The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

Oliver was in that brassy wig playing the role of Dick Ryks till he could get to room two-fourteen and change his clothes. He’s an actor, and he has costumes and makeup. He can be anybody he chooses to be.”
    “Pretty slick,” Hallie said. “At the country club, he could decide who he wanted to rob—”
    “—and send the gang out to do it,” Trixie finished. “The club even provided the stationery for the notes he wrote! Do you realize what were saying? Miss Ryks is the gang’s boss! That kid that got arrested said the boss would get even with us, and Miss Ryks is coming to the wedding. Oh-h-h...” Trixie moaned. “What’s she, I mean he, going to do?”
    “We’ll talk to Dad,” Honey advised. “We’ll ask him to have Sergeant Molinson’s men there. It’ll look like they’re guarding the wedding gifts.”
    Soberly, the girls pedaled home, aware at last that the game Miss Ryks was playing was for keeps.
    Within sight of the Belden mailbox, Trixie warned, “Until Dan’s found, we have to walk on eggshells.” Hallie sighed heavily. “And I’ve got big feet.”

The Truth Seeker • 13

    SICK WITH WORRY, Trixie was afraid to speak and afraid not to speak. The rest of the day, she tried desperately to make plans but always faced a blank wall. How could she plan protection for her friends and family when she didn’t know what that crook had in mind? It was just one more day till the wedding. In that time, anything might happen.
    That night, Mrs. Belden stayed in the kitchen long after dinner to prepare dough for the next day’s bread baking. “Sometimes I think I’m feeding two families,” she scolded good-naturedly. “How do all of you eat so much and stay so thin?’’
    “Me? Thin?” Trixie asked hopefully.
    Mart hooted. “Dream on, sweet princess!”
    “That’s just what I’m going to do,” Trixie retorted.
    Bobby followed Trixie to her room and stood in the doorway, waiting to be invited in to talk. Trixie coaxed, “Later, please, Bobby?” She felt guilty when he turned away, walking like a little old man. What was bothering him? She’d find out just as soon as the wedding was over and Dan was found.
    The following afternoon, Miss Trask directed the wedding rehearsal in the garden. Not one detail had been overlooked. The ceremony would be perfect but for one thing—an usher was missing. Peter Belden substituted for Dan. The day Trixie had awaited with so much excitement was overcast with a gloom she couldn’t shake. The Bob-Whites smiled, but their eyes were too bright, their voices too sharp, and their movements too nervous.
    Trixie didn’t have much appetite and left most of her dinner on her plate. Quite late, she awoke from a restless sleep. At first, she thought hunger had roused her. Then, she noticed that the light was on in the hall. Fully expecting to find Brian or Mart raiding the refrigerator, she tiptoed to the kitchen.
    “Bobby!” she gasped. “What are you doing up in the middle of the night?”
    Wide-eyed with fright, Bobby spun around. In one hand, he held a slice of bread, in the other, a knife globbed with peanut butter. On the counter stood a pitcher of milk and other sandwich-making materials.
    Trixie thought she heard Reddy and moved toward a window. Bobby tensed, then cried, “Don’t go close to the window, please, Trixie!”
    “Bobby,” Trixie whispered, “what’s wrong?”
    “D-Don’t even look at the window. Or the telephone,” Bobby begged. “S-Smile at me? Pretend you’re hungry, please, Trixie?” Bobby’s mouth curved in a bright smile, but it didn’t match his quavering voice.
    “Okay.” Trixie, too, made a sandwich. She whispered, “Who’s out there, Bobby?”
    “Those robber kids,” Bobby said. “They sleep in our shed at night, and they wait for me to feed them.”
    “ Bobby!” Trixie gasped.
    “Ssh!” the small boy warned fiercely. “They’ll hurt Reddy with their knives if I tell anybody about them or call the police. And they’ll hurt Dan, too. They’ve got the nocklers, and they always watch me.” He gulped and made another sandwich. “I was trying to tell you before, Trixie, but you didn’t have time.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry, honey!” Trixie shivered with his fright added to her own. “Do they know we have three telephones?”
    “I don’t think so,” Bobby muttered.
    “I’ll go upstairs and call the police. You go right on doing what they told you to do. Okay?”
    “Okay,” Bobby said.
    Trixie