CHAPTER II
A Disturbing Call
“I’ll get it! I’ll get it!”
It was the voice of eleven-year-old Monica Brewster.
“You always do,” grumbled her twin brother Ted. “I never do get to answer the telephone. Not when you’re in the house.”
Monica wasn’t listening. She was flying into the kitchen to answer the steady ring before her mother could lift the phone from its cradle. Mr. Brewster’s study was nearer, and there was a telephone in there, too. But Monica knew that her father was in the study, talking to her older brother Biff. She was sure the call was from her friend Betsy, because Betsy generally called her about five o’clock in the afternoon. Monica didn’t want her father interrupting her talk with Betts. Daddy didn’t approve of long phone gabs.
Moments later, Monica came bursting through the living room. Her excitement was at a pitch as high as her voice.
“Daddy! Daddy! The call’s from Honolulu! Someone’s calling you from Honolulu!”
“Take it easy, sis, or you’ll explode.” Biff grinned as he saw the eagerness on his sister’s flushed face.
Thomas Brewster picked up the telephone. He listened briefly, then cupped his hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to his older son.
“Close the door, Biff. Behind your sister.”