That afternoon, the Aldens were sitting with Ginger on the school’s front lawn when a car pulled into the driveway and stopped. A man got out, and the children saw it was the same mysterious man who’d tried to buy Ginger the day before.
“Ah, just who I was looking for,” he said as he walked toward the children. His voice was smooth and friendly, but the Aldens couldn’t help thinking he sounded a little too friendly. The man reached out to stroke Ginger’s back, and Henry stepped away, holding her leash firmly. “If you’re still interested in buying Ginger, you’ll have to speak to the director of the school, Mrs. Carter.”
“I should have introduced myself yesterday,” the man said. He smiled broadly, but his smile seemed false. “My name’s Gerard Dominick, and I just happen to be the owner of some of the greatest champion dogs in the country.” He paused, waiting for the children to make some response. When they said nothing, he continued. “This golden retriever would perfectly complete my collection of dogs. I can see that she’s a champion. I’ll make a generous offer — ”
“We told you, you have to ask Mrs. Carter,” Henry repeated.
“Come, come, now,” Mr. Dominick said, taking his wallet out of his pocket. “This dog is worth a fortune! Who’s going to know if you just hand her over to me? You can say she ran away.”
“That’s terrible!” Jessie said. “You’d better leave!”
“Hey, calm down,” Mr. Dominick said nervously. He put his wallet back in his pocket. “All right, all right, I’m going. But I’m not giving up!”
The Aldens watched as Mr. Dominick got back in his car and drove off.
“I don’t like that man at all,” Violet said.
“Neither do I,” Benny agreed.
“Do you think we should tell Mrs. Carter about him?” asked Jessie.
“She didn’t seem too interested yesterday,” said Henry.
“Maybe we should tell Jason,” Violet suggested.
The children went straight to Jason’s room on the fourth floor. They were about to knock on his door when they heard his voice inside.
“It sounds as if he’s on the phone,” Jessie said. “Maybe we should come back later.”
While the children were deciding what to do, they couldn’t help overhearing what Jason was saying on the telephone. “It makes me very uncomfortable. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.” He paused. “All right, if you think so . . . ” Jason sighed. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
The Aldens heard Jason hang up the phone, and a moment later, his door opened. Jason stood in the doorway, very surprised to see the children. His face turned a deep shade of red. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We just wanted to, um — ” Jessie began.
“There’s something I have to take care of,” Jason said abruptly. And before they could tell him about Mr. Dominick, he was gone.
“I know it isn’t right to listen to other people’s conversations,” said Violet as the children headed back to their rooms, “but did anyone else hear what Jason was saying on the phone?”
“Yes,” said Henry. “I wonder what he was talking about. What could be making him so uncomfortable?”
“It sounds as if he’s going to do something he doesn’t want to do,” said Jessie.
“What could it be?” asked Benny.
“And who do you think he was talking to?” asked Violet.
“Maybe it was Mrs. Davis,” said Henry. “Remember the other day he told her something wasn’t a good idea? He used those same words on the phone just now.”
“Whatever he was talking about, he didn’t seem very happy to see us on his doorstep when he came out,” Jessie pointed out.
“I noticed that, too,” said Violet. “He was acting guilty about something.”
The children all thought about that for a moment. At last Benny broke the silence. “This is getting more and more mysterious!”
That night, the children ate dinner with Anna before returning to their rooms and getting into bed. They quickly fell asleep. But once again, they were awakened at midnight by the sound of barking.
“Something’s bothering the dogs again,” Violet said, pushing back her blankets and getting out of bed.
“I wish they would be quiet,” Jessie said groggily.
Just then there was an urgent knock at the door. “Open the door! Hurry!” Benny called.
Violet went to the door and opened it. “What is it?”
Benny and Henry ran past her to the window. “Look!” Benny said, pushing aside the curtains.
Jessie and Violet followed and looked at the building opposite theirs, where the boys were pointing. All the rooms were dark.
“What are we looking at?” Violet asked.
“It better be something good or I’m going back to bed,” Jessie complained.
“There!” Benny cried. A light had just appeared in the window directly across from theirs. And just as suddenly, it was gone.
“That was strange,” Violet said.
“It doesn’t look like light from an ordinary lamp, does it?” Henry said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Jessie agreed.
“Look! There it is again!” Benny called. Now the strange light was shining from a different window.
“It’s moving!” said Violet.
“Why would the light be moving?” Henry asked.
“There must be someone over there with a flashlight!” cried Jessie.
“Yes! You’re right,” Henry said.
“But why use a flashlight inside?” asked Benny. “Why not just turn on a lamp?”
The children watched as the light went off. After several minutes, they decided that whatever had been happening there was finished. Henry pulled the curtains closed, being careful not to knock Violet’s paint set off the window ledge where she had left it.
“Maybe the lightbulb burned out and the person who lives in that room has to use a flashlight,” Violet said.
“I guess that’s possible,” Jessie said. But none of them believed it for a minute.
“I think someone was looking for something in that room. Someone who wasn’t supposed to be there,” said Henry.
“And he didn’t turn on the overhead light because he was afraid someone would see him,” Jessie finished Henry’s thought.
“But someone did see him,” Benny said. “We did!”
“Now we just have to figure out who it was, and what he was looking for,” said Violet.
Benny yawned loudly.
“There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow,” said Henry. |