The Wrong Number

  “Very funny,” Deena said, pulling into the lot and parking the car as near to the street as possible. “How come you’re in such a breezy mood?”

  “I’m not,” Jade said seriously. “I’m just excited because I think you’re right about that package. And if you are right and we do get the mask tonight, we’ll be able to get Chuck out of jail—and the real murderer in!”

  Deena held up her hands with both sets of fingers crossed. “Let’s go.”

  A few seconds later they were making their way through the narrow alley. It seemed much narrower and longer in the dark, and much creepier. “Why didn’t we bring flashlights?” Deena asked, walking against the wall right behind Jade.

  “Flashlights would be noticed,” Jade whispered. “Don’t worry. There’ll be enough light from the surrounding buildings once we get to the courtyard.”

  They came to the back of the building. The courtyard was illuminated by a single light bulb above the kitchen door, which both girls were thankful to see was closed. “That’s a break,” Deena whispered.

  “Just pray that no one opens it while we’re back here,” Jade said, and then she gasped and nearly fell backward into Deena.

  “Jade—what’s wrong?” Deena cried, startled.

  “Something—something scampered over my feet. It—”

  Deena looked down. A large gray rat scurried past them and disappeared in the dark alley.

  “Oh, that was the worst feeling,” Jade said, breathing hard.

  “There must be more of them,” Deena said, her voice trembling. “They probably come back here for the garbage.”

  “Oh!”

  Another rat leapt off the top of the dumpster. It made a screeching noise as it hit the pavement, then scurried off in the direction of its companion.

  “Come on, Deena. Let’s see if the rats have left us anything.”

  As they approached the tall dumpster Deena gazed up at the buildings surrounding the courtyard. There were lights on in several windows. She hoped no one would accidentally see them down there.

  “Come on,” Jade urged. “It’s too tall to see the bottom. We’ve got to climb in.”

  “What? Climb in?” Deena took a deep breath. The stench of rotting food filled her nostrils. “Ugh.”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Jade said, holding her nose. “I think. Come on. Give me a boost. I’ll get in and then pull you up.”

  “It’s disgusting,” Deena complained, starting to feel sick. “I—I really can’t stand the smell.”

  “Deena—forget about the smell. Snap out of it. Let’s grab the package and get out of here.”

  “Give me a boost,” Jade said.

  Deena struggled to push her up to the top of the dumpster. Jade grabbed hold of the rim, pulled herself in, and then dropped to the bottom. “If you think it smells bad out there, wait till you get in here,” Jade called.

  “Do you see the package?” Deena asked hopefully.

  “All I can see is rotting cabbage,” Jade said. “They must’ve made a lot of coleslaw today!” She leaned over the side and offered her arms to Deena. “Come on. I’ll help you in. We’re both going to have to search.”

  “Are there—rats in there with you?” Deena asked, taking Jade’s hands.

  “Only a few,” Jade answered dryly. She tugged, and a few seconds later Deena was beside her, also knee-deep in garbage. “Come on. Start searching.”

  They began pawing through the wet, rotting garbage. “This is so disgusting,” Deena complained. “I’m going to have to take six baths when I get home.”

  “We’ll have to bury our clothes,” Jade said. “Now where is that package? It must be down near the bottom. Oh. These fish parts smell the worst!”

  Suddenly they heard a noise. They stopped their search and ducked down low.

  The kitchen door had opened.

  Deena held her breath.

  Someone was approaching the dumpster.

  No, no—please go away, she begged silently.

  Suddenly two big black plastic garbage bags came flying on top of the two girls. Jade toppled over into the garbage. Deena managed to remain upright. Neither of them made a sound.

  The footsteps retreated. The kitchen door closed.

  “Jade—where are you?” Deena whispered, shoving one of the garbage bags aside.

  “Where do you think?” Jade’s voice was muffled. “Oh, Lord. I’m covered in garbage. Why don’t these people use garbage bags for all their garbage?” She started to pull herself to her feet, then stopped.

  “What’s the matter?” Deena asked. Some of the garbage at the other end of the dumpster was moving. She realized there must be a hungry rat down at that end.

  “I felt something,” Jade said, reaching down to the bottom. Then she smiled and held up the brown package. “Got it.”

  “Quick—open it up!” Deena cried excitedly. “Is it the mask?”

  “No—not here,” Jade said. “Let’s get back to the car.”

  Deena quickly agreed. She jumped down from the dumpster, then helped Jade down. They looked at the restaurant kitchen, but the door remained closed.

  With the odor of the garbage still in their nostrils they ran at full speed down the dark alleyway. As they reached the sidewalk they nearly collided with an old couple leaving the restaurant. “Watch where you’re going!” the man cried. But they didn’t stop running until they reached the parking lot.

  Then they both leaned against the car and waited to catch their breath. “Open it. Come on,” Deena demanded. “We did it, Jade. We got our proof. I knew we could get Chuck out of trouble!”

  The package was tied very tightly. Jade struggled to remove the string. “It feels too heavy to be a mask,” she said.

  “That’s because his shirt must be in there, too,” Deena said, watching Jade’s efforts impatiently.

  Finally Jade pulled off the string and tore open the paper.

  Both girls screamed when they saw what was in the bag!

  chapter

  17

  The dead cat seemed to stare up at them.

  Its eyes had already sunk deep into its head.

  It smelled worse than the dumpster.

  Jade dropped the cat, still wrapped in brown paper, on the ground.

  “I don’t believe it,” Deena wailed. “A dead cat. Farberson was throwing away a dead cat.”

  “Miss Morrison said she was having a bad morning,” Jade recalled. “I guess her cat died. I guess she couldn’t bear to deal with it. So she asked Farberson to do it.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Deena said again, shaking her head. It was taking a lot of effort not to burst into tears. “I’m so disappointed, Jade.”

  “Me, too.” Jade leaned against the trunk of the car and closed her eyes. “I really thought you were right, Deena. I thought we had the mask. I thought—oh, what’s the point?” she asked bitterly. She glanced down at the dead cat at her feet and made a face.

  “Now what?” Deena asked glumly. “What do we have for all our clever detective work?”

  “Well, we know that Farberson plans to leave the country on Saturday. We know that he and Miss Morrison—”

  “Nothing,” Deena interrupted bitterly. “We’ve got nothing. No proof of any kind. No proof that he was the man in the mask. No proof that he killed his wife. Nothing.”

  “Well, maybe he didn’t do it,” Jade said thoughtfully.

  “Huh?” Deena looked at Jade in shock.

  “Maybe we jumped to the wrong conclusion because Farberson’s voice is similar to the man in the mask’s. But face it, Deena, we don’t have any evidence at all. Just as you said.”

  “No. It was him that night. It was Farberson,” Deena insisted. “I have no doubt about that.”

  Jade looked at her. “No doubt at all?”

  Deena didn’t reply. She sighed wearily. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

  They climbed into the car. Deena searched in the dark for her keys. “Why don’t the
y put some lights in this parking lot? It’s as dark as that alley.”

  Jade shuddered. “Don’t remind me of the alley.”

  Deena finally found the key and struggled to get it into its slot.

  “Come on—let’s get out of here,” Jade said edgily.

  “I’m trying,” Deena whined.

  She started the engine and put the car into reverse.

  She turned to look out the rear window as she started to back up—and a powerful hand reached out from the backseat and grabbed her shoulder.

  “No!” she screamed, and she slammed on the brake.

  Jade turned, her eyes wide with horror, and saw the man in the mask just as he grabbed her shoulder with his other hand.

  “Ouch—you’re hurting me!”

  He squeezed their shoulders hard and pushed his masked face up close to them.

  “Don’t ever let me see you again,” he said in a low, menacing growl. “I only give one warning.”

  His breath was hot and smelled of garlic.

  He shoved them both hard from behind, then lurched from the car, leaving the back door open, and disappeared into the darkness.

  chapter

  18

  The next day Deena was barely able to sit through her classes. All morning long she kept hearing the masked man’s voice repeating his warning in her ear. Her shoulder was still sore from where he had grabbed her.

  Why didn’t he kill us? she wondered.

  Why should he? She answered her own question. He’ll be long gone on Saturday, and Chuck will be here to pay for his crime.

  Just before lunch she went to her locker. Struggling to open it, she dropped her armload of books. When she leaned down to pick them up her purse fell. Its contents poured out onto the floor.

  “Need some help?” asked a familiar voice.

  Deena stared up at Rob Morell, who was smiling in a friendly way. She was too tired and flustered to do more than stammer thanks. But Rob didn’t seem to mind. He bent down and helped her stow her gear away, then asked her to have a Coke with him after school.

  Deena felt like bursting into tears. “Thanks, Rob. But I have some things I have to do,” she said.

  Rob looked disappointed, then shrugged. “Well, maybe another time,” he said, and he walked off down the hall.

  Deena watched him go, feeling terrible, but how could she tell him what she had to do? How could she tell him that she had to go visit her brother in jail? Her poor brother, who was going to stand trial for a murder he didn’t commit.

  As she walked out of the building Deena felt guilty. She should have gone to see Chuck long ago, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want to see him there in that awful jail. She didn’t know what she’d say to him.

  But he had been asking about her. She really had no choice. She had to steel her nerves and face him. She had to tell him how the police wouldn’t believe a word she said, and how miserably she had failed at being a detective.

  The heavy metal door shut behind her with a clang that made Deena jump. Her heart pounding furiously, she followed the guard down a long, dark hall. The tile on the floor was discolored and scarred from the thousands of feet that had walked this same hall on the way to being locked up.

  The hall passed through two more metal doors, then opened into a large, nearly empty, fluorescent-lit room.

  “Please sit here,” said the guard. “They’ll bring your brother out in a minute.” She gave Deena a big, friendly smile. Deena just stared at her. How could anyone be cheerful in a place like this?

  The guard left Deena alone in the room. It was narrow and windowless, divided down the center with a long Formica-covered counter. From the counter to the ceiling wire screening extended to keep the visitors and the prisoners from touching each other.

  At the farthest end of the room a young woman sat hunched over the counter, sobbing into a handkerchief. Deena couldn’t see whom she was talking with but could hear the low, monotonous drone of a man’s voice from the other side of the screen.

  Her knees quaking, Deena took a seat on a beat-up wooden chair on the visitor’s side of the counter. She’d never been in such a dismal place, and wasn’t sure she wanted to be there now.

  What would Chuck be like? she wondered. Would he look different? Would he act different—tougher, maybe? She felt so nervous, she wished she could just run away.

  After endless minutes an armed guard led Chuck into the other section of the room, on the other side of the screen. He was wearing a light blue cotton shirt and dungarees, and Deena thought he looked pale and thin.

  He didn’t see her at first, but when he did he burst away from the guard and came running toward her. “Deena—”

  She stood up to greet him.

  “Stop right there!” the guard screamed. “You know the rules.”

  Chuck immediately stopped a few inches from the screen and slumped into the folding chair provided for prisoners. “No more fast moves, you hear?” the guard warned, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at them both.

  “Chuck, hi,” Deena said uncomfortably. She forced herself to look into his eyes. They were red-rimmed and watery.

  “You’ve got to get me out of here,” he said in a loud whisper.

  “Huh?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.

  “I can’t take it, Deena. I really can’t. I’m going out of my mind.” He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the screen.

  “Back up!” the guard called, uncrossing his arms and taking a step toward Chuck.

  “Sorry,” Chuck called back to him loudly, and he sat up straight.

  “Next warning and you go back to your cell,” the guard said.

  “It’s terrible in here,” Chuck said, keeping his voice low. “It’s just a hundred humiliations a day. Most of the men in here are criminals. Real criminals. Robbers and drug dealers. And there’s one guy who brags about how he killed a whole family of campers in the state park.”

  Deena stared at him, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. “That’s so awful,” she managed to say.

  “I’ve got to get out. I’ve got to! I can’t believe this has happened to me. It just isn’t fair!”

  “Dad says the lawyer will get you out soon. He just has to get the charge changed to manslaughter,” Deena said, but it sounded pretty lame even to her.

  “It won’t be soon enough,” Chuck cried. “I’ve got to get out now!”

  “Jade and I are trying to help,” Deena told him.

  For the first time Chuck’s face brightened. “How is Jade?”

  “She’s worried about you.”

  “That makes two of us,” he said glumly.

  “Jade and I have found out some things,” Deena whispered.

  “Two more minutes,” the guard interrupted, looking at the large round clock on the far wall.

  Deena quickly told Chuck about Farberson, about the plane reservations, and about their trip to Miss Morrison’s house.

  “Whoa!” Chuck said. “You two really took a chance. I can’t believe you did that for me.”

  “Well, you’re my brother,” said Deena. “Besides, Jade and I are involved, too.”

  “Yeah. But you’re not behind bars,” he said, turning bitter again. “Man, if only I were out of here. I’d go right to Fear Street, right to Farberson’s house, and I’d search the place till I found the evidence I need to prove that he’s guilty.”

  “Okay,” Deena said.

  “What? What do you mean okay?” He looked confused.

  “Jade and I will go to his house.”

  “No—wait! I didn’t mean for you to do it. I said I would do it if I were out.”

  “Well, we’re out, and you’re not, so we’ll—”

  “No way!” Chuck screamed. “No way! It’s too dangerous! The man is a killer! No way! I won’t let you go there!” He jumped to his feet and pressed his hands against the screen.

  “Hey—” the guard yelled.
/>
  “We’re going, and you can’t stop us!” Deena declared. “We only have till tomorrow night to prove he’s guilty.”

  “No way! I won’t let you do it!” Chuck screamed. “No way!”

  “I warned you,” the guard said, moving quickly. He grabbed Chuck with both hands and pulled him away from the screen.

  “Let me go,” Chuck snapped angrily at the guard and struggled out of his grasp. “I don’t want you to go to Fear Street,” he shouted to Deena.

  The guard grabbed him from behind and started to put a choke hold on him. “Do I have to get rough, kid?”

  “Get off me!” Chuck raged.

  Deena couldn’t bear it any longer. She stood up and turned away. The other guard appeared suddenly and led her out of the room. As the door closed she could still hear Chuck scuffling with the guard.

  “Deena! Deena—did you hear me?” he was screaming after her.

  chapter

  19

  By the time she got home from the jail Deena felt awful. Her head ached, and she felt sick to her stomach. Maybe I’m getting the flu, she thought. Maybe I’ll just go to bed and hide under the covers, and all this will go away.

  But she knew it wouldn’t.

  The only way to make it go away was to go to Fear Street and prove that Farberson was the murderer.

  At dinner she didn’t feel like eating, and as usual her mother noticed. “What’s the matter, honey?” she said. “Don’t you feel well?”

  “I’m all right,” said Deena. To prove it she took a big bite of mashed potatoes. Usually they were her favorite, but that night they tasted like sawdust.

  “I know what it is,” said her mother. “You’re worried about Chuck, aren’t you?”

  Deena nodded. She didn’t trust herself to say anything more.

  “We’re all worried, Deena,” said her father. “But remember that Chuck brought a lot of this on himself. If you kids hadn’t made those fool phone calls—”

  “He didn’t murder anyone!” Deena shouted, surprising herself with her outburst. “He’s not a criminal! But the police have him locked up like one, and now you’re saying he deserves it!”