Ghost Detectors Volume 1 (9 page)

The Millers' doghouse looked more like a playhouse than a place for dogs to sleep. Malcolm ducked in to straighten their doggie beds, but quickly jumped back. A small white dog cowered in the corner, shivering.

“Hey, little fellow,” Malcolm said softly. “Where did you come from?” He hadn't realized that the Millers had gotten a new dog. He still only saw two beds. And the only bowls said
Brom
and
Bowser.

Hmmm . . . Maybe the Millers got this dog right before they left.

“It's okay,” Malcolm assured the little dog. “I'm not going to hurt you.” But when he reached closer, it whimpered and thumped his tail. “All right, all right.”

Malcolm backed out and grabbed more dog food. “The Millers have a new dog,” he told Dandy.

Dandy stopped in mid-pitch, holding the slobbery ball he'd been tossing to the bassett hounds. “Where?”

“It's hiding in the doghouse.”

Malcolm peeked in again. The dog stayed curled in the corner. “Here you go,” he said, putting a small pile of food on the floor.

Malcolm waited. The dog just sat, shaking. He was afraid if he touched it the dog might snap. Better to leave it alone.

He went over to Dandy, who was wrestling the ball away from Brom. “Are they exhausted yet?” Malcolm asked.

“I don't think so.” Dandy was panting harder than the dogs.

Malcolm snatched the ball from Brom's teeth, then jogged to the other side of the yard for a good throwing distance. That's when something in the kitchen window caught his eye. Just a glimpse, but it was real.

“Did you see that?” he asked Dandy.

“What?”

Malcolm crept over and peeked in. No lights were on. The house was covered in afternoon shadows. But Malcolm saw a man near the refrigerator.

Someone was inside the Millers' house!

M
alcolm ducked. Was he imagining things?

“Dandy,” he whispered. He motioned for Dandy to come over.

“What'ya hiding from?” Dandy asked in a voice loud enough to scare off birds. Brom and Bowser were jumping at him, trying to get the ball.

“Shhhh!” Malcolm put a finger to his lips.

Dandy's face went blank for a moment. Then he tiptoed over. He squatted by Malcolm under the window. Bowser and Brom followed.

“Someone's inside the Millers' house.” Malcolm tried to remain calm, but his heart was thumping against his chest at record speed.

Dandy paused a moment, taking it all in. Then he asked, “Is it a man or a woman?”

“A man.”

“Short or tall?”

“Tall . . . I think.”

“Thin or fat?”

“Thin,” Malcolm said.

“Blond hair or brown?”

“I don't know,” Malcolm whispered.

“Did he have a huge, hairy mole by his nose?”

“What? I don't know, I don't think so. What difference does it make?”

Dandy leaned in. “Because if he's tall, thin, and blonde with a hairy mole, it could be Darren Von Datton, the famous diamond smuggler.”

Malcolm just stared. “Do you really think the Millers have valuable diamonds hidden in their house?”

“You never know.”

“I know,” Malcolm said. “They don't, otherwise they would hire someone to watch their dogs instead of having the neighbor kid do it!”

Dandy rolled the ball away so Bowser and Brom would stop jumping at him. “So what now?”

“I have to be sure,” Malcolm said. Inch by inch, he slowly raised himself up. He took a deep breath. Then Malcolm dared another peek. The man was still there, hovering by the fridge. Malcolm dropped back down by Dandy. “He's still there.”

“Maybe it's Mr. Miller,” Dandy suggested. “He could've come home early.”

“But the dogs hadn't been fed. Mr. Miller would have fed them. Besides, it doesn't look like Mr. Miller.”

“Maybe it's a relative. You know, an uncle or something?”

Malcolm shook his head. “The house is dark inside. Someone staying here would turn on a lamp or something.”

Bowser and Brom were back, nudging Dandy. The rubber ball, full of teeth marks, was oozing slobbery goo. Dandy took it and pitched it to the back of the yard.

“So what now?” he asked again.

Malcolm mentally calculated the best approach. “Run!”

Malcolm and Dandy sped around the house to the gate. They nearly knocked it down pushing through. Malcolm closed it to keep the dogs in, but didn't bother with the lock.

Malcolm raced down the street like someone was chasing him. Dandy galloped beside him, keeping tempo with Malcolm's steps.

They nearly tripped over Cocoa in the front yard. She was stretched out in a chaise lounge, sunbathing.

“Watch it, slimeballs!” she yelled as she straightened her leopard print sunglasses with the butterscotch-yellow rhinestones.

They burst through the door, only to be met by Grandma Eunice. She was blocking their way with her wheelchair.

“Grandma, I need to get to the phone!”

“Have you seen him?” she asked, wearing a serious scowl.

“Seen who?”

“Bertram, that's who.”

Malcolm fidgeted. “Grandma, no one's around right now. You don't have to pretend.”

She looked Malcolm straight in the eye. He could see her eyes were bright and clear. “I'm not pretending. I know he's around. I don't need that detector of yours to feel him. Have you seen him?”

Malcolm sighed. He knew he never should have filled in Grandma Eunice on his experience at the McBleaky House. Now she thought she could hunt ghosts, too. “No, I haven't. He's not here.”

“Oh, he's here all right,” she said. “I can sense him.” She twirled her wheelchair around in a circle. “And I want my jellybeans!”

Malcolm and Dandy whipped around her and headed for the kitchen phone.

“9-1-1, what's your emergency?”

In the calmest voice possible, Malcolm said, “I'd like to report a break-in.”

M
alcolm and Dandy sprinted out the door. They hurdled over Cocoa and hurried off. Minutes later, they plopped down on the lawn across the street from the Millers' house.

Then they waited. And waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. It was the second time that day that Malcolm had to wait on a government worker!

“How long has it been?” Dandy asked.

“Nearly ten minutes. They should be here soon.”

Dandy ran his fingers through the clumps of clover where he sat. “Maybe they got lost.”

“The police don't get lost,” Malcolm informed him. “They have fancy GPS systems in their cars to guide them.”

“Then maybe they're all busy with a bank robbery somewhere.”

“Doubtful,” Malcolm said.

“Or,” Dandy continued, “maybe they thought we were just a couple of kids playing a prank, and they're not coming at all.”

Dandy had a point. Malcolm hadn't thought of that. But the emergency dispatcher said he'd call it in. He hadn't acted like it was a prank.

Just when Malcolm was getting worried, he saw the police cruiser turning the corner. The car rolled into the Millers' driveway, and Malcolm met the police officers who got out of the car.

“You the one who called in a break-in?” a squat, bald cop who resembled a bowling ball asked him.

“Yes, sir. The family is out of town,” Malcolm told him.

The other cop leaned on the driver's side door. He was a lot younger and thinner, and his uniform looked like it was swallowing him whole.

“What are you boys doing poking around here if the family's gone?” the thin cop asked.

“I'm dogsitting for them while they're away,” Malcolm quickly filled in the officers.

Dandy stood by him, twirling a clover between his fingers. His mouth was hanging open, and Malcolm knew he was amazed that he was meeting real cops.

“Okay,” the bowling ball cop said. “You boys wait back over there.” He pointed across the street, where they had been waiting. “We'll check it out.”

Malcolm didn't hesitate. He and Dandy hurried across the street. They stood, staring as the two policemen knocked on the front door.

When no one answered, the police peeked into windows. Malcolm and Dandy watched as they disappeared into the backyard. Brom and Bowser let out a few barks, but quickly stopped.

“This feels really dangerous,” Dandy said, still twirling the clover.

“Yeah,” Malcolm whispered. The entire street felt hushed and quiet except for the occasional call being reported on the police car's radio. “We have a stalled car reported on Hansen Road.”

Moments later the two cops emerged. The bowling ball cop looked toward them and shrugged. “Nothing in there.”

Malcolm ran over. “But I saw him!”

“Maybe it was your imagination,” the
driver said. “You know, a trick of the light or something.”

“Someone was in the house!” Malcolm argued. “I can show you where.”

Both cops sighed as they followed Malcolm to the backyard. Dandy held the dogs while Malcolm led the cops to the kitchen window.

“He was in here,” Malcolm told them.

The cops framed their faces with their hands and peered in.

“I don't see anything,” the skinny cop said.

“Me neither,” the bowling ball cop agreed.

Malcolm peeked in, too. Right there, next to the refrigerator, stood the same man he'd seen before.

“He's right there!” Malcolm shouted, trying to point through the glass.

The cops looked in again. When they didn't see anything, they glared at Malcolm.

“Are you playing games with us, kid?” the bowling ball cop sneered. “‘Cause if you are, we might need to have a talk with your parents.”