The porch swing creaked as Benny and Violet rocked back and forth in it. Curled in the corner, Watch yawned.
It was late, long past dinner, on the last night of the Aldens’ visit to Elbow Bend. Mrs. Wade had made another special dinner, almost as good as the first one, with peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert.
Now they were all sitting on the porch, talking about the visit—and about solving the mystery.
“I almost forgot to tell you the good news,” Kate Frances said. “More funding is being given to Dr. Sage’s research project.”
“Isn’t that great?” Lainey added. “That means she can pay Brad to keep working for her and maybe even get a second assistant.”
“And I think one of the reasons she got the money was because of all the publicity about the fake ghost dog,” said Brad. He’d joined them for dinner and was sitting next to Lainey on the wicker sofa.
“I still can’t believe that writer, Elizabeth Prattle, would do all that,” said Mrs. Wade. She shook her head. “Some people!”
“She got the idea when she overheard Kate Frances telling ghost stories. That was our first day in Elbow Bend and Kate Frances was giving us a tour of the town,” Violet said. “She heard the ghost dog story then, saw how the other tourists reacted. She realized it might be useful to her to help sell her book—since her book is based on the same story.”
“And she had her dog with her. Dusty. And Dusty was already trained to come to the silent whistle,” Henry added.
“That first night, she just used the whistle as an experiment,” Benny said. “That’s what made all the dogs bark and howl—except her dog, who’s used to the whistle.”
“And then she went to Elbow Bend State early in the morning and turned over trash cans and dug holes and planted that dog collar to make it look like a dog had been through there,” Violet said.
“And then at Stories Under the Stars, she parked her car away from all the others so no one would see her dog inside,” Jessie began.
“But wait,” Brad said. “How did she make it glow? And leave no footprints?”
“The glow came from glow-in-the-dark Halloween paint,” Violet said. “She washed it off Dusty each time. And she put booties on her dog to keep her from leaving footprints.”
“Everybody believed Dusty was a ghost,” Jessie said.
“She made the howling by playing a tape recording of a dog howling,” added Violet.
“And then, after listening to us talk about the ghost dog in the parking lot, she decided to make the ghost dog appear in town. So she took her dog to the woods along the back of this house and did the same thing,” Jessie said.
“Only this time, Watch tracked Dusty, and we found a spot of wet phosphorescent paint on a tree trunk where Dusty had brushed against it,” Henry said. “That’s when we knew we weren’t chasing a ghost but a real dog.”
“But how did you know who did it?” Lainey asked.
Violet blushed a little in the dark, and was glad Lainey couldn’t see her.
Jessie said, “We had a few suspects. But we were able to narrow the list down and set a trap.”
“And we caught her!” Benny concluded triumphantly.
“You sure did, Benny,” said Grandfather.
“She got a lot of publicity,” said Kate Frances. “But I don’t think it was the kind she wanted.”
“Her book is still selling well at the bookstore,” said Mrs. Wade. “But I think she’s sorry she did what she did.”
“She sure left town in a hurry,” Kate Frances said. “I don’t think she’ll try anything like that again.”
“Well, it’s sure been an exciting visit,” Mrs. Wade said. “I hope y’all come again soon.”
“We will,” said Benny. “And we’ll catch more ghosts next time!”
“Oh, Benny,” Violet said, and everyone laughed. |