The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

Kline needs a wheelchair, and I wonder if she ordered that one that was stolen.” Instead, Trixie gulped and asked, “Miss Trask, did you manage to get in touch with Miss Ryks?”
    “I still haven’t been able to find her in,” Miss Trask answered, then went back to her fitting.
    “If you think Juliana would approve, we—”
    “What am I to approve?” Juliana sang out, entering the room with a waltzing step. Her hands were full of envelopes, which she held up and let fall in a white flutter. “Everybody’s coming! Isn’t it wonderful?” Her golden tulip ring flashed its throatful of diamonds. Trixie knew that the day before she would have felt like dancing with Juliana. But now that ring reminded her of Dan. Where was he? Why had he run?
    Juliana spun around to face Trixie. “What am I to okay?”
    “Oh!” Trixie pushed the thought of Dan aside. She said hurriedly, “We wonder if you approve of our inviting Miss Ryks to your—”
    Hallie loudly cleared her throat. To cover the slip Trixie had almost made, Honey interrupted, “—to tea to get acquainted before the wedding.”
    “So she won’t feel strange and out of place,” Di finished.
    “That’s a very kind suggestion,” Juliana said. Every girl in the room heaved a sigh of relief. “Okay, then, how about Tuesday afternoon at our house?” Trixie said quickly.
    “At two o’clock,” Di put in. She added lamely, “I mean, that sounds like a very good time to meet a stranger. At two o’clock, I mean. On Tuesday.”
    “Yes,” Juliana said, looking slightly dazed. “A very good time. I’ll be there, Trixie.” As she left the room, she looked at Di and shook her head in bewilderment.
    Trixie giggled. “Di, if Juliana asks why you’re setting the time for my guests to call, just say that you’re my new social secretary.”
    “Now, Trixie, what did you really mean to ask?” inquired Miss Trask.
    “I only thought it might be a good idea to ask Miss Ryks to Juliana’s shower. I’d be happy to deliver the invitation personally.”
    Trixie saw the disappointment in Hallie’s black eyes before they were hidden by dark lashes. Quickly Trixie added, “Hallie and I could bike down to the inn after dinner. Okay, Hallie?”
    Hallie’s smile was the answer.
    “That’s an excellent idea,” Miss Trask said. “Now, stand still, Trixie. I’m almost finished fitting this pattern.”
    When Hallie and Trixie reached home, Mrs. Belden was frying chicken for an early dinner. Peering into the skillet, Trixie asked, “One chicken for our mob, Moms? I thought you were baking a ham today.”
    “One chicken will serve five of us. The boys called. They’re with Jim and are having supper with Mr. Maypenny,” Mrs. Belden answered somewhat abstractedly. “I do wish I knew what’s going on. I’ve lost a whole baked ham! I can’t keep track of my own kitchen.”
    “Is there something I can do?” Trixie asked worriedly. It wasn’t like her mother to get so upset.
    “Hallie and I are supposed to take a shower invitation to Miss Ryks at the inn after dinner. Okay?”
    “Fine!” Mrs. Belden exclaimed. “Just don’t touch my cupboards!”
    Bobby was sitting alone on the steps when the girls whizzed down the lane on bicycles. He waved. Trixie said, “Bobby’s in some new phase. He hasn’t been tagging after us lately.”
    “I kind of like it when he tags along,” Hallie retorted. When they reached the inn, she headed for the back door. “Have to see my friend, the cook.” Trixie went in the front door, and to her surprise, the desk clerk recognized her. “Are you here to see Miss Ryks?”
    “Yes, please, if she’s in.”
    “I’m sure of it. Her nephew, Dick Ryks, passed by here a few minutes ago. He visited somebody up on the third floor before calling on his aunt.”
    The moustached nephew answered Trixie’s tap on the door of room 214. Trixie introduced herself and explained about the shower. The man said he was Dick Ryks and took the invitation. “When is this shindig?” he asked.
    “Tuesday,” Trixie told him.
    He shrugged. “I’ll put Aunt Kate in a taxi. But you’ll have to bring her back. I’ve got plans for that day.”
    Trixie promised Brian’s jalopy for a taxi, then asked, “May I speak to her now?”
    Dick shrugged again and chewed his ragged moustache. “No can do. The old gal’s asleep.”
    Neither Trixie nor the nephew mentioned their encounter at the airport. Trixie left by way of the service entrance