Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat around the kitchen table. Jessie had her notebook open to a new page. On it was a list of names she’d written:
AMY
JOEY
DAN BRINKER
MR. DUKE
One of these people, the children were sure, had been causing the trouble at the Diamond Drive-in Theater.
Violet pointed to Amy’s and Joey’s names. “I don’t think they did it. I think they want to save the theater.”
Everyone else agreed. So Jessie crossed Amy and Joey off the list.
“What about that argument we heard today?” Henry asked. “Do you think that Mr. Duke is really trying to force Uncle Flick to sell him the theater?”
“No,” Jessie said. She tapped her pen, because she was thinking hard.
“I don’t think so, either,” said Violet. Benny nodded, too.
Jessie kept tapping her pen. “But … but what if Dan Brinker is? What if he’s the one who’s doing all the pranks?”
Henry shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense, Jessie. Uncle Flick already likes Dan and wants to sell the theater to him. Dan doesn’t have to make him do anything.”
“That’s true,” said Jessie. “But there’s something about Dan Brinker that I don’t trust. For one thing, he said he would help us with the popcorn last night. He said he had extra buckets. But then he never brought them!”
“Perhaps he just didn’t have any extras after all,” Violet said. “Who’s to say he didn’t want to help us?” She always tried to think the best about people.
Henry looked thoughtful. “Well, if you think about it, whoever wrecked the snack bar certainly wouldn’t want to help us.”
“Do you think that ‘whoever’ was Dan?” Jessie asked.
“Who knows? There’s no way we can prove it,” Henry said. “All we can do is think of reasons why he’d play pranks.”
“Maybe he just wanted Uncle Flick to sell him the theater faster!” Benny said. “He likes speedy deals! Remember we wrote it down?”
“Very good, Benny,” Jessie said. Then she flipped back in her notebook to the WHAT EVERYONE WANTS page. “Here’s another note I wrote down other night: ‘Dan Brinker says things that other people like to hear.’”
“Gosh,” said Violet. “Is that the same thing as lying?”
“Not always,” said Jessie. “But sometimes, yes it is.”
Suddenly Henry leapt up, the way he always did when he had a big idea. He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! I think Dan is lying to Uncle Flick!”
“Lying about what?” Violet asked.
“Lying about keeping the drive-in theater open!” said Jessie. Her eyes got wide. “Yes, it makes perfect sense.”
Henry went on. “Dan has been telling Uncle Flick he’ll keep running the theater, but really, he doesn’t. Because—”
Benny finished for him. “Because he wants to tear it down and make his car store bigger! Just like the lady there said today. Remember?”
Violet repeated the words. “‘We’re the biggest place in town to buy a car. And we’re getting even bigger.’ Oh, no.”
The children didn’t say anything for a moment. And then Jessie sighed a heavy sigh.
“Maybe we’re right about Dan Brinker, but we won’t know for sure until it’s too late. Because we don’t have any proof,” she said.
“Why don’t we just tell Uncle Flick that we don’t trust Dan?” Henry suggested.
Jessie threw up her hands. “Mr. Duke just tried to do the same thing. And look what happened! Uncle Flick got angry.” She paced around the kitchen. “If only we could catch him doing something … making trouble at the theater. But I don’t think we will.”
The others knew what Jessie meant. The theater was closed that day, and all the other pranks had happened on days it was open. There didn’t seem to be anything they could do. They all slumped in their chairs. Benny fidgeted and played with a scrap of broken balloon he’d found in his pocket. He stretched it and snapped it with his fingers.
“Benny, where’d you find that?” Jessie asked.
“Behind the screen the other day,” said Benny as he stretched and snapped some more.
“That looks like it came off of one of Dan Brinker’s cars,” Henry pointed out. “It’s white, like some of the balloons on his car that very first night. The night he saw the ghost.”
“And we figured out there had been a car parked behind the screen,” said Jessie. “He must have driven it back there. But why?”
Violet was remembering the thing she’d seen behind the screen the night before. She had forgotten about it until now, and she wondered if it was important. She glanced at Jessie’s notebook and at the list they’d made. Dan Brinker—Wants to sell cars … wants to put ads all over town. She remembered hearing him on the phone. I’ve planned ahead for this deal, he said. What did that mean?
“You guys?” she said. “We have to go look at something right now.”
A few minutes later the four children were standing behind the movie screen.
“Jessie, remember that strange bundle you said you saw back here the other day?” Violet asked her sister.
“Yes, but I told you, it’s gone now,” said Jessie.
Violet pointed upwards. “Is that it up there?” she asked.
Jessie looked up, and there, way up along the top of the screen, was something that looked like a very big soft rolled-up blind. It was up so high that it was hard to notice, and since it was in back of the screen, it couldn’t be seen from the theater lot.
“Oh, my gosh, I think it is!” Jessie said. “It’s the same color and everything.”
Uncle Flick and Grandfather heard the children’s voices while they were on their walk. They came behind the screen and joined them. Soon Uncle Flick was peering up at the strange rolled-up thing.
“What on Earth is that? I didn’t put that up there!” he said.
“Look, there are cords attached to it,” Henry pointed out. “They’re tied to the ladders on either side. They must keep it from unrolling.”
“Well, why don’t we unroll it then, and see what it is?” said Uncle Flick. “Where’s Joey? He can help us.”
Before long, Henry and Joey were carefully climbing the two metal ladders that ran down the back of the screen. Henry held on tight while he worked to untie the cord and grab it. Joey did the same. Finally they were both holding the cords taut. The rolled-up thing wavered in the wind a little bit, and they could see it was some kind of nylon fabric, the kind used to make parachutes or flags. What was it?
“On the count of three, we’ll let go of the cords,” shouted Joey. “One, two—three!”
They let go, and the fabric unrolled.
It was an enormous banner, almost as large as the screen! There were words on it:
THE DIAMOND DRIVE-IN IS CLOSED.
COMING SOON—
BRINKER’S AUTO STORE’S EAST LOT!
BIGGER AND BETTER! DRIVE OUT
WITH A DIAMOND DEAL!
The banner had turned the back of the movie screen into a giant billboard that faced the road.
Everyone stared at it in surprise.
“Closed? Is that what Dan means to do?” Uncle Flick shouted.
“He’s got some nerve,” said Grandfather. “To put up that banner even before the place was sold.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Violet said. “We were right. Dan Brinker really was lying about keeping the drive-in theater open.”
Jessie nodded. “He promised the screen would stay standing. Only he wasn’t telling the whole truth.”
“He’s in big trouble!” said Benny. “That’s the whole truth now.”
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