Secrets at the Chocolate Mansion (21 page)

“That's right,” I said with a grin. “But don't make fun.”

I'd already admitted to Milo that whenever I walked into the Adams mansion, I thought about Margaret. Not Beckett's buddy Margaret from across the street, but
Margaret O'Mally, the young Irish maid who died in the elevator. I guess you could say she haunts me, or at least her memory does, but that's okay. I'm ready to embrace it. Because the thing is, as Milo and my friends taught me, ghosts do exist.

They don't have to be the creepy monsters that cause nightmares or do harm. They can take the form of memories, of feelings, or of a hard-to-define presence. Or of something else that's impossible to explain, but that's totally okay—just because something can't be explained doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Sometimes ghosts can feel as real as the taste of salty apple pie on your tongue, or the perfect bite of chocolate chip cookie. Some people want to be haunted by their memories, and that's fine. It's not for me to judge. I get it. And also? I believe.

T
HE
M
AGGIE
B
ROOKLYN
M
YSTERIES

Girl's Best Friend

Vanishing Acts

Secrets at the Chocolate Mansion

T
HE
A
NNABELLE
U
NLEASHED
S
ERIES

Boys Are Dogs

Girls Acting Catty

Everybody Bugs Out

One Tough Chick

Copyright © 2013 by Leslie Margolis

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

First published in the United States of America in September 2013
by Bloomsbury Children's Books
www.bloomsbury.com

This electronic edition published in September 2013

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury Children's Books, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Margolis, Leslie.
Secrets at the chocolate mansion : a Maggie Brooklyn mystery / Leslie Margolis.
pages    cm
Summary: Maggie Brooklyn is distracted from solving the mystery of who is out to sabotage the new sweet shop in the neighborhood because her new babysitting job has her and her twin brother, Finn, spending time in what may be a real haunted mansion.
[1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Twins—Fiction. 3. Junior high schools—Fiction.
4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Dogs—Fiction. 6. Haunted houses—Fiction. 7. Ghosts—Fiction.
8. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.M33568Sec 2013    [Fic]—dc23    2013009608

eISBN: 978-1-6196-3177-9

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