The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow Part 5

"Yes, I found your card near the gate, you see. I told Mr. Harris, but he said that your card might be just a coincidence, that I should proceed with care because I could be wrong. So I asked Aunt Sarah's lawyer if he knew any boys in Rocky Beach who called themselves The Three Investigators, and he sent me to Skinner Norris, as I said. That was how I found out about you boys and the salvage yard and thought up the idea of approaching you with the offer of Aunt Sarah's junk. That's the true story, I'm afraid."

Pete suddenly understood. "You thought we were the thieves who had stolen the statuette!"

"I suppose I did, fellows," Ted admitted. "I told Mr. Harris, but he wasn't sure. He suggested that perhaps the real thief had lost the statuette, and you boys had simply found it. So we decided to get you out here, offer a reward, and maybe persuade you to return it under the pretext that you had succeeded in finding it."

Jupiter seemed to be considering Ted's story. "If you thought we stole it, why not just accuse us?"

"As I said, Jupiter, Mr. Harris thought you might perhaps have found it quite innocently. He pointed out that unfounded accusations are very dangerous."

"If you thought we had accidentally found it, why not just ask for it back?"

"Well, we discussed that, but Mr. Harris thought you might not want to admit that you'd picked it up. He thought you might be afraid to come forward."

"So you decided to contact us," Jupiter mused, "offer a reward, and let us think that you didn't know we had the amulet? You wanted to give us a way out, plus an incentive."

Ted nodded. "I'm really sorry, chaps, but I didn't know you then. Now that I do, I know you'll give it back. You did find it, didn't you?"

"Bob and Pete did," Jupiter admitted, "but we can't give it back. We don't have it now." And Jupiter explained how the dark man had stolen the amulet from them.

"Then it's gone," Ted said, crestfallen.

Jupiter shook his head slowly. "No, there may still be a chance of recovering it. If we can find that man."

Ted grinned. "I say, some secret method? Can I help? I'd really like to work with you chaps."

"Maybe you can help, Ted," Jupiter agreed. "You keep your eyes open out here, and when we find the man we'll call you."

"Wonderful!" Ted beamed.

"But now we had better get home," Jupiter said. "It's late."

Ted let them out through the gates. On their bikes they steered slowly towards the pa.s.s in the dark night.

Pete was still puzzled as he rode beside the stocky First Investigator: "Jupe, why didn't you tell what else Bob and I saw last night? About the call for help, and the laughing shadow?"

"Because I'm not sure Ted told us the truth," Jupiter said grimly. "If he really thought we'd stolen that amulet, Pete, I think he would have denounced us right away - unless, for some reason, he doesn't want anyone else to know how we got the amulet.

I think he's hiding something, Pete!"

Pete looked troubled as they began the long descent down from the pa.s.s to Rocky Beach.

Chapter 9.

"Where No Man Can Find It!"

EARLY THE NEXT MORNING Bob jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. On his way downstairs he knocked on his parents' door.

"I'll get my own breakfast Mom!"

Her sleepy voice answered, "All right, Bob. Clean up after yourself. Where will you be today?"

"At the salvage yard, Mom!"

In the sunny breakfast alcove he ate a quick bowl of cereal, drank a gla.s.s of orange juice, and then phoned Pete. Pete's mother told him that Pete had already gone to the salvage yard, Bob washed his bowl and gla.s.s and ran for his bike.

At the salvage yard he ran full tilt into Aunt Mathilda.

"Well, at least I've found one of you! When you find the others, Bob, you tell Jupiter we'll need him to go with us to the Sandow Estate this morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

Bob walked casually to the rear of the salvage yard and, when Aunt Mathilda could no longer see him, hurried to the main entrance to the hidden trailer, and crawled into headquarters.

As he came up through the trap door, he found Jupiter and Pete staring glumly at the silent telephone.

"No calls at all!" Pete announced in dejection. "Jupe's message recorder was blank."

Pete referred to the recording device Jupiter had built to attach to the telephone to record messages that came in while all three boys were out of headquarters.

"I'm afraid the Ghost-to-Ghost Hook-up isn't working this time," Jupiter admitted.

"It may be too soon, Jupe," Bob said optimistically. "Listen to what I found out last night!"

"You listen to what we saw saw !" Pete countered, and told Bob about their adventure at the estate. Bob's eyes widened as he heard about Ted, the weird shapes, and the laughing shadow. !" Pete countered, and told Bob about their adventure at the estate. Bob's eyes widened as he heard about Ted, the weird shapes, and the laughing shadow.

"Of course," Jupiter said, "they weren't headless midgets, but they sure looked like it. I was hoping there would be a message on the Ghost-to-Ghost this morning. I think that the dark men are the key to all the mystery, somehow, if we knew who they were and what they wanted. Bob, what did you find out about the Chumash h.o.a.rd?"

"It sure looks as if there's something to it according to the local history 'Where No 'Where No Man Can Find It!' Man Can Find It!' books," Bob reported. "After that renegade band disappeared, everyone started looking for the h.o.a.rd. They searched for a long time, but no one ever found it. One of the troubles was that the Chumash band had hideouts all over the mountains. The Sandow Estate was just one place where they hid. And no one ever found any clues to the whereabouts of the h.o.a.rd." books," Bob reported. "After that renegade band disappeared, everyone started looking for the h.o.a.rd. They searched for a long time, but no one ever found it. One of the troubles was that the Chumash band had hideouts all over the mountains. The Sandow Estate was just one place where they hid. And no one ever found any clues to the whereabouts of the h.o.a.rd."

"Not even the two amulets Miss Sandow's brother had?" Pete asked. "Did the histories mention him?"

"Yes," Bob answered. "His name was Mark, and he killed a man and had to run away. It seemed to be sort of mysterious about the man he killed. He was a hunter who lived up in the hills on the estate. No one knew why Mark Sandow killed him. The records don't mention the two Chumash amulets."

"Professor Meeker said he'd never heard of the amulets," Jupiter said, frowning.

"Did you find any reports on exactly what old Magnus Verde said before he died?"

"In four different books," Bob reported, "and they were all different!" Bob dug out his notebook. "According to one book Magnus Verde is supposed to have said, 'What 'What man can find the eye of the sky?' man can find the eye of the sky?' Another writer quotes him as saying, Another writer quotes him as saying, 'The sky's eye finds 'The sky's eye finds no man.' no man.' And two others report that he said, And two others report that he said, 'It is in the eye of the sky where no man can 'It is in the eye of the sky where no man can find it.' find it.' I guess it wasn't easy to translate from Chumash." I guess it wasn't easy to translate from Chumash."

"Professor Meeker explained that," Jupiter reminded him. "Besides, they're all pretty similar. Each one refers to the ' eye of the sky eye of the sky,' which the professor didn't mention, and they all say that Magnus Verde was sure no one could find the h.o.a.rd."

"But, Jupe," Peter said, "what does 'eye of the sky' mean?"

Jupiter thought. "Well, what is in the sky that looks sort of like an eye?"

"Some clouds sometimes?" Pete suggested.

"I know," Bob said, "the sun."

Jupiter nodded. "Or the moon. It's supposed to look like a face."

"How could they hide the h.o.a.rd in the moon, or the sun?" Pete objected.

"Not in the moon or sun, Pete," said Jupiter, "but maybe a place where the sun or moon always shines on some exact spot! The way the sun shone on certain temples in the old days."

"Sure," Bob said. "People used to build temples with a hole in the roof so that the sun would shine right on the altar."

"Only," the First Investigator went on unhappily, "this would have to be a very special place at a very special time."

Pete understood why Jupiter was unhappy. "You mean we'd have to find the right spot at exactly the right moment in order to know that the sun or the moon ever does something special like that."

"I'm afraid so, Pete." Jupiter sounded dejected. Then he suddenly brightened.

"Unless Magnus Verde didn't mean anything that complicated. For instance, he might have meant that the sun or moon looks like an eye through a certain mountain pa.s.s or valley. Do we know any place like that near here?"

"Gosh, Jupe, not that I ever heard of," Pete said. "Anyway, what if it isn't around here? Bob said that the Chumash band had hideouts everywhere."

"And Magnus Verde said no one could find it," Bob added.

"I'm convinced that Magnus Verde was taunting his captors with a riddle of some kind," Jupiter insisted. "If only we knew why that dark man wanted the statuette so much."

"Gosh, I forgot," Bob cried. "I've got more to tell you. That man and his friend attacked Mr. Harris!"

Bob repeated the news report that his Dad had heard on the radio the previous evening.

Jupiter jumped up.

"We should go and talk to Mr. Harris," the First Investigator said. "He could have learned something important. But one of us ought to stay with the phone. The recorder can't ask questions."

"It's Pete's turn," said Bob.

"I guess it is," Pete agreed.

"We'll take the walkie-talkie so Pete can contact us if he hears anything on the Ghost-to-Ghost," Jupiter said.

After finding the address of the Vegetarian League, Bob and Jupiter rode over on their bikes. It took only about ten minutes to reach the large Gothic house on Las Palmas Street that turned out to be Vegetarian League headquarters.

It was the last house on the block, located right on the edge of town. The dry brown mountains came straight down to the road on the other side. There was an alley behind the houses on Las Palmas Street, where the residents had their garages.

The two boys parked their bikes at the gate, went up to the front door, and rang the bell. A short, heavy man opened the door. They asked for Mr. Harris.

"Boys!" called Mr. Harris himself from just behind the stocky man. "It's all right, Sanders, I know the boys. Come in! This is a pleasure. I hardly expected you here so soon. Have you come to join our League?"

The short man, Sanders, who was obviously an employee of Mr Harris's, went back to work on a pile of boxes in the dim entrance hall. Jupiter hastily explained that they had not come to become vegetarians.

"Er, no sir, we didn't come to join. We want to talk to you."

"Talk? Well, let's go into my office. Watch your step, we've hardly settled in here yet. I do wish you were here to join us. We need all the help we can get. Everything has to be done by myself, and my two most devoted a.s.sistants."

The boys picked their way through the jumble of boxes, hooks, filing cabinets and stacks of pamphlets. Mr. Harris ushered them through a heavy oak door and into a large, sunny room set up as an office. As he sat down behind an ancient desk, he waved the boys to chairs.

"Now, what's on your minds?"

Jupiter explained, "We heard about the attack on you, sir."

"Ah, yes, the crazy chap simply jumped on me. There were two of them, but only one actually attacked me. I was on the platform giving a brief talk. I defended myself, of course, and the audience began calling for the police, so the two men ran off."

"Why did they attack you, sir?" Bob asked.

"I simply don't know."

"Did they say anything?" Jupiter queried.

"Not in English. The rascal shouted a great deal, but it was all gibberish to me. I tried to capture him, but he eluded me. Both men were gone before the police arrived. I a.s.sume they were some fanatics who hate vegetarians. We've had to face that kind of ignorant prejudice many times. People often hate someone just because he is different from them, I'm afraid."

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"I know that, sir," Jupiter said, "but I don't think those men were against you because you were a vegetarian."

Mr. Harris looked startled. "No? Then why did did they attack me? Do you mean that you have some theory about it?" they attack me? Do you mean that you have some theory about it?"

"We sure do!" Bob said firmly. "We know ..."

Bob stopped, suddenly aware of a faint sound somewhere in the office.

Mr. Harris heard it, too, and began to look around with a puzzled frown. It was a very low beep-beep-beep beep-beep-beep. All at once Bob realized what it was. Pete must be trying to reach them on the walkie-talkies they were carrying.

Jupiter had heard it, too. He stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have to go.

We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Of course, Jupiter," Mr. Harris said. "I'll be here for a little while before I get to see Miss Sandow. I visit the dear lady every day. After all, without her I wouldn't have been able to start our league here in Rocky Beach."

"Yes, sir," Jupiter said, as he turned and hurried out of the office.

The boys knew that Pete could not reach them on their walkie-talkies while they were inside a building - at least not from such a distance. They walked rapidly through the haphazard stacks in the entry hall, and out into the sun of the open front garden.

Jupiter found a large bush between the door and the gate, and the two of them crouched down.

Jupiter pressed his sending b.u.t.ton.

"First here. Come in, Second. Come in, Second. We are receiving. Over."