The Haunted Hotel

by Ron Roy

  “And Mr. and Mrs. Spivets will have to move,” Ruth Rose added. “Please, Livvy? It won’t take us long.”

  Livvy took a moment to think. “Okay” she finally said. “But just for two minutes!”

  “Hey what’s this?” Josh had stuck his head into a small opening in one wall.

  “That’s an old dumbwaiter,” Livvy explained. “In the old days, the hotel sent food up to the guests. Each room had one of these little elevator things, When the food got up there, the guests just opened a door and pulled out their food tray.”

  “Our room didn’t have one,” Dink said.

  “None of them do anymore,” Livvy said. “When the hotel closed its kitchen, the dumbwaiters were all sealed up.”

  She pointed to the one in her wall. “That’s the only hole left.”

  Josh stuck his head back into the opening. “Cool! This thing goes way up!”

  “Right,” Livvy explained. “The shaft is still there, but the openings into the rooms were covered over.”

  Josh yelled “Hello!” into the empty shaft. His voice came echoing back.

  Livvy finished her tea. “Okay, let’s go,” she said. “I’ll be glad when Mr. Linkletter is back to normal again. He’s even grouchier than usual!”

  Livvy took the kids up to the third floor, then knocked at Room 301. When no one answered, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

  “Please don’t touch anything,” she said. She knelt down and peeked under both beds. “The wig’s gone!”

  The kids looked around the room. “Maybe it’s in the closet!” Ruth Rose whispered.

  Livvy pulled open the closet door. On the top shelf sat a plastic head wearing a spiky white wig.

  “That’s it!” Josh said.

  “Can you take it down?” Dink asked.

  Livvy carefully took the head down and set it on a table.

  Ruth Rose removed the white hair from her pocket and held it next to the wig.

  “The hairs are the same!” she said.

  “Look.” Dink pointed to a small framed picture on the bedside table. “Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers!”

  “You know these people?” Livvy asked.

  “We met them yesterday,” Ruth Rose said. “We think one of them might be the ghost.”

  Livvy’s eyes grew wide. “Why would they want to scare the guests away? They seem so nice!”

  “That’s what we plan to find out,” Dink said.

  Livvy carefully placed the wig back on the closet shelf.

  As she stepped back, her arm caught on something. A long silver object clunked to the floor.

  “It’s the ghost’s sword!” Ruth Rose said. She picked it up and laughed. “It’s just painted wood!”

  “Guys, look at this stuff!” Josh had been examining some tubes and bottles on a vanity table. “Look, white clown makeup. And black! This is what I smelled in the hallway last night!”

  “Hey, guys, a tape recorder,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Kids, please don’t touch…”

  Before Livvy could finish, Ruth Rose had pushed the PLAY button.

  Suddenly the room was filled with spooky noises. Livvy and the kids listened as a voice moaned and groaned.

  “Those are the same noises we heard last night!” Dink said.

  “Have you seen Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers this morning?” Ruth Rose asked Livvy.

  Livvy shook her head. “Maybe they went out for breakfast.” She looked at her watch. “And I have to get busy.”

  Livvy locked the door behind them, and they all got in the elevator.

  “Thanks for letting us in,” Ruth Rose said to Livvy.

  Livvy put one finger to her lips. “Let’s keep this a secret, okay?” she whispered. “From you-know-who!”

  “It’s a deal,” Ruth Rose whispered back.

  The elevator door opened and Livvy left the kids in the lobby.

  “There’s Mr. Linkletter,” Josh said. “Maybe he knows where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers went.”

  The kids walked over to the front desk.

  Mr. Linkletter looked as if he hadn’t been to bed. His suit was rumpled, and his hair stuck up in the back.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t disturb him,” Ruth Rose whispered.

  “But we have to find Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers,” Dink said. “We don’t have much more time!”

  Dink walked up to the desk and put on his best smile. “Hi, Mr. Linkletter!”

  Mr. Linkletter gazed down at Dink. “Oh, hello,” he said.

  “Do you happen to know where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers are this morning?” he asked.

  Mr. Linkletter waved his hand toward the door. “They told me they were going to Ellie’s for breakfast.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Linkletter!” Dink said.

  The kids left the hotel and hurried up Main Street toward Ellie’s Diner.

  “What’re we gonna say to them?” Josh asked. “We can’t just walk up and accuse them of being the ghost, can we?”

  Ruth Rose pushed open the door to the diner. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I have a plan.”

  Ellie was behind the counter, mixing tuna salad in a big bowl. She waved as the kids sat in one of the booths.

  “There they are,” Josh whispered. He nodded his head toward another booth, where Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers were eating breakfast.

  “They look so nice,” Dink said. “Not like people who would try to ruin a hotel.”

  Ellie came to their booth. “Back so soon?” she asked, opening her pad. “Don’t tell me you’re having another breakfast!”

  “Can I borrow your pad and pencil?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Ellie gave Ruth Rose a sly smile and handed them over. “What are you kids up to?” she asked.

  “I’ll give them back in a minute,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Okey-dokey I’ll see you in a minute then,” Ellie said, heading back to her tuna salad.

  Ruth Rose began writing.

  “What’re you doing?” Josh asked.

  “Wait a sec!” Ruth Rose said. She finished and pushed the pad in front of Dink and Josh. “What do you think?”

  “Ruth Rose! What if we’re wrong about the Jefferses?” Dink asked.

  “We’re not wrong,” Ruth Rose said, getting up.

  She walked over to Ellie, said something to her, and handed her the pad. Ellie smiled at Ruth Rose, then headed for the Jefferses’ booth.

  Ruth Rose hurried back and sat down. “Now watch,” she told Dink and Josh.

  They watched as Ellie handed the note to Mrs. Jeffers.

  Mrs. Jeffers read the note, then said something to Ellie. Ellie pointed toward the kids.

  Mrs. Jeffers waved, and Ruth Rose waved back.

  “Come on,” Ruth Rose said. She walked over to the Jefferses’ booth. Dink and Josh were right behind her.

  “Hi!” Ruth Rose said, pulling the white hair from her pocket. “I think your wig got caught on the fire door last night. You left this.”

  She placed the white hair on the green place mat.

  Mrs. Jeffers stared at the hair, then at the kids. Finally she looked at her husband.

  Mr. Jeffers sighed, then grinned at the kids. “Looks like you got us!” he said.

  “So you really are the ghost?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Mr. Jeffers nodded. “That was me last night,” he said. “Cindy here was the ghost the first two nights.”

  He looked at the kids. “Weren’t you asleep in your rooms when I came by?”

  “We hid in a smelly closet and saw you!” Josh said.

  Mr. Jeffers smiled. “Do I make a good ghost?”

  “You sure scared me!” Josh said.

  “But why did you do it?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “We’re both actors, and we’re broke,” Mrs. Jeffers said. “A few weeks ago, three men came up to us after a rehearsal and asked if we wanted a job.”

  “So we told them sure!” her husband said. “The men told us to check into the Shangri-la and scare the guests away. We came up with the ghost costum
e ourselves.”

  “How do you make it glow?” Josh asked.

  “I glued a string of tiny lights inside the gown,” Mrs. Jeffers said. “The battery was under the wig.”

  Her husband smiled. “And I thought of hiding the tape recorder in the basement dumbwaiter. The noise went all through the hotel walls!”

  “But that’s so mean!” Ruth Rose said. “If the hotel closes, what will happen to Mr. Linkletter and Livvy and Mr. and Mrs. Spivets?”

  Mr. Jeffers put up his hands. “Who said anything about the hotel closing?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Spivets did,” Dink said. “They’re selling the hotel because of you!”

  “What?” Mrs. Jeffers said. “But Mr. and Mrs. Spivets are supposed to know all about the ghost act. So is Mr. Linkletter.”

  “Look,” said Mr. Jeffers. “The three guys who hired us told us that the hotel is going to be used in a horror movie. Scaring guests away is supposed to be great publicity. All the guests are going to get their money back, plus free passes to the movie.”

  “And we’re supposed to get starring parts in the movie!” his wife said. “It’s a big break for us!”

  The kids looked at each other.

  “But Mr. and Mrs. Spivets don’t know anything about any movie,” Ruth Rose said. “Neither does Mr. Linkletter. They’re really upset because they’re going to have to sell the hotel. Today!”

  “Yeah,” Josh said. “Mrs. Spivets was crying and everything!”

  “We even saw the letter from the real estate company,” Dink said. “Their names were something like Peach or Roach.”

  “Eatch, Rail, and Roock?” Mr. Jeffers suddenly asked.

  “That’s them!” Dink said. “They’ve been trying to buy the hotel for a long time, but Mr. Spivets refused to sell. Until now.”

  Mr. Jeffers looked at his wife. “Oh, no,” he said. “Eatch, Rail, and Roock are the men who hired us!”

  His wife had gone from happy to sad. “No wonder they told us not to talk to Mr. Linkletter about the movie. There never was one!”

  Her husband shook his head. “All they wanted was the hotel—and we helped them get it!”

  “I feel terrible,” Mrs. Jeffers said. She turned to her husband. “Todd, isn’t there anything we can do?”

  Mr. Jeffers looked at the kids. “Do you think it’s too late?” he asked. “Have they actually sold the hotel yet?”

  Dink glanced at the clock over the counter. “They’re signing the papers at noon,” he said. “But I think I know how you can get rid of Eatch, Rail, and Roock and save the hotel at the same time!”

  “This wig itches!” Josh complained. He, Dink, and Ruth Rose were hiding behind the desk in the hotel lobby.

  Josh was dressed as the ghost, complete with wig, robe, and makeup.

  “It won’t be long now,” Dink said, glancing at the clock. It was almost noon!

  “Eatch, Rail, and Roock had better hurry up,” Josh said. “I’m gonna suffocate in this dumb dress!”

  From where he was hiding, Dink could see the rest of the lobby. Mr. Linkletter was sitting on the sofa with his aunt and uncle.

  On the other side of the lobby, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers were playing cards with Linda Gomez, the reporter from the Green Lawn Gazette. Next to her sat a man with a camera.

  “What if they don’t come?” Ruth Rose whispered.

  Dink smiled and pointed at the front door. “I think they just did!”

  Three men walked into the lobby. One was tall, one was medium, and one was short and round. Each was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and blue tie.

  “They look like three penguins!” Josh said.

  Mr. Linkletter hurried over to the men, then led them back to his aunt and uncle.

  The tall man shook hands with Mr. Spivets. “I am Fletcher Eatch,” he said.

  “I am Randolph Rail,” the medium-sized man said, sticking out his hand.

  “And I am Miles Roock,” the short man said, shaking hands in turn.

  Mr. Spivets nodded at the men. “Have you brought the papers?” he asked.

  Fletcher Eatch beamed. “We certainly have!” he said. He handed Mr. Spivets an important-looking document.

  Randolph Rail removed an envelope from his briefcase. “And here’s the check.”

  Miles Roock whipped a gold pen out of his pocket. “All we need is your signature, Mr. Spivets,” he said.

  Mr. Spivets looked sadly at his wife. Then he took the pen and started to sign the document.

  Just then Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers walked up.

  “Look, Todd!” Mrs. Jeffers said. “It’s the movie producers!”

  “What a surprise,” her husband said. “We were just talking about the movie you’re going to film here in the hotel!”

  Mr. Spivets paused. “What’s this about a movie?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Um…” began Fletcher Eatch.

  “Well…” started Randolph Rail.

  “W-we can explain!” said Miles Roock.

  “There’s no need to explain,” said Linda Gomez. She stood up and walked toward the men. “I’m a reporter from the Green Lawn Gazette. Tomorrow my column will tell the whole town how you tried to trick these people into selling their hotel!”

  The three men stared at Linda, then at the Jefferses. Finally their eyes landed on Mr. and Mrs. Spivets.

  Fletcher Eatch turned pink.

  Randolph Rail went white.

  Miles Roock turned purple. There was dead silence in the Shangri-la lobby.

  And then a ghost in a spiky white wig floated up from behind the desk. “Go hooome,” it moaned in a creepy voice. “Go home before it’s toooo laaatel”

  Everyone in the lobby—except Eatch, Rail, and Roock—started to laugh.

  “I guess I won’t be needing this,” Mr. Spivets said. He ripped the document he was holding into pieces.

  “W-what are you doing!” Fletcher Eatch spluttered.

  “You agreed to sell this hotel!” Randolph Rail said.

  “You can’t back out of a deal with Eatch, Rail, and Roock!” said Miles Roock.

  Mrs. Spivets stood up next to her husband.

  “Eatch, Rail, and Roock?” she said. “You should rearrange the letters in your names to Cheat, Liar, and Crook!”

  “And now,” Mr. Spivets said, “I think it’s time for you gentlemen to leave.”

  Without another word, Mr. Link-letter escorted the three men to the front door.

  The man with the camera followed, snapping one picture after another.

  Everyone cheered. Flo Spivets cheered the loudest.

  Mrs. Jeffers turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Spivets. “My husband and I are so sorry for what we did,” she said. “Can you ever forgive us?”

  “Of course we can, dear,” Mrs. Spivets said.

  “In fact,” said Mr. Spivets, “you were such good ghosts, we’d like to invite you to do it again! One weekend a month, we’d like you to put on a ‘Shangri-la Mystery’ for our guests. What do you think?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Mr. Jeffers said. “We can get some of our actor friends to help!”

  The photographer snapped pictures of the Jefferses and the Spivetses.

  “Wait till my readers hear about this!” Linda Gomez said, writing it all down on her pad.

  Then Mr. Spivets turned to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “And speaking of mysteries, I want to thank our three super sleuths!”

  He pulled three envelopes out of his pocket. “From the bottom of our hearts, Mrs. Spivets and I thank you,” he said. He handed the envelopes to the kids. “Please open these before you go to bed.”

  The photographer snapped a picture as the kids blushed.

  “Be sure to mention their names in the column,” Mrs. Spivets said to Linda Gomez.

  “My pleasure,” Linda said. “Now, how about a few more pictures of the three kids?”

  Dink and Ruth Rose looked into the camera and smiled.

  “Wait!” Josh said, struggling
out of the ghost costume. “I don’t want my picture in the paper with this wig and dress on!”

  * * *

  Later that night, the kids met in Dink’s living room.

  Dink was holding Loretta in his lap. She was nibbling on one of his shirt buttons.

  Josh pulled out the envelope Mr. Spivets had given him. “Can we open these now?” he asked.

  “He said before we go to bed, Josh,” Dink said.

  “This is before we go to bed!”

  “Josh is right!” Ruth Rose said. “I’m dying to know what’s in mine. Let’s open them on the count of three, okay? One, two, three!”

  “Oh golly, my great-aunt Molly!” Josh said. “Three plane tickets to Florida!”

  Ruth Rose held up the contents of her envelope. “And three passes to Disney World!”

  Dink gulped when he saw what was in his envelope. He pulled out three fifty-dollar bills and a note:

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose jumped up and did a triple high-five.

  Loretta crawled off the sofa. No one was looking, so she started chewing one of the fifty-dollar bills.

  Text copyright © 1999 by Ron Roy

  Illustrations copyright © 1999 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

  Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York.

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron

  The haunted hotel/by Ron Roy; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  p. cm. — (A to Z mysteries)

  Summary: When the guests of the Shangri-la Hotel are scared away by a white-haired

  female ghost, Dink and his friends investigate the mystery.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-53065-3

  [1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Hotels, motels, etc.—Fiction. 3. Mystery and detective stories.]

  I. Gurney, John, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Roy, Ron, A to Z mysteries.

  PZ7.R8139Hau 1999 98–46856

  [Fic]—dc21

  A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  A TO Z MYSTERIES and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.