Amy looked sheepish. “I wish I knew,” she said. “But I know it wasn’t an accident. There’s no way the sound could have just switched like that! I need to be truthful with Uncle Flick and tell him …”
“Tell him what?” asked Jessie.
“That someone must have played a trick last night. Someone was in the booth when I was out.”
“Oh, no,” said Jessie.
“So will you please stay here for a moment while I get a soda?” Amy begged.
Jessie nodded.
“Thank you so much. I’ll be right back!” Amy ran off towards the snack bar.
Jessie sat on the front steps of the booth with Watch. “Amy’s being friendlier,” she told Watch. “But why does it seem like she’s still hiding something?”
After Amy returned to the booth, Jessie and Watch went back to the minivan. As the first movie began, Jessie told Henry, Violet, and Benny what had happened.
“Perhaps Amy is behind the pranks,” said Henry. “After all, she lied to Uncle Flick yesterday. She said the sound problem was an accident when it wasn’t.”
“Or maybe she feels guilty about leaving the booth,” Violet said.
“Both she and Joey keep sneaking off for some reason,” Jessie pointed out.
“And what about the ghost?” Benny asked.
“Benny, there’s no such thing as ghosts,” Henry reminded him. “But … maybe someone is trying to make the place look haunted.”
“They are!” Benny said. “I mean, maybe whoever is doing the pranks is making the ghost, too.”
“That’s true,” said Jessie. “When the movie is over, let’s find Dan Brinker and ask him about the ghost.”
Violet started giggling. “Oh my gosh! I almost forgot we were watching a movie! With people all around!”
Henry laughed, too. “But since we’re in a car, nobody else can hear us. So nobody is saying ‘sshhhhh!’”
“Drive-in movies are the best kind!” said Benny.
An hour later, Island of the Horses had ended. Jessie and Violet thought it was even better the second time around. As soon as the lights came up over the theater lot, they set out towards Dan Brinker’s car to talk to him about the “ghost” he had seen the night before.
The balloon-covered car was still in the second row. But Dan wasn’t there.
“Maybe he went to the snack bar,” said Jessie. “Let’s go see if he’s waiting in line.”
As the children walked towards the snack bar they heard a funny sound behind them. Zzzzt-zzzzt-zzzzt! It sounded like a bug zapper. Zzzzt! Zzzzzzzt! Watch heard it, too, and started barking.
Everyone in the theater was looking and pointing towards something in the sky near the screen. The children turned around and saw what it was. It was the neon sign for Duke’s Dogs. Something was very wrong with it. Zzzz, zzzt, it went, as it flickered and sputtered.
And then it went dark!
CHAPTER 4
Bad Sign
“What just happened to the Duke’s Dogs sign?” Jessie said.
“I don’t know,” said Henry. “But I’m sure Mr. Duke isn’t happy.”
“Look, there he is now,” said Violet. “He just walked through the front gate.”
Mr. Duke wasn’t just unhappy—he was angry. The children watched as he marched up the center aisle of the drive-in theater. “Flick!” he yelled. “What’s all this about?”
Uncle Flick came out of his office scratching his head. “What’s all what about?” he replied.
“My sign!” barked Mr. Duke. “I know you always hated that sign. So you cut the power to it, didn’t you? You broke it!”
“I did not!” Uncle Flick said sharply. “I’ve been here in the office all along! “
“Then maybe that nephew of yours did it,” Duke said. “I’ve seen him sneaking around the theater after hours!”
“Joey has every right to be on my property,” Uncle Flick growled.
“But not on mine! I promise I’ll get to the bottom of this!” Mr. Duke shouted. He turned around and marched back towards his hot dog stand.
“Can you believe that?” Jessie said. “Mr. Duke thinks someone here broke the sign!”
“Maybe it was just an accident,” said Violet. But even she didn’t think it could be an accident. None of the Aldens did. Suddenly they heard a voice behind them.
“What happened?” It was Joey Fletcher.
“Weren’t you just at work at the snack bar?” Henry asked him.
“Nah, I was on break,” Joey said. He shuffled past them and walked back towards the snack bar.
The Aldens all looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing: if Joey wasn’t at his job when the sign went dark, then where was he?
The children waited until the second movie was over. The moment the lights came back up, they ran over to Dan Brinker’s car. This time he was there. He waved and got out of the car to talk to them.
“Hello, kids!” Dan said. “Did you like Pirate Spy?”
“We sure did,” said Benny. “My favorite part was when the captain found the buried treasure chest.”
“And he found the gold coins!” said Dan. “I loved that part! I love movies! It’s been quite a night!”
“Actually,” Henry said. “We want to hear about last night. And the ghost.”
Dan Brinker’s face went pale.
“There have been a lot of pranks here at the theater lately,” Jessie said. “Do you think the ghost could have been another trick?”
“You mean … someone wants to make the theater seem haunted?” said Dan Brinker. “Why … yes. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“We’re just trying to figure out who is causing problems at the theater,” said Jessie.
“We solve mysteries,” said Benny. “And we’re good at them!”
“Well, if you ask me,” Dan said in a low voice, “I think that Mr. Duke is up to no good. Maybe he’s causing all the trouble. He sure doesn’t like Uncle Flick.”
“Thank you,” said Jessie. She was writing things down in her notebook. “That’s very helpful.”
“Would you like some popcorn, Mr. Brinker?” Benny asked. He held out his bag. He remembered how much the car salesman had liked popcorn the night before.
“I would love some—” Dan said. He started to reach for the bag but stopped himself. “—but I’d better not.” He kept his hands in his pockets.
Benny wondered why a man who loved popcorn as much as he did could turn it down. Jessie saw, and wondered, too.
“Maybe his hands are just dirty,” she explained to Benny, as they walked back to their car.
“Bye, kids!” Dan Brinker called after them. “Good luck solving the mystery.”
There was plenty for the children to talk about at bedtime.
“Do you think what Dan Brinker said about Mr. Duke is true?” Violet asked her sister and brothers. “Do you think he’s causing the problems?”
“I don’t know,” said Henry. “The problem that happened tonight was with his sign. Whoever was playing a prank played it on him.”
“There are so many things going on right now!” Jessie said. “Uncle Flick and Mr. Duke don’t like each other. Amy and Joey are always in the wrong places at the wrong times. And then we have to figure out where this ghost is coming from.”
“I think the ghost comes from the haunted house,” Benny said.
“What on earth are you talking about, Benny?” Violet said. “What haunted house?”
“I mean, a haunted house,” Benny replied. “Just a haunted house somewhere. Because that’s where ghosts live.” He wanted to tell them about something he’d seen in the storage shed. But he knew he couldn’t, since he wasn’t supposed to look in the shed in the first place.
“Benny, what have we told you about ghosts?” Henry said. “There’s no such thing. Right, Jessie?”
But Jessie wasn’t listening. She was looking at something out the window of their guest room. Her eyes were getting wid
er and wider.
“There’s … there’s something out there,” she said. “Something walking around.”
“What?” cried Violet. “Where?” She rushed to the window where Jessie was seated. There was another window next to it and Henry and Benny pressed their faces against the glass to peer out.
“It’s over by the fence next to the screen,” said Jessie. “Do you see it?”
The other three Aldens looked where Jessie had told them. They all saw an eerie figure all in white walking along the fence. The figure seemed to walk and float at the same time.
“It’s the ghost!” Benny said, amazed.
“What should we do?” Violet asked.
“Let’s tell Uncle Flick!” Jessie said.
A few moments later they were all hurrying down the front steps of the Fletcher house. They ran across the lot towards the front of the theater.
“Wait a minute,” Uncle Flick called. He went to the side of the house and opened a metal box that hung on the wall. He flipped some switches. The lights over the theater lot came on.
The children stopped running and looked around under the bright light. Uncle Flick and Grandfather joined them. Watch ran up, too, and barked at all the excitement.
“The person I saw was right over here,” said Jessie, pointing to the fence near the screen. “I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.”
“I saw the person, too,” said Henry. “But as soon as the lights came on, he—or she—disappeared!”
“I know it’s not a ghost,” said Violet. “But it sure looked like one.”
Uncle Flick nodded. “There’s definitely something strange happening around here. Your grandfather tells me you children solve mysteries, is that right?”
“Yes, sir,” Henry replied. “And we’d like to look around and see if there’s any sign of the person who was just here.”
“In the morning, that is,” said Jessie. “It’s much too late at night now.” The children looked up at the moon. Even though it was not a cold night, they all felt a little bit of a chill.
The next day, the children searched all around the corner of the theater lot where they had seen the ghostly figure. Henry had hoped there would be footprints, but the ground was too dusty and dry.
“At least there’s no litter on the ground either,” Violet said. “Jessie and I did a good job yesterday.”
This made Jessie remember something else.
“You know, I saw something odd over behind the screen yesterday. Some kind of bundle.”
“A ghost costume?” Benny said.
“Actually, I don’t know what it was,” Jessie said. “I meant to ask Uncle Flick about it.” She walked around the screen and went behind it. The other children followed. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” said Jessie.
“We should still look around here anyway,” said Henry.
“It’s boring back here,” said Benny. He had gone over to one of the two rusty metal ladders that went up the back of the screen. He grabbed one of the rungs and began to play like a monkey.
Jessie frowned. “Benny, that ladder’s not a jungle gym. Come help us search the ground for clues instead.”
“Aw, okay,” Benny muttered. He let go of the ladder. He sat down and found an old white balloon scrap and played with that instead. He stretched and pulled it.
“Hey, look,” Violet pointed out. “There are car tire tracks back here. But there’s no road or driveway.”
“That’s interesting,” said Henry. “But there wasn’t a car back here last night. Look where it was parked. If it were here last night, we would have seen it when Uncle Flick turned the lights on.”
“I guess you’re right,” Violet said with a sigh. “I wonder why someone would park a car back here, though.”
“Whatever the reason,” Jessie said, “It probably has nothing to do with the ghost.”
She shook her head sadly. The others knew how she felt. Sometimes, mysteries about ghosts were the hardest mysteries to solve.
CHAPTER 5
A Popping Good Idea
The children hadn’t had any luck finding clues at the theater that morning. They were glad when Uncle Flick and Grandfather offered to take them out to lunch in Oakdale. The Aldens knew they needed a break.
On their way into town the children watched the signs and billboards along the way.
“Wow,” said Jessie. “I’ve counted three billboards for Dan Brinker’s Auto Emporium!”
As they drove into town, they could see even more ads for Dan’s business. One was painted on the side of a building. There was even a sidewalk bench painted with the words
WHY WAIT? GET SPEEDY DEALS AT BRINKER’S AUTO.
“He’s everywhere!” Henry said, laughing.
“He certainly is,” said Uncle Flick. “He’d put an ad up on the water tower in the middle of town if he could!”
Grandfather found a parking spot in front of a family restaurant.
“I can’t wait to have lunch!” Benny said as they walked up to the door of the restaurant.
“You’ll have to wash your hands first,” said Henry. “What on Earth did you get on them?”
Benny looked down at his palms, which were covered with gritty red-brown dust. “I don’t know!” he said.
Jessie took Benny’s hand and looked closer. “It looks like rust. I bet you got it when you were playing on that old metal ladder behind the movie screen.”
“Oops,” said Benny. “I’ll wash up!”
At the restaurant table a few minutes later, Jessie smiled as Benny reached for a basket of rolls with clean hands. It reminded her of something she’d noticed the day before, but she couldn’t remember what.
The waiter brought out bowls of macaroni and cheese, bacon-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches, and salads with big croutons. Everything was so good, they forgot about the strange things that had been happening at the drive-in theater. It wasn’t until lunch was nearly over that Uncle Flick even mentioned the theater at all.
“I’ve got some news to share,” he said. He put down his napkin. “This afternoon I’m visiting the bank. I’m going to talk to my banker about selling the Diamond Drive-in.”
Benny stopped with his fork in the air. Violet, Jessie, and Henry fell silent, too.
“Is there someone who wants to buy it, Flick?” Grandfather asked.
“As a matter of fact, there is,” Uncle Flick answered. “Dan Brinker.”
Grandfather raised an eyebrow. “That car salesman? He wants to run the movie theater?”
“That’s what he told the banker,” said Uncle Flick.
“He told us he loves movies!” Benny said.
Uncle Flick nodded. “I know it seems a bit odd that Dan would want to run the theater. But he seems to love the place. And he’s a good businessman, too. I trust him.”
“Yes, but—” Jessie spoke up. “What about Joey? Couldn’t he run the theater? He’s almost old enough.”
Uncle Flick looked thoughtful. “I would be so happy if Joey took over the business. But I don’t think he wants to. He works hard, but he’s always disappearing on the job. I think it means he doesn’t want to be there. But Dan, on the other hand—he comes to the theater because he likes it. Of course, I haven’t made my final decision. That will take time. This is only the first meeting with my banker.”
“It’s a big decision,” Grandfather said.
The children agreed.
While Uncle Flick met with the banker, the Aldens went shopping along the main street of the little town. Then they all drove back to the drive-in theater in the afternoon.
As the minivan drove up along the road at the edge of the theater, they saw something was very wrong. There was a police car parked by the snack bar! Grandfather drove straight across the lot to the little building.
Joey and Amy were standing near the police car taking with the policewoman. Uncle Flick rushed over to join them. The Aldens could see that Joey looked very upset.
“T
here’s been another prank! It’s the worst yet,” he cried.
The Aldens, Uncle Flick, Joey, and Amy walked with the police officer around the kitchen of the snack bar. It was a mess! The refrigerators had been unplugged and left open for hours, and the food inside was spoiled. Someone had dumped oil all over the popcorn bags and ruined them. Worst of all, the cord to the popcorn machine had been cut.
“Joey! Why weren’t you keeping an eye on things?” Uncle Flick shouted.
“Now, Mr. Fletcher,” the policewoman said. “Your nephew tells me he came in here at the same time he always does, and he found it this way. Whoever did this broke in here hours ago.”
“They must have done it when we left to go to lunch,” Jessie said.
“Sometimes I come in here early,” Joey said. “I wish I’d done that today! Maybe if I had, I could’ve stopped the person who did this! But I was off working on … something else. I wish I’d been here earlier!”
The children saw that Joey felt just awful. Maybe he really did care about the movie theater, more than Uncle Flick realized.
“It’s all right,” Uncle Flick told Joey, patting him on the shoulder. “We never thought someone would do something like this.”
“But what do we do now?” asked Amy. “The theater opens in less than two hours. The popcorn machine is broken, and we won’t have any food to sell!”
Jessie opened a cabinet door under the counter. Inside was a big bin full of popcorn kernels. “Uncle Flick,” she asked. “Can this popcorn be popped on the stove?”
“Sure it can,” said Uncle Flick. “Popcorn’s popcorn!”
Jessie looked around at her brothers and sisters and said, “We’ve got an idea.”
A few minutes later, the Aldens, Uncle Flick, and Joey were in the kitchen at the Fletcher house. They had brought the popcorn and a bottle of oil. They searched the kitchen cabinets and found two very big pots. Henry measured the oil and soon one of the big pots was heating up the kernels. It wasn’t long before they heard the first pop! The pops came faster and faster. Pop! Pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop! Then Henry started heating up the second pot.
“We’re going to need a really big bowl!” said Benny.