The Mystery of the Monster Movie (4 page)

“But why would she take the film? What was her motive?” Cam’s mother asked as she parked the car.

“I don’t know,” Cam said.

“She’s probably not even home,” Eric said. “She’s probably still at the theater watching
The Monster Spiders.”

Number 358 Taft Drive was an apartment building. The front door was open. Cam’s mother looked at the mailboxes and found Angela Kane’s name. She lived on the first floor.

When they reached the door of the apartment, Eric whispered, “I still think Mr. Bender took the film. He has a motive.”

Mrs. Jansen knocked on the door. She waited. Then she knocked again, louder.

“Just a minute,” a voice called from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”

“I’m Helen Jansen. I’m here with my daughter, Jennifer, and her friend Eric Shelton.”

The door opened, but only a few inches. A chain lock kept the door from opening any wider.

“Are you Angela Kane, the actress?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’ve wanted to meet you for such a long time!”

“Oh, a fan, a fan,” Angela Kane said as she unhooked the chain lock. She opened the door wide and said, “Come in. Come in. I’ll show you my movie posters, and you’ll probably want my autograph.”

Mrs. Jansen walked in first. Cam and Eric followed her. The apartment was one room. There was a small kitchen, an unmade bed, a table, and a few chairs. The walls were decorated with movie posters. One was for
Shoe Escape.

“I was in all these movies,” Angela Kane said as she pointed to the posters.

She was a tall, thin woman, about the same age as Mrs. Jansen. She was wearing a long brown dress with a bright orange scarf as a belt and a great many necklaces and bracelets. When she pointed to the posters, the jewelry banged together and jangled.

“I had no idea you were in so many movies. You’re a real movie star,” Cam’s mother said.

“Take a look at this one,” Angela Kane said. She pointed to one of the posters.

While Cam’s mother read each of the posters, Cam and Eric looked around the apartment. Then Eric pulled on Cam’s sleeve and whispered, “Look on the bed.”

Cam looked on the bed. Then she whispered to Eric, “It looks real sloppy, don’t you think?”

“Look under the sheet,” Eric whispered. A small part of a flat gray can was uncovered. “I’ll bet that’s the film.”

Cam’s mother and Angela Kane were standing in front of the
Shoe Escape
poster. Mrs. Jansen said, “My husband and I saw this movie just a few days before we were married. It’s one of his favorites. It’s a pity
Shoe Escape
isn’t shown more often.”

“I wasn’t very good in that one,” Angela Kane said softly.

“Yes, you were. It’s such a good movie, and you were wonderful in it. We were just at the Hamilton Movie Theater. We went to see
Shoe Escape,
but something happened to the film.”

Cam pulled on the sleeve of her mother’s coat. She wanted to tell her about the flat gray can. But her mother kept talking to Angela Kane.

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit down,” Cam’s mother said as she sat right next to the gray can.

Angela Kane quickly pulled at the bed sheets until the can was completely hidden.

“Is that the missing film?” Cam’s mother asked.

Angela Kane nodded.

“Why did you take it?”

Angela Kane began to cry. She took a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes. Cam and Eric looked at each other. Then they looked down at the floor. It seemed wrong to watch an adult cry.

“I was going to be a real star,” Angela Kane said. “But that movie ruined me. That was the last acting job I had. I didn’t intend to steal the film today. I just wanted to watch it. But when I got to the theater, something happened to me. I didn’t want to see that movie. And I didn’t want anyone else to see it.”

Cam’s mother took the film from under the sheet and said, “You know, you’ll have to return this.”

“And just because you didn’t get any more acting jobs doesn’t mean that you weren’t good in
Shoe Escape,”
Cam said. “Maybe the movie people didn’t know where to reach you.”

“Or maybe they just didn’t have the right parts for you,” Eric said.

Angela Kane went back to the theater with Mrs. Jansen, Cam, and Eric. In the car she told them about her first movie role. “The director told me to look frightened, but I just couldn’t. Then he took a toy mouse from his pocket. I was so scared. I was shaking. ‘That’s it!’ the director yelled. ‘Don’t lose that look.’ ”

When they entered the theater, the police were in the lobby with the theater manager and Mr. Bender. They were arguing with Mr. Bender.

Cam ran up to the theater manager. “Here’s the film,” she said as she gave him the gray metal can. “Mr. Bender didn’t take it.”

Angela Kane told the theater manager what she had done. And she told him why. Mrs. Jansen told him how Cam used her amazing memory to find Angela Kane and that Eric had noticed the missing film.

Mr. Bender took off his coat. “You owe me an apology,” he said to the theater manager. “And you owe me my money back. I paid to see two movies, and I didn’t see either of them.”

“We’ll have to take you to the police station,” one of the officers said to Angela Kane.

Cam, Eric, and the others watched as the police led Angela Kane out of the theater. The theater manager took some money from his pocket and gave it to Mr. Bender. As Mr. Bender counted the money, he told Cam’s mother, “You know, at my theater, you get to see a triple feature—three great movies for the price of one.”

The theater manager smiled when he heard Mr. Bender talk about his triple feature. Then the theater manager said, “Now, why don’t you all go inside and watch
Shoe Escape?
It’s a great movie.”

The theater manager ran up the stairs to the projection room. Cam and the others went into the theater.

The Monster Spiders
was just ending. A parade of normal-size spiders was crawling out of an open box. On the side of the box was a changing list of the names of the director and the stars of the movie.

“You missed a good movie,” Cam’s father said. “Where were you?”

“Jennifer found the missing film,” Cam’s mother said. “Now we can see the next part of
Shoe Escape.”

People were beginning to leave the theater when the theater manager called to them from the stage. “Please don’t leave. We’ll be showing the rest of
Shoe Escape
in just a few minutes. But before it starts, I’d like to thank Jennifer Jansen, her mother, and Eric Shelton for helping us bring you this wonderful movie. And just a short while ago I made a terrible mistake. I’d like to apologize for that mistake to Mr. Dennis Bender, of Bender’s Bargain Theater.” The theater manager smiled and said, “It’s the only theater in town with a triple feature—three great movies for the price of one.”

People returned to their seats. The lights dimmed. Then the screen lit up with a picture of hundreds of shoes crowded inside an elevator car.

The elevator stopped in the lobby of the office building. When its doors opened, the shoes walked out to the street. Thousands of other shoes were already there. Cars stopped. Horns were honking. There was a huge traffic jam. People standing on the sidewalk just stood and watched as the shoes marched past.

“I wonder where they’re all going,” Cam whispered.

Helicopters with news reporters inside circled over the parade of shoes. While the newsmen were reporting what was happening below, the threads of their shoes opened up. The shoes came off their feet and floated down in tiny parachutes to join the parade.

“That’s funny,” Eric whispered. “This movie makes you think that shoes are like people.”

“There must be millions of shoes,” Cam said. “And look, there are sneakers, roller skates, slippers, and little baby booties marching, too.”

As the shoes marched, they stopped traffic. They crushed flower gardens, kicked down trees and telephone poles.

They all marched to the gates of the mayor’s house. One boot was carrying a large sign that said: “WE’RE TIRED OF BEING STEPPED ON AND STEPPED IN.”

“This is the greatest march our town has ever seen,” a television reporter said in front of a set of cameras. “Shoes from all over the world have come here.”

“That reporter is Angela Kane,” Cam said.

“The shoes want to see the mayor,” the reporter said. “I hope he comes out soon.”

Angela Kane reported about the mayor’s schedule and the type of shoes he wore. She also described the many different shoes that marched to the mayor’s house.

“The front doors of the house are opening. The mayor is coming out,” Angela said.

“Look,” Eric said, “that’s not the mayor coming out. It’s a monster-size shoe.”

The millions of shoes around the mayor’s house gave out a loud cheer. Then the movie screen showed Angela Kane. She was still talking into the microphone. As she talked, the screen showed her feet. They were bare. The movie ended, and the lights in the theater went on.

“What does that mean?” Cam asked her father.

“The shoes have won. It means that people have to walk around in bare feet from now on.”

“What will happen to Angela Kane at the police station?” Cam asked.

“I don’t know. She might have to pay a fine. She might have to spend some time in jail.”

The theater manager and Mr. Bender came over to where Cam, Eric, and Cam’s parents were sitting. They were both smiling.

“We’re friends now,” the theater manager said.

“I like what he said about my theater,” Mr. Bender told them. “But we both have a question about Jennifer’s mental camera. Does it take still pictures or moving pictures?”

“Still pictures,” Cam said. “I just look at something, say
‘Click,’
and a still picture is stored in my head.”