The Haunted Hotel (3 page)

“How are we gonna get rid of a ghost?” Josh asked in the elevator. “Even if I
did
believe in it.”

“I don’t know yet,” Dink answered. “But we can’t let those real estate guys tear down the Shangri-la!”

The elevator door slid open. Mr. Linkletter was standing behind his desk, just staring into space.

“Let’s go to my house,” Dink whispered. “We can make a plan while we eat.”

“Yes!” Josh said. “Those cookies weren’t big enough to fill up a flea!”

Dink laughed. “Not everyone has a stomach like the Grand Canyon, Josh!”

They headed up Main Street, then followed Silver Circle around the school to Dink’s house.

Dink got out the peanut butter and bread. Josh found a bag of pretzels. Ruth Rose poured milk for everyone.

“Make my sandwich extra fat,” Josh ordered. “I’m fainting from hunger!”

Dink pushed the peanut butter and bread toward Josh. “I’m not your servant, your royal highness!”

Josh grinned and began building his sandwich.

“Okay” Dink said, sitting at the table. “How do you get rid of a ghost?”

“First you have to prove that there is one,” Josh said, taking a big bite of his sandwich.

“You still don’t believe there’s a ghost at the hotel?” Ruth Rose asked.

Josh swallowed and shook his head. “Nope.”

He lined up four pretzels on the table. “We talked to Livvy, but she hadn’t seen the ghost,” Josh said. He picked up a pretzel and ate it.

“Then we asked Mr. Linkletter if he’d seen the ghost, but he said he hadn’t.” Josh ate another pretzel.

He picked up the last two pretzels. “Mr. and Mrs. Spivets didn’t see the ghost either, they just heard noises!”

Josh popped the pretzels into his mouth. “Guys,” he said as he chewed,
“nobody we talked to saw the ghost. So maybe there
is
no ghost!”

Dink and Ruth Rose stared at Josh.

“He’s right,” Ruth Rose said after a minute. “Everyone we talked to said someone
else
had seen the ghost.”

“So what should we do?” Dink asked.

“We have to see the ghost for ourselves,” Ruth Rose said.

Dink blinked. “But how do we do that?” he asked.

Josh licked peanut butter from his fingers. “Well, we could start by finding someone who really did see the ghost.”

“But everyone who saw it checked out of the hotel,” Ruth Rose said.

Dink swallowed the last of his sandwich. “We have to talk to those people,” he said. “Maybe Mr. Linkletter will help us.”

“Good idea,” Ruth Rose said. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

“No dessert?” Josh asked.

“Wipe off your milk mustache and come on!” Dink said.

The kids hurried back to the hotel. Mr. Linkletter looked up as the kids came in. “I hear you had a chat with my aunt and uncle,” he said.

“They hired us to get rid of the ghost!” Dink informed him.

The corners of Mr. Linkletter’s mouth wiggled. It was almost a smile. “And do you have a plan?”

“Sort of,” Ruth Rose said. “But we need the names and phone numbers of the guests who saw the ghost.”

Mr. Linkletter shook his head. “Sorry. Our guests, even the ones who leave, pay for privacy.”

“Well, are there any guests left at all?” she asked.

Mr. Linkletter pointed to a man and woman reading in a corner of the lobby.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers haven’t checked out. But I don’t know if they saw the ghost.”

“Let’s go ask them!” Dink said. He headed across the lobby.

The man was wearing jeans, hiking boots, and a white sweater.

The woman had black hair and wore a dark blue sweater and faded jeans.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers,” Dink said. “My name is Dink. These are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose. We’re investigating the ghost. Did you see it?”

“Why do you want to know?” the man asked.

“Because the hotel owners have hired us to get rid of it!” Ruth Rose said.

“If there really
is
a ghost,” Josh muttered.

“There is!” Mrs. Jeffers said. “It scared me half to death!”

“So you saw it?” Dink asked.

“We both did,” Mr. Jeffers said, setting down his book. “Last night we played cards down here until about midnight. When we went up to our room, this
thing
appeared out of nowhere!”

Mrs. Jeffers shuddered. “The hallway seemed to grow cold!” she said.

“What did it look like?” Ruth Rose asked.

Mr. Jeffers closed his eyes. “The ghost kind of shimmered as she walked. She had wild-looking white hair and a long glowing robe.”

“And black holes instead of eyes!” Mrs. Jeffers added.

“You said ‘she.’” Ruth Rose said. “Was it a girl ghost?”

Mr. Jeffers looked at Ruth Rose. “Um, well, I guess so. At least the robe looked like a woman’s.”

“And you said the ghost ‘walked,’” Dink said. “Did it have feet?”

“Feet?” Mr. Jeffers said. “I’m not sure. We hurried right into our room.”

Just then Mr. Linkletter came over to the sofa. “Excuse me, Dink,” he said. “My uncle is on the phone.”

“Mr. Spivets wants to talk to me?” Dink said.

Mr. Linkletter nodded. Dink followed him to the phone.

“Hello?” Dink said. He listened for a few minutes, then hung up and walked back to Josh and Ruth Rose.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” he said.

“Don’t tell me they saw the ghost!” Josh said.

“Nope, but now
we
might,” Dink said. “Mr. Spivets wants us to sleep in the hotel tonight!”

Josh and Ruth Rose stared at Dink.

“Honest,” Dink said.

“But why?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Since the hotel is almost empty, he said we’d be doing him a favor,” Dink said. “If people see us here, they might think the ghost was just a joke.”

“Let’s do it!” Josh said. “I need a night away from the twins!”

Dink grinned. “Mr. Spivets invited our families, too. And he wants us to investigate the ghost while we’re here!”

Josh laughed. “When my little brothers get here, that ghost better watch out!”

By suppertime it was all arranged. The three families would spend the night at the Shangri-la.

Ruth Rose’s little brother, Nate, wanted to meet the ghost.

“He’ll be my friend!” Nate said. “We can play with my dinosaurs together!”

Dink’s family and Ruth Rose’s family rode together in one car.

The Pintos’ car was already in the parking lot when they arrived. Josh was holding on to his twin brothers, Brian and Bradley. The boys hugged twin teddy bears.

After locking the cars, all twelve of
them trooped into the Shangri-la. Mr. and Mrs. Spivets were waiting in the lobby. They were all dressed up, as if it was a special occasion.

“Good evening, all!” Mr. Spivets said. “Welcome to the Shangri-la!”

The adults shook hands.

“This is very nice of you,” Dink’s mom told them.

Mrs. Spivets smiled at the kids. “It’s the least we can do. These three detectives are going to get to the bottom of this ghost business tonight!”

Dink’s father grinned. “As long as they do it before bedtime!”

“Dad,” Dink said, rolling his eyes.

Just then Mr. Linkletter joined them. “Where’s Casper?” Nate asked him. “I wanna see the ghost!”

Mr. Linkletter blinked at Nate, then handed room keys to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose.

“I think you’ll find the rooms comfortable,”
he said. “I had rollaway beds brought in for the little ones.”

Dink led them all to the elevator.

“What number do you guys have?” Josh asked. “We’re in Room 203.”

“I’m across the hall,” Ruth Rose said, “in 204.”

“Me too,” Dink said. “202.”

Five minutes later, all three families were in their rooms. Dink dumped his backpack on a narrow rollaway bed.

The room was pretty big, with a color TV and a miniature refrigerator. Dink opened the door and found a bunch of soft drinks and snacks.

“Can we eat this stuff?” Dink asked.

His father gave him a look. “You just finished supper, Dinko!”

Dink grinned. “Yeah, I know. How late can I stay up?”

“Nine o’clock,” his mother said. “Remember, tomorrow is Monday.”

“Mom, tomorrow’s Columbus Day!” Dink said, grinning. “No school!”

“Okay, ten o’clock, but not a minute later!”

Dink left the room and knocked on Josh’s door. “Come in!” one of the twins yelled.

Dink opened the door. The Pintos’ room was even bigger than his. Three small beds were lined up opposite one big one.

Brian and Bradley wore matching Batman jammies and were coloring in their coloring books.

Josh was standing in front of their little fridge, tossing down peanuts.

“Can Josh come out and play?” Dink said, grinning.

Josh’s dad said, “Sure, just be back by breakfast time.”

Josh laughed. “Let’s get Ruth Rose,” he said to Dink.

They walked to Room 204 and knocked. Ruth Rose opened the door and stepped out. “My folks are trying to get Nate to go to bed,” she whispered.

“Let’s go down to the lobby and think of a plan,” Dink suggested.

“I already have one!” Ruth Rose announced.

“You do?” Dink said.

Ruth Rose nodded. “Mr. Linkletter told us the ghost showed up at midnight, right? Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers said the same thing.”