Walls within Walls by Maureen Sherry Page B

room.
    â€œHe was here again?” asked Maricel. “Thank God, Patrick is at a playdate.” She ran to the house phone, and Ray was in the bedroom within two minutes.
    â€œKids outtaderoom while I take care of this guy,” said Ray, picking up CJ’s bat.
    â€œI want to stay,” said CJ.
    Ray was already opening the closet the tiniest crack. He looked inside, then swung the door open the entire way. Patrick didn’t own a lot of clothes, and the closet was huge, so it didn’t take long to realize nobody was in there.
    With his heart pounding as if he had sprinted a mile, CJ checked under the bed, but he quickly saw that Pat’s twenty-seven stuffed animals took up all the space. There was no way a human could fit in there. Where did he go?
    Brid and Maricel came into the room.
    â€œAre you sureyaseeing a person?” asked Ray.
    â€œYes,” said Brid emphatically.
    â€œI bet it’s the same man Pat saw, and both times he went into this room,” said CJ. “Last time he left by the fire stairs, but this time he didn’t leave. He came in here.”
    â€œYeah, but what I’m saying,” muttered Ray, “is maybe you are seeing something that isn’t real, or maybe it’s real, but not dangerous.”
    â€œLike a ghost!” hollered Maricel.
    â€œA ghost!” shrieked Brid.
    â€œHello?” said CJ. “Don’t we all know that there isn’t such a thing?” He didn’t believe it was a ghost for one second.
    â€œWellyaknow what happened?” said Ray. “Maybe there is a ghost in this apartment. It’s been such an unhappy place.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” asked CJ.
    Ray took a deep breath. “Well, ya know Eloise wasn’t an only child.”
    â€œI think we sort of know that,” said Brid, trying to remember exactly what Lukas Williamson had said about the family.
    â€œNah,” said Ray, “she had a brother, supposed to be a nice kid. But he, um, well, he disappeared for a while. I heard he was away at some boarding school.
    â€œBy that time, his sister was already in college. They never were all together again.” Ray had a faraway look in his eyes. “He just sorta disappeared, heard he went to college out West and then into the army; he didn’t even show up when his mom passed away.”
    â€œYou mean you were working here way back then?”
    â€œNaw. I started in 1970. It’s just that the guys who work here, we talk, yaknow? That night guy, Carlos, he was here back then.”
    â€œYeah, that guy doesn’t talk much.”
    â€œYeah, good guy, but doesn’t talk at all.”
    CJ had crawled into the closet and was looking closely at the back wall. “Look at this. It’s almost like this closet has a seam. You see that slight indentation?”
    Glancing at the wall, Ray said, “Honestly, kid, there’s no way to go in or out of this building without getting past me or the door guy. I’d say that what you have here is either a ghost, or an overactive imagination. Neither of those things is going to hurt you.”
    In the background, they could hear the impatient buzzing of another tenant looking for the elevator. “Gotta go,” Ray said, “but call me if you have any more problems.”
    As they watched him go, CJ mumbled to Brid, “It’s time we include Eloise in this. We have too many questions and no answers.”
    Brid nodded solemnly. “Uh-huh. For a mystery that’s supposed to be dead for a long time, it feels so alive.”
    â€œI bet this guy keeps coming here because he knows we are on to something. Maybe it’s something he’s looking for, too.”
    The kids looked at each other. Every day brought more questions—and still no answers.

C HAPTER 17
    An hour later, Patrick was back from his playdate, and he, CJ, and Brid were descending in the elevator to the old servants’