The Absent Author Read Free

pistachio.”
    “Oh, you like green ice cream, too,” Mavis said. She smiled shyly. “I’ll have the same, please.”
    “I like pink ice cream,” Ruth Rose said. “I’ll have a strawberry cone, please. One scoop.”

    “How about you, Dink?” Mavis asked.
    “I’m not hungry, thanks,” he said. “But you guys go ahead. I’m going to call the airport.”
    Dink felt guilty. If he hadn’t invited Wallis Wallace to Green Lawn, his favorite author would be safe at home in his castle in Maine.
    But Dink couldn’t help feeling excited too. He felt like a detective from one of Wallis Wallace’s books!
    Dink stepped into the phone booth, looked up the number for New England Airlines, and called. When a voice came on, he asked if Wallis Wallace had been aboard Flight 3132 last night.
    “He was? Did it land at seven o’clock?” Dink asked. “Thanks a lot!”
    He rushed out of the phone booth. “Hey, guys, they told me Wallis Wallace was on the plane—and it landed right on time!”
    “So he didn’t miss his flight,” Ruth Rose said through strawberry-pink lips.
    “That’s right!” Dink pulled out the itinerary. He drew a line through AIRPORT.
    “This is so exciting!” Ruth Rose said.
    “Now what?” Josh asked, working on his double-dipper.
    Dink pointed to his next circle on the itinerary. “Now we need to find out if a taxi picked him up,” he said.
    “Lawrence Taxi is over by the river,” Ruth Rose said.
    Dink looked at Mavis. “Would you like to come with us? We can walk there in five minutes.”
    Mavis Green wiped her lips carefully with a napkin. Td love to come,” she said in her soft voice.
    They left Ellie’s Diner, walked left on Bridge Lane, then headed down Woodview Road toward the river.
    “Mr. Paskey looked pretty upset, didn’t he?” Josh said, crunching the last of his cone. His chin was green.
    “Wouldn’t you be upset if you had a bunch of customers at your store waiting to meet a famous author and he didn’t show up?” Ruth Rose asked.
    “Yeah, but he was sweating buckets,” Josh said. “I wonder if Mr. Paskey kidnapped Wallis Wallace.”
    “Josh, get real! Why would Mr.Paskey kidnap an author?” asked Ruth Rose. “He sells tons of Wallis Wallace’s books!”
    “I don’t think Mr. Paskey is the kidnapper,” Dink said. “But in a way, Josh is right. Detectives should consider everyone a suspect, just the way they do in Wallis Wallace’s books.”
    At River Road, they turned left. Two minutes later, Dink pushed open the door of the Lawrence Taxi Service office. He asked the man behind the counter if one of their drivers had met Flight 3132 at Bradley Airport the previous night.
    The man ran his finger down a list on a clipboard. “That would be Maureen Higgins. She’s out back eating her lunch,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “Walk straight through.”
    They cut through the building to a grassy area in back. Through the trees,Dink could see the Indian River. The sun reflected off the water like bright coins.
    A woman was sitting at a picnic table eating a sandwich and filling in a crossword puzzle.
    “Excuse me, are you Maureen Higgins?” Dink asked.
    The woman shook her head without looking up. “Nope, I’m Marilyn Monroe.”
    The woman wrote in another letter. Then she looked up. She had the merriest blue eyes Dink had ever seen.
    “Yeah, cutie pie, I’m Maureen.” She pointed her sandwich at Dink. “And who might you be?”
    I’m Dink Duncan,” he said. “These are my friends Josh, Ruth Rose, and Mavis.”
    “We wondered if you could help us,” Ruth Rose said.

    Maureen stared at them. “How?”
    “Did you pick up a man named Wallis Wallace at the airport last night?” Dink asked.
    Maureen squinted one of her blue eyes. “Why do you want to know?”
    “Because he’s missing!” said Josh.
    “Well, I sure ain’t got him!” Maureen took a bite out of her sandwich. Mayonnaise oozed onto her fingers.
    “I know. I mean, we didn’t