Movie Star Mystery

by Charles Tang

  Courtney stayed by the gate, her arms folded, watching as the Aldens pedaled away.

  “Whew!” said Henry. “She really doesn’t want us around.”

  “Who does she think is going to hurt Jonathan?” Violet wondered.

  “Good question,” Jessie said. She pedaled in silence for a little while, then added, “This is going to sound a little weird, maybe, but I think I’ve seen Jonathan before.”

  “Sure you have,” said Benny. “At the ice-cream shop yesterday.”

  “No. I’d seen him before that,” said Jessie.

  “I think I have, too,” said Henry. “And not on a wanted poster at the post office.”

  “But not around Greenfield,” Violet said.

  “No,” Henry said. “Not around Greenfield.”

  “We’ve traveled a lot,” Violet said. “Maybe you saw him on one of our trips.”

  “Maybe,” said Henry. “But I don’t think so.”

  “He’s very handsome,” said Jessie.

  “He is?” said Benny, “I liked Greta. I thought she was handsome. So did Watch.”

  “Oh, Benny,” said Jessie, shaking her head and laughing.

  Violet said, “Jonathan never told us his last name, or if he and his family had moved into the mansion. So we still haven’t solved that mystery.”

  “We have lots of mysteries,” Benny said happily. “Bank robbers and who lives in that old house and why that mean lady acts so weird and why Jessie thinks Jonathan is handsome.”

  Jessie blushed a little. Violet said, “Jessie’s right. Jonathan is handsome. Like a movie star.”

  “That’s it!” Jessie exclaimed.

  “What?” said Violet.

  “Come on,” Jessie said. “I’ll show you!”

  CHAPTER 5

  The Movie Star in Disguise

  Why are we going into the grocery store, Jessie?” Henry asked.

  “You’ll see,” Jessie answered mysteriously. She led the way to the magazine section and stopped. She studied the rows of magazines, then reached out and picked up a magazine called True Star Stories. On the front of the magazine was a big, slightly blurred photograph of a star with his face half hidden by sunglasses and a cap pulled low over his face. Beneath the photograph in big black letters the caption read “Tate’s Last Date?????”

  Jessie walked back toward the front of the store.

  “You’re not going to buy that magazine, are you?” Henry said in astonishment.

  “Yes, I am,” Jessie said.

  “But those stories aren’t really true. They’re just gossip and exaggerations, to try to make you buy the magazine,” Henry said.

  “Junk,” said Benny, repeating a word he had heard Grandfather Alden say.

  “Junk or no junk, it’s going to help us solve at least one of our mysteries,” Jessie insisted. She paid for the magazine and went back outside, where Watch was waiting patiently by the bicycles. She sat down next to Watch on the grass and the others gathered around her.

  “Does this picture remind you of anyone?” Jessie asked.

  They all studied the picture.

  “Well . . .” Violet began, then stopped.

  “It reminds me of Jonathan,” said Jessie.

  She opened the magazine and read the story inside. According to the report, the movie star Tate Radison had last been seen at a movie premiere with an actress in Hollywood two weeks before. After the date, he’d just disappeared from sight.

  Henry read aloud over Jessie’s shoulder, “ ‘Tate was supposed to begin a new film this month. But where is he? Has the bad luck curse that haunted his last movie caused him to disappear?’ ”

  “Bad luck curse?” Violet said. “What does that mean?”

  Since Jessie had skipped ahead, she was ready with an answer. She said, “According to this article, Tate’s trailer on the movie set got flooded; a wall of fake bricks, which were fortunately made of lightweight foam, collapsed without warning and delayed filming; and then a whole canister of film just disappeared.”

  “Why didn’t they just buy a new can, then?” Benny asked.

  “Canister,” Jessie said. “And they couldn’t because the film inside the canister was film that already had pictures on it. They had to refilm several scenes, which delayed the film even more and made it even more expensive.”

  “And then Tate got bitten by a parrot who was costarring with him in the movie,” said Violet, who’d skipped ahead to read the end of the story.

  “I think Jonathan is Tate Radison,” Jessie said.

  She closed the magazine and they all studied the cover again. Finally Henry said, “Well, there’s only one way to find out. We’re going to pay another visit to Jonathan tomorrow morning.”

  “If Jonathan is Tate,” Jessie said in a low voice as they turned onto Old Farm Road and rode their bicycles toward the Radley mansion the next morning, “maybe Courtney is his bodyguard. Lots of famous people have bodyguards.”

  “Especially famous people with bad luck curses,” said Violet.

  “Exactly,” said Jessie.

  At that moment, they heard the sound of a car approaching. Henry wound his fingers around Watch’s leash so Watch couldn’t run out into the road.

  A blue van shot past them in a cloud of dust and gravel.

  “That’s the blue van we saw a couple of days ago,” Henry said, blinking and rubbing his eyes to get the dust out. “The one that George and Harpo were driving.”

  “It looked like it,” Violet agreed. “But what is it doing out here on Old Farm Road?”

  “Maybe the robbers came back to hide their treasure near the barn in the woods,” Benny said.

  “I don’t think so, Benny,” Jessie said. “I don’t think they’ve got any loot to hide yet. And why would they go back to hide loot in a place where witnesses have seen them?”

  “Witnesses? You mean us?” Benny asked.

  “Yes. We saw them by the barn and near the bank and we heard them talking about hiding loot. That makes us witnesses,” Jessie said.

  “That makes us witnesses and detectives,” said Benny happily.

  Violet stopped. “Look,” she said.

  They saw that the gate to the old Radley place was closed today and locked. For a moment, they didn’t know how they were going to get in. Then Henry spotted an intercom system on one of the stone gateposts. He pressed the button.

  After a long wait, someone said in a gruff voice, “Who is it?”

  “The Aldens and their dog, Watch,” said Henry. “We’re here to see Jonathan and Greta.”

  Another long wait followed. Then the gruff voice said, “He’s not seeing people right now. You’ll have to leave.”

  Jessie wasn’t about to give up so easily. She pressed the intercom again. “Please tell him we came to visit and that we’ll be back again tomorrow.”

  “Oh, Jessie,” Violet breathed. Violet was shy.

  The gruff voice didn’t answer, but as the Aldens turned to go, the intercom crackled to life again. “Wait!” a different voice said. “Come on in.”

  They heard a loud buzzing and then the gates swung slowly open.

  After propping their bikes against a tree, the Aldens walked up the long driveway. Halfway to the house, they saw Jonathan coming toward them across the grass. Greta was bouncing along at his side.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Jonathan said. “I was getting really bored and so was Greta. Weren’t you, girl?”

  Greta flattened her ears and wagged her tail. Then she went down on her front forepaws to invite Watch to come play with her.

  Henry unsnapped Watch’s leash and he bounded forward happily.

  Benny, who had been staring hard at Jonathan, suddenly blurted out, “Are you really Tate Radison?”

  Jonathan looked surprised, then amused. “You caught me,” he said.

  “Your name isn’t really Jonathan. It’s Tate Radley. You’re Estella Radley’s son,” said Jessie, just to make sure.

  Shakin
g his head, the movie star said, “My real name is Jonathan Tate Monroe. My screen name is Tate Radison. Everyone calls me Tate.”

  “If you are a real movie star, what are you doing out here?” Benny demanded.

  Tate fished around in the pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled out an old tennis ball. He held it up. “Here, girl! Here, Watch!” he called to the two dogs. He threw the ball and the dogs chased it.

  “This is my mother’s place,” Tate answered, watching the dogs run.

  “Estella Radley,” Violet said softly. When Tate looked over at her, she blushed a little.

  “Right,” he said. “My screen surname, Radison, is a sort of play on her last name, Radley. I’m surprised you know her name, though. She didn’t think anybody would even remember she had once lived in Greenfield.”

  “Our grandfather did,” Henry told Tate. “He said she left when she was a teenager, over twenty years ago, and never came back.”

  “She was going to be a star,” Tate said. “She worked on stage and in film for a while. Then she met my father and got married and they had me. My father is a musician and now my mother manages my career.”

  “You still haven’t told us why you are here,” Jessie said.

  “We’re going to film my next movie here,” Tate said.

  Violet clasped her hands together in excitement. “Really?”

  “Really,” Tate said. “But it’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

  “Why?” Benny asked.

  Tate began to walk back toward the house. “Well, partly because of what happened on my last movie.”

  “The bad luck jinx,” said Jessie.

  “Right again,” said Tate. He didn’t seem surprised by what Jessie knew. He acted as if he were used to people knowing all about him.

  They sat on the steps and took turns throwing the ball for Greta and Watch as Tate told the rest of his story. Getting nipped by the parrot could have happened to anyone, he explained, and it wasn’t really serious. And having one of the pipes burst and his trailer flood was inconvenient and messy, but also something that could have just been an accident.

  “But when that wall collapsed and the canister of film disappeared, I began to get worried. Especially since that particular canister contained scenes in the film that involved only me. That’s also when I began to realize that I was being followed,” Tate said.

  “Who was following you? A reporter?” Henry asked.

  “I thought so at first. But if it had been a reporter, sooner or later he or she would have approached me. And it wasn’t anyone trying to take sneaky photos of me, because none appeared in the press.”

  “That’s why this is a big secret, then,” Jessie said. “You don’t want anyone following you here. And you don’t want any more bad luck.”

  “I just want to do my job and enjoy being a kid,” said Tate. He sighed. Then, as if pushing away the thought of bad luck, he jumped up.

  “Let me show you around. It’s a pretty cool old place,” he said.

  With the dogs romping along nearby, the Aldens and Tate walked around the old estate. Much of it was still overgrown by weeds and vines, and they saw people hammering and sawing and raking and planting. On one side of the house they stopped by a fountain that had been cleared and repaired. Fat fish swam lazily in a pool below the splashing water.

  Greta and Watch stood at the edge of the pool, gazing intently at the fish. Then Watch stuck his whole head into the pool.

  “Watch, be careful!” Violet cried.

  But when Watch pulled his dripping head out with a comical expression on his face, everybody laughed.

  “That’s no way to catch a fish, Watch,” Tate said. “Greta could have told you that.”

  “Tate?” a woman called from the back porch,

  Tate looked up and waved. “Come on,” he said to the Aldens. “I want you to meet my mom. My dad’s traveling with the symphony.”

  “Call me Estella,” the tall, slender woman insisted as she shook hands with each of the Aldens. She was as colorful as an exotic flower, in rose-colored pants, a wide sash of turquoise, and a loose shirt splashed with rose, turquoise, and yellow flowers and green leaves. Like Tate, she had jet-black hair and thick curling eyelashes, but her eyes were dark brown instead of blue.

  When Benny shook hands with Estella, he said, “You look more like a movie star than Tate.”

  Estella laughed. “You’ll go far, Benny,” she said.

  “I don’t want to go anywhere,” said Benny. “I like it in Greenfield.”

  Estella laughed again, throwing back her head.

  “Estella? Telephone call for you. And we still need to finish going over that contract.” The man with the silver hair came out of the house. Even though he had been inside, he had on sunglasses.

  “This is Eddie Hampton,” Tate said, and introduced the Aldens to his agent. “He’s visiting.”

  “Briefly, briefly,” said the agent. “Estella? That contract?”

  “Have a nice visit to Greenfield,” said Henry politely.

  “Greenfield? Is that where I am? Who knew?” said Eddie, shaking his head. He was still shaking his head as he went back in the house.

  Estella laughed and followed him. From the doorway, she fluttered her fingers at the Aldens. “Nice to meet you. See you soon, I hope,” she said.

  Jessie looked at her wristwatch. “Uh-oh,” she said. “We have to go now to be home in time for lunch.”

  “I’ll walk you to the gate and get the mail,” Tate said. “Next time, maybe you can stay for lunch.”

  “I’d like that,” Benny said.

  Courtney seemed to come from nowhere. “Don’t go outside the gate,” she said to Tate. She nodded at the Aldens. “Welcome back.” Her voice was curt, but she didn’t seem quite as unfriendly as she had the day before.

  “Thank you,” Violet said politely.

  “See you in a minute, Court,” Tate said.

  “If not, I’ll come looking for you,” she warned.

  When they were out of earshot of Courtney, Tate said, “This is her first bodyguard job for the major star of a picture. I’ve never had a bodyguard before, but the producers insisted on it after what happened last time.”

  “She seems very . . . tough,” said Jessie.

  “She is,” Tate said. “And determined. She doesn’t want anything to go wrong.”

  At the gate, he punched a code onto a keypad set behind a small door in the back of one of the stone gateposts. The gate swung slowly open. Henry knelt and snapped on Watch’s leash.

  As the Aldens walked out, Tate walked with them.

  “Courtney told you to stay inside,” Violet said in an alarmed voice.

  Tate said, “I’m just going to get the mail out of the—”

  “Who’s there?” Jessie interrupted. She pointed as a shadowy figure darted out of the bushes across the road and into the deep cover of the woods beyond.

  CHAPTER 6

  A Mysterious Letter

  Watch and Greta barked. Tate grabbed Greta’s collar and Henry held on tightly to Watch’s leash.

  Jessie ran into the woods, but it was too late. Whoever it was had gotten too big a head start for her to catch up. Returning breathlessly, she said, “I couldn’t see who it was.”

  “It was probably a reporter,” said Tate. He didn’t sound very concerned. He reached into the mailbox and took out a bundle of mail.

  He drew out a single letter with the word Tate written on the front.

  “Look,” said Benny. “Your letter doesn’t have a stamp on it.”

  “Or an address, either,” Violet said.

  “Looks like it was hand-delivered,” said Tate, sounding a little uneasy now. Carefully, he opened the envelope and unfolded a single sheet of white paper. Printed in big black letters they saw:

  Twinkle, twinkle, little star

  The world will find out where you are.

  Henry frowned. “What do you think that means? Is it some kind of a t
hreat?”

  “I don’t know,” said Tate. He turned the sheet of paper over, but nothing else was written on it.

  Jessie glanced up the road in the direction that the mysterious figure hiding in the undergrowth had fled. “I think I know who delivered your letter,” she said. “It was whoever was hiding in the bushes. Someone must have just put it into the mailbox when we came out.”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Tate said. “If someone knows I’m here, what does he or she want?” He groaned. “I hope this isn’t the beginning of more bad luck.”

  “Maybe someone wants you to pay money to keep it a secret,” said Henry.

  “There hasn’t been a demand for money,” Tate said.

  “Don’t worry,” said Benny. “It’s a mystery and we’re very good at solving mysteries.”

  Tate smiled at Benny. “Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome,” said Benny.

  “One thing’s for sure,” Tate said as he walked back inside the gate. “I’m not going to tell Courtney about this. It would make her even more overprotective than she is now.”

  “Be careful, though,” Jessie warned.

  “I will,” said Tate. He smiled and waved. “Come back tomorrow. We’re still scouting locations for the movie and I don’t have much to do right now.”

  “Okay,” said Benny.

  The Aldens wheeled their bikes back out onto the road. Jessie folded her jacket into the basket of her bike and gave Watch a ride in it. He was still panting from playing with Greta.

  As soon as they got started, Watch stood up in the basket and uttered a short, high bark. At the same moment, Henry slowed his bike and pointed. “Do you see that?” he asked. “Over there? Tire tracks.”

  The Aldens stopped their bikes and went over to inspect the tracks.

  “They weren’t here this morning when we went by,” said Violet.

  “Let’s see where they go,” Benny said.

  They followed the tracks to the edge of the woods and saw that branches and broken brush had been pulled over the tracks in an attempt to hide them. Pushing the branches aside, they saw that the tracks stopped just beyond where the children stood.