Book 2-Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

                                                                                         Chapter 1

                                                                                     The Phantom

     The small town of Elkhart Indiana woke up to another sultry August day.  Elkhart was a nice place in which to grow up.  It's neighborhoods had that small town feel.  The American Flag from many porches and front yards.  Grandparents sat on porch swings and watched children playing in lawn sprinklers in the summertime.  Summer evenings kids all over the city-glass jars in hand, ran in all directions hoping to capture fireflies.

     Alex Bishop was one of those Elkhart Citizens.  He would be 15 years old on August 31st, approximately two and a half weeks away.  Alex was a handsome boy with light brown hair-a soft spiked mass on his head.  He had wide set blue gray eyes which were frequently sparkled with mischief.  Alex was wide in the shoulders like his father Max, and slim at the hip.  And he was a good deal taller at this point in time than he was a year before.

     Alex was in most respects an ordinary teenager.  Except that he and his four best friends had an unusual hobby.  They solved crimes.  The group was known as the North Side Detectives.  A name that the press dubbed them with after they had solved their first case.  The teens usually solved these cases one step ahead of the local police, which caused embarrassment for the lead detective Brian Burns.

     This day, Alex and his four friends: Dawn Marks, Lee Martin, Fletch Clark and Glenna Williams  were sitting around a picnic table in their neighborhood park, where the group had met during their middle school years to discuss their investigations.  A gentle breeze wafted through the grassy yard which hadn't been mowed for a time, no doubt because the city employees didn't want to labor in the August heat.

     The North Side Detectives were discussing the police departments findings on the "Tower"case, the most recent mystery that Alex and his friends had help solve.  The tower was an abandoned landmark which some crooks had used to hide their stolen goods, which were found under a stoop and crawl space in front of the tower.  When that discussion ended the teens began talking about a new mystery involving what the press called, "The Lerner Theater Phantom."

     The discovery of the "Phantom" came about when Lee, and the teens' former history teacher at North Side middle school, and friend had both seen the specter lurking in the balcony of the Lerner Theater a couple weeks prior, when Alex, his friends, their families and Mr. Wells had attended a play performance there.

     That morning after breakfast the group were deciding what to do with their day, everyone making suggestions including Alex's sister Lyndell and her friends Amy and Michael from next door and Nikki, a friend who lived across the street.  Dawn was bursting with some news and interrupted whatever Fletch was saying to share it with the others.

     "How would you all feel about going to a play today?" she asked, her face hopeful.  Glenna said an immediate "Yes" and so did Lyn and Nikki.  But Michael and the other boys gave Dawn less than enthusiastic looks.  "Are you serious?"  Lee asked incredulously.  "Yes I am Lee," Dawn answered him with a smile.

     "I know that look Dawn,"  Fletch said with a grin.  "What are you up to?"  He asked with a brow raised.  Dawn smirked as she took a flyer out of her bag and held it up for the group to see.  "Scarlet's in a play!"  she announced.  (Scarlet was Mr. Wells' younger sister, and another close friend of the North Side Detectives.")