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Oscar hopped up onto the bars of his cage.“Don’t be silly. Wallace is fine. He must still be in the vents. He does live there, after all.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Polo objected. “He lives in 5B now. He moved all his stuff.”

Marco nodded.“I carried his collection of lost keys myself.”

Walt felt cold in the pit of her stomach.“He said he was coming to tell you what happened. He was coming straight here.”

“Well, he probably changed his mind,” Oscar said. But as much as he hated to admit it, that didn’t sound like Wallace. Wallace might be a wild rat, but he was practically a member of the family. Besides, he was part of their International Crime Syndicate. And as far as Oscar could tell from his Television programs, that meant they had an unshakable bond.

“That’s it,” Polo said, hauling herself out of the cage. “I’m going to find him.” She hopped onto the floor.

“I’m coming too,” Marco said, hopping down next to Polo. “He’s sure to be somewhere.”

“UNLESS JEROME ATE HIM!” Butterbean gasped.

“Jerome didn’t eat anyone,” Oscar said. He wished no one had ever mentioned that possibility.

“Oh, that’s true,” Chad said. “He wouldn’t catch a rat himself. He’d expect ME to hand him one on a SILVER PLATTER.” He folded his tentacles in disgust.

“Um. Sure,” Oscar said. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all, but he didn’t think this was a good time to contradict Chad. He’d seen those tentacles in action.

Polo marched toward the vent, making a wide circle around the white cat.

“I’m going to walk past you, visitor cat,” she said. “So no funny business.”

“Yeah, don’t try anything,” Marco said in his best tough-guy voice.

The white cat swished her tail as the rats scurried past.“As if I’d eat a RAT.”

Polo made a strangled sound and started to turn back, but Marco grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her moving.

“Never mind her,” he said quietly as they hurried into the vent. “I’m sure we taste terrific.”

Saying they’d find Wallace was one thing, but actually doing it was something else altogether. They had no idea where to look. And there were so many vents. They could be looking all night.

“Where do you want to start?” Marco asked, hurrying toward the nearest up vent. “Up? Or should we try down?”

“Up,” Polo said. “He was coming from five. We’ll retrace his steps.” She tried not to think about the fact that Walt had already retraced them when she came home. It seemed like a bad sign.

“Good plan,” Marco agreed, slicking back his fur.

They crawled up the vent and out onto the fifth floor, looking around carefully. The vents were silent and echoey, with the only noises drifting in from the various apartments. None of them sounded like Wallace sounds.

“Are the vents usually this creepy?” Marco said after a minute. He took a step closer to Polo. “I mean, they’re always kind of creepy. But this seems extra creepy.”

“They’re just vents, Marco,” Polo said, her whiskers trembling. The vents were definitely a thousand times creepier than they’d been before, but there was no way she’d admit it. “It’s probably just because we’ve been talking about ghosts so much. That’s all,” she added.

Polo shivered. She wished she’d never mentioned ghosts. Because suddenly the idea that the vents could be haunted seemed like a very real possibility.

Marco nodded.

“Right,” Polo said. “Let’s get moving. He’s sure to be in one of these.”

“Sure,” Marco said.

They didn’t move.

“Okay, let’s go,” Polo said.

“Sure,” Marco agreed.

They didn’t move.

“OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.” A voice floated through the vent.

“Was that you?” Polo squeaked. But she knew it wasn’t. Marco’s mouth hadn’t moved. And besides, he was a lousy ventriloquist.

“It was probably just a—” Marco started.

“OOOOOOOOHHHH,” the voice said, louder now.

“A what?” Polo’s voice was two octaves higher than usual.

“A—” Marco swallowed hard. “Just a—” He couldn’t think of anything.

“OOOOOOOOHH WOW! OH MAN!” The voice was really loud now. And familiar.

Polo’s whiskers stopped trembling. “Did it just say ‘Oh man’?”

“It did,” Marco said. “Also ‘wow.’ ”

Polo put her hands on her hips.“That’s no ghost. That’s got to be—”

“WALLACE!” Marco yelled, running down the vent toward the sound, his feet completely unfrozen. “Is that you? What happened to you!”

Wallace rushed toward them, his eyes wide. He pointed back into the vent behind them.“Guys! Guys, you won’t believe this. You’ve got to see. Check it out.”

He dragged them down the vent to a nearby apartment grate.“LOOK!”

Marco and Polo peered inside. Then, after a few minutes, they turned to him, their mouths hanging open.

“No way,” Marco said softly.

“Oh my gosh, Wallace!” Polo gasped. “Come on!”

Grabbing the other rats by the arms, she raced down the vent and dove into the down vent.

They had to tell Oscar.

And Chad.

— 15 —