The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

window whenever he needed a messenger,” Honey reminded her.
    “Right,” Trixie agreed. “He reported a burglary attempt, then made sure that the police suspected Dan.” Brian interrupted. “That should prove Dan isn’t working with the gang. They wouldn’t make a scapegoat of one of their own members.”
    “That’s right,” Jim said. “Dan must have caught them in the game preserve, and they had to find some way to keep him quiet.”
    Mart spoke so earnestly that, for once, he forgot to
    use long words. “We know how the gang lived. Bobby fed them. And we know their contact was Dick Ryks. What else do we know about that nephew character? He didn’t get around much in Sleepyside.”
    “Well,” Honey said slowly, “Ella Kline lives at the inn, and her key disappeared when Dick Ryks put a check in her purse.”
    “That’s itl” Trixie shrieked. “The desk clerk said Dick Ryks was visiting someone up on the third floor! That’s where Hallie and Dan must be—locked in Ella Kline’s room! The police didn’t go there while investigating the diamond robbery because they knew Ella was here at Manor House!”
    “Let’s go!” Jim shouted.
    Within minutes, Jim, Brian, Mart, Di, Honey, and Trixie, still dressed in wedding finery, clustered around the desk clerk at Glen Road Inn. “We need to get into Ella Kline’s room,” Trixie demanded. When the man started to protest, Trixie shouted, “It’s a matter of life and death! Hurry!”
    The clerk gave in, fished out a key, and led the way to the third floor. He muttered the whole time about whether it was ethical to open an absent guest’s door. “Twice in one day! I could get fired.”
    When the door to Ella’s room swung open, two pairs of dark eyes stared out, first showing apprehension, then joy.
    “Hallie!” Trixie cried. She ran to a rocking chair where her cousin sat, a gag in her mouth and her hands tied behind her back.
    Jim, Brian, and Mart rushed to cut the ropes that spread-eagled Dan flat on his back on the bed. He, too, was gagged, as well as groggy and weak from lack of exercise and not enough food.
    “Your poor, poor wrists,” Trixie moaned when she set Hallie free.
    “You should see Dan’s!” doctor-to-be Brian said angrily.
    The incredulous desk clerk watched the scene from the doorway.
    “Oh, Dan!” Trixie cried. “We’ve hunted, and worried, and thought, and hunted again!”
    As he sat up and dangled his long legs over the edge of the bed, Dan said weakly, “Thanks. H-Have you g-got something for a dry mouth?” He tried to smile. Silently Honey brought a glass of water from the bathroom, and Di held it while Dan sipped. After a while, he was able to say, Tm fine. They untied me once or twice a day.”
    “Why didn’t you make a break for it?” Mart asked. “Would you have wanted Bobby tied up here in my place?” Dan asked. “That’s what they threatened, and I couldn’t stand to have that happen.”
    “Hallie, how did you get caught?” Di asked.
    Hallie turned from Ella’s dresser. “My mom has the smarts, but she didn’t tell me that empty hotel rooms aren’t always empty! The minute I unlocked that door, the scrawny kid—can you believe it?—that little runt grabbed me, stuck a gag in my mouth, and tied me to the rocking chair.” Hallie stood her tallest to express her amazement that such a thing could have happened to her.
    “He heard you coming, Hallie,” Dan said comfortingly. “I couldn’t warn you. I tried, but he made sure that my gag was tight.”
    “See?” Hallie told the sober Bob-Whites. “I told you Dan’s an okay kid.”
    “And so are you, Hallie Belden,” Honey said warmly.
    Brian and Jim helped Dan down the stairs, and Mart walked with Hallie, in case her knees got wobbly. “My feet went to sleep,” she explained. She patted the pocket of her shorts. “Anyway, I got what I came for—Ella’s crutch tips.”
    “She has a wheelchair now,” Di told her happily. When they reached the desk, Trixie said, “Please, may I make a telephone call? And we do want to thank you for helping us.”
    Little lady, I had no idea—” The clerk rubbed his head, picked up his crossword puzzle book, and put it down again. “Well, I just had no idea what was going on.”
    “Plenty!” Trixie said briskly. “You’ll read all about it in the Sleepyside Sun!”
    Having been notified that Dan was safe, Regan and Mr. Maypenny couldn’t wait to see him, and they met the Bob-White station