‘Unassisted you mean?’ asked Ruby.
Elliot nodded.
‘I’ve taken him out with me a few times; he’s just not got the hang of getting up on the board.’
‘But he’s interested?’ asked Del.
‘Oh, he’s got an interest all right. Bug loves the water, he’s just not so dexterous; it’s hard when you don’t have thumbs.’
‘Yeah,’ said Del, ‘I guess he’s not really a grabber.’
‘No, a dog can’t grab,’ agreed Ruby, ‘not even Bug.’
‘He’s pretty smart for a dog,’ said Del. ‘What do you think he would be if he was a human?’
‘I think he would do a job that involved working with the general public,’ said Ruby. ‘He’s a people person.’
While Del and Ruby were discussing Bug’s human career prospects, Elliot was thinking. Finally he piped up.
‘Do you think he could help solve the yellow shoe mystery?’
‘What?’ said Del.
‘Who?’ said Ruby.
‘Bug,’ said Elliot.
‘How?’ said Ruby.
‘What?’ said Del again. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘You know, the yellow shoes, the ones that got stolen the other night by that ghoul,’ said Elliot. Del was looking blank.
‘How can you not know this? Where have you been? Mars?’
‘Florida, actually,’ Del pointed to her extremely tanned face. ‘If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been on summer vacation.’
‘Yeah, well, you’ve missed a lot,’ said Elliot.
‘So exactly how are you proposing Bug help out with this investigation?’ asked Ruby for the second time.
‘By, you know, sniffing around and finding that ghost that took the shoes from the Scarlet Pagoda.’
‘Are you seriously halfway to the planet no-brain?’ spluttered Del. ‘You think a ghost stole the shoes?’
‘It’s what everyone is saying,’ said Elliot.
‘You’re telling me you actually believe in ghosts?’ said Del.
‘Why not? Animals believe in them, they can sense them; humans have lost this ability but dogs and cats can tune into spectre vibes,’ said Elliot.
Del looked at him. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It’s what makes the fur go all upwards and stand on end; they just sense paranormal activity and they react.’
Elliot said this like it explained everything – ghosts existed because animals’ fur stood on end from time to time, and there it was, fact.
‘Where do you get your information?’ asked Ruby.
‘From books,’ confirmed Elliot, ‘and this TV show I watched. This man was interviewed about this house he rented and as he was looking around the place, and the dog followed him to every room, until he got to the bathroom and his dog, Buswell, refused to step inside.’
‘Maybe he didn’t need to go,’ said Del.
Elliot ignored her. ‘Buswell stood there and growled and later when the man spoke to the guy who had rented him the place, the guy told him that someone had actually died in there from slipping on a bar of soap.’
‘They died from slipping on a bar of soap?’ said Ruby.
‘Yeah,’ confirmed Elliot.
‘Actually in that bathroom?’ she asked.
‘Not exactly in the bathroom but about an hour later in the emergency room at St Angelina’s, but it was the soap that did it.’
‘So why wouldn’t the ghost haunt the emergency room at St Angelina’s hospital?’ asked Del. ‘Why would it travel all the way back to the bathroom of its apartment?’
‘Because I guess it felt more comfortable there,’ said Elliot.
‘And how did it even get there?’
‘I don’t know, I’m not a ghost expert, maybe on the bus?’ said Elliot.
‘Oh man, that is the lamest story,’ spluttered Del. ‘Rube, is that lame or what?’
Ruby had stopped paying attention and was instead thinking about the evening at the Scarlet Pagoda; would Bug have followed her down that corridor, would his fur have stood on end? Red had certainly experienced something weird, something she couldn’t actually explain. But still she nodded at Del and said, ‘It’s the soap they should be scared of, not the ghost hanging out in the bathroom.’
On her way back from Del’s, inspired by the story of the soap ghost, Ruby turned her mind to the poetry ghost. She decided to call in at the City Library and see if she could borrow a copy of Mr Okra’s favourite book, A Line Through My Centre. However, as it turned out, this was easier said than done.
‘I’m afraid we don’t have a copy. We used to many years back but it’s long since disappeared and no one thought to replace it,’ said Mr Lithgo. He knew a lot about the books the library held, unsurprising because he seemed to have been there since the first stone was laid. Mr Lithgo made calls to the various smaller Twinford libraries, but none of them had ever owned a copy. ‘It was never considered very important and, I have to say, it is very rarely requested.’
Next stop for Ruby was Penny Books, a second-hand store that dealt in any kind of literature; popular, unpopular, in print or out of print.
Ray Penny shook his head. ‘I can do my best to track down a copy, but it may take a while.’
‘Call me as soon as you find one, would you?’ said Ruby. ‘I’ll come right over the second you call.’
‘Will do Ruby,’ said Ray. ‘Sounds real important.’
WHEN RUBY GOT HOME SHE WENT DOWNSTAIRS to Hitch’s apartment and found him sitting at the table looking at some blueprints – she had no idea what they related to.
‘Look, I’m sorry about yesterday,’ she said. ‘I know it was irresponsible.’
Hitch raised an eyebrow.
‘OK,’ added Ruby, ‘I know it wasn’t too smart
