Hocus Pocus Hotel (10 page)

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. “Good luck,” said Brack. “I hope your solution turns tragedy into comedy.”

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Tyler looked down at Charlie and said, “That guy is always saying weird stuff.”

Weird, but full of clues
, thought Charlie.
Tragedy and comedy?

“I think he's pretty smart,” Charlie said. “Anyway, where should we go?”

Tyler shrugged and pointed. “This way,” he said. “Follow the pipes.”

Long metal ducts snaked across the ceilings. As they walked deeper into the basement, more and more of the ducts appeared from different directions. They connected and joined together, forming even bigger pipes, and all running in the same direction.

They all passed through a wall near an orange door labeled BOILER ROOM.

When they opened the heavy orange metal door, Tyler and Charlie were met by a blast of thick, warm air. All the ducts entered this room. Half of them flowed into the dozen metal boilers. The boilers heated air. Then the air was carried by the other ducts to the vents on all the hotel's floors.

“If someone could be heard through that vent,” whispered Tyler, “then they must be somewhere in this room.”

Charlie grabbed Tyler's T-shirt. “Look! Over there!” he said.

A man's shadow covered one of the room's cement walls. His hands fluttered up and down in a strange way, as if he were brushing aside spider webs. Or as if he were a magician casting a spell.

His hands stopped. “Mister Ken,” they heard him say. Then the man's shadow disappeared.

“Hurry!” said Tyler. “Before he disappears!”

The boys dashed around the row of boilers. A young man turned abruptly, a surprised look on his face. He was surrounded by nine bowling pins. A heap of metal spoons and rings was lying at his feet. Behind him lay a neatly folded shower curtain.

“You're the ghost!” accused Tyler angrily.

“Ghost?” repeated the man. “What are you talking about?”

“He's not a ghost,” said Charlie. “He's a juggler.”

“Juggler?” repeated Tyler.

“Mr. Thursday, right?” asked Charlie.

The man bowed toward them. “Thursday the Master Thrower,” said the juggler. “And I'm sorry about taking these things. But I had to practice.”

“And your luggage was lost by the airlines,” said Charlie. “Along with your usual props, like bowling pins, juggling rings, and metal rods.”

“Exactly,” said Thursday. “I just borrowed these items to use until mine turn up. I always planned to return them. I even folded the shower curtain!”

“Your luggage just got here,” said Charlie. “We saw it up in the lobby.”

“Slow down,” Tyler said. “What's going on?”

“He's another performer,” explained Charlie. “Like the magicians who live here. And just like any performer, he has to practice every single day.”

“But why do you practice down here?” asked Tyler.

“Because the ceiling's high enough,” said Mr. Thursday.

“So we were hearing you practice through the vents,” said Tyler. “The vents next to this wall must go right up to the ninth floor. So, who is this Mister Ken guy?”

“Mister Ken?” Mr. Thursday said. “Who's that?”

Charlie smiled. “He wasn't saying Mister Ken,” he said. “We just thought he was. I finally figured it out when I realized what all three objects had in common.”

“What do you mean?” Tyler asked.

Charlie explained, “I was thinking, ‘What would someone use rings, spoons, and bowling pins for?' Then I thought, ‘Of course! Juggling!' Then I realized that what we were hearing was Mr. Thursday rehearsing his act.”

“What does that have to do with Mister Ken?” Tyler asked.

Charlie smiled again. “There is no Mister Ken,” he said.

“Okay, I really don't get it,” Tyler said.

Charlie said, “Whenever he dropped a spoon or ring or pin, he would say to himself, ‘Missed again, missed again.' That's what we were hearing. We just thought he was saying Mister Ken, but he was giving himself a hard time for screwing up while practicing.”

Thursday blushed above his beard. “It's a bad habit of mine,” he said.

“It just sounded like ‘Mister Ken,'” said Charlie.

“I have to practice every day, otherwise I get rusty,” said Thursday. “I would have asked to use these things, but it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“A surprise for what?” asked Tyler.

“For the magic show,” said Mr. Thursday. “Of course.”

“Wait a second,” Tyler said. “What magic show? I haven't heard about any magic show.”

“A magic show like the ones the Abracadabra had in the old days,” said Thursday. His voice was full of excitement. “And you haven't heard about it because it's a surprise,” he added. “The magicians here are all organizing it.”

“Wow!” said Tyler. “Mom will be so excited about all this. She'll love it!”

“Do me a favor,” Thursday said. “Keep it a surprise, for now. There are going to be a few shows coming up. The big one will take us a while to prepare.”

“Got it,” Tyler said. Charlie nodded.

Thursday rubbed at his beard. “Uh, you don't mind if I keep practicing, then, do you?” he asked.

“What? Oh, no, knock yourself out,” said Tyler. “But it would be better if you used your own stuff, since it's here. Can you help me take these bowling pins back upstairs?”

“No problem,” said Thursday.

* * *

Later, after Charlie, Tyler, and Mr. Thursday had returned the missing objects to their rightful places, Charlie stood in the lobby next to the front doors. It was still raining outside.

He stared at the tall painting of the former Abracadabra, the hotel's founder. He was studying the magician's eyes.

Tyler walked up to him. “Hey, you might want this,” he said. He handed Charlie an umbrella. “People always forget theirs when they leave the hotel, so we have lots of extra ones lying around.”

“Thanks,” said Charlie.

“No problem,” said Tyler. “Well, so it wasn't a ghost after all. And Mom won't deduct my money now to pay for the missing stuff.”

“Great,” said Charlie.

“Well, see you at school,” said Tyler. He started to walk away. But then he stopped, turned, and added, “But remember, don't talk to me in the halls.”

Charlie nodded and smiled. At school, he was the brain. Tyler was the bully. Everyone had their separate place at school. No one would ever suspect them of working together. But in the magicians' hotel, it was as if they became new people.

When Tyler had disappeared into his family's living quarters, Charlie hurried over to the row of elevators. He pushed the button.

Just as he had hoped, the car on the far left opened.

“Going up, Master Hitchcock?” asked Brack.

Charlie stepped briskly into the elevator. He watched his reflection in the shiny golden doors as they slid closed.

“This is where you saw the phantom of old Abracadabra, right?” asked Charlie.

“What's on your mind, young man?” asked the operator. The elevator car began to rise.