’t have much time to stash it.”

  Violet and Benny went around the side of the building. Jessie started peeking under the cars in the parking lot. Henry stood still and looked around him.

  “The Dumpster!” Henry said to himself. “It’s a perfect hiding place!”

  Before he could cross the parking lot, Henry saw a figure dart around the corner of the building. He caught a glimpse of long red hair. “Gwen?” Henry called. The only answer came from a mockingbird perched on the roof.