Chapter 3

Chapter 3 "KIDNAPPED?" Ruth Rose shrieked. Her blue eyes were huge. Josh and Dink covered their ears. "Shh!" said Josh. He handed the letter back to Dink and gave a quick gesture with his head. "Some strange woman is watching us!" Dink had noticed the woman earlier. She'd been sitting in the back of the Book Nook. "She's coming over here!" Ruth Rose said. The woman had brown hair up in a neat bun. Half-glasses perched on her nose. She was wearing a brown dress and brown shoes, and carried a book bag with a picture of a moose on the side. Around her neck she wore a red scarf covered with tiny black letters.

"Excuse me," she said in a soft, trembly voice. "Did you say Wallis Wallace has been kidnapped?" The woman poked her glasses nervously. Dink wasn't sure what to say. He thought Wallis Wallace had been kidnapped, but he couldn't be sure. Finally he said, "Well, he might have been." "My goodness!" gasped the woman. "Who are you?" Josh asked her. "Oh, pardon me!" The woman blushed. "My name is Mavis Green," she mumbled. "I'm a writer, and I came to meet Mr. Wallace." Dink said, "I'm Dink Duncan. These are my friends Ruth Rose and Josh." Mavis shook hands shyly. Then she reached into her book bag and pulled out a folded paper. "Wallis Wallace wrote to me last week. He said something very peculiar in his letter. I didn't think much of it at the time. But when he didn't show up today and then I heard you mention kidnapping…" She handed the letter to Dink. Josh and Ruth Rose read it over his shoulder.

Dear Mavis, Thanks for your note. I'm well, and thank you for asking. But lately my imagination is playing tricks on me. I keep thinking I'm being followed! Maybe that's what happens to mystery writers-we start seeing had guys in the shadows! At any rate, I'm eager to meet you in Green Lawn, and I look forward to our lunch after the signing. Wallis Wallace "Wow!" said Ruth Rose. "First he says he's being followed, and then he winds up missing!" Dink told Mavis about his letter from Wallis Wallace. "He said the only thing that would keep him from coming today was if he was kidnapped!" "Oh, dear!" said Mavis. "I just don't understand. Why would anyone want to kidnap Wallis Wallace?" "If he's the most famous mystery writer in the world, he must be rich, right?" Josh said. "Maybe someone kidnapped him for a ransom!" Suddenly Josh grabbed Dink and spun him around, pointing toward the street. "Look! The

cops are coming! They must have heard about the kid-napping!" A police officer was walking toward them. "Josh, that's just Officer Fallon, Jimmy Fallon's grandfather," said Dink. "Jimmy came to get a book signed. I saw him inside the Book Nook." "Maybe we should show Officer Fallon these letters," Ruth Rose suggested. "They could be clues if Wallis Wallace has really been kidnapped!" "Who's been kidnapped?" asked Officer Fallon, who was now standing near them. "Not my grandson, I hope," he added, grinning. Dink showed Officer Fallon the two letters. "We think Wallis Wallace might have been kidnapped," he said. "He promised he'd come to sign books, but he isn't here." Officer Fallon read Mavis's letter first, then Dink's. He scratched his chin, then handed the letters back. "The letters do sound a bit suspicious," he said. "But it's more likely that Mr. Wallace just missed his flight." Jimmy Fallon ran out of the Book Nook, waving a Wallis Wallace book at his grandfather.

"Grampa, he never came! Can we go for ice cream anyway?" Officer Fallon put a big hand on Jimmy's head. "In a minute, son." To Dink he said, "I wouldn't worry. Mr. Wallace will turn up. Call me tomorrow if there's no news, okay?" They watched Jimmy and his grandfather walk away. Dink handed Mavis's letter back to her. He folded his and slid it into his pocket. Crazy thoughts were bouncing around in his head. What if Wallis Wallace really has been kidnapped? It happened because I invited him to Green Lawn. I'm practically an accomplice! "I don't want to wait till tomorrow," he said finally. "I say we start looking for Wallis Wallace now!" "Where do we start?" Ruth Rose asked. Dink jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Right here at the Book Nook." "Excuse me," Mavis Green said shyly. "May I come along, too?" "Sure," Dink said. He marched back inside the Book Nook, with the others following.

Mr. Paskey was putting the Wallis Wallace books back on a shelf. He looked even more nervous than before. "Excuse me, Mr. Paskey," Dink said. "Have you heard from Wallis Wallace?" Mr. Paskey's hand shot up to his bow tie. "No, Dink, not a word." "We think he was kidnapped!" Josh said. Mr. Paskey swallowed, making his bow tie wiggle. "Now, Joshua, let's not jump to conclusions. I'm sure there's a rational explanation for his absence." Dink told Mr. Paskey about the two letters. "I'm really worried, Mr. Paskey. Where could he be?" Mr. Paskey took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "I have no idea." He removed a paper from his desk and handed it to Dink. "All I have is his itinerary." The others looked over Dink's shoulder as he read: