The Mystery Of The Singing Serpent Part 9

"They don't."

"I'm afraid your aunt is involved in something sinister," said Jupe. "Bob has been researching witchcraft, and many of the things your aunt has been doing are mentioned in the witchcraft books. Drawing a circle around her bed with a knife is one. There are also many formulas for invoking spirits or casting spells which involve lighted candles."

"We haven't lit any candles for days," said Allie.

"The auction of the Castillo estate takes place next week," Jupiter told her. "Does your aunt plan to attend? Mrs. Compton won't be there to bid on that crystal ball."

"No, Mrs. Compton won't go anyplace for months. Her leg was broken in two places.

But I don't think Aunt Pat plans anything," said Allie. "She's numb. The only thing she does is call the hospital every day to check and see how Mrs. Compton is doing, and even then she doesn't talk to Mrs. Compton. She talks to the nurse."

Allie looked toward the front of the house. A black limousine had pulled into the drive.

A chauffeur got out and opened the back door, and an elegant man dressed in striped trousers and a morning coat emerged from the car holding a package in his gloved hands.

Jupe goggled. Such glory was seldom seen in Rocky Beach, and never at eleven in the morning.

Allie's eyes narrowed. "Van Storen and Chatsworth!" she announced. "Everything they do is a major production. They can't make a plain old delivery. I think my mother's necklace is home again. Suppose we meander inside and watch what happens?"

Jupe followed her in through the kitchen. Aunt Pat Osborne was in the hall in the act of accepting the package from the messenger. Jupe noticed that her purple gown was wrinkled and slightly soiled, as if she had worn it for several days - or as if she had given up thinking about what she wore. Her hands shook slightly as she handed a receipt to the man from Van Storen and Chatsworth.

"Allie dear!" she cried, and her voice was high and a bit shrill. "Jupiter. Good morning!"

The jewelers' man departed for his car.

"Your mother's necklace, dear," said Miss...o...b..rne to Allie. "Open the package, won't you, and see if they did a good job?"

Allie silently tore away white wrappings and opened a dark green leather box. Inside, arranged on white satin, was a necklace that was inches wide. It held more than a hundred diamonds, all blazing with cold, white light.

"Gaudy, isn't it?" said Allie to Jupe.

"My dear, it's most historic," Aunt Pat said.

"It is also heavy as lead," Allie told her. "My mother practically gets a neck ache every time she wears it." She closed the box. "I like pearls better. You don't need an armed guard following you around when you wear them."

Miss...o...b..rne turned away from Allie. "Is that a car in the drive?" she asked.

"It's the werewolf of Rocky Beach, returning from the barber," Allie told her.

"Allie, put the necklace in your mother's safe," said Miss...o...b..rne quickly.

A car door slammed in the back court. Aunt Pat looked toward the rear of the house, and she hid her hands in the folds of her robe. "Right away, dear."

"Okay, Aunt Pat," said Allie. She went up the stairs with the box and just missed Hugo Ariel, who came in reeking of hair tonic.

Allie, without the box, reappeared at the top of the stairs. "I'll talk to you later, huh?"

she called down to Jupiter.

"I'll be waiting," promised Jupe, and he left.

Jupiter busied himself in the salvage yard for the rest of the day. He was never far from his workshop, however, where he could check to see if the telephone in Headquarters was ringing. At five, Allie called.

"What did you think of Aunt Pat's performance this morning?" asked Allie.

"I thought it was almost professional," said Jupe. "But it was clear she didn't want Hugo Ariel to know that the necklace was delivered today."

"She must have called the jewelers after Ariel made his appointment with the barber,"

said Allie. "I think the delivery was timed so that Ariel wouldn't be there to see it. But if it's so blasted important to keep Ariel away from that necklace, why did Aunt Pat have it returned? She could have ordered Van Storen and Chatsworth to hold it until my mother got home."

"Unless she needs it," said Jupiter.

"She'd better not not need it!" cried Allie. "It's my mother's." need it!" cried Allie. "It's my mother's."

"True," said Jupiter. "And since it is your mother's, and since you do know the combination of the wall safe, it would be no trouble for you to remove the necklace. Would you let The Three Investigators have it for a short time? There's something I'd like to confirm. Could you get the necklace out of the house without its being seen?"

Allie didn't hesitate. "I've got a poncho that I wear sometimes when I'm riding. You could almost hide a live rooster under that."

"Very good," said Jupiter. "Bring the necklace to the salvage yard the first minute you can. It's probably going to be safer here, anyway. I'll wait for you in my workshop. Now, if you'll hang up, I'll call our friend Worthington. We'll need him tomorrow."

Allie was at the salvage yard before six with the green leather box containing the necklace. Jupe took it from her, and after she left he stowed it away in the desk in Headquarters. Early in the morning Worthington appeared with the Rolls-Royce.

"This is a great responsibility, Master Jupiter," said Worthington, when Jupe gave him the box. "A necklace that once belonged to an empress!"

"You're the only one who can do it," Jupe told him. "It would look very peculiar if I tried, or if Bob or Pete had the necklace."

Worthington nodded. "I'll be extremely careful," he promised. "I should be back here by about two."

"We'll all be waiting," promised Jupe. It was almost exactly two when Worthington returned to the salvage yard. Jupe met him at the gate and led him to the workshop. Bob and Pete were waiting there with Allie, who sat hunched on an upended crate.

"Miss Jamison," said Worthington, and he sat down in Jupiter's chair. Opening the green leather box, he took out the necklace and draped it across one knee. "It's beautiful,"

he said, "but it's worthless."

"Worthless!" Allie jumped up. "It's my mother's necklace! It belonged to the Empress Eugenie. It's priceless!"

Worthington was distressed. "I'm sorry, Miss Jamison, but it is not not the Empress Eugenie necklace. It's an imitation. I called upon three appraisers, saying that I found the necklace among the effects of a recently deceased relative. I was told not to try to obtain insurance on it, since one does not insure costume jewelry." the Empress Eugenie necklace. It's an imitation. I called upon three appraisers, saying that I found the necklace among the effects of a recently deceased relative. I was told not to try to obtain insurance on it, since one does not insure costume jewelry."

"Costume jewelry?" Allie looked ready to choke. "Give it to me!"

Worthington handed the necklace over.

"Are you going to discuss this with your aunt?" asked Jupiter mildly.

"Discuss it with her? I'm going home and ram this junk down her throat, and then I'm going to make her tell what she did with the real necklace."

"We can guess what she did with it," said Jupe. "You yourself suggested the safest course. She had an imitation made by Van Storen and Chatsworth, and she directed that the real necklace remain with the jewelers until your parents return."

Allie sat down again on the crate. "That's like finding out that the cla.s.s dunce is really Albert Einstein. So the necklace is safe."

"But why would she have an imitation necklace made?" asked Pete. "What's she going to do with it?"

Allie frowned. "All this hocus-pocus must have something to do with Ariel. Aunt Pat has been so careful not to let him see the necklace."

"Maybe she's afraid he'll steal it?" guessed Bob.

"Fine! Let him! He can steal this fake and get lost!"

"I don't think this is a simple matter of theft," said Jupiter. "Somehow this necklace business is all mixed up with Mrs. Compton's accident and the fellowship and the power of the singing serpent."

"Is that serpent still singing at your house?" Bob asked Allie.

"No," said Allie. "No one sings at our house."

"Scared?" asked Pete.

"Yes, a little."

"I don't think you're in any danger," Jupiter told her. "As long as Ariel doesn't suspect you of being a threat to him, he won't bother you. Bentley is involved in some way and may show up again, but he doesn't seem violent."

"It isn't me I'm scared for," said Allie. "Why should I be scared for me? They think I'm only a pesky kid. I'm scared for Aunt Pat. Tonight she and Ariel are going to another meeting of that creepy fellowship. I heard them talking about it this morning. Ariel said Dr.

Shaitan was a.s.sembling the others at Torrente Canyon and Aunt Pat had to go. She doesn't want to. She cried a lot. But she's going."

"Excellent!" said Jupiter.

"It isn't excellent!" shouted Allie. "It's horrible. I hate to see her like this."

"I'm afraid that until we discover the secret of the fellowship, you won't see her any other way," said Jupiter. "Worthington, could you ..."

"I'd be delighted to pay another visit to the house in Torrente Canyon," said Worthington.

"I'm coming, too," announced Allie.

"Allie, please!" said Pete.

"It's my my aunt," she pointed out. "It's also my mother's necklace that's involved, and Ariel is living in my house. I'm going. Worthington, where will I meet you this evening?" aunt," she pointed out. "It's also my mother's necklace that's involved, and Ariel is living in my house. I'm going. Worthington, where will I meet you this evening?"

"I had thought," said Worthington, "that the parking lot in front of the Rocky Beach Market -"

"Fine. What time?"

"Would half-past seven be agreeable, miss?"

"Perfectly. See you at seven-thirty." Allie strode out, hiding the necklace under her poncho.

"A strong-minded young lady," said Worthington.

The Three Investigators didn't disagree.

Chapter 14.

Dr. Shaitan's Spirits Worthington had no cause to change his mind that evening. Allie was waiting with The Three Investigators when he appeared at the Rocky Beach Market driving his gray Ford.

She was calm enough, but her jaw was set in a way that meant she planned to see some action. "I'm going to get into that house," she told Worthington as he held the car door for her.

"Yes, miss," said Worthington.

"We'll get into the house," Jupiter Jones a.s.sured her. "We have a plan."

"What is it?"

"Wait and see," advised Jupe.

Allie had a long wait. They reached Torrente Canyon to find the road outside the walled house empty and deserted.

"Good!" exclaimed Pete. "We're the first ones here."

Worthington parked up the road beyond the house and Bob got out of the car. "I'll keep watch from that bunch of oleanders across from the gate."

"Good," said Jupe.

Bob nodded and walked back toward the big house. He was hidden in the oleanders, watching, when the first car came up the road.

It was Madelyn Enderby who got out, crossed to the gate and reached for the telephone set into the wall. Bob was about to leave his hiding place when the purple Corvette appeared. Hugo Ariel was at the wheel. In the twilight, Bob could barely see Miss Patricia Osborne. Her head was bowed and she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. Ariel helped her out of the car. The buzzer on the gate rasped, and Ariel and Miss...o...b..rne joined Madelyn Enderby and went in.

A few minutes later, a pale blue Cadillac rolled to a stop. Bob saw a thin, brown-haired man go to the telephone in the wall. Careful not to make a sound, Bob slipped out from behind the oleanders and crossed over to the gate.

The man was holding the telephone receiver to his ear, listening. Then he said, "I will descend to the lower circle."

He hung up and turned.

"Good evening," said Bob. "I'm looking for 1483 Torrente Circle."

"This isn't Torrente Circle," said the man. "It's Torrente Canyon Drive. You're on the wrong street."

The buzzer on the gate sounded. The man stepped past Bob, opened the gate and went through.

Bob returned to Worthington's Ford. "I will descend to the lower circle," he said. "The guy on the phone says, 'The night is dark,' and then you have to answer, 'I will descend to the lower circle.' "

"The pa.s.sword!" Allie leaped from the car.