The Ghost Wore Gray by Bruce Coville Read Free Book Online Page A

Chris.
    â€œOnly one thing,” said my father, looking puzzled. “The original floor plans Baltimore gave me this afternoon.”

CHAPTER TEN
    Mona Makes Her Move
    â€œWell, I’d say the butler did it,” said Chris, spitting a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink. “Except the place doesn’t have one.”
    We were standing in the bathroom—the one we shared with six other rooms—getting ready for breakfast. It was fairly late in the morning, since we hadn’t had the kind of night that leaves one feeling rested. After the episode with the ghost, we had spent another half hour with my father, who grilled us on whether or not we had heard anything suspicious. Since the ghost hadn’t made a sound, we could honestly tell him that we hadn’t. When the questioning didn’t get him anywhere, he just sat down in the hallway and stared at the opposite wall. “I don’t get it,” he said. “I just don’t get it.”
    Mona slid down beside him and patted his shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll turn up, Henry,” she said gently.
    I had thought about telling her his name was Mr . Tanleven, but decided it wasn’t a good idea.
    I took my toothbrush out of my mouth. “Well, I wouldn’t guess the butler, anyway,” I said. “I think it was Mona.”
    Chris wiped a smear of toothpaste off her face. “You sound like you’re jealous,” she said.
    â€œCould be,” I replied. “But if you’ll remember, it was Mona who left the parlor for about fifteen minutes last night.”
    â€œSo she had to freshen her makeup,” said Chris. “Women do that. Meg Coleman was out of the room when we got there. Why don’t you suspect her?”
    â€œThat sweet little old lady? She’s not the type.”
    Chris laughed out loud. “Now I know you’re not thinking like a detective. The ones who aren’t the type are usually the ones who did it. Besides, if Mona already had the plans, why would she have come up with your father to look at them?”
    â€œTo throw suspicion somewhere else,” I said. “She probably figured if she was there when the crime was discovered, people wouldn’t even begin to suspect her.”
    â€œAnd what’s her motive?” asked Chris.
    â€œI don’t know. What’s anyone’s motive? That’s the biggest mystery of all right now. What does someone have to gain by stealing those plans?”
    â€œWell, I still think you’re jumping to conclusions about Mona,” said Chris. “I bet everyone at that party left the room long enough to have stolen the plans at some point or another. And that’s not counting Dieter, or Martha and Isabella, or even Peter.”
    â€œPeter doesn’t live here,” I pointed out.
    â€œNo, but I’ll bet he has a key. He’s probably in and out all the time. No one would even think twice if they saw him.”
    â€œYou think Peter did it?” I asked, stepping back out into the hallway.
    â€œDon’t be dense. I’m just saying it’s too early to start narrowing down the list of suspects. I’d say the only people we can count out right now are you, me, and your father. And if we didn’t know him so well, we’d have to leave him in, too.”
    I looked at her.
    â€œWell, it could be one of those crazy self-destructive plots,” she said. “They have them on TV all the time.”
    â€œThat’s why TV rots your brain,” I replied. “What about Baltimore? Can’t we cross him off the list? After all, he does own the place.”
    Chris shook her head. “He’s definitely still a suspect. For the same reason.”
    â€œYou can’t be serious,” I said.
    She shrugged. “Who knows what kind of plot might be going on here? Until we can figure out a logical reason why someone would want those plans, we have to keep all the