The Absent Author (4 page)

As soon as his back was turned, Josh grabbed the hotel register. He quickly found yesterday’s page. Dink and the others crowded around Josh for a peek.

Dink immediately recognized Wallis Wallace’s signature, scrawled in big loopy letters. He had checked in to Room 303 at five after eight last night.

Dink pulled out his letter from Wallis Wallace and compared the two
signatures. They were exactly the same.

Josh dug his elbow into Dink’s side. “Look!” he whispered.

Josh was pointing at the next line in the register, room 302 had been printed there. Check-in time was 8:15.

“Someone else checked in right after
Wallis Wallace!” Ruth Rose whispered.

“But the signature is all smudged,” Dink said. “I can’t read the name.”

When Mr. Linkletter hung up the phone, Josh shoved the register away.

As Mr. Linkletter turned back around, Dink shut the register. He looked up innocently. “Is he in his room?” Dink asked.

“I don’t know.” Mr. Linkletter tapped his fingers on his mustache. “There was no answer.”

Dink’s stomach dropped. His mind raced.

If Wallis Wallace had checked into his room last night, why hadn’t he shown up at the Book Nook today?

And why wasn’t he answering his phone?

Maybe Wallis Wallace had been kidnapped after all!

Dink stared at Mr. Linkletter. “No answer? Are you sure?”

Mr. Linkletter nodded. He looked puzzled. “Perhaps he’s resting and doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Can we go up and see?” Ruth Rose smiled sweetly at Mr. Linkletter. “Then we’d know for sure.”

Mr. Linkletter shook his head. “We cannot disturb our guests, young miss. We have
rules
at the Shangri-la. Now good day and thank you.”

Ruth Rose opened her mouth. “But, Mis—”

“Good day,” Mr. Linkletter said firmly again.

Dink and the others walked toward the door.

“Something smells fishy,” muttered Dink.

“Yeah,” Josh said, “and I think it’s that Linkletter guy. See how he tried to hide the register? Then he turned his back. Maybe he didn’t even call Room 303. Maybe he was warning his partners in crime!”

“What are you suggesting, Josh?” Mavis asked.

“Maybe Mr. Linkletter is the kidnapper,” Josh said. “He was the last one to see Wallis Wallace.”

A man wearing a red cap tapped Dink on the shoulder. “Excuse me, but I overheard you talking to my boss, Mr. Linkletter.
Maybe I can help you find Wallis Wallace. My kids love his books.”

“Great!” Dink said. “Can you get us into his room?”

The man shook his head. “No, but I know the maid who cleaned the third-floor rooms this morning. Maybe she noticed something.”

With his back to Mr. Linkletter, the man scribbled a few words on a pad and handed the page to Dink. “Good luck!” the man whispered, and hurried away.

“What’d he write?” Josh asked.

“Outside,” Dink said.

They all shoved through the revolving door. In front of the hotel, Dink looked at the piece of paper. “The maid’s name is Olivia Nugent. She lives at the Acorn Apartments, Number Four.”

“Livvy Nugent? I know her!” Ruth Rose said. “She used to be my babysitter.”

“The Acorn is right around the corner on Oak Street,” Dink said. “Let’s go!”

Soon all four were standing in front of Livvy Nugent’s door. She answered it with a baby in her arms. Another little kid held on to her leg and stared at Dink and the others. He had peanut butter all over his face and in his hair.

“Hi,” the boy’s mother said. “I’m not buying any cookies and I already get the
Green Lawn Gazette
.” She was wearing a man’s blue shirt and jeans. Her brown hair stuck out from under a Yankees baseball cap.

“Livvy it’s me!” Ruth Rose said.

Olivia stared at Ruth Rose, then broke into a grin.

“Ruth Rose, you’re so big! What are
you up to these days?”

“A man at the hotel gave us your name.”

“What man?”

“He was sort of old, wearing a red cap,” Dink said.

Livvy chuckled. “Freddy old? He’s only thirty! So why did he send you to see me?”

“He told us you cleaned the rooms on the third floor this morning,” Dink said. “Did you clean Room 303?”

Livvy Nugent shifted the baby to her other arm. “Randy please stop pulling on Mommy’s leg. Why don’t you go finish your lunch?” Randy ran back into the apartment.

“No,” Livvy told Dink. “Nobody slept in that room. The bed was still made this morning. The towels were still clean and dry. I remember because there were two rooms in a row that I
didn’t have to clean—303 and 302. Room 302 had a Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the doorknob. So I came home early, paid off the baby-sitter, and made our lunches.”

“But Mr. Linkletter told us Wallis
Wallace checked into Room 303 last night,” Ruth Rose said.

“Not
the
Wallis Wallace? The mystery writer? My kid sister
devours
his books!”

Dink nodded. “He was supposed to sign books at the Book Nook this morning. But he never showed up!”

“We even saw his signature on the hotel register,” Ruth Rose said.

“Well, Wallis Wallace might have signed in, but he never slept in that room.” Livvy grinned. “Unless he’s a ghost.”

“I wonder if Mr. Linkletter could have made a mistake about the room number,” Mavis suggested quietly.

Livvy smiled at Mavis. “You must not be from around here. Mr. Linkletter
never
makes mistakes.”

“So Wallis Wallace signed in, but he didn’t sleep in his room,” said Dink.
“That means…”

“Someone must have kidnapped him before he went to bed!” Josh said.

Livvy’s eyes bugged. “Kidnapped! Geez, Mr. Linkletter will have a fit.” She imitated his voice. “We have
rules
about kidnappings at the Shangri-la!”

Everyone except Dink laughed. All he could think about was Wallis Wallace, his favorite author, kidnapped.

Suddenly a crash came from inside the apartment. “Oops, gotta run,” Livvy said. “Randy is playing bulldozer with his baby sister’s stroller again. I hope you find Wallis Wallace. My kid sister will die if he doesn’t write another book!”

They walked slowly back to Main Street. Dink felt as though his brain was spinning around inside his head.

Now he felt certain that Wallis Wallace had been kidnapped.

But who did it? And when?

And where was Wallis Wallace being kept?

“Guys, I’m feeling confused,” he said. “Can we just sit somewhere and go over the facts again?”

“Good idea,” Josh said. “I always think better when I’m eating.”

“I’m feeling a bit peckish, too,” Mavis said. “I need a quiet cup of tea and a sandwich. Should we meet again after lunch?”

Ruth Rose looked at her watch. “Let’s meet at two o’clock.”

“Where?” Josh asked.

“Back at the hotel.” Dink peered through the door glass at Mr. Linkletter.

“Unless Maureen Higgins and Mr. Linkletter are
both
lying,” he said, “Wallis Wallace walked into the Shangri-la last night—and never came out.”

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose left Mavis at Ellie’s Diner, then headed for Dink’s house. Dink made tuna sandwiches and lemonade. Ruth Rose brought a bag of potato chips and some raisin cookies from her house next door.

They ate at the picnic table in Dink’s backyard. Dink took a bite of his sandwich. After he swallowed, he said, “Let’s go over what we know.”

He moved his lemonade glass to the middle of the table. “My glass is the airport,”
he said. “We know Wallis Wallace landed.”

“How do we
know
he did?” Josh asked.

“The airport told me the plane landed, Josh.”

“And Maureen Higgins said she picked him up,” Ruth Rose added.

“Okay, so your glass is the airport,” Josh said. “Keep going, Dink.”

Dink slid his sandwich plate over next to his glass. “My plate is Maureen’s taxi.” He put a cookie on the plate. “The cookie is Wallis Wallace getting into the taxi.”

Dink slid the plate over to the opened potato chip bag. “This bag is the hotel.” He walked the Wallis Wallace cookie from the plate into the bag.

Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “But what happened to Wallis Wallace after he walked into the lobby?”

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Josh said. He lined up four cookies in a row. “This little cookie is Mr. Paskey. These three are Maureen, Mr. Linkletter, and Olivia Nugent.”

Josh looked up and waggled his eyebrows. “I think these four cookies planned the kidnapping
together
!”

Ruth Rose laughed. “Josh, Mr. Paskey and Livvy Nugent are friends of ours. Do you really think they planned this big kidnapping? And can you see Mr. Linkletter and my baby-sitter pulling off a kidnapping together?”

Josh ate a potato chip. “Well, maybe not. But
someone
kidnapped the guy!”

“Our trail led us to the hotel, and then it ended,” Dink said. “What I want to know is, if Wallis Wallace isn’t in his room, where is he?”

Dink nibbled on a cookie thoughtfully. “I’m getting a headache trying to sort it all out.”

Ruth Rose dug in Dink’s backpack and brought out three Wallis Wallace books. “I have an idea.” She handed books to Dink and Josh and kept one.