Radio Mystery (3 page)

“Make one for us,” Jessie said.

“Okay. Close your eyes.” The Aldens shut their eyes and listened. Gwen picked up a sheet of paper and rattled it around.

Henry opened his eyes. “It sounds like a crackling fire.”

“Exactly!” Gwen put down the paper. “My favorite sound effects are the simple ones.”

“That’s so cool! Show us another one,” Benny said.

Gwen thought for a second, then began walking in place. At first her footsteps were heavy. Then they got lighter and lighter.

Benny scratched his head. “A march?”

“Fading footsteps,” Gwen said. “Like somebody is walking out of the room.”

“What a cool job!” Violet said admiringly.

Gwen smiled shyly. “A lot of the sound effects I learned from my grandfather. He was teaching me to be a DJ, too. He loved this station.” Gwen’s face looked sad. “It would be too bad if Gran had to give it up or change it.”

“We’ll catch that ghost,” Benny promised.

They all stood quietly for a minute. Then Gwen glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly supper time. We’d better go meet Gran and your grandfather at the diner.”

“Good idea!” said Benny.

The Aldens followed Gwen down the station’s narrow hallway. As they passed the control booth, they met Avery getting ready for his dinner break. A pet expert program played from the speakers. Avery had changed into shorts, a T-shirt, and well-worn running shoes. His office shirt and slacks hung in the curtained cubby.

“Are you going to eat at the diner, too?” Benny asked him.

Avery held up his sports duffel. “I’m going running like I do every evening. I’ll eat later. See you all tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about Frances — she’ll write a great script for you.”

The Aldens and Gwen said good-bye to Avery, then walked out of the station toward the diner. The Route 11 Diner was just down the block from the radio station.

“Somebody in the station is playing tricks,” Henry said as they walked down Main Street.

“But who?” asked Benny. “We were right there when the ghost came, and I didn’t see anything.”

“Gwen, you’ve been there before when the ghost has struck,” Violet said. “Have you ever noticed anything strange?”

“I
do
notice things,” Gwen snapped. “Just not when the lights go out.”

The Aldens exchanged glances. Why was Gwen so touchy?

When the children entered the diner, Grandfather and Jocelyn waved from a large table by the window.

“I was wondering something,” Jessie said to Jocelyn. “Avery told us he thought he saw someone go out the side door after the records were stolen. Is that door locked?”

“Not from the inside,” Jocelyn replied. “But you need a key to get in from the outside. The door automatically locks behind you.”

“Who has keys?” Henry asked.

“I do,” Gwen said. “Avery, Frances, and Gran, of course. And Earl Biggs.”

“Who’s he?” asked Benny.

“Earl is the owner of Earl’s Auto Sales,” said Jocelyn. “The car lot is right next door to the station.”

“I think we heard his commercial playing on the radio,” Violet said.

Jocelyn nodded. “You probably did. He sponsors the live mystery show and some of our other programs, too.”

“Didn’t you and Luther and Earl go to school together?” Grandfather asked.

Jocelyn smiled. “Yes. We were all good friends. Right before we graduated, Earl asked me to marry him. But I married Luther instead.”

Just then, DeeDee walked over with menus. The red ribbon above her name tag matched the red paper place mats.

“Hello, everyone,” DeeDee greeted them. Jocelyn introduced her to Grandfather.

“DeeDee, I was surprised you and the others quit the show today,” said Grandfather.

“Well,” DeeDee said defensively, “we can’t work in a place that’s haunted.”

“You know perfectly well the station is not haunted,” Jocelyn said.

“Everybody in town knows the story of Daphne Owens,” the waitress said. “If Daphne’s ghost isn’t haunting the station, then who is doing those things?”

“Ghosts aren’t real,” Violet told her. “There has to be a logical explanation.”

“And we’ll find it,” Henry added.

Suddenly businesslike, DeeDee pulled out her pad and pencil and reeled off the daily specials. When she had taken their orders, she left to fetch their drinks.

“Let’s go wash our hands,” Jessie suggested.

The rest rooms were near the kitchen.

As Violet was coming out of the ladies’ room, DeeDee walked toward her hefting a tray of soft drinks and coffee cups.

“You know,” DeeDee said, her voice low. “The station really
is
haunted. You can look for logical explanations all you want, but I’m telling you now, it’s Daphne Owens’s ghost. You and your sister and brothers better watch out!”

Before Violet could respond, DeeDee left to carry the tray to their table.

Violet waited for Jessie to come out of the rest room, then told her about DeeDee’s warning. “Why would she say that?” Violet finished.

“Maybe she just wants to stir things up,” Jessie suggested. “Telling ghost stories gives her something to talk about. Maybe she thinks it’s funny.”

“Maybe.” Violet wasn’t so sure.

Despite their worries about the trouble at the station, the Aldens, Gwen, and Jocelyn enjoyed their supper.

When it was time to leave, Grandfather drove everyone back to Jocelyn’s in the Aldens’ minivan.

Jessie, who was sitting by a window, noticed a man jogging on one of the paths in the park. She leaned closer. Was that Avery Drake? Jessie recognized his blue duffel bag.

Strange
, Jessie thought.
Why would Avery be running with his bag?

“Your first day on the radio!” Jocelyn said, setting platters of eggs, sausage, and toast on the table. “Eat hearty!”

“Mmmm!” Benny said, heaping his plate with food.

Jessie nibbled at her eggs. She was so excited, she had hardly slept the night before. Everyone except Gwen was sitting around the breakfast table. Jessie wondered why Gwen was late. This was an important day!

“I want to thank you children for doing the show this week,” Jocelyn said. “If you hadn’t volunteered, we would have had to cancel the program. The station would have lost a lot of money — and our listeners would be very disappointed!”

“Doing the show will be fun,” Henry said.

“And it gives us a good excuse to hang around the station looking for clues,” Violet added.

Jocelyn gave a ring with two keys on it to Henry. “You should have your own keys. The big one is for the front door of the station. The small one goes to this house.”

Gwen breezed into the dining room, her red hair streaming down her back. “I bet you guys never had a mystery like this before,” she said. “The ghost hasn’t left behind a single clue.”

“We’ve had some pretty tough mysteries,” Violet said. “But sooner or later, we always find clues.”

Sometimes Gwen acts like she doesn’t
want
us to solve the mystery,
she thought.

“Good luck today. We’ll be listening to your program,” Grandfather said as the kids got ready to leave.

“It’ll be the best radio show ever!” Benny declared.

The Aldens and Gwen walked the short distance to the station. Inside, Avery waved hello from the control booth.

Frances St. Clair was in the breakroom, working at the table.

“Is that the script?” Gwen asked.

“I wrote half the night,” Frances said grumpily, “but it’s finished.” She passed out yellow-covered copies to Henry, Violet, Jessie, and Gwen.

Henry read the title on the front cover. “‘The Ghost Dog.’ Sounds great.”

“Since you can’t read that well,” Frances told Benny, “I’ve given you the part of the ghost dog.”

Benny was delighted. “Oh, boy! Is it a big dog or a little dog?” He yipped like Watch, their dog back home.

“The script says it’s a Labrador retriever,” Jessie said. “That’s a big dog.”

“Woof!” Benny deepened his voice.

“It looks like there are lots more sound effects in this play,” Gwen said, “so you can also be my assistant.”

Everyone read the play silently. The story was about three children who move into a house haunted by the ghost of a dog that had lived there long ago. Violet played the youngest sister. Jessie and Henry played thirteen-year-old twins.

When they had finished reading the script, Frances said, “We’ll do a run-through first. You’ll read from the scripts during the broadcast, but you’ll also be acting.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jessie.

“I mean, I want you to read the lines without
sounding
like you’re reading them,” Frances answered. “Put lots of expression into your voice. Like this.” After clearing her throat, she read one of Violet’s lines. “‘What was
that?
It sounded like — a dog howling. But there
is
no dog!’”

Frances made her voice high and breathless. She sounded exactly like a scared child.

Henry nodded. “I get it.” He found one of his own lines and read it. “‘Look! The dog went right through the wall, just like the wall wasn’t there!’” He made his voice sound like he was astonished.

Jessie read one of her lines, too. She enjoyed acting and was very good.

“Now let’s hear Benny,” Frances said.

Benny practiced howling and barking.

“Good. Practice reading your parts to yourselves for a few minutes and then we’ll do the run-through,” said Frances.

Then they all headed to the soundstage, where Frances arranged three standing microphones and Gwen set up her box of sound effects props.

Violet felt fluttering in her stomach, like butterflies. She had stage fright! “What if we make a mistake?” she said nervously.

“Mistakes happen. Just keep going,” Frances said. “We’re broadcasting live, after all. Keep your place in the script and you’ll be fine.”

Gwen selected the tapes she needed for that day’s sound effects. She told Benny, “I’ll do some of the sound effects with props, but mostly I’ll use tapes. You can hit the PLAY button on the cassette player when I signal you.”

Henry, Jessie, and Violet read through the script, complete with sound effects, with only a few mistakes. Then it was airtime.

Frances counted down the seconds. The red ON AIR sign in the hall flashed on. They were on the radio!

Violet’s nervousness vanished as soon as she read her first line. Benny was so good in his part, she almost believed there was an invisible dog.

Henry was surprised at how fast twenty minutes passed. All too soon, Frances was announcing that the show would continue tomorrow. The red ON AIR light went off. They heard the familiar Earl’s Auto Sales jingle playing through the speakers.

“I can’t believe we just did a radio show!” Violet said as Gwen turned off the microphones. “I hope the listeners liked it.”

As Violet spoke, the phones in the soundstage and Avery’s control booth lit up. Frances and Avery were busy answering one call after another.

Avery ran out of the control booth. “Kids love the program!”

“I wrote a hit show!” Frances crowed.

“Our actors deserve a lot of the credit,” Avery said. “You were terrific!”

Frances took the next call. Jessie watched her happy smile turn into an expression of concern. Something was wrong.

When Frances hung up, she said, “Well, not
everyone
is thrilled with our show.”

“Who was that?” Gwen asked.

“Earl Biggs,” Frances said.

“The guy whose car commercials come on after the show?” Benny asked.

Frances nodded. “Exactly. He listened to the show from his office next door,” she said. “He called to complain. He said he doesn’t want to sponsor a kiddie show. Kids don’t buy cars.”

“He doesn’t know the entire cast walked out yesterday,” Avery said. “I’ll tell him. And I’ll tell him we’re just doing a children’s mystery program this week. And that the listeners loved it. Let’s hope he isn’t mad enough to pull his advertising.”

“He seems to be looking for excuses to cancel his account,” Frances said, leaving the room to answer another phone.

“Do you think it’s possible that Earl could be the ghost?” Jessie asked Gwen.

Gwen looked sharply at her. “What makes you think that?”

“Everyone is a suspect in a case like this,” Henry told her. “And Earl has a key, right? So he could sneak in and out without much trouble.”

Gwen scowled. “I guess so.” She turned abruptly from the Aldens and picked up the garbage can. “This place is a mess,” she said. “I should clean.”

“May we help?” asked Violet.

Gwen shrugged. “Sure. Gran can’t afford a cleaning crew, so everyone who works here takes turns emptying the trash, mopping, and dusting.”

“I’ll sweep the floor,” Jessie said.

“And I’ll empty the trash cans,” Benny offered.

“Thanks,” said Gwen. “The Dumpster is out the side door.”

Benny collected the trash in one wastebasket, then opened the door at the end of the hall. Benny didn’t have a key, so he propped the door open with a second wastebasket.

A large Dumpster stood at the edge of the parking lot. On the other side was Earl’s Auto Sales. The small cinder block building was surrounded by shiny cars.