Book 1-Alex Bishop and the North Side Detectives

Alex Bishop and the North Side Detectives

                                                                                       Chapter 14

                                                                                     The Buckland

     Mr. Wells expertly returned the files to the cabinet from whence they came, the following Monday.  He gave his students a sly grin, but said nothing, when they asked him how he had done it.  One of the ladies who worked in the office found the missing files on Tuesday, and informed Detective Burns.

     Alex found it quite amusing to think of Detective Burns scratching his head and wondering how he could've missed them.

     Fortunately, the insurance companies paid off the five teachers' claims for their vehicles.  Mr. Wells picked out a new Land Rover, exactly like the one that was destroyed.  Mrs. Marks had a shinny new van delivered; maroon in color, rather than the black she'd had before.  Mr. Riggs bought an army green jeep, fully loaded; Mr. Wayne, the math teacher had always wanted a truck, so he drove a cobalt blue extended cab Chevy right off the show room floor.  And Mr. Watts chose a forest green Honda Civic.

     The first week back in school, Mr. Riggs begin to instruct his students in the noble art of wrestling.  Alex and Fletch were very apprehensive regarding this activity.  The first match up for them was to be paired with two burly boys, with arms and legs like tree trunks.  Alex didn't think there would be much competition involved in his or Fletch's matches.

     Alex was right.  For most of the half an hour,  both he and Fletch were pinned to their mats.  As  Alex and Fletch left the gym, aching and moaning, Alex was hoping for less weighty rivals in the future.

     Gym class was only one of Fletch's problems that day.  He also had some problems in science class.  He somehow caused his experiment to blow up in his face.  luckily, no toxic chemicals were ever used in class.  So neither he nor his fellow students were harmed.  But Mr. Watts, the science teacher decided he needed to keep a closer eye on Fletch.

     Mr. Wayne, Alex's math teacher, who was a nervous man on a good day, was even more so since his vehicle had been blown to smithereens.  He jumped at the slightest noise and had developed a twitching in his left eye.  His behavior would have been comical if Alex, Glenna, Fletch, Lee and Dawn didn't feel so sorry for him.

     "Maybe he will calm down as time goes on."  Dawn said, ever hopefully as she and the others left class at the bell.  "I can hardly read the blackboard anymore because his hand shakes to much."  Lee complained.

     "Mrs. Marks started her class on book reports the second week in October, which made Alex very happy, until he found out that half of them were to be oral reports.  Giving a speech in front of thirty of his fellow students wasn't his strong suit.  That was Dawn's specialty.  She often went over her time limit in her talks.  Since her father was an attorney, Alex reasoned she must have inherited her gift of public speaking from him.

     Lyn's twelfth birthday arrived on November 23rd, and with it, cold temperatures, gray skies and snow clouds that threatened to release large white flakes at any given moment.  Lyn's parents were taking she and Alex out to dinner at the Buckland Hotel and restaurant.  It was the oldest and grandest hotel in town.

     Lyn's best friends, Michael, Amy and Nikki were invited as well as Fletch, Dawn,Chet, Lee, Glenna, Mr. Wells and Mrs. Books, Mr. Wells, his sister Scarlet and Joshua Bern, the seventh grade math teacher who was dating Scarlet.

     Lyn and her guests arrived on that Saturday night and walked into the wide Elaborately done foyer adjacent to the restaurant.  The hotel rooms were on the second, third and fourth floors of the building.  A beautifully sculptured chandelier was suspended over a mahogany counter, where a head waiter stood, waiting to usher them into the formal dinning room.

     The tables were draped with snow white table cloths; glistening silverware sat beside each sparkling china plate.  The windows and doors were framed in mahogany wood also and large decorative floral displays stood in the four corners of the pretty room.  On each table a vase held a single red rose along with a feathery green fern.

     The waiter saw them to their table.  "Thank you."  Janeen said, as Max pulled out her chair for her.  Lyn stood beside her chair, waiting for someone to do the gentlemanly gesture for her too.  Lee grinned at her and with a little bow, he pulled out her red velvet cushioned chair.   Lyn blushed and said, "Thank you sir."  Amy and Nikki giggled and Michael rolled his eyes.  "It's her birthday."  Lee said sheepishly.

     "That was very nice Lee,"  Alex's mother said.  This time it was Alex who rolled his eyes, and Michael chuckled.  "I've never been in here."  Dawn said appreciatively.   "It's beautiful."

     "The hotel part is haunted."  Fletch whispered.  Everyone laughed.  "Fletch.  You think every place is haunted."  Lee said with a smirk.  Fletch scowled at him.  "And besides, if the hotel part of it is haunted, than the whole building would be too.  I've never heard of a ghost being that particular before."  Lee finished, and everyone laughed again.

     Fletch ignored Lee, as the laughter went on.  "I can't believe you people haven't heard the story!"  he said in an amazed voice, his round blue eyes wide.  "Okay Fletch.  We're all ears.  Tell us a story."  Lee said on a sigh.

     "Well...."  Fletch started, but was interrupted by a waiter asking for drink orders.  Lyn, Amy and Nikki wanted fruit drinks with bing cherries on top and colorful umbrellas on sticks.  Everyone else ordered water and soft drinks.  When the waiter walked away, Fletch began again.

     "Well, they say, about ten years ago, an actress by the name of Marina O'Conner was staying in this hotel...."  Fletch was interrupted again, when the waiter returned bringing the drinks, and asking if the group was ready to order dinner.  The whole process took about ten minutes because Lyn couldn't decided what she wanted.  She finally decided on pork chops, like her brother, and the waiter went away again with their orders in hand.

     "Where was I?"  Fletch asked,  "Oh, yeah.  She was staying in this hotel.  She was performing in the Lerner Theater.  She had come from New York with an acting troupe to give six performances.  Anyway, some guy followed her here.  Some people say, he wanted to marry her, but she rejected him.  Michael's blue eyes were larger than usual as he listened to Fletch's tale.  In fact, everyone at the table was enthralled by it.  Even Lee.

     "After her last night at the Lerner, the guy followed her up to her room.  His name was, uh,....Sean Riley.  It's said that they had a fight outside her room door and he killed her.  Afterwards, he took her hotel key from her bag and carried her into the room, put her on the bed, threw the keys on the floor, and left.  Never to be seen again."

     "And here's the eerie part..."  Fletch said in a whisper.  "People had seen a beautiful woman walking on the fourth floor balcony, outside of Marina's room every Friday night since the murder ten years ago.  The rumor is, that she will haunt the balcony until her killer is caught and punished for his dreadful deed."  Fletch ended, as the snow outside began to fall.