The Mystery of the Midnight Dog

  “Violet?” Henry said again.

  “I remember now!” Violet said suddenly. “I remember where I’ve seen that woman!”

  “Which one?” asked Benny.

  “The one with the black hair and the red lipstick. I’m sure it’s her,” Violet said.

  Benny, Jessie, and Henry studied the dark-haired woman. She was talking and waving her hands at the storyteller onstage. Then she held out a book and flipped open the pages.

  Jessie said, “Oh. I remember her, too. She was one of the tourists who took Kate Frances’s photograph the first day we were here.”

  “Well, it’s too bad she didn’t take a picture of the ghost dog,” Benny said. He paused, then added, “Of course, you can’t really take a picture of a ghost.”

  “True. But you can look for footprints,” said Henry. “Let’s go.”

  But although the Aldens searched all along the edge of the clearing, kneeling on the ground to brush away leaves and covering every inch of ground where the ghost dog had been, they didn’t find anything that would help them solve the mystery.

  They didn’t find a single paw print.

  “There was a dog,” Violet said. “We all saw it!”

  “A glowing dog that floated along the ground and didn’t leave any footprints,” said Henry.

  “And we heard it howl,” Jessie said. She stopped, frowned, and said, “No, we didn’t. The howling happened just as the dog was floating by here. But it seemed to be coming from somewhere else.”

  “Another dog was howling?” asked Benny. “Well, it wasn’t Watch. He’s at Mrs. Wade’s. If he was howling, we couldn’t have heard him.”

  “Hey! Time to go!” they heard Kate Frances call. She pointed in the direction of the car and then she, Lainey, and the storyteller began to walk up the path.

  The Aldens followed. They talked about the case as they walked.

  Jessie said, “We’ve heard dogs howling in town. And now we saw a ghost dog here and heard a dog howling,” she went on.

  “And someone, or something, is digging holes where Dr. Sage and Brad are working,” Violet said.

  “Someone has also tipped over garbage cans along trails,” Jessie said. “So it looks as if someone is working against the Elbow Bend State Park.”

  “What’s that got to do with a ghost dog howling in town at midnight?” Benny asked.

  “Maybe nothing. Maybe that isn’t part of the mystery, Benny. Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” Violet said. “And maybe there’s no ghost dog in the town of Elbow Bend. After all, we haven’t seen one there.”

  Ahead of them, the others reached the parking lot.

  “Look, there’s Joshua,” said Henry.

  They watched as the grounds-crew chief picked up a piece of paper and put it into a nearby trash can, with a glare at the remaining people. He opened the passenger door of a station wagon and they saw another groundskeeper driving. “Thanks for the ride,” they heard Joshua say. “I don’t know when that car of mine will be fixed.”

  Joshua slammed the door and the car drove away. Then the storyteller got into her car and drove away, too. Now only Lainey and Kate Frances and a few of the audience members were left.

  “There is a ghost dog in Elbow Bend,” Benny insisted. “Even if we haven’t seen it, we’ve heard it!”

  They’d reached the parking lot now, and everyone heard Benny’s words. Faces turned in their direction.

  “Ghost dog in Elbow Bend?” the woman with the dark hair cried. “Did you say you’d seen it there?”

  “No. I’ve just heard it. I only saw it tonight,” Benny said.

  Some people stopped walking and turned to listen. The woman turned to Kate Frances and Lainey and said in a loud voice, “See? I knew it wasn’t part of the show. I knew the ghost dog was real! And you owe it to the public to tell the truth about what’s going on in this town, as well as everything that’s happened in this park!”

  The woman looked from Kate Frances to Lainey. Kate Frances just shook her head. “There is no such thing as a ghost,” she said. “There’s a logical explanation for all of this, and we don’t need to frighten people with old ghost stories.”

  “You have to tell people the truth,” said the woman, and marched away across the parking lot and down the road.

  Kate Frances said, “Great. Why is this happening all of a sudden? I think she’s some kind of writer. Probably a reporter.

  This’ll probably turn up in the news.” Brad, who was standing by Lainey said,

  “Too bad Dr. Sage was at that dinner party.

  She’d have been very interested in all of this.”

  “Well, don’t worry,” Lainey said to Kate Frances. “We’ll just pretend none of this happened.”

  “Yes,” said Kate Frances. “But somehow, I don’t think ignoring it is going to make our troubles go away.”

  “OOOOooooohhhh! OOOOooooohhh!” Loud howls sounded in the night.

  Benny sat up. He grabbed for the lamp on the bedside table and flicked the switch. Light flooded his bedroom as Watch answered the ghostly noise with a howl of his own.

  The door opened and Henry came in. “Are you okay, Benny?”

  Before Benny could answer, more howls rose up from all around the neighborhood. Dogs all over Elbow Bend were joining in the ghostly chorus.

  “Twelve midnight exactly,” Jessie said, coming in behind Henry, with Violet on her heels.

  Suddenly Watch flattened his ears and barked.

  Benny ran to the screen and tried to see out.

  “Turn out the light,” Henry said. “We can see out better without it.”

  Violet switched off the light.

  Almost at once Watch barked again, a short warning bark. At the same time, Benny cried, “There it is! The ghost dog!”

  The Aldens crowded around the window. Sure enough, at the foot of the lawn, a small white figure was floating along the ground, rising and falling.

  “Come on! We can catch that dog!” Jessie said. She turned and ran out of the room.

  “Get your flashlight, Benny,” Henry said. “Let’s go.”

  The Aldens thundered down the stairs of the old house, through the hall, and out the kitchen door into the backyard.

  Behind them, they heard Grandfather call, “What’s wrong?”

  “The ghost dog!” Benny called over his shoulder.

  With their flashlights crisscrossing the night, they ran across the long sloping lawn.

  The dog was nowhere to be seen.

  Watch barked again and raced into the woods.

  “Watch! Wait for us!” Benny called. He ran after the small, brave dog, wondering what he would do if he and Watch actually caught the ghost.

  They thrashed through the trees, ran through the backyard of another house, and came out on a street. Watch stood under a dim streetlight, staring up the road. He was growling in a soft disapproving way when the Aldens reached him.

  “Did you see the ghost?” Benny asked. He dropped to his knees and hugged Watch. “Good dog!”

  Violet said, “Why would a ghost run out to a street and then disappear?”

  “I have a better question,” said Jessie.

  “How could Watch smell a ghost to track it this far? Only a real dog would have a smell!”

  “The howling has stopped,” Violet said. “Listen.”

  It was true. Now the night sounds of crickets and the wind in the trees were all they could hear.

  “I guess we’d better get back,” Henry said. “But this time, we’ll use the street instead of cutting through someone’s backyard!”

  As they walked back, Jessie said, “It’s definite. The ghost dog is part of the mystery at Elbow Bend State Park.”

  “Trash cans tipped over, holes dug, dogs howling, and a glowing white dog that doesn’t leave footprints.” Violet reeled off the list of events.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Henry said. “Why would the dog appear at the park, and here, in town, in our backyard?” br />
  They’d almost reached the house when Jessie stopped. “Let’s go take another look in the woods,” she said. “I have an idea. But first ...” Untying her bathrobe, she took the sash and looped it through Watch’s collar.

  “What’re you doing that for?” asked Violet.

  “You’ll see,” said Jessie mysteriously.

  Once more, but at a slower pace, Jessie led the way across Mrs. Wade’s big backyard on the trail of the ghost dog. “Here, Watch,” she said when they’d reached the trees at the foot of the yard. “Find the dog. Find the dog.”

  Watch immediately began to tug on the sash. He pulled Jessie along through the woods, his nose to the ground. He zigzagged in and out among trees and through bushes.

  Suddenly Jessie hauled back on the makeshift leash. “Whoa, Watch,” she said. Turning her flashlight slightly to one side of where Watch stood expectantly, she said, “There. See it?”

  “It ... glows,” Violet said.

  “What is it?” Benny asked.

  Henry bent over the dash of white on the rough trunk of a tree. He touched it and pulled back a finger. “It’s wet,” he said.

  “It’s paint,” said Jessie.

  “Glow-in-the-dark paint!” Violet explained.

  “That’s why we saw a dog that glowed in the dark,” Jessie said. “Someone had put paint on part of its coat.”

  “It’s not a ghost?” Benny asked.

  “Not at all. This is proof,” Henry answered, holding up his paint-dotted fingertip.

  “But how could whoever did this make the dog float?” Violet asked. “And why? And why dig the holes and turn over the trash cans? Why would they want everyone to believe that a ghost dog is haunting Elbow Bend?”

  “I don’t know,” said Henry.

  The Aldens began to walk back toward the house.

  “It could be Joshua, trying to scare tourists away from Elbow Bend,” said Jessie. “He was at the storytelling session, but we didn’t see him when the ghost dog appeared. And it would be easy for him to sneak into the park and turn over trash cans and dig holes.”

  “Yes. He’s a very good suspect. But it does seem as if the appearance of a ghost dog would bring more tourists, rather than fewer,” mused Henry.

  “Maybe.” Jessie thought for a moment. “And don’t forget Joshua’s car is broken. He couldn’t drive here in the middle of the night without a car that worked.”

  “Unless someone was helping him,” said Violet.

  “Maybe ... but what about Lainey? She could be playing a practical joke.”

  “Yes. We didn’t see her tonight at all, until after the ghost dog had come and gone,” agreed Violet reluctantly. She didn’t want it to be Lainey. She liked her.

  “Or Dr. Sage, to raise money for the park and her digging project,” Henry said. “She wasn’t even at the storytelling session. But maybe she didn’t come so she could sneak up and make us believe we’d seen—and heard—a ghost dog.”

  “Don’t forget Brad,” Benny said. “He was there, too.”

  “Yes. But again, we didn’t see him until after the ghost dog had appeared and then disappeared,” Violet said. “He could be helping Dr. Sage—or Lainey.”

  “We have lots of suspects,” Benny said. “How do we pick out the person who did it?”

  “That’s the mystery, Benny,” said Henry. “And I’m not sure how we’re going to solve it.”

  CHAPTER 7

  An Exciting Discovery

  “I don’t have to work at the park this morning, so I’m going to walk to town to do a little shopping,” Lainey said the next morning after breakfast. “Who wants to come with me?”

  “I do,” said Benny.

  “Me, too,” echoed Jessie and Violet.

  “Count me in,” Henry said.

  “And I’ve got to get to work,” said Kate Frances. “See you later.”

  Benny put Watch’s leash on and the Aldens and Lainey began to walk to town.

  As always, everyone they passed said hello. And as usual, it was very hot. They walked slowly, and Watch panted a lot.

  When they got to Main Street, Lainey said, “If you want to look around while I shop, why don’t we meet again in an hour? We can meet in the bookstore.”

  “Okay,” said Henry.

  After Lainey had left, Violet said, “Let’s just walk around and look in all the shop windows.”

  The Aldens soon discovered that the town of Elbow Bend wasn’t so different from their hometown of Greenfield. Like Greenfield, it had a hardware store, an antiques store, a bike shop, a shoe-repair shop, a pet-supply store, an ice-cream parlor, and a gift shop.

  “Wow,” said Benny, “look at all those cameras!”

  They watched as the tourists wandered in and out of the souvenir and T-shirt shops and took photographs of one another.

  The Aldens decided to walk into the pet store.

  “What a cute dog,” said the girl in the store.

  “He’s hot and thirsty,” said Benny.

  “Could you let us have a bowl of water for him, please?” asked Violet.

  “Sure,” said the girl. “I’ll go get one right now.”

  She soon returned with a red bowl filled with water and set it down for Watch. He drank noisily. The Aldens looked around the store.

  “You have a nice store,” Jessie said.

  “Thank you,” the girl said. She grinned. “It’s not my store, it’s my brother’s. I just work here so I can get free supplies for Squeeze.”

  “Squeeze? Who is Squeeze?” asked Henry.

  The girl grinned even more broadly and pointed.

  The Aldens turned. A large snake was coiled around the branch of a small tree growing out of an enormous pot in the window.

  Benny took a step back. “Uh-oh,” he said.

  The girl said, “Don’t worry. Squeeze won’t hurt you. He’s a boa constrictor and not poisonous. Isn’t he beautiful?”

  Looking at the snake made Violet nervous, so she looked somewhere else. “Oh,” she said. “Look, Watch. Sweaters for dogs!”

  “Not that dogs need sweaters very often in this part of the country,” the girl commented. “Too hot. They don’t usually need those little booties, either. Those are for dogs that live in places with snow, where they put salt on the sidewalk. The salt hurts the dogs’ feet. I did sell a set of those booties a few days ago. A whole crowd of people came in the store at once, buying all kinds of things. Some tourists will buy anything!”

  Glad to be out of the heat, the Aldens began to look around the store. Benny and Watch took a closer look at Squeeze, being careful not to get too close. Henry and Violet bent to study the tropical fish in the big aquarium next to the counter.

  Jessie let her eyes wander across the peg-board hung with dog supplies: booties and sweaters, raincoats and fancy collars, in every imaginable color; bones and treats; whistles and toys. ...

  She reached out and picked up a small, thin, silver whistle. She held it up. “About this whistle—” she began.

  “Look, there’s Lainey!” Benny said. He waved, then dashed to the door and opened it. “Hey, Lainey. We’re in here!”

  Lainey followed Benny inside the store—and began to scream.

  “Nooo!” she shrieked, jumping back and dancing from one foot to the other as if her shoes were on fire. “Eeeek. Oooh! A snaaaaaaake!”

  Henry raced over and grabbed Lainey’s arm. “This way,” he said, and led her outside.

  “We’ll be right back,” Jessie promised. The Aldens all went outside to join Henry and Lainey.

  Lainey was pale, with splotches of red on her cheeks. “Sorry,” she said. “The snake caught me by surprise. If I’d known it was there, I would never have gone in.”

  “You are afraid of snakes, aren’t you?” asked Jessie.

  “Terrified,” Lainey admitted. “I try not to be, but I can’t help it. ...” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head.

  “That’s very brave of you to work at the
park, then,” Violet said, trying to make Lainey feel better.

  Lainey managed to smile. “Not so brave. I stick close to the trails and places where I know the snakes aren’t likely to be. And I wear big hiking boots that come up almost to my knees. When I had to help out during Stories Under the Stars, I worked in the parking lot directing cars. I didn’t even come down to the storytelling until Brad came along to walk with me. That’s how afraid I was.”

  The Aldens exchanged glances. Lainey’s confession had just eliminated two of their suspects. There was no way Lainey could have had anything to do with the ghostly dog flitting through the woods around the edges of the storytelling crowd.

  “Well, you’re safe now,” said Henry.

  “But if you don’t mind,” Jessie said, “we’d like to go back into the pet-supply store for a minute.”

  “Why?” asked Benny.

  “You’ll see,” Jessie said.

  Lainey said, “Go on. I’ll be at the bookstore. See you in a little while.”

  “Let’s go,” said Jessie. The Aldens went back into the store and Jessie went straight to the whistle she’d been holding. “I’d like to buy this,” she said.

  “The silent whistle? Sure,” said the girl. She took Jessie’s money and counted out the change.

  As Jessie slipped the whistle into her pocket, she said casually, “Have you sold any of these lately?”

  “Sure,” said the girl.

  “To the same person who bought the booties?” Jessie asked.

  The girl frowned. “I don’t know about that. The store was jammed. I just remember selling the booties because it was so unusual, you know? I think it was a lady. But what she looked like, I couldn’t tell you. I remember the booties were white, though. Silly color. Shows dirt.”

  “Hmmm,” said Jessie.

  “Thanks for all your help,” Violet said. “We really appreciate it.”

  Jessie nodded. “I think you just helped us solve a mystery.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Setting a Trap

  Benny’s eyes grew wide. “What?” he gasped.

  Jessie didn’t answer right away. They went outside and Benny hopped excitedly along next to her.