The Haunted Hotel (5 page)

BOOK: The Haunted Hotel
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Livvy finished her tea. “Okay, let’s go,” she said. “I’ll be glad when Mr. Linkletter is back to normal again. He’s even grouchier than usual!”

Livvy took the kids up to the third floor, then knocked at Room 301. When no one answered, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“Please don’t touch anything,” she said. She knelt down and peeked under both beds. “The wig’s gone!”

The kids looked around the room. “Maybe it’s in the closet!” Ruth Rose whispered.

Livvy pulled open the closet door. On the top shelf sat a plastic head wearing a spiky white wig.

“That’s it!” Josh said.

“Can you take it down?” Dink asked.

Livvy carefully took the head down and set it on a table.

Ruth Rose removed the white hair from her pocket and held it next to the wig.

“The hairs are the same!” she said.

“Look.” Dink pointed to a small framed picture on the bedside table. “Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers!”

“You know these people?” Livvy asked.

“We met them yesterday,” Ruth Rose said. “We think one of them might be the ghost.”

Livvy’s eyes grew wide. “Why
would they want to scare the guests away? They seem so nice!”

“That’s what we plan to find out,” Dink said.

Livvy carefully placed the wig back on the closet shelf.

As she stepped back, her arm caught on something. A long silver object clunked to the floor.

“It’s the ghost’s sword!” Ruth Rose said. She picked it up and laughed. “It’s just painted wood!”

“Guys, look at this stuff!” Josh had been examining some tubes and bottles on a vanity table. “Look, white clown makeup. And black! This is what I smelled in the hallway last night!”

“Hey, guys, a tape recorder,” Ruth Rose said.

“Kids, please don’t touch…”

Before Livvy could finish, Ruth Rose had pushed the PLAY button.

Suddenly the room was filled with spooky noises. Livvy and the kids listened as a voice moaned and groaned.

“Those are the same noises we heard last night!” Dink said.

“Have you seen Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers this morning?” Ruth Rose asked Livvy.

Livvy shook her head. “Maybe they went out for breakfast.” She looked at her watch. “And I have to get busy.”

Livvy locked the door behind them,
and they all got in the elevator.

“Thanks for letting us in,” Ruth Rose said to Livvy.

Livvy put one finger to her lips. “Let’s keep this a secret, okay?” she whispered. “From you-know-who!”

“It’s a deal,” Ruth Rose whispered back.

The elevator door opened and Livvy left the kids in the lobby.

“There’s Mr. Linkletter,” Josh said.
“Maybe he knows where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers went.”

The kids walked over to the front desk.

Mr. Linkletter looked as if he hadn’t been to bed. His suit was rumpled, and his hair stuck up in the back.

“Maybe we shouldn’t disturb him,” Ruth Rose whispered.

“But we have to find Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers,” Dink said. “We don’t have much more time!”

Dink walked up to the desk and put on his best smile. “Hi, Mr. Linkletter!”

Mr. Linkletter gazed down at Dink. “Oh, hello,” he said.

“Do you happen to know where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers are this morning?” he asked.

Mr. Linkletter waved his hand toward the door. “They told me they were going to Ellie’s for breakfast.”

“Thanks, Mr. Linkletter!” Dink said.

The kids left the hotel and hurried up Main Street toward Ellie’s Diner.

“What’re we gonna say to them?” Josh asked. “We can’t just walk up and accuse them of being the ghost, can we?”

Ruth Rose pushed open the door to the diner. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I have a plan.”

Ellie was behind the counter, mixing tuna salad in a big bowl. She waved as the kids sat in one of the booths.

“There they are,” Josh whispered. He nodded his head toward another booth, where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers were eating breakfast.

“They look so nice,” Dink said. “Not like people who would try to ruin a hotel.”

Ellie came to their booth. “Back so soon?” she asked, opening her pad.
“Don’t tell me you’re having another breakfast!”

“Can I borrow your pad and pencil?” Ruth Rose asked.

Ellie gave Ruth Rose a sly smile and handed them over. “What are you kids up to?” she asked.

“I’ll give them back in a minute,” Ruth Rose said.

“Okey-dokey I’ll see you in a minute then,” Ellie said, heading back to her tuna salad.

Ruth Rose began writing.

“What’re you doing?” Josh asked.

“Wait a sec!” Ruth Rose said. She finished and pushed the pad in front of Dink and Josh. “What do you think?”

“Ruth Rose! What if we’re wrong about the Jefferses?” Dink asked.

“We’re not wrong,” Ruth Rose said, getting up.

She walked over to Ellie, said something to her, and handed her the pad. Ellie smiled at Ruth Rose, then headed for the Jefferses’ booth.

Ruth Rose hurried back and sat down. “Now watch,” she told Dink and Josh.

They watched as Ellie handed the note to Mrs. Jeffers.

Mrs. Jeffers read the note, then said something to Ellie. Ellie pointed toward the kids.

Mrs. Jeffers waved, and Ruth Rose waved back.

“Come on,” Ruth Rose said. She walked over to the Jefferses’ booth. Dink and Josh were right behind her.

“Hi!” Ruth Rose said, pulling the
white hair from her pocket. “I think your wig got caught on the fire door last night. You left this.”

She placed the white hair on the green place mat.

Mrs. Jeffers stared at the hair, then at the kids. Finally she looked at her husband.

Mr. Jeffers sighed, then grinned at the kids. “Looks like you got us!” he said.

“So you really
are
the ghost?” Ruth Rose asked.

Mr. Jeffers nodded. “That was me last night,” he said. “Cindy here was the ghost the first two nights.”

He looked at the kids. “Weren’t you asleep in your rooms when I came by?”

“We hid in a smelly closet and saw you!” Josh said.

Mr. Jeffers smiled. “Do I make a good ghost?”

“You sure scared me!” Josh said.

“But why did you do it?” Ruth Rose asked.

“We’re both actors, and we’re broke,” Mrs. Jeffers said. “A few weeks ago, three men came up to us after a rehearsal and asked if we wanted a job.”

“So we told them sure!” her husband said. “The men told us to check into the Shangri-la and scare the guests away. We came up with the ghost costume ourselves.”

“How do you make it glow?” Josh asked.

“I glued a string of tiny lights inside the gown,” Mrs. Jeffers said. “The battery was under the wig.”

Her husband smiled. “And I thought of hiding the tape recorder in the basement
dumbwaiter. The noise went all through the hotel walls!”

“But that’s so mean!” Ruth Rose said. “If the hotel closes, what will happen to Mr. Linkletter and Livvy and Mr. and Mrs. Spivets?”

Mr. Jeffers put up his hands. “Who said anything about the hotel closing?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Spivets did,” Dink said. “They’re selling the hotel because of you!”

“What?” Mrs. Jeffers said. “But Mr. and Mrs. Spivets are supposed to know all about the ghost act. So is Mr. Linkletter.”

“Look,” said Mr. Jeffers. “The three guys who hired us told us that the hotel is going to be used in a horror movie. Scaring guests away is supposed to be great publicity. All the guests are going to get their money back, plus free passes to the movie.”

“And we’re supposed to get starring parts in the movie!” his wife said. “It’s a big break for us!”

The kids looked at each other.

“But Mr. and Mrs. Spivets don’t know anything about any movie,” Ruth Rose said. “Neither does Mr. Linkletter. They’re really upset because they’re going to have to sell the hotel. Today!”

“Yeah,” Josh said. “Mrs. Spivets was crying and everything!”

“We even saw the letter from the real estate company,” Dink said. “Their names were something like Peach or Roach.”

“Eatch, Rail, and Roock?” Mr. Jeffers suddenly asked.

“That’s them!” Dink said. “They’ve been trying to buy the hotel for a long time, but Mr. Spivets refused to sell. Until now.”

Mr. Jeffers looked at his wife. “Oh,
no,” he said. “Eatch, Rail, and Roock are the men who hired us!”

BOOK: The Haunted Hotel
2.63Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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