Shivereen moved forward along the
tracks
.
“Hey, look! Here’s another!
And another!”
Geronimo caught up to
them, and they all worked
together to pick up the scraps
74
mySteriouS
fragmentS
of paper. Each one had
WORDS
on it.
Creepella started to rearrange them like a
PUZZLE
. Then she gasped.
“Rats and bats! This is —”
“What is it? What is it? What is it?”
Bitewing interrupted.
“
Look!
” Creepella said urgently.
“It’s the first verse of my father’s poem,
‘The Phantom’s Tale’
!”
“But why is the poem all torn up?”
Shivereen wondered. “And what are the
pieces doing here?”
Once upon a
midnight
scary
75
“This is an IMPORTANT clue,”
Creepella said.
Geronimo was walking with his head
down, looking for more scraps of the poem,
when he BUMPED into a rodent.
“Don’t be so clumsy!” the rodent
snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Geronimo said. Then he looked
up. “
Brad Balladeer
? What are
you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Brad
replied.
Creepella marched over. Her eyes narrowed
suspiciously.
“Geronimo asked you first,” she said.
“What are you doing here?”
A
dark
look crossed Brad’s face. “I’m
just going on a little walk before the final
round. Why? Is that against the rules?”
“No, it isn’t,”
Creepella
answered
smoothly. “But that answer smells like a
lie to me!”
Brad sniffed, turned around quickly, and
HURRIED
away. As he left, Geronimo
spotted something shiny on the ground.
“It’s a watch,” Geronimo said, picking it
up. “With the letters ‘C.C.’ engraved on
the back.”
“That’s strange,” Creepella remarked.
“Brad’s initials are ‘B.B.’”
Shivereen tugged at Creepella’s sleeve.
“Auntie, look!” she said, pointing at the floor.
“Brad left some strange
paw
prints
behind.”
Creepella knelt down to examine them.
“Rats and bats!” she exclaimed. “This is . . .
sand!”
78
“sand?” asked Shivereen. “How did it get
onto Brad’s paws?”
“Easy!” Creepella replied. “It came from
the sea!”
“The sea? But that’s not anywhere near
here,” Geronimo pointed out.
“I’m obviously talking about a movie
set
, Gerrykins,” Creepella said. She started
to
HURRY
away. “We need to find out
what Brad was doing around here. Then I’m
sure we’ll find the solution to our
mystery!”
“Where are we going, Auntie?” Shivereen
asked, hurrying after her.
down By
the Sea
79
“My friend Marco Megamouse is directing
an action movie that takes place on an
island,” she replied. “There might be sand
there.”
They raced to the set. Marco
ju
m
p
e
d
out of his chair when he saw Creepella.
“My friend, what ghastly glamour
you possess!” he said. “You must star in my
new film.”
“I’m sorry,” Creepella replied. “I don’t have
time. You see, I’m looking for —”
“We have the time!” Lilly Rattenbaum
interrupted.
“We even have costumes!” Tilly said.
“We can be in your film!” Milly
finished.
The Rattenbaum triplets had
popped out from behind some
80
Marco eyed them. “Hmm. My movie’s
main character is a great detective. You could
play his assistants. Climb up on those rocks
over there.”
The triplets squealed with delight and
took their places on the set.
“I’m curious, what is this film about?”
Shivereen asked Marco.
81
“It’s called:
The Monster Detective.
It’s about that great sleuth, Squidlock
Holmes,” he replied.
“I hate to bother you, but we have a real
problem,” Creepella said. “My father is
missing. We think he was whisked
away in a
pirate ship
on wheels.
The tracks led inside the studios. And a
suspicious character connected to the
mystery has sand on his paws. Is there any
sand on your set?”
“No, this is a ROCKY island,” the director
replied.
Creepella frowned. “This doesn’t make
sense. Where could Brad have gotten that
sand?”
82
Marco grabbed his MEGAPHONE
and held it to his snout. “All right, everybody!
ACTION!”
There was a loud roar, and a giant
wave
rose from the fake ocean, soaking
the Rattenbaums. Then an
enormouse
tentacle splashed out of the water, and
another, and another . . . and then two red
eyes . . . and then a big,
slimy body.
Geronimo
promptly fainted
from fright.
“Poor Gerrykins,”
Creepella said.
“Everyone knows
that Squidlock
Holmes is a giant
squid
!”
83
“What an awesome squid!” Shivereen
cheered. “Even if it is just movie magic.”
The Rattenbaums were furious, and they
took it out on Creepella.
“You’re slimier than a spitting snake!”
“You’re nastier than a cranky alligator!”
“You’re mustier than an old mummy!”
Creepella RACED off with Shivereen at
her heels.
“A mummy!” repeated Creepella. “The
sand on Brad’s paws didn’t come from a
beach. It came from a
DESERT!”
“A desert?” asked Shivereen.
Creepella nodded. “The great Filmini, my
favorite director, is making a movie about
ancient
Egypt
.”
They found Filmini on a set surrounded by
sand, pyramids, and hundreds of
SARCOPHAGI — ancient mummy cases.
Creepella got right to the point.
“Did Brad Balladeer pass through here?”
the talk
ing
SarCophaguS
87
The director nodded. “He was on a strange
boat on wheels, together with three blonde
triplets.”
“The Rattenbaums!” hissed Creepella.
“I knew those rats had a paw in this caper.”
Shivereen pointed to the floor. “Look,
Auntie. It’s those same tracks, and another
scrap of paper.”
Creepella was certain. “This is another line
from Father’s poem. Let’s see if we can
find any more.”
Geronimo finally caught up to them. He
was out of breath.
It was followed by an eerie sound.
88
“The finals . . . HUFF . . . of the poetry
contest . . . PUFF ... are about to begin!”
Then Shivereen called out. “Auntie! Over
here!”
She had found another scrap of paper
behind a pyramid. Geronimo suddenly
noticed the hundreds of sarcophagi and
turned pale.
“It’s not real, Gerrykins; it’s just a movie
set,” Creepella reminded him. “It’s called
.
”
Shivereen handed the newest scrap to
Creepella, who nodded. “Yes, it’s more of the
poem. Something tells me that Father is
around here somewhere!”
89
Suddenly, Geronimo began to
tremble
like a wobbly bowl of cottage cheese.
“Cr-creepella! That sarcophagus over
there is m-moving!” he stammered.
shouted Bitewing.
90
I
t
’
s
m
o
v
i
n
g
!
”
“
I
t
’
s
m
o
v
i
n
g
!
I
t
’
s
m
o
v
i
n
g
!
Creepella and Shivereen ran to the
sarcophagus. A muffled
scream
came
from inside.
“Get me out of here!”
“The sarcophagus is talking!” Geronimo
cried.
“Of course! Father is inside,” Creepella
said. “Father, can you hear me?”
91
“CreepellA!”
It was Boris’s voice, all
right. “You finally found me!”
“How did you end up in there?” Geronimo
asked.
Inside the sarcophagus, Boris growled
angrily. “It was no accident. I was
mousenapped!”
92
“Mousenapped! What an awful
thing!” Geronimo exclaimed.
“Yes,” Creepella agreed. “And I know who
did it, too. It was
Brad Balladeer
!”
“Exactly!” Boris cried. “That sneaky
sewer rat is responsible for this! I was in my
dressing room, rehearsing ‘
A Phantom’s
Tale
,’ when Brad burst in with those awful
Rattenbaum sisters. They wrapped me up
like a
MUMMY
and stuffed me in a
sack!”
“How terrible, Grandfather!” Shivereen
cried.
Creepella nodded. “And then they
STOLE
myStery
Solved!
93
Professor Dubloon’s pirate ship on wheels
and sped onto this set with you, right?”
“Right as always, my clever daughter,”
Boris replied. “They
hid
me in this
sarcophagus, thinking no one would find
me.”
“I knew there was something suspicious
about that
missing
ship
,” Geronimo
mused.
“They thought they were clever,” Creepella
said. “But you were more clever, Father. You
left us
CLUES
— pieces of your
poem.”
“I knew you would find them,” Boris said.
“But WHY would Brad do such a
thing?” Geronimo wondered.
“So he can win the contest,” Boris
said. “With me out of the picture, he can’t
lose.”
“I suspect there’s more to it than that, but
we’ll know soon enough,” Creepella said.
“But right now, we need to get you to that
contest
!”
“Um, do you think you can get me out of
this thing first?” Boris asked.
Creepella frowned. “It’s sealed shut.
But we’ll find a way.”
“Auntie, over here!” Shivereen called out.
95
“I found Professor Dubloon’s
ship
!”
Creepella grinned. “
PERFECT!
Gerrykins, please load the sarcophagus
onto the ship.”
“But it’s so
HEAVY
!” Geronimo
protested, but of course it was no use.
Creepella was already in the driver’s seat.
HUFFING and PUFFING again, he
pushed the sarcophagus on board and then
hopped in.
Creepella SPED back to the contest
area, where Crystal Glamorosa was talking
to the crowd.
“It seems as though Boris von Cacklefur
has dropped out of the contest,” she
said. “According to the rules, that means
that
Brad Balladeer
is the
winner!”
Brad raised his arms in the air victoriously.
96
Some members of the crowd
cheered
, but
others
booed
and
jeered
.
“This has never
happened before!”
Professor Dubloon
complained.
“And one of
our judges is
missing, too,” added Professor
Cleverpaws.
“Boris von Cacklefur is a coward,” said
Brad. “He ran away from a poetry contest in
fourth grade. And that’s just what he’s done
today!”
At that moment the pirate ship on wheels
BURST
onto the stage. The crowd
gasped.
97
Creepella cried.
Brad saw the sarcophagus and turned
pale.
“There’s only one way you could know
about what happened to my father in fourth
grade, Brad,” Creepella said. She pointed at
him dramatically. “You are the son of
Chester Cheater!”
100
The crowd went quiet.
“We have proof,” Creepella said, walking
toward Brad. “Geronimo found your watch
with the initials ‘C.C.’”
Brad hung his
head. “You are right,” he
said. “My real name is Chumley
Cheater. Chester Cheater was my
father.”
The audience gasped.
“I knew he looked familiar!” Boris said
from inside the sarcophagus.
“All I ever wanted to be was a great poet.
I even changed my name,” Brad said. “Being
fright night idol has been my dream
fright night
idol!
101
come true, and I want to keep the title. But I
learned that Boris von Cacklefur was
competing this year, and my father said he
was impossible to beat. So I mousenapped
him!”
the audience jeered.
Panicked, Brad tried to run away, but
Crystal
flipped
him over with a karate
move.
The judges whispered to one another. Then
Professor Dubloon announced, “Brad is
DISQUALIFIED!”
“That means that Boris is the winner!”
Crystal announced.
The Rattenbaum triplets tried to slink
away, but Creepella spotted them.
“Don’t go anywhere!” she said menacingly.
“I’ll deal with you soon.”
There was still one problem — Boris was
still trapped in the sarcophagus.
“How can I give him a cr
o
wn when
he’s in there?” Crystal asked.
104
Grandpa Frankenstein
ju
m
p
e
d
out of
his seat. “Let me take care of this — a baby
mouse could do it!”
He took a strange contraption out of
his bag and went to work. A few seconds
later, Boris popped out of the sarcophagus.
Crystal put the crown on his head and
announced,
Thunderous applause filled the arena.
“Bravo!” Creepella shouted, and her
father shed a happy tear.
“And now, silence!” Crystal demanded.
“Now let’s hear our idol’s most
horrifying
poem!”
Boris began reciting.
105
The
phantom’s tale