The Ghost Light by Sarah Rubin

Author:Sarah Rubin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House

It was mid-morning by the time we got back to the Beryl. The clouds from last night’s snowstorm were gone and the sun bouncing off the fresh snow dazzled my eyes. Red foil hearts and cartoon cupids decorated almost every shop window we passed.

‘You doing anything for Valentine’s Day?’ Kevin asked, jerking his head towards the display of heart-shaped soft pretzels in the window of the 7–Eleven.

‘I’m going to see my sister in a show.’

‘Got a date?’

‘My dad.’

Kevin snorted.

I didn’t get the big deal about Valentine’s Day, but I did like the box of chocolates Dad always got me. He sent one to Della too.

‘Hey, look, there’s Matthew Strange!’ Kevin said, pointing at a man on the other side of the street. He wore a navy blue baseball cap pulled low over his face, a pair of sunglasses and a scarf. ‘Let’s go say hi.’

I squinted at the figure. ‘How do you recognize him? You can’t even see his face.’ I thought for a moment. And where had his sling gone?

Kevin grabbed my arm and started pulling me across the street. ‘I don’t know. I can just tell it’s him. Maybe it’s his walk? I brought my copy of Zero Tolerance today. Do you think he’ll sign it?’

‘Sure,’ I said, slowing my steps along with my words.

Matthew Strange didn’t go up the steps to the Beryl. Instead, he kept walking and turned down the alley that led to the Stage Door.

‘What’s he doing?’ I asked. ‘Why isn’t he going in the front?’

Kevin shrugged. ‘I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t want to wait for Captain Creepy to open the door. Come on.’

‘Wait.’ I grabbed Kevin’s sleeve. ‘Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?’

Kevin shook his arm free. ‘Don’t tell me you think Matthew Strange is behind all the stuff going wrong?’

I shrugged. I didn’t think the movie star was, but I didn’t have any proof that he wasn’t either. And until I knew who was causing the problems, everyone was a suspect. Kevin looked at me the way he did when I told him I liked factoring quadratic equations.

‘That’s ridiculous. He’s way more likely to be the victim. He came all the way from Hollywood to be in this show, and he’s the only reason people are coming to see it. If he wanted to make trouble, he could just quit. Especially after that safe fell on him.’

I didn’t say anything. Kevin had a point, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving Matthew out as a suspect just because he was famous. That’s not how a good detective works.

Kevin turned the corner. ‘Great, now we missed him.’

I looked into the alley. It was empty. ‘Where’d he go?’

‘Into the theatre. Obviously.’

Kevin stood in the mouth of the alley with crossed arms, watching as I tried the Stage Door.

‘It’s locked,’ I said, walking back to where Kevin was waiting.

‘He probably propped it open while he ran out to get a snack.’

I snorted. Matthew Strange liked to pretend he was just a normal guy, but he hadn’t gotten so much as a drink of water for himself since he’d arrived.

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