“The cat must have been sitting right here on this bookshelf!” he said.
Meanwhile, Violet read the covers in one stack of books piled on the chair near where they were standing.
“Music,” she said. “Books of sheet music?”
“It looks like a music room,” Jessie said. “I think I even see an old keyboard over there!”
“This is a book of compositions by Charles Ivy,” Violet said.
Jessie sorted through the papers on the desk. They had music staffs drawn on them, marked up with music and handwritten notes.
“This says the composer is Charles Ivy too,” Jessie said. “Could this somehow be Charles Ivy’s music room?”
Violet thought of something. “Remember the ghost story Alex told about the Lost Composer?” she asked. “He said whenever the organ played by itself, it would only play music by Charles Ivy.”
“Charles Ivy was mainly an organist,” Henry said.
“The organ downstairs!” Benny exclaimed.
Suddenly, Jessie held a finger up to her mouth.
“Shh!” she said. “Do you hear something?”
They all kept quiet and listened. Sure enough, there was a faint humming noise coming from the far wall of the secret room.
Henry noticed there was a silver door on the wall. It looked like the one they had seen in the kitchen but older.
“It’s the dumbwaiter,” said Henry. “It goes all the way up to the third floor!”
“Do you think whoever we followed up here is using it to escape?” asked Violet.
“Or maybe the ghost just got hungry and ordered some food!” said Benny.
“If there is a person inside, we might be able to make it downstairs in time to see who was up here,” said Jessie.
IF THE ALDENS CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR CLUES IN THE SECRET ROOM, GO TO PAGE 76.
IF THE ALDENS LEAVE TO CHASE THE DUMBWAITER, GO TO PAGE 82.
SEARCHING THE SECRET ROOM
The humming of the dumbwaiter stopped.
“Let’s finish looking through this room,” said Henry. “Then we can go back downstairs.”
Violet carefully paged through some of the sheet music books. The covers were worn, and the pages had a soft, musty smell like the old books in the library.
“Isn’t Eddie’s father named Charles?” Benny asked. He remembered when Juliette had told them about the hotel’s history. “Charles Gardner—the person that owned the hotel before Juliette?”
Jessie found something else. She held up a picture frame with a newspaper clipping. The man in the news photo had the same thick eyebrows as Eddie. He was seated in front of a big pipe organ. The headline on the paper read, “Composer Charles Ivy to Play at Symphony Hall.”
“I think they’re the same,” Jessie said. “I think Eddie’s father was Charles Ivy, the famous composer.”
“To think, he owned this hotel too!” Violet said. “This must be where he went to compose all his music.”
“Check this out!” Benny said. He was standing near a keyboard set up by the window. “It doesn’t look like any piano I’ve ever seen.”
Henry glanced out the window. It was getting dark out. From the third floor, he had a good view of the driveway in front of the hotel, and he could see it filling with cars as guests arrived. Jessie and Violet joined him, and they watched Juliette greet guests on the front steps. Everyone was dressed in suits and gowns.
“There’s Grandfather!” Jessie said.
Grandfather was wearing a suit with a bow tie. He found Juliette to say hello and then headed inside.
“He’s so handsome when he dresses up,” Violet said.
“Too bad he almost never does!” Henry joked, and they laughed.
The crowd of people moved slowly inside, where the grand opening party was about to start. Soon they would all be in the lobby enjoying snacks and the beautiful hotel Juliette had worked so hard to prepare.
“We should keep looking,” Henry said. “It’s getting late. If we don’t find out who’s trying to get hold of these mystery keys, it’s going to be midnight before we know it. I’m sure if we keep trying we’ll be able to solve this puzzle.”
“Right,” said Jessie. “We should check out that jingling noise we heard.”
“Speaking of noises, do you hear that?” Violet asked, tilting her head.
The three of them listened. It sounded like organ music coming from downstairs.
“You guys, this piano is broken,” said Benny. “I’m trying to play the song I know, but no sounds are coming out!”
He was sitting on the old bench, and as he pressed the keys, no noise came out of the keyboard. Instead, the sound was coming out of the organ downstairs in the lobby!
Jessie’s cheeks flushed. “Oh no! Benny, stop playing!” she said.
Benny stopped playing right away, but it was too late. The four Aldens gathered at the window and looked down into the driveway. The hotel guests were rushing out of the lobby. Some of them were shouting in fear. Henry opened the window so they could hear more clearly.
“The organ!” one of the guests cried. “The organ was playing by itself!”
“The hotel is haunted after all!” yelled another. “The Lost Composer!”
Juliette came running out onto the front steps. “I’m sure there’s an explanation!” she called after them. “Please, come back!”
Grandfather tried to help Juliette convince the guests to stay, but everyone was too frightened.
“But the organ isn’t haunted at all,” Jessie said. “It was just Benny playing on a keyboard!”
“I didn’t know!” said Benny.
“None of us did, Benny,” said Jessie. “It must be connected to the organ in the lobby somehow…We’ve got to go down and tell them!”
Henry shook his head. “I think it might be too late,” he said.
They watched the guests get into their cars and drive away. The last people to leave were the four members of the historical committee.
THE END
TO FOLLOW A DIFFERENT PATH, GO TO PAGE 75.
CHASING THE DUMBWAITER
“Let’s see if we can get downstairs to figure out if someone was just here,” said Jessie.
The children hurried out of the secret room, down the secret stairway, and back into Room 222. Jessie, Henry, and Violet were already in the main hallway when they noticed Benny was no longer with them.
“Benny, come on!” Jessie called. “We need to figure out who was just here.”
She went back into Room 222 and found Benny standing next to the open window.
“Do you hear that?” Benny asked. “It sounds like jingling!”
Jessie, Henry, and Violet joined Benny at the window and looked out. In addition to the jingling, they saw a shadow moving quickly through the garden and into the hedge maze.
“Good ears, Benny,” said Henry. “We probably won’t be able to make it downstairs in time to check the dumbwaiter, but I think we just found another lead. If we follow the sound, we might find out who’s trying to scare Juliette’s guests!”
Back through the hall the children went, and down the grand staircase. They were careful not to bump into anyone as they crossed through the lobby and went out the front door. Juliette was outside greeting guests as they arrived, and the driveway was filling with cars as more people arrived. Everyone was dressed in suits and gowns.
“There’s Grandfather!” Jessie said.
Grandfather was wearing a suit with a bow tie. “Why are you four in such a hurry?” he asked.
“We’ve got an important lead on our case,” Violet explained. “We’ll be back soon!”
“Seems you four are always on the case,” Grandfather said with a chuckle. “Stay together and be safe!”
They waved to Grandfather and hurried on their way. Henry and Violet led Jessie and Benny around the side of the building.
“Alex showed us the hedge maze earlier,” Henry explained. “I’m sure whatever we saw
escaping was headed in that direction!”
The small green leaves of the hedges glistened in the lights from the back patio. The sun had gone down. It was getting late.
Benny pointed. “I hear jingling that way!” he said.
“All right, but let’s stick together so we don’t get lost,” Jessie said.
Together, they went into the hedge maze. Henry was just tall enough to see over the top of the hedges, but he couldn’t see anyone else in the maze. The bushes were dense and prickly, and the darker it got the more difficult it was to see the path. They followed Benny, who followed the sound of the jingling.
Suddenly the sound stopped.
“I think whatever it was got away,” Benny said. “If it’s not a ghost, I want to know what it really was.”
“What’s that?” Violet asked. Ahead, the hedges opened into a clearing at the middle of the maze. They walked into the clearing and found an old shed. A shovel and a rake leaned against the shed next to a coiled-up garden hose.
“Must be the gardener’s shed,” said Henry.
“It’s pretty old,” Violet said. “Do you think whatever these keys go to could be inside?”
“Since we’re here, we might as well check inside,” Jessie said. She looked over her shoulder. The hotel’s silhouette was black against the dark blue sky. Warm, gold light shone out from the windows and the lobby.
“But let’s not take too long,” Jessie said. “It’s getting late.”
Henry opened the door to the shed. It wasn’t locked. Inside were more gardening tools. A hedge clipper hung on the wall, and some bags of fertilizer and soil were stacked in the corner. There was also a workshop table and an old metal toolbox full of wrenches and screwdrivers. Although the shed looked old, the supplies were fairly new, like the tools Mrs. McGregor had stored in the gardening shed at Grandfather’s house.
“Hey, what’s this?” Benny asked.
Under a pile of plastic tarps, Benny found a heavy metal chest. Unlike the tools in the shed, the chest was very old. It had rusted bands on the top and was very dusty. There were some fresh marks on the metal bands, like someone had tried to break it open.
“The lock!” Violet exclaimed.
A big padlock dangled from the chest’s latch. It was iron and had an old-fashioned keyhole—a keyhole that was very familiar! Henry took the key from his pocket and handed it to Violet.
“Give it a try,” he said.
Violet put the key in the lock and turned. It was a little sticky, but with some effort she was able to twist it. The lock clunked open.
“It’s like a treasure chest!” said Benny. “I wonder what’s inside!”
Together, Violet and Benny opened the chest. Even though the chest looked old, inside they found a collection of cell phones, keys, and jewelry. There were also a few credit cards and even a leather wallet full of cash.
“What is all this?” Benny asked. “I guess it’s kind of like treasure. That’s a lot of money in that wallet.”
All the items in the chest gave Henry a bad feeling.
“Do you remember the stories Alex told us, about the Lost Composer?” he asked. “He said that sometimes people left their belongings at the hotel. But when they called to ask the hotel manager to check the lost and found, their things were never found.”
“Do you think the Lost Composer from the ghost story is a thief, and this is where they kept all the things they stole?” Jessie asked.
“Or maybe they found the items after the guests left and never brought them to the lost and found,” Henry suggested. “They kept them for themselves.”
“Whoever wants the keys returned to Room 222 needs them to open this chest,” Violet guessed. “They know what’s in the chest, and they’re willing to ruin Juliette’s party to get it!”
“So all we have to do is find out who knows about this chest,” Jessie finished.
Henry nodded. “Let’s lock the chest back up and go tell Juliette.”
Violet used the key to lock the chest and gave the key back to Henry, who put it in his pocket. Benny pulled the tarps over the chest so it looked the way it had when they first found it.
Jessie opened the door to the shed, and they left quietly. It was getting very dark now, and she was eager to get back to the hotel.
There were two exits from the clearing going back into the hedge maze.
“Does anyone remember the way back through the maze?” Henry asked.
“I do,” Violet said, pointing at the left exit. “That way. I’m sure of it!”
Just as they were about to head back through the maze, Benny caught Jessie’s hand. They all paused. Jingling was coming from the other direction!
“Someone saw us go into the shed!” Benny said.
“It’s probably the person who left the message about the keys,” Henry said. “Maybe they led us out here to see if we’d unlock the chest. If we can catch up with them, we’ll know who’s trying to cause all this trouble for Juliette!”
Henry peered over the top of the hedge maze. It was hard to see in the dark, but he thought he saw someone creeping through the hedges.
“I don’t know,” Jessie said. She checked her watch. “It’s getting late, and it’s really dark. What if we get lost in the maze?”
Henry nodded. Jessie had a good point. They had an important decision to make. And they had to make it soon, because the jingling sound was growing quieter. Whoever was making it was getting away!
TO FOLLOW THE JINGLING, GO TO PAGE 91.
TO GO BACK TO THE HOTEL, GO TO PAGE 98.
THE JINGLE
“Let’s get to the bottom of this, once and for all!” Henry said.
The jingling trailed off down the hedge path that went away from the hotel. The Aldens hurried after it. They were sure to stay together so they didn’t get separated in the thick, dark maze. Benny had a good ear. He followed the jingling through the dark, and the others followed him deeper into the labyrinth.
“It sounds like keys!” Benny said.
“If the Lost Composer was really a person who was stealing people’s things and putting them in a secret chest, it would make sense if they had a set of keys!” Jessie agreed.
Benny took a left, then a right, then another left through the hedges. All the hedge paths started to look the same, but Benny’s sharp ear kept them on the trail of the jingling noise. The noise grew louder and louder. They had almost caught up to it!
“This way!” called Benny.
They turned a sharp corner around a prickly hedge and as they did, they saw a small, dark shape scampering away up ahead. They ran after it, taking turn after turn through the maze until finally they reached a dead end. Even Henry was a little out of breath from their dash through the maze.
“Oh—that’s the Lost Composer?” Violet said, out of breath.
Crouched at the end of the hedge path was a big cat with long, black fur. The moonlight reflected in its big yellow eyes.
“It’s just a cat!” Benny said. “The same one we saw in the mirror!”
Violet walked up to the cat carefully so she didn’t scare it. At first the cat seemed nervous, poofing its tail and arching its back.
“It’s okay,” Violet said. “We didn’t mean to scare you. We thought you were a thief!”
The cat’s tail smoothed when it heard the gentleness in Violet’s voice. It walked up to her and meowed. She knelt and held out her hand. The cat came up to her to be pet. As Violet scratched around its neck, its collar jingled. There was a little bell attached.
“To think, all this time we were chasing a cat!” Jessie exclaimed.
“But whose cat is it?” Benny asked. “Juliette said no cats were allowed in the hotel!”
Violet inspected the cat’s collar. In addition to the little bell that was making the noise, it had a name tag. “That cat’s name is Clara,” she said. “It says she belongs to an E. G.”
“Eddie Gardner,” Henry said. “I haven’t forgotten how grumpy h
e seemed about Juliette not allowing cats, and how you saw his duffel bag move. He must have snuck his cat into the hotel even though it was against the rules. Then Benny saw it in the two-way mirror because he was keeping it in the secret room. He must have been planning to use the cat and the other things he knew about the hotel to scare the guests!”
“But why would he do that?” Jessie asked. “The hotel belonged to Eddie’s family. If it became a landmark, it would be honored and remembered, even if it doesn’t belong to the Gardner family anymore.”
“Also, why does he want the keys to the treasure chest?” Benny asked.
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “But right now, all the signs point to Eddie Gardner. We should get back to the hotel and tell Juliette what we’ve learned. It’s almost midnight.”
As the four Alden children turned to head back through the maze, the cat leaped from Violet’s arms. A moment later it disappeared under the hedge, like a shadow in the night. The jingling of its collar faded away.
“I hope it went back to the hotel,” Violet said. The sky had grown so dark it was almost black. “I want to go back to the hotel too.”
“Do you remember the way?” Jessie asked Violet.
“I’m not sure. I remembered the way to the shed, but then we started chasing the cat and I lost track,” Violet said.
“Let’s try to retrace our steps,” Henry suggested. They followed him as he headed down the hedge corridor. “I think it’s a right, here…no, wait, maybe a left?”
They turned left. Then right. Then left again. A few minutes later, they ended up in a dead end.
“Is this the same dead end where we found the cat?” Benny asked.
“I’m not sure…let’s try again,” Jessie said.
Left. Right. Left again. But this time they were in the middle of three pathways.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Henry said. “I’m totally lost!”
Midnight at the Haunted Hotel Page 5