Super Mystery #2: Baby-sitters Beware
“It started as a simple vacation. But it ended up being a trip through our worst nightmares…” - Kristy, page 4
Whoa, a little sinister there, Kristin Amanda Thomas. But I am psyched and I will buckle up for the ride. About a week or two before Abby, Claudia, and Stacey accompany Kristy and the Brewer-Watsons on a winter vacation to Shadow Lake, Kristy and Abby witness a burglary at the house next door to the Rodowskys’. The burglar sees them when he emerges from the house, before jumping into the getaway car (an old Ford Escort) and speeding away with his accomplice. Before he gets away, he gives Kristy and Abby each a once-over, and with their bad luck they’re both wearing name tags at the time. I’ve watched enough Dateline to know that this is a recipe for disaster. (And also I love Abby, who reads the police blotter.)
Sure enough, weird things start happening to the members of the BSC. Someone leaves a note in Mary Anne’s locker that says “STOP CRYING” and later lurks outside of her house. Someone skulks around outside Kristy’s house at night, throws a rock through the front window, and spray paints “YOU’RE NEXT” on the front door. Someone sets a fire in two garbage cans outside Claudia’s house, and only the quick thinking of Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne stops the house from going up in flames. Then someone calls the BSC at the end of a Friday meeting and hisses “YOU’RE NEXT” into the phone. Then the members of the BSC start receiving phone calls at home when adults aren’t there, just filled with long silences. Yikes!
The incidents at Kristy’s and Claudia’s houses make the police blotter, but the burglary that Kristy and Abby witnessed doesn’t. Kristy calls the police department to find out WTF is up and the officer tells her that the owner of the burgled house is denying the burglary. Kristy is befuddled. The BSC thinks maybe he has something in his house he doesn’t want the police to see. My guess? It’s probably the homeowner’s estranged son or something, and he doesn’t want charges pressed. The gang tries to figure out who would want to stalk and maybe hurt them — perennial nemesis Cokie Mason and newcomer (and leader of the Mischief Knights) Cary Retlin are suspects but these “pranks” seem a little ~dangerous~ for middle-schoolers to be pulling off. Jessi reports that Becca has seen a man in town with a blue tattoo, which reminds everyone of the counterfeiters they busted once — including a dude with a blue tattoo. (Side note — I love how Stoneybrook has enough crime for, like, thirty BSC mystery novels but is still “small town” enough for an eight-year-old to notice a single person with a tattoo.) Maybe it’s one of the subjects of their previous mysteries out for revenge.
The gals go to the library to look up Mr. Seger, the burgled homeowner, in the Stoneybrook Who’s Who and the News Index. All they find out is he’s a member of the Business Bureau and has a high-school-aged son named Noah. (My theory’s looking plausible!) But while there, Abby finds something creepy in the recycling bin by the photocopier: a photo of Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, Mary Anne, and Dawn from the newspaper article about how they solved the dognapping case. Looks like someone has been looking them up in the News Index too… and would explain why Abby, Mallory, and Jessi are the only members of the BSC not being stalked and harassed.
And then the harasser goes too far: they almost run over my idol and mentor Stacey McGill! And they happen to be driving a red Mercedes with a Stoneybrook Business Bureau bumper sticker on it… hmmm. The mystery doesn’t end when Kristy, Abby, Claudia, and Stacey get to Shadow Lake, though; in fact, the hijinks escalate. Stacey gets stuck on a ski lift, a snowblower turns on as Kristy skis by and she gets upended, and a Danger/Caution sign is removed, almost sending Claudia down a closed Double Black Diamond ski trail. This shit is straight-up murderous! And still, none of them have told any adults about it. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Back in Stoneybrook, Mary Anne is baby-sitting at the Rodowsky house when she sees Noah Seger and his friend pull up in a battered Ford Escort, pry open a window, and enter the house. She calls the cops (and Logan). As the police and Mr. Seger arrive, Noah and his friend are exiting the house with a TV. Noah admits that they were the ones who broke into the house the first time, too, and that he owes a lot of money and didn’t know how else to pay it back. I WAS RIGHT, which is the important thing. Also, Mary Anne steels herself enough to ask if Noah has been harassing her and the BSC and he has no idea what she’s talking about. So… WHO IS THE STALKER?
The BSC holds an emergency meeting, reviews their (new) mystery notebook, and does some quick research. They find out that Karl Tate, the Stoneybrook businessman who the BSC busted for dognapping, is out of jail after time credited for good behavior, and that his wife drives a red Mercedes. They actually call Mrs. Tate and she tells them Mr. Tate is out of town for a few days. (UM, MAYBE TO SHADOW LAKE???) Uh oh. This is not good. Also, can I just say how frustrating it is that Dawn the Dognap-Solver is not even here and everyone else is paying for her hero complex?? Typical. Shannon, Mary Anne, and Logan go to stake out the Tates’ house, and Shannon’s dog Astrid runs into the house through the doggy door. They let themselves in to get her, and end up locked in Karl Tate’s dusty office, where they find a copy of Shadow Lake information and the BSC’s newspaper photo with a big X drawn across it. When Mrs. Tate returns and they’re discovered, she admits that her son, Woodrow, is out for revenge against the BSC. Shannon rushes to call the police.
Back at Shadow Lake, Kristy, Claudia, Abby, Stacey, Sam, and Charlie are alone in the cabin with the phones and power out (due to a surprise blizzard) and a maniac stalking them from outside. Kristy’s ski poles are snapped in half. Stacey even thought she saw a gun. Inside the cabin, it’s clear someone’s been there. Stacey’s insulin is missing from her suitcase. Claudia’s pillow has been slashed and red nail polish dumped all over it to look like blood. Finally, smoke starts pouring into the cabin because someone has stopped up the fireplace’s chimney. The BSC, Sam, and Charlie have to make their escape to the Shadow Lake lodge. They and Woodie, the neighbor, begin trekking across the lake.
While en route, Karl Tate comes running toward them, shouting something they can’t understand. Abby (who I’m pretty sure has watched as much Dateline as me) throws a chunk of ice at his head and clocks him in the noggin. Then, a detective from a special unit comes running after him — with gun — and takes him into custody. She says he’s violated his parole by leaving Connecticut, and she hauls him off to her cabin. The BSC is just like, “cool,” and they keep heading toward the lodge. No follow-up questions. WHAT?!
They continue on in a line, with Woodie in the middle. Abby and Sam head ahead of the others to let the lodge know they’re coming. Then, all of a sudden, Woody grabs Stacey and threatens to throw her in the lake if they don’t all stop. He tells them he’s Karl Tate’s son and he blames them for his family’s downfall. He has his arm around Stacey’s throat, but Sam and Abby heard her scream and doubled back, sneaking up behind him. Abby signals to Kristy to throw her flare at him, which she does; he lets go of Stacey and she elbows him in the gut, causing him to stumble backward and fall through the ice into Shadow Lake. I always knew Stacey had killer fashion instincts, but it turns out she has just plain killer instincts too.
Turns out Karl Tate had been trying to stop his son. Woodie Tate was hauled out of the lake and presumably arrested and charged. Watson and Elizabeth are not impressed with the BSC’s secrecy about being stalked, but who can stay mad at this band of thirteen-year-old wannabe detectives? Not me.
Want more BSC?
Browse all recaps by chronological order of publication or by category/series
