The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

Wheelers!” She was concentrating so much on Dan’s predicament at the moment that she forgot that Honey was a Wheeler.
    Sounding like a lost child, Honey said, “Me, too.” Trixie turned to hug her friend. “Oh, I didn’t mean you, Honey. I just meant-oh, I don’t know what I meant! Of course I want Regan to be loyal.” Luncheon that day was one of the few uncomfortable meals Trixie had ever eaten at Manor House. Juliana was jubilant about the return of her ring. She flashed it in the face of each person she met and cried, “Isn’t it beautiful! Oh, isn’t it beautiful!”
    Hans hovered close to her. He reassured each guest, “I’ll have the ring made smaller, I promise!”
    “What happened?” Trixie whispered to Honey. “Do you think Miss Trask knows?”
    “No,” Honey answered. “I saw Juliana show Miss Trask her ring. She would never have done that if Miss Trask had given it to her.”
    “Your mother must have delivered it to her personally,” Trixie said. “Do you think she called you-know-who?”
    “You know my mother,” Honey said with a sigh. She called down the table, “Miss Trask, is Mother having lunch in her room?”
    Jim answered the question, with a little nod of apology to Miss Trask for his interruption. “Mother got a phone call from Dad. She’s having lunch with him in White Plains, and then they may go on to New York tonight. In fact, they may be gone several days.”
    Honey and Trixie looked blankly at each other. Where did that leave Dan?
    Celia was serving. She came to the table to tell Hallie that she had a telephone call.
    “Knut!” Hallie exclaimed. But when she came back to the table, she announced, “It wasn’t my brother after all. The call was from Auntie, and she says my bag has arrived at the airport.”
    “I’ll pick it up,” Jim offered. “Any tagalongs?”
    Each girl at the table cried, “Yes!”
    Miss Trask asked Di and Honey if they’d mind staying behind. “I need some help to get these dresses started.”
    “I'll help the minute I get back,” Hallie promised.
    Quite pointedly, no one asked Trixie to help with the sewing. Jim commented on it and then looked puzzled when Trixie didn’t respond.
    On the drive to the airport, Trixie reported the latest part of the story of the missing ring. Jim scowled as he listened. “You don’t suspect Dan, do you, Trix?”
    “Of course not,” she said. “But—” The word hung in the air till it seemed to echo inside her skull.
    “I see what you mean,” Jim admitted reluctantly. “Dan was there. He had the opportunity to get hold of that ring, even if only to pick it up when it slid off Juliana’s finger. I wish he hadn’t said not yet/ ”
    ‘And I wish those creeps from the city weren’t hanging around again,” Trixie said bitterly.
    “It’ll take a miracle to help him if Mother called the sergeant and Dan ran away,” Jim said.
    “Not a miracle,” Trixie said, “but Reddy maybe.”
    “Reddy!” Jim exclaimed.
    “You mean your dog?” Hallie asked.
    “Reddy. Our dog,” Trixie said. “Remember when we were getting into the wagon last night and we heard Reddy chase something into the bushes?”
    “It could have been a cat or a stray calf,” Jim said.
    “But I felt crowded,” Trixie said. “I know in my very bones that there were too many people out there under the oak tree. Remember when Juliana said Hans was rushing her when she couldn’t see and he said that he hadn’t taken her hand? Well, nobody else confessed to touching her.” Trixie fell silent for a moment, then voiced another thought. “Oh. Dan was there, too. I almost forgot. Just because he didn’t confess doesn’t mean that he didn’t grab her hand and slide off the ring.”
    They were almost at the airport parking lot when Trixie said, “J™, on our way back, will you drop me off about halfway up our lane?”
    “Whatever for?” Hallie blurted. “I promised to help Miss Trask.”
    “You help me,” Trixie bargained, “and I’ll help you.”
    Jim grinned. “Okay. I'll help both of you.”
    There was a between-flights lull at the airport. A number of people checked arrival and departure times, bought tickets, or confirmed reservations. Others sought the vending machines dispensing coffee or cold drinks. Some aimlessly examined papers and magazines, used the public telephones, hunted for taxis or rental cars, or simply stood in front of the huge windows to watch the runways.
    Hallie wasn’t interested