The Case of the Haunted House--Part Twelve
by HA

The next day during lunch, Bo brought up the events of the previous afternoon. "There's something about those guys that creeps me out," he said as he picked at the unrecognizable piece of meat on his tray with his fork.

"You mean the Strangers' Club?" Blake said, making sure to keep his voice down.

"Yep," Bo said. "They're a weird bunch, especially Katrina and Damian. She can go into dreams and can apparently read minds. He can take out guys with his fingers and one punch. Let's not forget the silver hair and the vampire outfit."

"They are unique, that's for sure," Shirley said, conceding to Bo's point. "Having established that, let's move on to other matters."

"Like the toy dragon, right?" Bo said knowingly. "You heard about what happened at the police station this morning, right?"

"Yes. Their dragon fizzled out suddenly, ruining its parts," Shirley recalled. "If you're wondering, I didn't have the same problem. Perhaps it's because I dismantled it last night to examine it."

"Have you solved the riddle yet?" Blake asked.

Shirley nodded. "It took me a while, but I believe it refers to the Harrison house."

"Okay, Shirley, enlighten us," Bo said to his best friend.

"From what I can gather, the whole affair involves whether or not the house should stay," Shirley began to explain. "Mr. Maxson plans to blow up the house and build a new mall on the land. That's exchanging something old for something new, right?"

"Yeah," Bo said. "Anything else?"

"The initials 'A.N.'," Shirley said. "The alleged ghost's name is Clarissa Harrison, who had a tragic end, so to speak."

"Uh, Shirley, I hate to burst your bubble, but 'A.N.' can't stand for Clarissa Harrison," Bo pointed out, wondering if he had scored a rare upset over the junior detective. "Otherwise, the letters would've been 'C.H.'"

"But it does in a way, Bo," Shirley said. "'A.N.' are the ending letters in Clarissa's name."

Bo thought for a moment and realized Shirley was right. "Oh."

"Okay, so the riddle refers to the Harrison house and Clarissa," Blake said, trying to put everything together. "Now Hades is the name of the Greek god of the underworld and is usually used to refer to the Greek underworld, right?"

"Right," Shirley confirmed. "So this riddle has to do with death."

"What a comforting thought," Bo said. "Any idea what it all means?"

"I think it means that ENIGMA is working for Maxson to demolish the house," Shirley said. "They are working to achieve the death of the house."

"Wouldn't that be below their standards?" Blake asked.

"I don't think these guys have standards," Bo said. "After all, they do kill people when they get paid enough."

"Unfortunately, the police haven't come to the same conclusion," Shirley said with a sigh. "They're convinced that ENIGMA's after the collection of Greek artifacts donated to the museum by a Mr. Antonio Naverelli."

Bo rolled his eyes. "As usual, the police go for the easiest target."

"Hmmmmm...my mom may have mentioned that a few times during dinner," Blake said. His mother worked at the Redington Museum.

"Well, the police and I do agree that ENIGMA's the guilty party," Shirley said. "Like I said before, I took apart the dragon and examined its parts last night. It's quite a masterpiece, and I spotted some parts that are unique, to say the least. That toy wasn't built out of cheap components."

Bo thought for a moment. "Hmmmmm...I have another idea who could've sent that riddle, Shirley."

"Who, Bo?" Shirley asked.

"Try our new friends," Bo answered, convinced that he was right.

"Hold on, Bo. You're saying that the Strangers' Club sent Shirley the dragon?" Blake asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Blake," Bo said.

"Well, how did you come up with this hypothesis?" Shirley asked Bo.

Bo drank some milk before he answered. "Okay, for one thing, there were a lot of Chinese dragon designs at that restaurant the club meeting was held in. Also, why would ENIGMA want to blow up a house? They might not have any standards, but wouldn't that be below their skills? I think they'd consider an assignment like that to be a total insult. Now back to the Harrison house. The Strangers' Club is trying to save the house because they think a ghost lives there." He took another sip of milk. "Then there's the dragon. You said that it had some not-so-cheap parts. Arthur said that the club took parts from the Knight Foundation to make its special equipment. That and they knew about you getting the dragon."

"Well, I doubt you're right, Bo, but you do make a good point," Blake said.

"What would their motive be?" Shirley asked, intrigued a little by Bo's idea.

"They said they've been watching you solve mysteries," Bo explained. "Maybe they want to watch you in action, so they decided to simulate a mystery for you to solve."

"Perhaps," Shirley said, thinking for a moment.

"I don't know, Bo," Blake said, expressing doubt. "The Strangers' Club may be weird, but they seem to be good guys."

"I thought the same thing when Molly came over here," Bo said.

"Good point," Blake said. "However, if they are behind the dragons, why would they send one to the police?"

"Maybe they want to make it look like ENIGMA's behind it. You know, make it a perfect simulation." Bo shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Bart walked up to their table and sat next to Bo. His manner indicated excitement. "Didn't you hear the news?" he asked his friends.

"If you're referring to the city council voting to preserve the Harrison house as a city landmark, I saw it on the news this morning," Shirley said.

"Boy, Maxson's gotta be mad about that," Bo said. "All that money down the drain." He made a whooshing sound.

"Oh, guess what happened to me last night," Bart said.

"Aliens took you to their spaceship and probed you?" Bo remarked before returning to his lunch.

"I wish," Bart said, briefly switching to that image in his mind. "The ghost appeared in my room last night."

Everyone stared at Bart. "Come again?" Bo asked.

"What?" Shirley and Blake said at the same time.

"Yeah. Clarissa Harrison appeared at the foot of my bed last night," Bart recalled excitedly. "She kept telling me to save her home, then she vanished."

"Okay," Bo said, not believing his ears.

"Well, you know what happens tonight," Bart said proudly.

"Yep," Blake said. "Tonight's when you take a picture of the ghost."

"Exactly," Bart said excitedly. "I'm leaving immediately after I finish any homework I have to meet Susan and Hiroshi. They're going to brief me on the camera I'll be using, plus they're treating me to dinner at Chang's. After that, we move on to the Harrison house."

"Good luck, Bart," Blake said sincerely, although he still had doubts over the ghost's existence.

"I wish you luck on your test, Bart, although I must still express my skepticism on ghosts," Shirley said.

"I guess I was expecting that, but thanks, guys," Bart said, smiling.

Shirley saw that Bo did not say anything. "Bo, don't you have anything to say to Bart?"

"Only that you're making a big mistake in doing this," Bo said in an uncharacteristically harsh tone of voice. "You're the last person I'd expect to do something so dumb for a girl."

"Bo!" Shirley exclaimed, shocked at her friend's attitude.

"Well, he is," Bo said. "Bart, I know you're too lovesick to use your brain, but do it. Have you ever considered the idea that Susan's setting you up?"

"What?" Bart said, insulted. "There's no way she could..."

"News flash, Bart. You know her for, what, a couple of days now?" Bo said, trying to drive some sense into his friend. "You really don't know her, and you really don't know the Strangers' Club. Have you even considered that they're just toying with you?"

"And why would they do that to me, Bo?" Bart asked, his eyes nearly on fire.

"Well, maybe they just want to make you think they want you as a member, then they'll just dump you," Bo hypothesized.

"You just don't like them because they believe in the same things I do," Bart countered.

"Bart, they're a bunch of weirdoes!" Bo shouted in frustration. "Not only do they look weird, but they believe in the dumbest things."

Bart's face turned pale. "'Dumbest things,' huh?" He looked hurt. "Guess that makes me a total idiot, huh?"

Bo realized what he had done. "Whoa, Bart, I didn't mean that..."

"No, no, you must be right," Bart said, shaking his head. "After all, if you believe in aliens and ghosts, you're an idiot and a weirdo."

"Bo didn't mean..." Shirley began, trying to explain.

Bart laughed bitterly. "Well, I guess I don't deserve to hang out with normal people, then," he said sadly, getting up from his seat. "I'm still going to the Harrison house tonight with my new weird friends. At least they understand me better than you guys."

"Bart..." Before Shirley could finish the sentence, Bart marched off.

"Great going, Bo," Blake said as Bart left the table.

Bo watched as Bart walked away from them. "Hey, I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I just didn't want him to get into any trouble."

"Well, you still hurt his feelings just the same, Bo," Blake said.

"Bo, you made perhaps one of the most fatal errors in detective work," Shirley told her friend. "You made accusations without positive proof."

Bo sighed. "So, what do I do now?" he asked, now feeling guilty.

"I'd wait until he cools down," Blake recommended.

"I agree," Shirley said. "That's all we can do for now."

* * * * *

That night, Shirley looked at the dismantled dragon on her examination table. She marveled at how intricate its construction was. The jointed parts were simple, but the sound and light components were in another league. Also, the material the dragon was made from was composed of a metal that was new to her. "A very expensive toy to make," Shirley observed.

Shirley heard her cell phone ring. She pulled it out of her pants pocket and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Shirley. It's me, Bo."

"Hi, Bo. Did you get to talk with Bart?"

"I didn't get a chance to. He was in his room, but he refused to let me in. Blake came with me and tried to persuade him to let us in, but it was no use. We pretty much waited until he came out. He was all packed; he had a sleeping bag and a pillow with him, I think."

"Did you try talking to him as he left?"

"I tried, but he kept ignoring me. Blake tried too, and Bart dissed him, too. We kept following him until his ride picked him up. It was Damian. After he left, Blake just went home and I went to the fish store to get some work done."

"Sorry for not coming with you guys, but I was told to go home immediately after school. Mom wanted to do more bonding with me."

Bo laughed a little. "Don't worry about it. If you had come, Bart would've been ignoring three people instead of two."

Shirley checked the time on her wristwatch. "Well, it's almost eight now. I guess he's at the Harrison house already."

"Yeah, I guess he's trying to take a picture of that ghost."

"It's a definite. Anything else you wanted to say, Bo?"

There was a pause on the other line. "Um, no, not really." Shirley could have sworn that Bo's voice was shaky.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Listen, I'd better go. I have to help my dad with something. See you later." Bo hung up.

Shirley hung up her cell phone and put it back in her pocket. "Hmmmm," she said, scratching her head and trying to figure out if Bo did have something else to say.

Shirley resumed examining the dismantled dragon for the next hour or two. Her parents and Gran were at the British Embassy for a retirement party for one of the employees. Shirley had managed to get out of going by saying that she had a lot of homework to do. She was half-right; after she had finished her school homework, she started studying the dismantled dragon to find anything she could have possible missed the first time. Her examination was interrupted briefly earlier by dinner composed of leftovers.

Shirley checked her watch and saw that it was now almost ten. The rest of her family had not come home yet. She yawned and removed her rubber gloves and lab coat. She pulled off the ponytail holder and let her brown hair loose. She was about to get ready for bed when her cell phone went off.

Wondering who could be calling at this late hour, Shirley turned it on. "Hello?"

The next voice surprised her. "Shirley? It's me, Lucy."

Shirley noticed the urgency in Lucy's voice. "Hi, Lucy. What's wrong?"

"It's Bart, Shirley," Lucy answered quickly. "We think he's in trouble."

END OF PART TWELVE