“What gives?” Bud asked anxiously.
“No music for one thing.” Tom reported what Mrs. Morris had told him.
“But you hired the guy!” Bud protested. “And Sandy and I talked to his agent 1”
Tom was already piecing together the mystery. He shook his head thoughtfully. “I’m sure now the whole deal was a hoax, Bud,” he declared. “Both the first call that supposedly came from Lester Morris, and the second one asking me to come here and talk things over.”
By not responding to the second call in person, Tom went on, he had probably saved himself from being waylaid or kidnaped by his enemies.
“Thank goodness!” Sandy exclaimed. “Still, that creepy Len Unger was trying to get information from us.”
“But how did your enemy know about the dance, Tom?” Phyl Newton put in.
Sandy snapped her fingers. “I know! I’ll bet it was when we went shopping for our dresses, Phyl, right after the boys invited us! The department store was full of people-almost anyone might have heard us discussing the dance!”
“Especially if he was already trailing you to pick up bits of useful information,”
Tom agreed.
Bud whipped out a handkerchief and mopped
SQUARE-DANCE HOAX 107
his face nervously. “The question is what do we do now, chums? A roomful of guests and no music!”
“Relax, pardners!” Chow broke in cheerfully. “Just keep things go in’ for a spell, an’ I’ll fix things up pronto!”
Doffing his chef’s cap, Chow hustled out to his parked jeep and took off with a roar. Mystified but hopeful, Tom, Bud, and Phyl did their best to entertain the guests. Sandy had rushed to the telephone. In twenty minutes Chow came rushing back.