“Very good, Master Jones.”
Jupiter covered the whole street, examining walls and fences for chalk marks. He also looked on the ground for any marks or messages scratched in the dirt, and he inspected the trees. He found nothing at all beyond that small conical pile of stones he was sure had been made by Pete.
Inside the house again, he met Worthington coming down from the upper floors. The tall chauffeur shook his head:
“Nothing that I could interpret as a sign, Master Jones.”
Jupiter frowned. “Maybe the Chief and Mr. Harris are right. I guess I’d better go back to the salvage yard and wait for them… I wonder where Mr. Harris was driving so fast?”
“Perhaps Chief Reynolds called him,” Worthington suggested. “But may I point out, we have not examined the ground floor.”
“I did that first time,” Jupiter said glumly.
“Possibly you overlooked some small thing. A second look will not be amiss.”
They went into Mr. Harris’s office. Jupiter saw no marks on the walls, and Worthington discovered nothing on the floor or in the cupboard. Jupiter looked into Mr. Harris’s desk and wastepaper basket. He had turned away from the desk when he stopped abruptly and went back to the basket.
“Worthington!” he cried. “Look at this!”
The chauffeur hurried over, and took the piece of wax paper from his hand.
“It’s simply a sandwich wrapper, Master Jones. I fail to see the significance.”
“Look at those stains on it! That brownish stain, and the red stain! See?” Jupiter pointed.
Worthington nodded. “Yes, I see them. Mustard and some blood, I should say. Not uncommon on a sandwich wrapper.” The fastidious chauffeur gingerly touched the brown stain, and sniffed at it. “Mustard, definitely. Rather hot, too.”
“But Worthington, Mr. Harris is the president of the Vegetarian League!” Jupiter cried. “Don’t you see? If he was eating a sandwich with meat and mustard in it, he must be a fraud!”
“By George, Master Jupiter. Are you certain this was Mr. Harris’s sandwich?”
“He said so himself,” Jupiter answered. “And if he’s a fake vegetarian, I’ll bet the whole League is a fake. Mr. Harris started the group in Rocky Beach and he claimed he had a big organization somewhere else. But I’ll bet he doesn’t have any organization at all!”
“A serious charge, Master Jones,” Worthington said severely. “What purpose could he have?”
“Don’t you see?” said Jupiter. “He knew that Miss Sandow was a vegetarian. Ted told him so in England. I’ll bet he managed to meet Ted on purpose. He probably knew about the Chumash Hoard and wanted to find it. He used Ted and his fake Vegetarian League to get close to Miss Sandow. It was a good way to gain entry to the Sandow Estate.”
“You mean he knew about the Hoard before he ever came here, or met young Ted?”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised. He probably tried to make us suspicious of Ted on purpose.” Jupiter groaned. “And to think I told him all about what we had guessed. I actually warned him.”
“You had no way of knowing, Master Jones,” Worthington said. “It seems he fooled everyone.”
“He sure has. Why, he may even be the laughing shadow. Maybe he’s holding those four headless prisoners himself.” Suddenly Jupiter’s eyes widened in dismay. “’Worthington, We have to get to Chief Reynolds at once.’
“Of course, Master Jones. You’ve thought of a plan to foil his scheme?”
“No,” Jupiter said, “but I’ve just realized that Mr. Harris played a trick on us. He was very late getting here from the estate, and he said it was because he thought he saw Ted near the salvage yard, but that was a lie! He must have been here long before us — and he must have seized Bob and Pete!”
Mr. Harris sat on the rustic table in the centre of the unpainted room, looking thoughtfully at Bob and Pete. “This truly hurts me, boys, you see,” he said.
Bob and Pete did not answer. They were seated against a wooden wall, their hands and feet tied securely. They had little idea where they were, only that they had been brought to some small cabin in the mountains after their capture in the Vegetarian League house by Harris.
They realized now that Mr. Harris must be connected with the laughing shadow. But there was nothing they could do, and no one they could tell. Mr. Harris and his two assistants had pounced on them, in the corridor of the house, hustled them out to a truck, and tied them. Then the two assistants had driven them off with their bicycles. Mr. Harris himself had apparently remained at the League house for a while, because this was his first appearance at the cabin.
He smiled sadly at them. “Unfortunately, you boys do have a way of appearing where you’re not wanted, eh? Snooping round my house, for instance. I’m sure you found nothing, but it pays to be safe, you know? Fortunately I had time to remove all traces of your presence before the police arrived.
“I’m afraid I shall have to keep you as my guests for a time. Until, shall we say, I am far from this location. Luckily, my work here is almost finished now.”
Bob burst out for the first time, “You’re a thief!”
“You’re trying to steal the Chumash Hoard,” Pete cried hotly.
Mr. Harris laughed aloud. “Yes, you are clever boys. The Chumash Hoard is precisely what I’m after, and I shall steal it tonight.”
Grinning at the bound boys, Mr. Harris turned and walked from the cabin. In the silence, Bob and Pete looked at each other helplessly. They could see the sun low through one of the dirty windows of the cabin. Night would soon be upon them, and they could do nothing to stop Mr. Harris.
“We must be somewhere on the Sandow Estate,” Pete said with his unerring sense of direction. “I recognized some mountains when the truck stopped.”
“If we could only have left a sign,” Bob added, “but there wasn’t any chance the way they hustled us into that truck.”
“Jupiter’ll find us. But if we could get loose first maybe we could send out some signal.” Pete began to strain the bonds that tied his hands behind him.
There was a laugh of amusement. Mr. Harris had come back to the cabin again.
“Stout lads, eh? I truly admire your determination.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Pete said hotly.
Mr. Harris grinned. “By now, boys, the police and your friend Jupiter are looking high and low for those dark men who they fear have captured you. A most happy set of circumstances for me.”
“Don’t think you’ve fooled Jupiter!” Bob declared. “You’ll go to prison.”
“I think not,” Mr. Harris said confidently. “I have planned too carefully to be stopped now by boys and small-town policemen. Still, you have caused me certain problems, and I would feel safer if I could persuade you to join my effort.”
“We wouldn’t join a man like you!” Pete declared stoutly.
“Bold words, but quite stupid. You should have made a deal, and then turned on me when you were free. It’s lucky for me that most people are so stupid. Otherwise the Chumash Hoard would have been found long ago.”
“I don’t think you’ve really found it,” Bob said.
“Wrong, my boy. I have solved Magnus Verde’s little riddle, and in a few hours I shall have the Hoard,” Mr. Harris declared, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the boys. “At that time, I may return to deal with you two.”
He turned and strode to the door. As he touched the knob, he looked over his shoulder. “By the way, it will do you no good to free yourselves. This cabin is at the edge of a sheer hundred-foot drop. It can be reached only by way of a narrow cut, and I have a man on guard there. He has a clear view of the only door. There is no way off this little plateau.”
With a sarcastic laugh, Mr. Harris left the cabin. This time the boys heard the lock turn. They were alone — locked in. Pete instantly began to struggle with his bonds again.
“Bob,” Pete said, “maybe we could help each other. Can you roll over so that we’re sitting back-to-back?”
The two investigators struggled across the rough floor until they were finally seated back-to-back. Pete began to struggle with the ropes on Bob’s wrists. Sweat poured down his face, and he gritted his teeth. He worked for what seemed like hours, then slumped down exhausted.
“I just can’t get enough grip,” he said miserably.
“It’s the way our hands are tied,” Bob said.
Pete searched for a way. “If Mr. Harris hadn’t taken my knife, I could have held it in my teeth, and — ”
“Teeth!” Bob exclaimed. “Maybe we can loosen the knots with our teeth.”
“It’s worth a try. I’ll lie on my side.”
Pete lay flat with his back to Bob. The smaller of the investigators inched up to Pete’s wrists. His teeth took a strong grip on the first knot. Pete pulled against him, and Bob began to chew at the knot. Three times they had to stop and rest. Then Bob tried again.
“I can feel it opening!” Pete cried low. “Try with your hands now.”
Back-to-back again, Bob’s hands worked on Pete’s ropes. Suddenly, the first knot came loose. The second knot was easier, and moments later Pete’s hands were free. He quickly freed his legs, and then released Bob.
They immediately took stock of their situation. Pete went to the front windows, while Bob investigated the single rear window.
“The front windows are nailed shut,” Pete reported, “and I can see the guard. We couldn’t get out without being seen, even in the dark. He’s got a big lantern.”
Already the sun was down behind the highest peaks, and the land was turning a twilight purple. Darkness came early and fast in the mountains in winter.
“There’s nothing back here except a few feet of ledge and then the cliff.” Bob sounded discouraged. “I guess it’s hopeless to try to get out.”
The two investigators returned to the table in the middle of the room.
“At least I know where we are,” Pete said. “I can see the pass to the west. We’re about five miles from the big house, right in the high mountains.”
“Maybe if we sent out a signal it would be seen at the house,” Bob suggested. “If Jupiter is looking for us, he’d be sure to go to the house.”
“Some kind of light,” Pete decided.
They began to search the cabin. There did not seem to be much hope — the mountain cabin contained few furnishings, and Harris was a smart man. But, like many overconfident crooks, Harris had overlooked the obvious. Bob cried out in triumph as he unpiled debris from the lid of an old woodbin and opened the lid.
“Here’s an oil lamp!” He pulled out the dusty old lamp. “It’s got some kerosene in it! We can flash out a Morse code signal by covering and uncovering it. An SOS!”
“If we can light it,” Pete pointed out. “We don’t have any matches.”
Frantically, the boys searched the cabin again. Once more they were in luck. They found an old book of matches tucked away in the table drawer. Bob grabbed one and quickly lighted the lantern, while Pete got a flat piece of tin to cover the light and flash the signal. The boys started for the rear window.
They stopped, their mouths wide open in astonishment!
A dark face was peering in at them through the window.
The window was pulled open, and the two dark men in the strange white clothes climbed inside. They stood staring at the boys, their long knives gleaming in their hands.
“Mr. Harris is a fraud, sir!” Jupiter shouted. “He’s trying to get the Hoard. We saw him driving away fast from his headquarters. I think he’s gone to the Sandow Estate, and I’m sure he has Bob and Pete.”
“Whoa, Jupiter. Let me see what you have.” The Chief examined the stains on the wrapper. “So he’s not even a vegetarian. The League is a fraud, too. Well, that fits.”
Jupiter gaped. “Fits what, Chief?”
“What I’ve found out,” the Chief said, and his eyes twinkled. “You boys aren’t the only detectives in Rocky Beach. I have been talking to the authorities in Australia. They know nothing about Ted Sandow, but they did know an Albert Harris. Your hunch was right.”
“What did you find out, sir?”
The Chief stood up. “I’ll tell you as we go. There’s no time to lose now. We haven’t found a trace of the missing dark men, but I have a feeling that when we find Mr. Harris we’ll find them. I’ve called Mr. Andrews, and we’ll pick him up on our way. Pete’s dad is away, unfortunately.”
“Where are we going, Chief?” Jupiter wanted to know.
“Why, the Sandow Estate. I’m certain that you’re right about that, too. That’s where we’ll find our villains.”
“Perhaps we ought to take the Rolls-Royce, sir,” Jupiter suggested. “Mr. Harris doesn’t know we use it, and he might try to escape if he sees a police car.”
“A good idea, Jupiter. have my men come along behind in the police car.”
The chief ordered four men into the police car and instructed them to follow the Rolls-Royce but not too closely. Then Worthington drove Jupiter and the Chief to Bob’s house. Mr. Andrews hurried out and climbed in.
“What’s happening, Chief?” he asked in a worried voice. “Have you located Bob and Pete?”
“Not yet, Mr. Andrews, but we will,” Chief Reynolds said.
“How did all this come about?” Mr. Andrews wanted to know.
Chief Reynolds quickly summed up all that had happened to The Three Investigators. “They’ve done good work, Mr. Andrews. You should be proud of them. Without them, Miss Sandow and Ted could be in grave trouble, and we wouldn’t have known until too late. The boys acted well and carefully. They had no way of knowing about Harris. He fooled everyone.”
“Just who is this Harris?” Mr. Andrews asked uneasily.
“A thief and a fraud, as Jupiter and the boys have shown,” the Chief replied as Worthington drove up the winding road towards the pass in the fading twilight. “I just talked with the police in Sydney, Australia. Harris is a wanted man down there. He’s a notorious confidence man, cat-burglar, extortionist, and much more. He’s often posed as the leader of some fake organization to fleece innocent people. He’s even wanted in Mexico, where he operated a fraudulent scheme to aid poor Indians.”
“Mexico, sir?” Jupiter said. “Was he there recently?”
“More than once, and the most recent visit was only a year or so ago. The Australians think he was also in California for a while less than a year ago.”
“That must have been when he learned of the Chumash Hoard and Miss Sandow,” Jupiter decided.
“I suspect that he read about her brother’s death in one of the local papers,” Chief Reynolds explained. “That was probably how he came to seek out Ted Sandow in England.”
They reached the top of the pass, with Worthington driving fast but with perfect control, and raced on in the dark night to the iron gates. The big gold car had long outdistanced the following police car. The gates were open. Worthington swung the car through them with scarcely a slackening in the pace of the powerful machine.
The great car roared on until Worthington brought it to a gentle stop at the front door of the big Spanish-style house. They piled out quickly, and Chief Reynolds motioned everyone to silence. There were no lights on in the house, and no sign of life.
“It looks like no one’s here,” Chief Reynolds said in disappointment
“They may have left some clue, though, as to where they went,” Jupiter suggested.
“Let’s take a look at least,” Mr. Andrews urged. “Bob and Pete may be locked up somewhere inside.”
Chief Reynolds nodded, and signalled to his men in the police car, which had just arrived and parked quietly some distance from the house. While the men spread out around the house, the Chief led Jupiter, Mr. Andrews and Worthington inside.