The Mystery at MacAlpine Manor (moderately long) m/m

[drawscore]

The Mystery at MacAlpine Manor

Nine boys ranging in age from 10 to 14 sat on the floor and on chairs and a couch, watching a Hardy Boys serial wrap up its last episode. Doug, a tall and slender 13 year old, broke the silence by saying "What took them so long? I had it figured out by the third episode."

"Only because you seen it three times before." said Allen. "And since you did, how come it took you three episodes?"

Doug quickly went off on another tack. "Me and Scott are just as good as those two turkeys on TV," he exclaimed. "You guys come up with a mystery for us to solve, and we'll solve it."

"Yeah, with you right here to listen in on the plans." was Allen's sarcastic retort.

"No sweat," Doug shot back. "Me and Scott will go over to my place and spend the night, and the rest of you can dream up your mystery."

"Hey, if Scott and Doug spend the night at Doug's house, how about me and Red Jeff staying the night here?" Big Chris asked. "We can help in the planning."

Allen and Charlie were agreeable. Allen's parents (Charlie's aunt and uncle) were a little apprehensive, but since there had been seven sleeping over before, they agreed. "Just don't destroy the house while we're at Colonel DeBerry's promotion party." Allen's father said.

"Thanks, Dad." Allen said. "You, too, Mom."

Ronnie, Mark, and Little Kevin had already made arrangements, and their gear was already up in the bedroom shared by Scott, Allen, and Charlie. Big Chris and Red Jeff were soon given the OK by their own parents, and left to collect what they would need for their overnight stay. Meanwhile, Scott packed his overnight bag, and Doug grabbed his. He and Scott headed over to Doug's house, to let Doug's parents know of the sudden change in plans.

Thinking ahead of the others, Ronnie declared "I get Scott's bed." Mark wouldn't argue with his big brother; Little Kevin grumbled because he had not thought of laying claim first; and Red Jeff and Big Chris were still collecting their gear.

At Doug's house, a rollaway bed was brought in for Scott. Scott liked spending the night at Doug's house, since Doug had a telescope, and Scott was fascinated by it and the sights it provided. The moon's craters and Saturn's rings were brought close, but not as close as the large scope at the local planetarium on the college campus, but close enough. And, it could, every now and then, be pointed toward the bedroom window of the Lockwood rwins, Allison and Andrea.

One other thing that was brought close, was the window to the bedroom Scott shared with his brother and cousin, and Doug had it zeroed in. "What's happening over there?" Scott asked.

"Not much." Doug said. "Ronnie and Mark musta been arguing or trading insults, 'cause they're sittin' on Charlie's bed, all tied up and gagged. Allen and Charlie are talking, but I can't read lips, so I ain't got a clue about what they are saying.

"Lemme see, lemme see!" Scott clamored, and Doug relinquished the telescope to his friend. Sure enough, Ronnie and Mark were sitting on Charlie's bed with their hands and feet tied, and neckerchiefs tied over their mouths. "They always looked good in blue." Scott laughed, referring to the light blue shirts both boys were wearing, and to their blue pants. "But they should'a used blue neckerchiefs or bandanas to gag 'em." he finished.

"So we gotta solve a mystery tomorrow. How much time we gonna have?" Scott asked.

Doug said "Weren't you paying attention when they explained the details?

Scott replied that he had been so caught up in the excitement of the challenge that awaited them, that most of what was said went right over his head.

"OK, here's the deal." Doug said. "We're 'sposed to be back at your place at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Something will have happened, like something is missing, or something strange happened overnight. We have to find out what it is, why, and who was involved."

"We're gonna have some obstacles, like at least one, but no more than two of them, will be working against us. And, they can recruit help. But, one, maybe two, will do all they can to help us, and point us in the right direction, too."

"You sure about that?" Scott asked.

"Not really." Doug answered. "This is a mystery, and we gotta expect the unexpected. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they ALL turned out to be against us."

Scott laughed, then asked "Do you think we'll get tied up?"

Doug laughed back, and said that he fully expected it. "You know that at least one of them is against us, and will throw up roadblocks, obstructions, and red herrings. With that in mind, it's probably a 99 percent chance, or better."

"That low." Scott laughed.

Doug countered with "Let's make it 100 percent. We're probably gonna need practice, so get your hands behind you, and I'll tie you up. Then, you can tie me."

Scott was agreeable, turned his back to Doug, and crossed his wrists behind him. Doug tied his best friend's hands together, but not all that well, then tied his ankles together, and finished with a red bandana gag.

A few minutes later, Scott had freed himself, and told Doug that it was too easy. "You tie like a girl." he teased.

Doug said "You want another one before you take your turn?"

"Nah, I'll take my turn now." Scott answered. "Get face down on the bed, and put your hands behind you."

Doug did as he was told, and Scott tied him the same way he's been tied - hands and feet, and gagged with a bandana.

Twice more they traded ties, and each time, both escaped, but it was probably due more to both boys' lack of ability to tie, rather than their ability to escape. "You still tie like a girl." Scott teased.

"So do you." Doug shot back.

The next few hours were spent watching TV, raiding the fridge, and taking an occasional peek through the telescope at the goings on at Scott's house, along with the mysteries of space. Finally, the two of them called it a night, and went to bed. But not before taking a telescopic peek into the second floor bedroom window of the Lockwood twins, Allison and Andrea, both 15, and who Wayne Sommers, also 15, and Big Kevin, 16, both had the "hots" for. "If they ever find out I can see into their bedroom window, I'm gonna be barbecued in steak sauce, and fed to my cat on a waffle." Doug laughed.

The next morning the two of them headed back to Scott's house to see what kind of adventure awaited them, and what mystery they had to solve. They were greeted by Allen, who told them that Mark and Kevin, along with Big Chris and Red Jeff had gotten up early, got dressed, and decided to ride out to Red Jeff's uncle's farm.

"They gotta go right by that old spooky MacAlpine Manor." Doug said. "There's rumors that Angus MacAlpine's ghost still haunts that place, and that he cooks kids in stewpots, grinds them up, and uses them for fertilizer and dog food."

"And you believe that nonsense?" Charlie chortled.

"Well, it is a little far out." Doug admitted, "But you know there's a little truth behind every rumor, and the place ain't been sold since 1952, when Annie MacAlpine inherited the place."

"Do you think they'd be crazy enough to go in there?" Scott asked.

"You've known Mark since he was six." Ronnie answered. "What do you think?"

"Fools rush in." Charlie cut in. "If he and Kevin even think there might be an adventure in there, they'll go in. Hostile Indians, desperate kidnappers, Godzilla, or a gang of outlaws could be in there, and they'd still go in. Hell, they'd probably go in if they knew Mike Hayworth and Mike Houghton, and the other kids from their troop were there."

Red Jeff soon rode up and confirmed their suspicions. "We got out to my uncle's farm," said Jeff, "But I forgot that he and Aunt Judy were going out to buy a new bull. When we got there, no one was there, so we turned around and came back. Mark and Kevin decided to explore MacAlpine Manor. We warned them that it wasn't a good idea, but they went anyway. Chris stayed with them, and I rode back here and get you guys."

"And you let them go in with just Big Chris?" roared Ronnie. "Good job. Way to go, dimbulbs."

"What if the boogey man is in there?" asked Doug.

Allen replied that it would probably be a good idea not to mess with him. "There's an old saying." he said. "Don't mess with dragons, because you are crunchy, and taste good with catsup. I guess it would apply to boogey men, too."

Some scary entity might have been a little off the wall, but it was obvious that something was going on, and that the "mystery" Doug and Scott were supposed to solve, had something to do with Mark, Kevin, Big Chris, and the old haunted house out in the countryside. "We better get out there and see what's going on." Scott said. Doug agreed, and with the others in tow, mounted their bikes and headed out.

About fifteen minutes later the boys arrived. One by one they maneuvered their bicycles through an opening in the fence, and soon found where Mark, Kevin, and Chris had left their bikes. The back door of the spooky old house creaked on rusted hinges that hadn't seen oil in more than 20 years, and it just smelled of ghosts. The foreboding structure looked like something out of a "B" horror movie, and imaginations took flight within the minds of the six boys as they stood on the cusp of adventure.

"Allen, you and Red Jeff take the basement and this floor." Doug said. "Charlie, you and Ronnie take the second and third floors, and me and Scott will take the top floor and the attic. Yell out if you find something."

Since it was up to Doug and Scott to solve the mystery, the others followed their leads, and the sextet split up to examine the areas assigned. Charlie, Ronnie, Doug, and Scott all climbed to the third floor, where Charlie and Ronnie began their search, while Scott and Doug continued up to the attic, where they would start looking for clues.

It didn't take long to find a couple. Scott mentioned to Doug that he thought he heard something in one of the attic's alcoves. When they checked it out, they found Big Chris and Mark, both tied around their wrists, ankles, arms, and legs, tightly gagged with scout neckerchiefs, and blindfolded.

Scott and Doug both split the air with yells to the others, who arrived in time to see the two captives untying themselves, and going on about how they had been ambushed; that canvas bags had been thrown over their heads, preventing them from seeing who had captured them, and after being tied and gagged, were ordered keep their eyes closed, and face straight ahead. The boys had the bags removed, and replaced with bandage blindfolds. "The only hints I can give you, are that they never talked, but used hand signs, and that whoever they were, were wearing blue jeans." Chris said.

Doug looked around at Scott, Allen, Charlie, Ronnie, and Red Jeff, and said "Gee, that was real helpful. It could be any of us. We're all wearing jeans."

Mark and Scott seemed to have the same idea at the same time. "Where's Kevin?" they asked in unison.

"He wasn't with you guys, so we don't know." Doug said.

"He was with us when we were captured." Big Chris said. "And he couldn't have gone too far. He has to be with whoever captured us, or else they took him to another part of the house, and left him."

"That would be dumb." Scott said. "Even those weasels in Mike Hayworth's troop don't leave someone alone who's tied up." He turned to the others, and said "Give me and Doug a moment," then pulled Doug off to the side, and out of earshot of the others.

Allen gave them a puzzled look, but let Scott pull Doug aside. "Odd." he whispered to Charlie. "Scott usually follows Doug's lead."

"I noticed that, too." Charlie answered. "But I've seen him do it before. Just not very often."

Doug and Scott were in an animated discussion, with Scott gesturing wildly. "Doug, you and I both know that none of us would ever leave any of the rest of us, tied up alone, so that means that either Kevin isn't alone, or he isn't tied up."

"OK, I'll buy that." Doug replied, "But so what? What does it mean?"

"Big Chris was with Mark, so he's probably the kidnapper," said Scott, "And his being tied up was just a smoke screen to throw us off."

"What about Kevin?" Doug asked. "I don't think Big Chris could have done it alone."

"Good points." Scott answered. "This whole thing stinks like a dead fish, which means they came up with a pretty good mystery to solve. I thought this would be easy, but now . . ."

"That's what you get for doing something you're not used to doing." Doug grinned.

"What's that?" Scott asked,

"Thinking." Doug laughed back.

"You turkey, you're gonna pay for that remark." Scott snarled.

"Promises, promises." Doug retorted.

"Hey, you two done?" called Allen. "We wanna see you put those great detective skills and powers of deduction to work."

"What skills and powers?" laughed Big Chris. "Those two clowns wouldn't know a clue if it walked up and hit them over the head with a baseball bat."

"Maybe you would like to solve a mystery me and Scott dream up." Doug growled back. "You guys couldn't find your asses with both hands and a flashlight."

"When you guys get done, do you mind terribly, figuring out who tied up me and Chris? Mark snapped."

"Quiet, short stuff," Doug snarled, "Or me and Scott'll come over there and tie you up, and you won't need any detectives to figure out who did it."

Turning back to Scott, Doug said "Something here stinks. Mark and Chris can't or won't tell us who captured them; claim they didn't even see the shoes they were wearing, and, oh yeah, said they made hand signs so they didn't hear their voices."

Ahhh, Doug, I know this is a stupid question, but how could they know their captors used hand signs if they had bags over their head, and were blindfolded?" Scott questioned.

"Bingo!" Doug replied. "They know what happened, but won't tell us."

"I thought that was the object of the game; that we had to figure it out, and not have it handed to us." Scott answered.

"You got a point there, so with that in mind, we have Kevin missing, and Mark and Chris lying to us." Doug said. "That can only mean that someone outside, like Mike Hayworth, or one or more of the others, is involved, and is the real kidnapper."

"I'll bet one of those guys is involved, and my bet is on Ronnie."

"Why Ronnie?" Doug asked.

"Because Ronnie and Mark put on this act of fighting like dogs and cats, and Ronnie would never give Mark the least little bit of slack, at least not in front of us. It would be too out of character for him, which makes him the perfect suspect." Scott announced.

"Yeah, I can see that." Doug replied. "But did you notice that when we found Mark and Chris, that neither of them was tied real good? If Kevin tied them, he'd'a done a much better job. So would Allen, Charlie, and Ronnie."

"Red Jeff?" Scott asked.

"Sorta looked like his work." Doug said. "But as yet, no proof."

"You two gonna share your thoughts?" Charlie inquired.

Doug and Scott shot him a pair of dirty looks, but were non-committal. "We have a suspect as to who the kidnappers are." Doug said. "But we need to conform it."

Scott yanked Doug aside again, and hissed "Damn it, Doug, we only have one suspect, and that's Red Jeff. What the hell are you doing, saying that you think you know who the kidnappers - that's two or more - are?"

"You didn't hear any of them deny it, did you?" Doug replied.

Scott thought for a moment, then agreed. "So, besides Red Jeff, who else is a kidnapper or is trying to throw us off the scent?"

"I dunno yet." Doug answered, "But from a couple of lawyer shows on TV, I learned that you never ask a question of a suspect unless you already know the answer, and right now, every one of them is a suspect."

Scott laughed, then returned to the others, and loudly proclaimed that he thought Red Jeff was one of the kidnappers, and that he had help. Big Chris loudly protested, but the others just looked back and forth at each other.

"Well, I think that pretty much seals it on Red Jeff." Scott said. "Now, all we gotta do, is find out who is helping him."

"Let's see if we can find some more clues." Scott suggested, and Doug agreed.

"Look in the closet." Ronnie suggested, and Scott pulled open the door. There were a few footprints in the dust, but just the outline of shoes, not a clear tread design that might be found in soft ground.

"No help there." Doug bemoaned. "Those prints could belong to anybody."

"The smallest ones belong to either Mark or Kevin." Scott announced.

"Duh!" Doug said. "You really think so, Sherlock?"

"But what about this one?" Scott questioned. Sure enough, there was a footprint - or rather half a footprint - that seemed to go right into the closet wall. "Hey Mark." Scott called. "You know anything about sliding panels and hidden passages?"

Mark had a blank look. "If they took us into some hidden room, we wouldn't have known it 'cause they blindfolded us." he said.

"But you weren't blindfolded, and you weren't in a hidden room when we found you and Chris." Doug said. "How do you account for that?"

"Remember when you guys found us, we were getting ourselves untied." Jeff explained. 'We had pulled off our blindfolds."

Scott started to say something, but Doug stopped him, and they both went across the room for another discussion. "He's fulla crap!" Doug said.

"What makes you say that?" Scott asked.

"There were only two bandanas when we found them, and both were wet, so obviously they were used as gags." Doug told his friend. "That story about being blindfolded is a crock."

"But why would they lie?" questioned Scott.

"Think about it for a moment." Doug replied. "Who are the last persons that would be suspected of kidnapping Mark and Kevin? Mark and Kevin!" Doug answered his own question.

"You mean they set up their own kidnapping?" Scott asked.

"It sure looks like it." Doug said. "And we've already established that Red Jeff helped them."

"But what about Kevin and Chris? Scott asked.

"Probably hiding somewhere, waiting for us to come by, so they can jump out and yell 'Boo!'" Doug answered.

Doug and Scott agreed, and confronted the others with their deductions and explanations. "That's pretty good." Charlie said. "You guys are dead on, except for one thing."

"What's that?" Doug asked.

"Where are Kevin and Red Jeff?" Charlie asked.

"They're around somewhere." Doug said. "But first, Mark, you and Chris show us the secret passage."

"If we show it to you, it won't be a secret any more." Big Chris protested.

"Hell, it ain't a secret anyway." Scott chimed in. "We all know it's there. We just don't know how to get in to it."

Allen glared at Chris, and said "Show us, and show us now."

"I don't know." Chris continued to protest. "Me and Jeff and Mark and Kevin came in, and were trying to decide where to leave Mark and Kevin, then decided to leave me with them to throw off Doug and Scott, and Jeff told us to come and look, and there was this open panel. We went in, climbed up a flight of stairs, wound up in the attic, and decided to leave Mark, Kevin, and me in the this room."

The boys trooped down two flights of stairs to the room where Chris said they started. A look in the closet revealed nothing, but a knock on the wall sounded hollow rather than solid. "Something's back there." Ronnie remarked.

"You oughta be a detective." sneered Doug. "You were all over that clue."

Meanwhile, Charlie was running his fingers along the most obvious places for a hidden switch, and came up empty. Chris was questioned, but said he was on the other side of the room when Jeff opened the panel, and had no idea how he did it.

Charlie was frustrated. "Damn!" he growled, and hit a molding with the heel of his hand. Immediately, a second panel slid back, revealing the secret passage.

A slight noise attracted Ronnie's attention. "Didja hear that?" he whispered to the others.

Scott indicated that he had heard something, and that it seemed to come from beneath them. They used the narrow circular stairway to descend to the first floor, where the noises became slightly louder, but still seemed to come from below. Another flight down put them in the basement. Faint knocking noises could be heard on the other side of the wall, but this time, opening the panel was somewhat easier. There was a very obvious pull cord, and when it was pulled, the panel slid back, revealing Kevin and Red Jeff, sitting on opposite sides of the room, with their hands tied behind them, their ankles tied together, and bandanas tied over their mouths.

"What happened to you guys?" Charlie asked.

"What does it look like happened, numb nuts!" Jeff snarled after Charlie pulled away his gag. "Quit asking stupid questions, and get us untied!"

Once free, Jeff and Kevin were more inclined to answer the questions of the others. They said they had been tied up by two identical boys with flaming red hair, even redder than Red Jeff's, if that was at all possible. "They called themselves Gary and Gordie." Kevin said.

"They wore grey corduroys, like that pair Scott has, and blue chambray shirts, like the ones Mark, Ronnie, Scott, Charlie, Doug, and I have." Jeff said.

"Don't know any Gary or Gordie." Scott said.

"Me, either." added Allen, "And we've lived around here for a long time."

"Not as long as I have." Ronnie interjected. "But descriptions of old Angus MacAlpine say that he had fiery red hair. And if I remember the local history from sixth grade, old Angus had twin nephews named Gary and Gordie."

"So we were tied and gagged by a couple of ghosts?" Kevin questioned.

"I doubt it." Doug said, "But it's getting late, and we can work on this new mystery later."

The others agreed. Doug and Scott did get congrats for solving the mystery that had been set up for them, but strained their brains to figure out how and why Kevin and Red Jeff had gotten themselves captured and tied. It was something they thought about all the way home, as did the others.

Four sets of eyes watched as Doug, Scott, Allen, Charlie, Ronnie, Mark, Kevin, Chris, and Jeff rode off toward home. A tall dark haired boy of 14 looked at the other three and grinned. "Think they'll figure it out?" he asked of no one in particular.

A red headed twin grinned back, and said "I doubt it. Tomorrow morning we'll be outta here, and they won't have a clue about who we are. They'll be wondering for a long time, if we really were Gary and Gordie MacAlpine."

"Randy, you and Ricky are welcome here any time." said Mike Hayworth. "But if Charlie and Allen and them ever find out we pulled this off on them, they're gonna barbecue our asses in A-1 Sauce and Tabasco."

"Yeah! I wish you guys could stay for a couple of weeks or even a month." added Mike Houghton. "You two are my favorite cousins. And we'll just have to make sure that Charlie and Allen and the rest, don't find out."

"Pulling that stunt was fun, and I can think of some other pranks we could play." Ricky laughed. "Being identical twins has its advantages."

"Hold that thought." Mike Hayworth cut in. "Maybe you two could spend part of Christmas vacation or next year's spring break with Mike and Jimmy. It can't hurt to ask."

END

[Xtc]

I enjoyed reminding myself of this story. I must try to find some time to sit and read it more thoroughly soon.
Keep 'em coming.

[Veracity]

This one is new to me. Thanks for posting it. Nice job.

[harveygasson]

Interesting addition to the series

[cj2125]

I had forgotten about this gem! A good-written mystery is always a win for me!

[fratboydanny]

This was a fun read. Thanks, [mention]drawscore[/mention] , for sharing it with us. If you have more adventures like this one, I would love to read them.

[Tsuhaya]

I don't remember reading this wonder in the old forum, but it sure is a captivating story. Good job.