Death of a Ghost
Dr. Miller planned a large cook-out and picnic party in the mine area,
and he issued invitations to people from the town of Lansdale, to the
staff of Spindrift Island's scientific foundation, to Mr. Bennett of the
AEC, and to a number of folks who preferred for reasons of their own to
remain anonymous for the time being.
The reason, Dr. Miller said, was to get all his friends together for one
big shindig before he and his family returned to Spindrift Island where
a new project was waiting.
Even Jan and Barby knew no other reason than this.
Meanwhile, the boys were busy preparing to "bury the ghost for good."
What made the plan difficult was that it had to be done publicly, and in
such a way that it wouldn't interfere with police activities.
The boys met with Taylor, the FBI agent. He was a good-natured young man
who might have been a lawyer, but under the attractive grin and ready
chuckle, Rick could sense that Taylor could be a very tough man indeed
if need be. The agent listened to their plans and laughed outright.
"I like it," he said. "We must do this, if only for the effect on the
Frostola man when he sees what has happened. It's turning the tables on
that joker, and he deserves it."
Rick sensed more than met the ear in that statement. "You know something
about him?" he asked.
"Quite a bit. He's not exactly Public Enemy Number One, or even Number
Fifty, but he's well known to the police of most large cities. He
specializes in confidence games with a technical angle. He's quite
original. You can bet he dreamed this whole thing up and planned it down
to the last detail, then sold the others on it. I don't know how he met
Hilleboe, but we'll find out. Of course he met Collins through
Hilleboe."
"Does the Frostola company know he exists?"
"Sure. He wouldn't slip on a detail like that. He got the job without
difficulty, since the route was vacant. If it hadn't been vacant, he'd
have worked out some other kind of cover."
Rick made a telephone call to a friend in New York, and as a consequence
had to fly to Washington National Airport in two days to pick up a small
package.
Mr. Belsely let it be known around town that Dr. Miller didn't really
want to hold the party at the mine area because of the ghost, but had no
other place large enough--and he had to give the party for professional
reasons; his scientific friends had long wanted to see his Virginia
home. The farmer made sure the Frostola man heard the story.
There was only one final step necessary on the day of the big event.
With Belsely watching one road and Scotty watching the other, Rick went
into the upper mine tunnel for the last time. He had with him equipment
and a specially made item that was essential to his plans. He worked
swiftly, sure that the Frostola man wouldn't notice the slight change,
which involved only a foot of film on the continuous strip.
He finished and called Belsely and Scotty off their posts. Now all was
in readiness.
There were gallons of potato salad and coleslaw, mountains of rolls,
barrels of punch, and enough hot dogs to feed a small army. Wood was
piled for the fires, paper plates were stacked high. All was in
readiness.
Rick flew again to Washington and made connections with the plane that
brought his parents and Julius Weiss, the little mathematician. The
other Spindrifters were out of town, so couldn't come.
It was a gala occasion, enjoyed by everyone. Rick ate half a dozen hot
dogs himself, while Scotty maintained his reputation as a good
trencherman with two on top of that. They consumed salad until the
bursting point was near, and so was darkness.
Then Rick wandered casually over to a parked car where one man, replete
with picnic chow, was listening to his radio.
It wasn't a broadcast receiver, however. The man was a lieutenant of the
Virginia State Police. His car was radio equipped, although not
identified as a police car. It kept him in touch with his men.
"Your boy went into the mine a few minutes ago," he reported.
Rick breathed a sigh of relief. Now, if the ghost producer didn't
examine things too closely ... but he wouldn't. Everything looked
normal, and the extra film wasn't prominent.
It was almost nine o'clock.
Rick found Scotty. "Let's get grandstand seats."
"Okay."
Barby, Jan, and the Millers had a table directly under the tree in which
the boys had waited in vain for the Blue Ghost, and had hidden from the
night prowlers. This was no accident. Rick's mother and father were with
the group. Weiss was off at another table with Bennett of the AEC, deep
in a discussion of some obscure point of nuclear physics.
A car drove up and Rick waited to see who emerged. One person who was
missing had arrived just in time. Rick walked over and told the FBI
agent to get a good location from which to watch the show.
"Just got in from Washington," Taylor said. "We picked up Hilleboe and
three associates. They talked freely when they saw we had 'em cold. Been
actually selling pieces of the land, through Collins, at fantastic
prices. We'll pick up Collins on the way back tonight."
Rick saw him to a good location and rejoined Scotty. They hurriedly told
the folks at the table that they wanted grandstand seats and went up
into the tree. Besides having a good seat, Rick also wanted to see if he
was correct about being able to see the bright projector lens from the
tree.
Now that they knew what to look for, it was absurdly simple. They
couldn't see the port open, but they saw the white flash of dry ice as
it dropped from the port into the pool.
The mist rose.
The party group was silent now. Only a very few knew what the outcome
would be; most knew only that the Blue Ghost was about to appear.
The mist thickened, expanded.
The Blue Ghost materialized. He held out his hands to an invisible loved
one. He looked appealing.
He recoiled, then put hands to his chest. They came away bloody. He
stretched them out ...
And then a new sequence materialized in the mist, a sequence of words in
stark red against the icy white of the background.
BE PREPARED!
BUY
BLUE GHOST
HEALTH INSURANCE
For a long breath there was shocked silence, then the crowd below
dissolved into laughter.
"Let's go," Rick shouted.
He would have given much to see Barby's expression, but time was running
out and he and Scotty had ground to cover. They dropped from the tree,
scrambled up the hill past where the white mist was fading, and dashed
across the cornfield.
"Hurry!" Scotty exclaimed.
"I'm hurrying," Rick assured him, but made his legs go faster.
They went across the hilltop with great strides, broke into the open
beyond the cornfield, dodged thorns, and panted to a stop just above the
opening of the second tunnel.
The fast sprint had gotten them there in time.
The Frostola man spurted from the tunnel as though a real ghost was
after him.
Four state troopers grabbed him so fast that his legs continued to make
running motions even after his feet were lifted off the ground.
Rick caught a glimpse of blue light from the corner of his eye and
whirled to see the Blue Ghost approaching! For a moment he thought a
real ghost had somehow appeared to be in on the capture of the phony
one, then at close range he saw that the ghostly head was nothing more
than a transparent plastic head of the kind used to display men's hats.
The apparition walked up to the speechless Frostola man and said calmly,
"Boo!"
Taylor, the FBI agent, removed the apparatus from his head; Rick
recognized him in the blue glow. "We found your other head underneath
the ice cream in your scooter," he said conversationally. "In the false
bottom. We also found your Geiger counter. Any comments?"
The Frostola man had recovered somewhat from the shock of his capture.
"What can I say?" he demanded. "When I saw that wordage on the mist, I
knew someone was onto the act. I only delayed long enough to read
it--backward--from where I was. Then I got out and ran into troopers.
All right. You found the secret of the ghost, and that I have a Geiger
counter. So what? Practical jokes aren't illegal, and anyone can own a
survey meter."
"But selling shares in a nonexistent mine with intent to defraud is
quite a different matter," the agent said. "We've been collecting
evidence for a few days, including some from clients of yours who were
interested in knowing the field had been salted. And we've picked up
Collins and Hilleboe."
The Frostola man sighed. "Well, it was good while it lasted. I suspected
things were getting risky when those two kids charged into the mist, but
I hoped maybe the cold spray had cooled them down a little. When it
didn't, I tried to scare them off by trapping them in the mine. No
intent to harm, either. I knew they'd be dug out in short order."
"We were," Rick agreed. "Only while the rescuers were digging in, we
were busy finding the upper tunnel. After that, it was easy."
"I saw the rescue," the Frostola man said. "You came out the same way
you went in. That fooled me completely; I just figured you hadn't gone
beyond the pile of rocks between the tunnels."
A trooper sergeant pointed to the police car waiting on the dirt road.
"Come on. We'll take a ride to town and get you booked. Don't worry
about your scooter. It will be taken care of."
"Eat all the ice cream you want," the Frostola man said grandly. "Be my
guests. I won't be needing it."
"Not for some years," Taylor agreed. "Come on, lads. Let's get back to
the picnic."
"We're with you," Rick said. "Lead the way." He chuckled suddenly. "It
was a pretty good effect, wasn't it? The lab did a good job, and the
Frostola man didn't see that a new chunk had been spliced in."
"A very good effect," Scotty agreed. "Only stand by for misery and woe.
Barby and Jan won't like this! After all, we destroyed a historic
romance."
The picnic crowd was eating again when the boys returned. They located
the family and Rick strained to see the girls' faces, but it was too
dark.
Barby's voice said sternly, "Is that you, Rick Brant?"
He admitted it, rather meekly. "Uh-uh."
"Rick Brant! You knew all the time ... I mean, while Jan and I were ..."
Barby's voice was trembling. He thought she was in tears. He hoped not;
she shouldn't take legends so seriously ...
Agent Taylor joined the group and chuckled. "You should have seen that
Frostola man come out of the tunnel! I guess that final commercial
shocked him silly."
"He wasn't the only one," Barby said swiftly, and to Rick's amazement
she and Jan Miller burst into peals of laughter.
This wasn't the reaction Rick had expected. "But the romance," he said
doubtfully. "I mean, you should be brokenhearted ..."
"I'll never understand girls," Scotty said darkly.
"It was like sitting through the same movie too many times," Barby
explained.
Jan added, "Really, we were getting a little bored with the same act. If
the ghost had only changed his routine a little ..."
There was real pride in Barby's voice as she declared, "And how do you
get rid of a boring ghost? You get my brother Rick to turn him into a
commercial. Rick Brant's Sponsored Spooks!"
Rick was so relieved at Barby's reaction that he let her have the last
word. Besides, there were new events to think about, for Hartson Brant
had brought word of a new project the Spindrift Foundation had agreed to
undertake, one that would shake the very earth to its depths, and one in
which Rick Brant and Scotty would play a major part.
_The_ RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE _Stories_
BY JOHN BLAINE
THE ROCKET'S SHADOW
THE LOST CITY
SEA GOLD
100 FATHOMS UNDER
THE WHISPERING BOX MYSTERY
THE PHANTOM SHARK
SMUGGLERS' REEF
THE CAVES OF FEAR
STAIRWAY TO DANGER
THE GOLDEN SKULL
THE WAILING OCTOPUS
THE ELECTRONIC MIND READER
THE SCARLET LAKE MYSTERY
THE PIRATES OF SHAN
THE BLUE GHOST MYSTERY
End of Project Gutenberg's The Blue Ghost Mystery, by Harold Leland Goodwin