8 THE GHOST RETURNS

CHAPTER 8 THE GHOST RETURNS That's not proof," Claire said a couple of hours later. She had finally stopped sleeping, and Kaz had just told her all about his talk with Beckett. Kaz didn't understand. "Beckett told me he hasn't been glowing in the library. He said he hasn't glowed in twenty years. He isn't even sure he can still do it. How is that not proof that Beckett isn't the library ghost?" "Because sometimes suspects lie," Claire said. Why would Beckett lie? Later that morning, Claire's grandma asked her to put books away. While Claire wheeled a cart of

books from one room to another, Kaz wafted behind. "Maybe there's another ghost in this library," he said as they crossed the entryway and went into the craft room. "One who isn't Beckett. Or me. Or Finn." "Could be," Claire said. She took a book off her cart and placed it on the shelf. "But I think I'd know if there was another ghost here." "I don't know. This place is huge." Kaz stretched his arms wide. "It's almost as big as my old haunt. And you're only one person. You can't

be everywhere at once. Another ghost could stay hidden from you if he or she really wanted to." "It's possible," Claire said. "But it's also possible that Beckett lied to you and he is the one who's been glowing." Beckett charged through the wall right in front of Claire. "ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?" he roared. Claire and Kaz both jumped. Beckett expanded to almost the full height of the room. "I... DON'T... GLOW and I CERTAINLY... DON'T... LIE!" Kaz could almost see smoke coming out of Beckett's ears. All of a sudden, the library went dark. And they all heard a loud ghostly WOOOOOOOOOO! Kaz and Claire looked at each other. "D-did you do that?" Claire asked Beckett. "Did you make all the lights go out?" "Did you see me turn out the lights?" Beckett asked. "I've been floating here right in front of you this whole time."

"You still could've done it," Claire said. "I know you're mad. Don't ghosts do crazy things when they get mad?" She turned to Kaz for support. "Crazy things like make the lights go out without actually touching the light switch?" Beckett asked. "You have a lot to learn about ghosts, missy." "Don't call me 'missy'!" Claire said, leaning forward. WOOOOOOOOOO! "Look!" cried a voice from the entryway. "There's the ghost!" Kaz, Claire, and Beckett all hurried to the dark entryway. They saw a ghostly figure above the plant, but it disappeared before any of them got close enough to get a good look at it. Strange, Kaz thought. A ghost could stop glowing and then any solids in the room would think the ghost had disappeared. But ghosts like Kaz and Beckett should still have been able to see

a ghost when he stopped glowing. What kind of ghost could disappear in front of other ghosts? "Now do you believe I'm not the library ghost?" Beckett asked Claire. WOOOOOOOOOO! Several solid children ran to the entryway from the children's room. "I think the ghost went in there," one of them shrieked, pointing at the children's room. "Do you see him?" asked a teenager. "No, but I hear him! Don't you?" WOOOOOOOOOO! The ghostly wail did

indeed sound like it was coming from the children's room. "Must be a pretty sorry excuse for a ghost," Beckett grumbled as he followed Kaz and Claire into the children's room. "That's one of the worst wails I've ever heard." WOOOOOOOOOO! Kaz, Claire, and Beckett looked around. The ghostly wail seemed to be coming from a large desk in the middle of the room. But Kaz didn't see any ghost. The lights came back on and Grandma Karen said, "Don't worry, everyone. The ghost is gone.