The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow Part 9

"Sure, it'll be easy. Boy, is that Skinny dumb."

"But we don't have any tools," Bob said.

"Oh, yes, we do." Pete pulled out his heavy scout knife with its many strong blades and quickly went to work. The hinge pins were covered with old paint, and were very stiff. Pete began to sweat as he struggled to loosen them.

Bob stood anxiously beside him, trying to help as much as he could.

Finally, the last hinge pin fell into Pete's hand. Bob grasped the upper hinge, and Pete grabbed the lower. They counted to three and pulled. The door swung inwards, broke free of the lock, and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

They lunged through the doorway together and headed, for the staircase. From down below came the unexpected sound of heavy footsteps. Someone - or something - was coming up the stairs.

Chapter 14.

Jupiter Has A Hunch AT THE SANDOW ESTATE Jupiter had been working feverishly carrying the junk from the barn to the truck. The First Investigator was alarmed by Mr. Harris's worry over Bob and Pete. Although he was sure that Bob and Pete could take care of themselves, Mr. Harris might be right about their being in danger. Jupiter wanted to contact Chief Reynolds right away.

When the truck was finally loaded, Jupiter climbed into the cab and chewed on his lower lip as Miss Sandow came from the house to talk to Uncle t.i.tus.

"Mr. Jones," the birdlike lady said, "I can't imagine what you'll do with all that ancient clutter of mine."

"Don't you worry, ma'am," Uncle t.i.tus said gallantly, twirling his enormous moustache. "I'll sell it all at a handsome profit, I'm sure. Now you just see that you charge me properly."

"Goodness, I wish Ted were here. I haven't the slightest notion what to charge.

Knowing your boys seems to have made Theodore so happy, I really feel I should give it to you. Especially if they can find my little statuette for me."

"Find your statuette?" Uncle t.i.tus sounded puzzled. Jupiter held his breath, for Uncle t.i.tus wasn't always pleased about the boys being investigators. But this time the peppery little man was too happy about his truckload of new junk to be displeased. He nodded. "Well, the boys do seem to have a knack for that sort of thing. Now, let's consider what I owe you, ma'am."

Jupiter almost bit a piece out of his lip in impatience, but at last Uncle t.i.tus settled his business, and the truck rolled out of the estate in the direction of Rocky Beach.

Konrad drove at his usual headlong pace and soon they reached the salvage yard.

Jumping out of the truck, Jupiter rushed to the hidden trailer. Aunt Mathilda and Uncle t.i.tus were far too excited by their purchases to notice his quick escape.

He crawled into headquarters through the main tunnel, and emerged through the trapdoor in the floor. Bob and Pete were not there. Quickly, the First Investigator activated the telephone-recording machine.

There were no messages at all.

Worried now, and remembering Mr. Harris's instructions, Jupiter crawled back out and left the junkyard through Red Gate Rover.

He walked the few blocks from the salvage yard to Rocky Beach police and headquarters. He asked at once for Chief Reynolds and, because the boys were well-known to the Rocky Beach police, he was soon sitting across a desk from the Chief himself.

"Well, what can I do for you, Deputy?" Chief Reynolds said with a smile.

He was referring to the honorary junior deputy t.i.tle given to the boys for help on a previous case.

"We're working on a case, sir," Jupiter said quickly, "and I think we need to call you in now."

"All right, suppose you tell me all about it."

"There isn't time, sir! Mr. Harris ..."

"Slow and steady, Jupiter," the Chief instructed. "Start at the beginning. That's the way to give a report."

"Yes, sir," Jupiter agreed reluctantly. He started to tell the Chief about the first night Bob and Pete had seen the amulet and the laughing shadow. He talked rapidly in an effort to finish his story as fast as possible.

"Whoa!" Chief Reynolds stopped him. "A laughing shadow? Bob and Pete must have been letting their imaginations run high, don't you think?"

"No, sir," Jupiter said. "Last night I heard it myself, and it was really spooky. It was tall, too, but I didn't think it looked humpbacked. Pete and Bob were closer, of course, and they said it had a beaky nose and small head that kept jerking around.

"While Pete and I were watching it, a truck drove up with four headless midgets!"

Chief Reynolds coughed. "Headless midgets?"

"Well, no, not really. I mean, sir, they looked like that, but I think they had bags over their heads. They were prisoners in that lodge, you see, and someone had put bags on their heads so that they couldn't see."

"And you think that it could have been one of those 'midget' prisoners who called for help and threw the amulet over the wall?"

"That's right, sir," Jupiter said. "I think one of those prisoners stole the amulet and then hid his message for help in it. When he was recaptured, he threw it over the wall in the hope that someone would find it."

"In a hidden compartment? Pretty slim chance, Jupiter."

"I'm sure he was desperate, Chief. Maybe he expected some friends to be around, but they weren't and we found it. Then the two dark men attacked us to get the amulet hack. They probably wanted the amulet for itself. I doubt if they even knew about the message."

"Dark men?" Chief Reynolds snapped. "What dark men?"

"I'm sorry, sir, you're right about telling it in order. I forgot to mention them."

The First Investigator described the two dark men who had pursued the boys and attacked Mr. Harris.

"Oh, those men!" the Chief sounded almost relieved. "Well now, they're easier to believe in than laughing shadows and headless midgets. We're looking for that pair ourselves after their attack on Harris. All right, Jupiter, let's go and see your Mr. Harris at once."

The Chief summoned two of his men, and with Jupiter they hastened out to the Chief's car. They drove straight to the old house of the Vegetarian League.

As they turned into the deserted street on the edge of the town, Jupiter saw Mr.

Harris's car parked in front of the house.

"He must be here," Jupiter said. "That's his car."

Mr. Harris opened the front door before they had a chance to knock. Looking straight at Jupiter, he asked anxiously, "Where are Bob and Pete? I was expecting to find them here."

"I don't know," Jupiter said. "I thought they'd be here, too. Did you find Ted anywhere?"

"No, I didn't. I thought I spotted his car near your salvage yard, but if it was Ted he got away from me. I came straight home."

For the first time, Mr. Harris looked curiously at Chief Reynolds.

"Oh!" Jupiter suddenly remembered, his manners. "This is Chief Reynolds, Mr.

Harris. He's going to help us."

"It was good of you to come over, Chief," said Mr. Harris in his usual brisk manner.

"We seem to have some problems here. When those intruders first broke up my meeting, I thought it was just an attack by some typical anti-vegetarians. They can be quite fanatical, you know. But from what Jupiter has told me, I'm beginning to understand that it may be much more serious than that."

"You mean the laughing shadow and those headless prisoners?" Chief Reynolds asked.

"Well, perhaps the boys are a bit overwrought about those matters. I understand they don't really agree on what the laughing shadow sounded like. But it does seem as if there is some plot afoot involving Miss Sandow's gold statuettes."

Chief Reynolds looked thoughtful. "The Chumash h.o.a.rd is a local legend, and it may well exist. From what I've heard, a lot of people might risk a great deal to get it."

"And do a great deal," Mr. Harris said grimly. "But I'm worried about Bob and Pete. According to Jupiter, they should be here."

"We'd better have a look around," Chief Reynolds decided, "in case they were here before you returned."

Inside, Mr. Harris and Jupiter searched the ground floor. Chief Reynolds and his men examined the upper floors. When they met again outside Mr. Harris's office, no one had found a trace of Bob and Pete. Jupiter was alarmed.

"They've got to be around here somewhere!" he declared.

Mr. Harris frowned. "You don't think that perhaps they saw the dark men and followed them?"

"That would be just like the boys," Chief Reynolds acknowledged.

"But they would have reported in, sir," Jupiter said.

"Perhaps not at once, Jupiter," Mr. Harris said.

"That's right," the Chief agreed. "They might not have had a chance yet. But I don't much like the idea of them trailing after those two men like that."

Jupiter was not convinced, but he had to admit that if Bob and Pete had spotted the two men they might well have tried to follow them and find out where they were hiding.

It was what he himself would have done.

"I think we'd better start looking for the boys," Chief Reynolds decided.

"At once!" Mr. Harris agreed. "But before you go, Chief, I'd like you to take the second amulet to your office. I don't want to keep it here."

They went into Mr. Harris's office. The vegetarian strode to his safe, opened it, and took out a small box. He carried the box to his desk, which was littered with the remains of a hurried meal.

"Pardon the mess, I was eating a snack at my desk," he said, sweeping the debris into his wastepaper basket, and opening the box. "There, that's what all the fuss seems to be about."

They crowded round and looked down at the second grinning little gold man.

The Chief examined it, shaking his head in bafflement over what importance it could have, then pa.s.sed it along to Jupiter. The First Investigator opened the secret compartment, but found it was empty.

"No message in this one, sir," he said.

"Then it looks as if those two ruffians are after the amulet itself, wouldn't you say?"

Mr. Harris commented. "I'll feel better with it in the hands of the police. At least, no one can steal it, and we can turn our attention to tracking down the villains and finding out what they're up to."

"Maybe Bob and Pete can tell us where to find them," Chief Reynolds said. "That is, if we can just locate Bob and Pete. Come on, Jupiter, I think we'd better start looking for them."

"Call me the instant you have any information and let me know if there is anything I can do," said Mr. Harris. "Tomorrow I'm going to ask young Ted Sandow some questions." Harris's voice sounded stern. "I hope he has an explanation."

Outside on the street again, the Chief and his men hurried to their car. Jupiter followed more slowly, his keen eyes searching the hot, sunny neighbourhood. Suddenly, the stocky First Investigator pointed to the small alley between two old houses across the street.

"Chief ! I see something! Tyre marks over there!" Jupiter raced across the street.

Chief Reynolds caught up with him in the narrow alleyway.

"They were here, Chief ! I recognize a patch in Bob's tyre tracks. They must have been hiding in this alley, watching the house. Look, on the ground there!"

Where Pete had crouched, waiting, there was a small pile of stones in the shape of a crude cone.

"Pete always piles stones like that," Jupiter said. "It's a reflex."

"Then they must have seen someone and followed them. Their bikes aren't here."

Jupiter looked all round the alley. "I don't know, sir. They should have left some sign if they had done that. We always carry coloured chalk to leave a trail."

"They probably didn't have time. We'll send out an All-Points Bulletin on them at once. I don't think we ought to alarm their parents yet."

"No, sir," Jupiter agreed. "Possibly they're back at the salvage yard by now."

"I hope so, son," Chief Reynolds said. "I only wish we had more to go on. I'm sure we'll find, the dark men eventually, but I wish I had a better idea of who that laughing shadow could be."

"He's tall, sir. We know that. And the two men are quite short. Ted Sandow is tall."

"But you boys are familiar with Ted Sandow's voice, right? Wouldn't you know if he was the laughing shadow?"

"We ought to." Jupiter frowned, obviously in deep concentration. "But that laugh certainly didn't sound like anyone I know."

"The way you describe it, it doesn't really sound like a voice at all."

"That's it!" Jupiter exclaimed. "No voice at all! At least not a human kind of voice. It reminds me of a story by Edgar Allan Poe, where no one understood the murderer's language because the murderer turned out to be an ape. Only this was no ape. But isn't there something ... something in Australia, I think, that has a laugh that sounds -", "What are you talking about, Jupiter?"

Jupiter chewed his lip in despair. "I ... I can't remember exactly but I know it has something to do with an animal from Australia. Ted Sandow has an accent. He says he's from England, but maybe he isn't. Maybe he's an impostor from Australia."

"Well, if you're talking about accents, what about Harris, himself?" Chief Reynolds asked. "He sounds like a Limey, to me."

Jupiter's eyes brightened. "Chief!" he exclaimed. "Do you think Harris could be an Australian? I don't think that is a British accent at all."