The Ghostly Mystery

by David A. Adler

  “Why do you think he’s a thief?” Eric asked.

  “Because he was wearing a disguise, too,” Cam said. “That’s why.”

  Cam took out the glasses.

  “Someone who wears glasses doesn’t forget them,” Cam said. “But he forgot these. Look through them. They’re just plain glass. They were part of his disguise.”

  “And the wig,” Eric said. “Maybe that was part of his disguise, too.”

  Cam told Eric, “Look for someone wearing a bright yellow shirt.”

  “There he is,” Eric said and pointed.

  Cam started to run down the steps.

  “Wait!” Eric yelled as he ran after Cam. “Wait for me!”

  Cam stopped on the landing in the middle of the staircase. She held out her arm. Eric stopped, too.

  “He’s just standing there. He’s looking for something,” Cam said.

  Eric leaned very close to Cam and whispered. “He may be dangerous. Shouldn’t we tell Aunt Molly where we are?” Eric asked.

  “Shh!” Cam said. “Look.”

  The old man went into a large coffee shop at the other end of the station.

  “There must be bathrooms in there,” Cam whispered. “He’ll go in and take off his costume. Then we won’t be able to identify him. Maybe the ghost is already in there.”

  Cam and Eric followed the old man into the coffee shop. They saw him enter a narrow hall on the other side of the shop. Above the hall was a restrooms sign.

  Cam and Eric sat at a table.

  “I’ll wait here,” Cam whispered. “When I see him leave the bathroom I’ll know what he really looks like. You go get the police.”

  “Can I help you?” someone asked.

  Cam looked up. A waiter was standing by the table.

  “I’m not hungry,” Cam told him.

  “This is a restaurant, not a waiting room,” the waiter said. He gave Cam and Eric menus. “I’ll be back to take your orders.”

  Eric put his menu on the table and left the shop. Cam watched the hall leading to the bathroom.

  The waiter returned to the table. “What would you like?” he asked.

  “I’m waiting for someone,” Cam said.

  Just then Eric returned. The two police officers were with him.

  “Over here,” Cam called, and waved to them. “He went into the bathroom. He’s taking off his costume. If you follow him, I’m sure he’ll lead you to the ghost.”

  The police walked to the bathrooms. Cam and Eric followed them.

  The police went into the men’s room first. When they came out of the men’s room one of the officers was carrying a white wig and a yellow shirt.

  The officers knocked on the door of the women’s room. When no one answered, they went in there, too.

  Cam whispered to Eric, “Why are they going in there?”

  The police came out of the women’s room. One of the officers was holding the mask and white sheet the ghost had worn.

  The officers looked around. Then they pointed to an emergency exit at the other end of the narrow hallway.

  “That’s where they went,” one of them said. And the two officers left through the emergency exit.

  Chapter Six

  “They took off their costumes. How will the police find them?” Eric asked.

  Cam’s eyes were closed. She said, “Click.”

  Cam said, “Click, ” again.

  “What are you looking at?” Eric asked.

  “Click. Click.

  “Do you have a pencil or pen? Do you have paper?” Cam asked with her eyes closed.

  “I have a pen,” Eric said. “I’ll get paper.”

  Eric started to walk off. He quickly came back.

  “Don’t open your eyes,” Eric said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Eric went into the bathroom. He came out with a paper towel.

  “The ghost is a woman,” Cam said with her eyes closed. “We know that because the police found her costume in the women’s bathroom. Now I’m looking at the pictures I have of her in my head.

  “Write this down,” she told Eric.

  “She’s not too tall and not too short. She’s wearing white sneakers. She has long, thin fingers.”

  Eric wrote Cam’s description on the paper towel.

  “That’s it?” Eric asked.

  “I can tell you more about the man,” Cam said. “He has brown hair, brown eyes, and bushy eyebrows. He has a small nose. And he’s wearing black pants with cuffs.”

  Cam opened her eyes. She walked toward the emergency exit.

  “Now we’ll find them,” she said.

  “No, we won’t,” Eric told her. “We’ll give your descriptions to the police. They’ll find the thieves.”

  Cam and Eric walked through the exit.

  “Oh, my! Thank goodness I found you.”

  It was Aunt Molly. She hugged Cam and Eric.

  “I was standing in line,” Aunt Molly said, “and I asked myself, ‘Did I come here alone?’

  “‘No,’ I answered myself.

  “Then I remembered that you like to solve mysteries. I thought that maybe you followed the ghost into the train station. Thank goodness I found you.”

  Cam wasn’t listening to her aunt. Cam was looking at the people in the train station. She was searching for the thieves.

  “Look,” Cam said. “There’s a woman wearing white sneakers. And the man with her has brown hair. He’s wearing black pants with cuffs.”

  Cam ran to the couple.

  “Stop! Stop!” Aunt Molly shouted.

  Some people in the station stopped. But Cam didn’t. She kept running until she was standing near the couple.

  Cam looked at them. They looked at her. Then Cam walked back to Eric and Aunt Molly.

  “They weren’t the thieves,” Cam said. “The man didn’t have bushy eyebrows.”

  “We didn’t come here to catch thieves,” Aunt Molly told them. “We came to buy concert tickets.”

  Aunt Molly pointed to the stairs and said, “Let’s go uptown.”

  Aunt Molly shook her head. “Oh, my. I said that wrong. I meant to say let’s go upstairs.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly walked toward the staircase. Cam kept looking for the thieves.

  “There they are,” Eric said. He pointed to the two police officers. “I’m giving them this paper towel.”

  “Why are you giving them a towel?” Aunt Molly asked. “Are their hands wet?”

  Eric told Aunt Molly that on the towel were descriptions of the thieves. Then he showed it to the police officers.

  “Thank you,” one of the officers said. “But I don’t think this will be much help. We can’t stop every woman we see wearing white sneakers.”

  Aunt Molly looked down and said, “I’m wearing white sneakers and I’m not a thief. I work for an airline.”

  “And I have brown hair and bushy eyebrows,” the officer told Aunt Molly.

  The other officer put the paper towel in his pocket. “My name is Officer Kent,” he said. “My partner is Officer Feldman. Please call us if you remember anything else that might be helpful.”

  He wrote his name and the telephone number of the police station on his notepad. He gave the paper to Eric.

  Cam’s eyes were closed.

  She said, “Click.”

  “Let’s go,” Aunt Molly said. “Let’s get back in line.”

  Cam’s eyes were still closed. Eric held her hand and led her to the staircase.

  Eric whispered to Cam, “Take a step.”

  Cam stepped up. Then she said, “Click,” again.

  “Take another step.”

  Cam took another step.

  Cam said, “Click,” a few more times as Eric led her up the stairs.

  “Now we have to find the man in the cloth business, the one wearing the suit,” Aunt Molly said. “I asked him to save my place in line.”

  “That’s it!” Cam said. She opened her eyes. “I know how to catch those thieves.�
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  Chapter Seven

  Cam told Eric, “I clicked and looked at the old man. When he first came out from the station he was holding papers and magazines.”

  “That may have been part of the plan,” Eric said. “Those papers and magazines fell. Then it really seemed like the man was having a heart attack.”

  Cam said, “Many magazines are not sold at newsstands. They have a name and address on the cover. They are mailed to people at their homes.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly were out of the train station. They were walking toward the line when the man in the suit saw them.

  “There you are,” he said. “I tried to save your place in line. But the line kept moving. Then it was my turn to buy tickets. I couldn’t hold your place any longer.”

  Aunt Molly turned. She looked at the long line of people still waiting to buy tickets.

  Cam whispered to Eric, “I have to find those magazines.”

  “Do we have to go to the end of the line?” Aunt Molly asked.

  “Yes,” the man said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Aunt Molly took Cam’s and Eric’s hands.

  “You have to stay with me. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  Aunt Molly held on to Cam’s and Eric’s hands. She led them to the end of the line. As they walked, Cam looked for the magazines.

  “Ah!”

  Someone in line screamed.

  “Ah! Ah!”

  Other people screamed.

  “I hope it’s not another ghost,” Aunt Molly said.

  It wasn’t. Triceratops Pops, the singing group, was walking toward the concert hall. And they were wearing their dinosaur costumes.

  They waved. They stopped and spoke to some of the people waiting in line. Some fans held out papers, and the Triceratops Pops singers signed them.

  Fans ran from the line. They held out more papers and CDs to be signed. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered.

  “Smile,” someone shouted. “I’m taking your picture.”

  “Sing something,” another fan called out.

  “We have to go now,” one of the singers said. “We have to rehearse. But we hope to see you all at the concert.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly watched the T-Pops singers walk into the concert hall. The fans returned to their places in line.

  Then Cam and Eric saw Officer Kent and Officer Feldman come out of the train station. The officers went to the ticket booth.

  “I have to find something,” Cam said to Aunt Molly.

  “I don’t want to lose you again,” Aunt Molly told Cam.

  “I lost a shoe in Tel Aviv,” Aunt Molly said. “It was hard to walk with only one shoe. I don’t like to lose things.”

  “I’m not a shoe,” Cam said. “I just have to look for something. I’ll be right back. I promise.

  “Me, too,” Eric said.

  Cam and Eric went to where the old man had fallen. Eric found a sheet of lined paper. There was some writing on it. He gave it to Cam.

  Cam looked at the paper.

  “‘Milk. Coffee. Orange juice. Toilet paper.’ This is a shopping list.” She put the paper in her pocket. “I’m keeping it as evidence.”

  Then Eric found two copies of Picture News magazine. He showed them to Cam.

  Cam said, “Click,” and looked at a picture she had in her head.

  “These are the ones the man dropped,” Cam said, as she opened her eyes. “And look here.” Cam pointed to a small white rectangle in the corner of one magazine. “Here’s his name and address.”

  “Let me see that,” Eric said.

  Cam gave him the magazines. On the cover of each magazine was a label with the name “Mr. Peter Dowe,” followed by an address.

  “We just have to go to this address,” Cam said, and pointed to the labels. “That’s where we’ll find the old man and the ghost.”

  Chapter Eight

  We’re not going to a thief’s house,” Eric said. ”That ghost has a gun! We’re going to the police.”

  Cam and Eric went to the ticket booth. The police officers were there. They were talking with Sally. They asked her if she remembered anything else that might help them catch the thieves.

  Officer Kent was very tall. Cam tugged on his sleeve and said, “I can help. This is the thief.”

  Cam gave Officer Kent one of the Picture News magazines.

  Officer Kent and Officer Feldman looked at the magazine. A picture of the president of the United States was on the cover.

  “You think the president dressed up as a ghost and stole the money!” Officer Kent said. “That’s silly!”

  Officer Feldman told Cam, “I saw him on the news this morning. He’s in Washington.”

  “Not him,” Cam said. She pointed to the white rectangle. “Him!”

  Eric told the police officers about Cam’s amazing memory. Then he told them about the old man, the shopping lists, and the magazines.

  “Maybe these magazines were stolen,” Officer Kent said.

  Officer Feldman said, “And maybe they weren’t. Maybe this thief left us his name and address. Let’s find out.”

  Cam tugged on Officer Kent’s sleeve again.

  “Can we go along?” Cam asked.

  Officer Kent looked at Officer Feldman.

  “Maybe she can help us identify the thieves,” Officer Feldman said.

  Eric said, “Cam has an amazing memory. She’s good at identifying people.”

  Cam and Eric walked with the police officers to their car. Officer Feldman opened the back door. Cam and Eric got in.

  Officer Kent spoke into the car telephone. He told someone at the station where they were going. He asked that other police cars meet them there. Then he turned on the flashing lights.

  Bam! Bam! Bam!

  It was Aunt Molly. She was knocking on the windshield.

  “Let them out! Let them out!” she yelled. “They’re just innocent children!”

  Cam said, “She’s my aunt Molly.”

  Officer Kent opened the back door. “Get in,” he told Aunt Molly.

  “I’m innocent, too,” Aunt Molly said. “I work for an airline.”

  Eric explained to Aunt Molly why they were riding with the police. Aunt Molly smiled and got in.

  “I travel a lot,” Aunt Molly said. “But this is the first time I’ll be traveling in a police car.”

  Officer Feldman turned and said, “Put on your seat belts.”

  Officer Kent drove quickly. He went through red lights. People in other cars moved aside to let them pass.

  As they sped through traffic, Cam and Eric smiled and waved to people they passed.

  Officer Kent stopped the car in front of Peter Dowe’s house. Police officers in three other police cars were already there.

  “You wait here,” Officer Feldman told Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly. “These thieves might be dangerous.”

  Chapter Nine

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly watched the police surround the house. Officer Feldman knocked on the front door. Officer Kent and two other police officers were with him.

  They waited.

  Officer Feldman knocked again.

  A man opened the door. Cam looked at him. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click.”

  The four police officers went into the house.

  Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click” again.

  “That’s him,” Cam said. Her eyes were still closed. “He’s the man I ran up to in the train station. He had bushy eyebrows when he pretended to have a heart attack, but not when I saw him later. Those eyebrows must have been part of the disguise.”

  Cam opened her eyes. She watched the police officers lead the man and woman out of the house. They led the couple to one of the other police cars.

  Officers Kent and Feldman came back to their car.

  “They confessed,” Officer Feldman told Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly. “They returned the money.”

  Officer Kent smiled. “Peter Dowe and his wife were surp
rised when we knocked on their door. ‘How did you find us?’ they asked. I told them we had the help of a smart young girl with an amazing memory.”

  “I helped, too,” Eric said.

  “Yes, you did,” Officer Kent said.

  Officer Kent drove Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly back to the concert hall. The line outside the ticket booth was gone. In the window was a sign that said SOLD OUT.

  “Oh, my,” Aunt Molly said. “We won’t get tickets to the Triceratops Pops concert.”

  “Oh, yes, you will,” Officer Feldman said.

  Officer Feldman knocked on the door to the concert hall. When the door was opened, he led Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly inside.

  The Triceratops Pops singers were on stage. They were rehearsing. Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly sat in the front row and listened.

  Officers Kent and Feldman spoke with Sally. Then she walked onto the stage. The music stopped. Sally spoke with Big Pop, the leader of the singing group.

  Big Pop took a large envelope from his music stand. He came over to Cam and Eric. He took three autographed pictures of the band from the envelope. Then he took out three concert tickets.

  “We save these for our friends,” Big Pop said. He gave the pictures and tickets to Cam. “Thank you for catching the thieves.”

  “I helped,” Eric told Big Pop.

  The other band members and Sally all came off the stage to meet Cam, Eric, Aunt Molly, and the two police officers. Cam looked at everyone.

  “I want to remember this for a long time,” she said.

  Then Cam blinked her eyes and said, “Click!”