The Blue Ghost Mystery Part 28

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 a.s.sociates. 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 b.l.o.o.d.y. 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 a.s.sured 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.