The Haunted Bookstore

Karen Walker was playing tennis with Marrisa Tate. Suddenly Karen got a call on her cell phone. It was Rachel. “Karen! get Marrisa and come to my house fast! I may have found a mystery!" she cried."Okay we'll be right over!" she answered. She and Marrisa rushed over to Rachel's house. They found Rachel talking to a young woman with long blonde hair. Rachel motioned for them to come forward. "Karen, Marrisa meet Marianne, Marianne meet Karen and Marrisa" Rachel introduced them. Marianne motioned for them to sit down. Rachel explained she had met Marianne at the corner and that Marianne had a story to tell them. Then Marianne began to tell her story. “I work part time at the bookstore" she started. "I was stacking some books on the shelves, when a moaning sound came from the corner of the room". “Then I saw the ghost!" she cried. Marrisa jumped back. Karen's pencil froze on her paper. Rachel's face turned as white as a ghost. Karen looked at Marianne." What did the ghost look like"? Karen asked. “It was a man wearing a hat, and had a beard. But no eyes” Rachel started drawing the ghost while Karen took notes. This is what her list looked like:

THE GHOST

• white
• hat and beard
• no eyes

Here is Rachel's drawing:

Marrisa took Rachel's laptop to do some research. Finally she shouted," HERE"! , making Rachel jump. Marrisa read the screen out loud. “The ghost of the pirate Somalahee has no eyes because he lost them while fighting with an enemy pirate. He died when his ship was lit on fire."Marianne gasped." You mean there is a ghost pirate haunting the bookstore"?!  That's exactly what I mean", Marrisa answered seriously." Wait!" Karen exclaimed. Ghosts don't really exist so this one must be a fake!" Good clue" Rachel said approvingly. “So how do we prove to everyone that the ghost is a fake?" Marrisa asked." We have a stake out" Karen answered. Rachel nodded. “ I'll see you at the bookstore at 9:00 PM" Karen continued. Then she left. Rachel looked at Marrisa and shrugged. Then Marrisa left too. When Rachel and Marrisa reached the bookstore, Karen was already there." Marianne will let us in" Rachel promised. Soon Marianne arrived at the bookstore with a key to let them in. 

Once Marianne unlocked the door, the four of them squeezed into the bookstore, and started looking for clues. Karen was examining the corner where Marianne had seen the ghost. She found a small projector covered by some books. Marrisa was searching some shelves when she found a white pearl bracelet labeled, L.A. While Rachel was searching the room, she found some little speakers attached to the ceiling. When the group met, Karen showed them the projector. “This could have projected the ghost on the wall". Marrisa showed them the bracelet. “Whoever was doing this, could have worn this" she suggested. Rachel showed them the speakers. “This could be where the moaning sound came from" she said. Marianne looked worried. Karen looked like she had heard the funniest joke ever. “What's so funny?" Marrisa asked her. Karen laughed. “So if someone is sabotaging the bookstore, they will come back to start the equipment."

As if to answer her they heard someone forcing the door open. “Quick! Hide! "Rachel hissed. They all ran to hide in the back of the store. They heard someone walk in. Marianne started dialing the police. Rachel, Karen, and Marrisa decided to sneak up on whoever was in the bookstore. 

When they were close enough, Marrisa took action. She pounced on the crook, and Karen and Rachel followed. Marrisa and the crook scuffled for a moment, but Karen grabbed the crook’s arm and the person stopped wiggling. The crook was all dressed in black. Karen pulled of the crooks's mask. The mask came up revealing the face of, "Lé Corsa Bene Allerson"! Rachel cried in surprise. The infamous thief sneered at them. “That's right I escaped from jail, kids!" she shrieked.

Suddenly, police sirens sounded from outside. Two police officers barged in. When they saw Lé Corsa on the floor, their eyes widened. “Where did she come from?” “She was pretending there was a ghost haunting the bookstore" Rachel explained. Before the police took Lé Corsa away, Karen asked her why she was haunting the bookstore. 

“I was looking for a book "she admitted." You could have just bought it” Marianne answered roughly." “This book was popular, and in danger of being bought" Lé Corsa answered, glaring at   Marianne. Karen got the title of the book and started looking for it. The others were listening to Lé Corsa tell why she did what she did. She told them that she had looked in old books, and found the diary of the previous owner of the bookstore. It contained the address of the bookstore, and information about treasure hidden in the bookstore. The book title and information about the map was all in the diary. So she came to the bookstore and began “haunting” it.  Marrisa pulled out the bracelet she had found. When she showed it to Lé  Corsa  she turned red and snatched it away . The police examined the bracelet and declared it belonged to the vice president’s wife, Linda Allerk. The police took Lé Corsa away, just as Karen came up to them, holding an old book.

“I found the book” she said. The group huddled to look at the map that was drawn on the inside cover.  They followed the map to a wall behind the checkout counter. Karen started pounding on the wall. Suddenly the wall gave way, and Karen fell into a VERY dusty room. Every one crowded around Karen. When she was up , and standing, they looked around their surroundings.

They were in a dusty room with tons of boxes. They immediately split up and began opening the boxes. Rachel found some old clothes. Marrisa found a note from the old owner of the bookstore.  It said that the old owner of the bookstore had run away and left a treasure behind. Suddenly Karen gave a shriek. She had pulled out a small hidden door, and in it was an amazingly carved box. 

Karen opened the box with trembling hands. Then she let out another shriek. Inside the box, there were enough jewels to fill Karen’s dresser drawer. In the center sat a diamond the size of a grown man’s fist. At first they just stared at the sparkling stone. 

Finally Rachel broke the silence with a sneeze. “It is getting really dusty in here, 

                                           AACCHHOOO! ”                             

Karen looked up, awakened from her trance. “Bless you. Marianne, can you call the museum so they can look at this?” Karen asked, shaking Marianne’s shoulder. 

While Marianne called the museum, Karen shook Marrisa back to the present. The girls kept exploring. They found a picture of a beagle. A small gold plaque read: FIDO. Another box had costumes in it. There were wigs, dresses, pants, shirts and many more things. 

Soon they heard cars outside. Marrisa ran to the window, and reported back that the news reporters were here. Soon the bookstore was overrun with reporters and museum workers. They were swarming around the True crew asking questions, taking pictures, and some were just shouting. 

Marianne managed to calm the crowd down.  She told the story of the ghost, Lé Corsa, and how they found the treasure. There was a lot of pushing and shoving to get pictures and to hear well. 

Once the reporters were satisfied, they had to deal with the museum workers. They ended up giving the treasure to SCHOLARS HISTORY MUSEUM. 

Karen’s, Rachel’s, and Marrisa’s moms came to pick them up. The girls had to promise that if they were ever solving mysteries in the night, they had to tell their parents.

 

                 THE END