The Ghost and Max Monroe, Case #3: The Dirty Trick
PROLOGUE Max sat down beside his grandfather Your brother Larry is a ghost Yup And he haunts the detective agency in the backyard Yup Harry shot some whipped cream into his mouth Sometimes he hangs around the house But mostly he sits in the coach house bawling his eyes out I heard crying That’d be Larry He likes to have a good cry around this time of day Max shook his head Crying ghosts haunted detective agencies I’ll wake up any minute and everything will be normal
CHAPTER 1 DON’T WAIT UP Max Monroe couldn’t believe his luck His grandpa Harry had made his favorite supper twice in one week lasagna with cheesy garlic bread Max remembered that it was his dad’s favorite meal too and he suddenly missed him Max’s father was a reporter sent on overseas assignments He’d been away since the beginning of the summer and wouldn’t be home for a while Harry scraped his plate clean Delicious I love lasagna Max smiled Me too Harry wiped his mouth with a napkin Hate to eat and run but it’s bowling night and tonight’s the big tournament He got up and rushed out of the kitchen
Max cleared the dishes Suddenly he spotted a light passing by the dark window A few seconds later the light passed by again and then again Finally his great-uncle Larry floated through the open window holding a flashlight Max was still getting used to the idea of having a ghost around He put a plate in the sink and asked Any luck finding the dog Zip Larry sounded annoyed I’ll bet my last dollar that dumb mutt doesn’t even exist Then who’s eating all the dog food How do I know Larry slumped down in a chair For over a week now Max’s uncle Larry had been on a quest to actually see the dog that pooped all over the yard and ate every morsel of food Grandpa Harry put out So far no luck Larry noticed two boxes of Mighty Moe’s Donuts on the counter He sprang up lifted both lids and peered inside Where’d all these donuts come from Grandpa had a coupon buy one get one free Larry laughed Harry never could resist a bargain When we were kids he bought us each a pair of snowshoes
because they were on sale Trouble was we lived in Florida A car horn honked Harry scurried through the kitchen That’s Claddie But I can’t for the life of me remember where I put my ball Max if you were a bowling ball where would I put you In the fridge said Max The fridge You said bowling balls roll better when they’re cold Harry’s face lit up That’s right He pulled open the fridge door and lifted out his bowling
