“Wait!” said Jupe suddenly. “Listen!”
Bob and Pete froze. There was a soft sound behind the tent, half growl and half inquiring whimper.
“A bear!” whispered Pete.
“Don’t move,” cautioned Jupe.
A twig snapped and there was a little scrabbling noise as if a fallen pine cone had been kicked aside. The animal came into sight and paused in front of the tent. The boys could see it silhouetted against the light from the office window. It was indeed a bear, a large, hungry bear. It sniffed in their direction.
“Go away!” whispered Pete frantically. “Shhh!” warned Bob. “Don’t frighten him!”
The bear was motionless, staring at the three boys. They held themselves as still as statues and stared back. Presently the bear seemed to lose interest in the tent and its occupants. It sneezed and ambled off toward the back of the inn.
“Whew!” Pete let out a sigh of relief. “He only wants to raid the trash,” whispered Bob.
Seconds later they heard a crash as a garbage can was overturned. Through the window of the office they saw Joe Havemeyer leap up and start for the door. Before he had gone three steps, however, there was a flash of blue-white light from the back of the inn. A second later the boys heard a wild yelping, and then a cry — a human cry!
The Three Investigators scrambled out of their tent and raced for the back of the inn. They skidded around the corner of the building in time to see the bear, a dark shadow, lumbering up the ski slope. From the trees to the south of the inn came the sound of branches breaking, as if someone or something were running blindly through the thickets.
The light over the back door snapped on and the door crashed open. Joe Havemeyer burst out onto the small back porch, his tranquilizer gun ready. He glared down at the boys, then at the contents of the overturned trash can which were sprayed wildly around at the bottom of the steps. Then he gasped.
Mr. Jensen, the nature photographer, was sprawled face down amid the litter. He was wearing pajamas and a bathrobe, and one slipper had come off. His camera lay beside him, smashed to bits.
“What the…?” cried Havemeyer.
“You had a prowler,” said Jupe. He bent over the fallen photographer. “A bear. I’m afraid Mr. Jensen is hurt!”
4
One Bear or Two?
Joe Havemeyer put down his gun and knelt beside the unconscious Jensen. “Did you see what happened?” he asked the boys.
“We saw a bear go past our tent,” said Bob. “He went around to the back of the house, and we heard the trash can go over. Then we saw a flash of light and we heard the bear yelp, and then Mr. Jensen yelled.”
Inside the inn, lights went on in every room. Cousin Anna appeared in the doorway. “Joe? What is it?”
“Jensen,” said Joe shortly. “Tried to take a flash photo of a bear and got belted. We’d better get him to a doctor.”
Mr. Smathers pushed through the door behind Anna. His sparse gray hair stood on end, and he had his bathrobe on inside out. “What seems to be the trouble?” he demanded.
Hans and Konrad followed Mr. Smathers out and came down the porch steps. “So?” said Hans. “What is happening?”
Jensen moaned, rolled over, curled his knees to his chest, and finally managed to sit up.
Havemeyer sat down on the steps, looking very frightened and, at the same time, very relieved. “You okay?” he asked Jensen.
The photographer made a grimace and put his right hand to his neck. “Someone… someone hit me,” he said.
“I think you’re lucky you’re still breathing in and out,” said Havemeyer. “Some people who get whopped by bears don’t survive the experience.”
Jensen got to his knees, then stood up and leaned against the wall of the inn. “I got whopped all right,” he said. He shook his head as if to clear it. “I got whopped, but not by that bear. Somebody sneaked up behind me and belted me in the neck.”
“Oh, come on now,” said Havemeyer. “It had to be the bear. You scared it with your flash bulb and it took a swipe at you. They can move fast, you know.”
“I know they can, but this one didn’t. I saw it from the window in my room, so I got my camera and came down. I was aiming at the bear when I heard someone behind me. Then the flash went off, and a second later — whammo!”
Jensen straightened and glared at Mr. Smathers, who stood on the porch beside Anna. “You!” he accused. “You and your nutty ideas about animals. You did it — What did you think? I was invading the bear’s right to privacy, or something?”
Havemeyer took Jensen by the arm. “You’re upset,” he said. “Look, we’ll get you to a doctor.”
“I don’t want a doctor. I want the police!”
“Mr. Jensen.” Jupe stepped forward. “There could have been a second bear. We were here just after you shouted. There was a bear running away up the ski slope, and there was also the noise of something crashing through the trees over there.”
“I was not hit by a bear!” insisted Jensen. He shot an angry look at Mr. Smathers.
“I am not in the habit of striking my fellow creatures,” said Smathers primly. “Also, I could not possibly have struck you. I was in bed. Ask Mrs. Havemeyer. She was in the hall when I came out of my room.”
Anna nodded. “That is right, Mr. Jensen. I heard a noise and put on my robe. I was at the top of the stairs when Mr. Smathers opened his door.”
“It happened too fast,” said Havemeyer soothingly. “You couldn’t possibly remember it exactly. Not after being hit on the head.”
“The neck,” said Jensen stubbornly. “I got it in the neck. A rabbit punch. Since when do bears hand out rabbit punches?”
“Come in and we’ll call the doctor,” coaxed Havemeyer. He spoke as one would speak to an angry child.
“I don’t want a doctor!” shouted Jensen. “Call the police. There’s a criminal roaming around here assaulting innocent people.”
“Innocent people should be in their beds at this hour of night,” said Mr. Smathers, “not scaring the wits out of other creatures with their flash bulbs and their cameras.”
“My camera!” Jensen lunged at the remains of his camera. “Oh, great!” He picked up two separate pieces and looked angrily at the loop of film that dangled from the wreckage. “Vandal!” accused Jensen. The remark seemed to be directed at Mr. Smathers.
“If you drop a camera, it will break,” said Smathers. “And if you wish to call the police, I’ll be happy to talk to them when they get here. In the meantime, I am going back to bed. Don’t wake me unless there’s a good reason.”
Smathers marched into the inn, leaving Jensen to his rage.
“He’s right,” said Havemeyer reasonably. “We all ought to go back to bed.” He turned to The Three Investigators. “Bring your sleeping bags inside,” he told them. “You don’t want to be out here with a bad bear on the loose.”
“It wasn’t a bear!” shouted Jensen.
“Then what was it?” demanded Havemeyer. “Jupe here heard something crashing through those trees, so unless someone from the village has suddenly taken to a life of crime, there had to be a second bear. Now, do you want us to call the doctor? If we call the sheriff, he’ll only tell you not to wander around at night disturbing the wildlife.”
That was true, and Jensen knew it. “All right, all right,” he grumbled. “And I don’t need a doctor.” He went up the porch steps and into the kitchen, rubbing his neck.
Fifteen minutes later, The Three Investigators had moved their sleeping bags out of the tent and were comfortably installed in the living room of the inn. They waited until the noises on the second floor ceased. Then, in the darkness, Pete spoke.
“Jensen’s lucky,” he said. “Not too many people tangle with a bear and get off as easily as he did. Unless, of course, it really wasn’t a bear.”
Jupiter Jones frowned. “You’re thinking the same thing that I’m thinking. Could a bear deliver a blow that would stun a man and still not leave a scratch on him? The skin on Jensen’s neck wasn’t broken.”
“It couldn’t have been anyone from the inn,” said Bob. “Hans and Konrad don’t hit people. Joe Havemeyer was in the office when it happened, and Cousin Anna and Mr. Smathers alibi each other. Even if he were a human fly and could walk up walls, Mr. Smathers couldn’t have gotten back into his room so quickly that Cousin Anna saw him when she started downstairs.”
“So it was either an outsider or a second bear,” said Jupe. “In the morning, as soon as it’s light, we’ll go down to those trees south of the inn where the attacker ran after striking Mr. Jensen. It’s been a dry year, but trees hold moisture and the earth there ought to be soft enough to show footprints. Whoever or whatever hit Jensen, he must have left tracks. We should be able to tell whether the attacker was a bear or a man.”
5
The Missing Key
Jupiter Jones awakened to find Pete shaking his arm. “We missed the boat,” said Pete. “Get out of the sack and see.”
Jupe sat up. The room was still dim and gray.
“Joe Havemeyer beat us to it,” reported Pete.
Next to Jupe, Bob turned over and stretched. “Beat us to what?” he asked.
“We do not get to examine the back yard for bear tracks or people tracks or any kind of tracks,” Pete informed them. “Come and see. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Bob and Jupe got up and followed Pete to the kitchen. Pete went to the window near the range and pointed out.
“How interesting,” said Jupe.
“That’s… that’s crazy!” exclaimed Bob. He scowled at Cousin Anna’s husband, who was energetically sweeping the earth in the back yard with a broom.
“He’s already swept the ground under the trees,” said Pete. “He was finishing there when I woke you.”
“Hmmm,” mused Jupe. “Looks as if he’s deliberately erasing any possible sign of Mr. Jensen’s attacker. Very curious.” He stepped to the door, opened it, and padded out onto the back porch in his stocking feet. “Good morning,” he said brightly.
Havemeyer jumped slightly, then smiled. “Morning,” he greeted Jupe. “Sleep okay after all the excitement?”
“Like a log,” Jupiter assured him. “You’re up early.” Jupiter looked pointedly at the broom.
Havemeyer picked up the trash can which had been overturned and began to sweep the debris around the porch steps into a neat pile. “Got a lot to do” he told Jupe. “Want to get the trash all cleaned up or we’ll have more bears roaming around here than you can shake a stick at. And after breakfast I’m going to work on the swimming pool. Go put your shoes on and I’ll show you.”
He deposited the trash in the can, then covered it and started up the porch steps.
Pete and Bob were standing innocently near the sink when Havemeyer and Jupe stepped into the kitchen.
“Morning,” said Havemeyer. “Want to see my pool?”
The three boys got their shoes and followed Havemeyer to the excavation fifty feet behind the inn.
“I had a couple of men come up from Bishop with heavy equipment to do the actual digging,” said Havemeyer. “I’ll put up the forms and pour the concrete myself, but I figured I’d be at it all year if I tried to dig it myself.”
“I see what you mean,” said Pete. “That must be ten feet deep!”
“Twelve,” said Havemeyer.
“But,” said Pete, “there’s no shallow end.”
“That’s right,” Havemeyer said.
Pete frowned. “I never., saw a pool like this. If you don’t have a shallow part, what about the people who can’t swim and just like to go in and bob around?”
“I see you get the idea,” said Havemeyer. “People who can’t swim won’t be able to use the pool. I once saw a man who couldn’t swim lose his footing in a pool. It wasn’t funny.”
“Oh,” said Pete.
Hans and Konrad hallooed cheerfully from the house.
“We’re out here,” called Havemeyer.
The brothers came hurrying down the steps and across the yard. “Ho!” said Hans, when he caught sight of Havemeyer’s excavation. “Swimming pool, huh?” He had the air of one who is determined to be pleasant.
“The swimming pool,” said Havemeyer.
“You are making it yourself?” asked Konrad.
Havemeyer nodded. “It’ll keep me out from under Anna’s feet for a while.”
“Making a pool is hard work,” said Hans. “We have a holiday. We will help.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” said Havemeyer quickly. “You’re on your vacation. I wouldn’t think of having you… ”
“What better thing can we do with our vacation than help our cousin’s husband?” said Konrad. The words were friendly enough, but Konrad’s voice was very firm, as if he would not stand for any argument.
Havemeyer shrugged and began to explain his plans for the pool to the brothers. The Three Investigators wandered back toward the inn.
“Hans and Konrad have just earned the right to stay here,” murmured Jupe. “Helping with the pool will give them an excuse to stick around and find out more about Joe Havemeyer.”
“I’m not sure his head is screwed on the right way,” declared Pete. “I mean. I never saw a swimming pool that didn’t have a shallow end.”
Breakfast that morning was a tense meal. Mr. Jensen spoke to no one. and he avoided even looking at Mr. Smathers. Mr. Smathers openly disapproved of eating eggs and was horrified when Cousin Anna carried in a platter of sausages. Cousin Anna herself ate almost nothing. She sat and twisted the wedding ring on her finger, urging everyone to have second helpings. Havemeyer refused, and he and Hans and Konrad went out to the back yard to start work on the pool. Mr. Smathers took a muffin, stuffed it in his shirt pocket, and went out and down the road toward the campground. Mr. Jensen said a rather sullen thank you to Anna and announced that he had business in Bishop.
Cousin Anna looked sadly at the leftover food. “I think no one was very hungry,” she said to the boys.
“Everything was very good,” said Jupiter quickly. “In fact, you remind me of my Aunt Mathilda.”
“Aunt Mathilda?” Anna said. “Oh, yes. The lady who has been so kind to Hans and Konrad.”
“She’s a great cook, too,” Jupiter told her.
Pete chuckled, “That accounts for Jupe's heft.”
“Aunt Mathilda and I are going on a diet,” said Jupe, “as soon as I get back to Rocky Beach.”
Bob laughed. “I’ve heard that before. I’ll believe it when I see it. Baby Fatso.”
“All right! All right!” Jupe was so nettled that he almost shouted.
“Baby Fatso?” said Anna. “I think I have heard that name before.”
“If you watch the late, late, late show on television, you may catch Jupe. He was a child star — practically an American institution.”
“Oh, yes. Hans and Konrad did not write to me about that.” Anna brightened suddenly. “They write always that you are clever boys and can find out about things.”
“You saw our card,” said Jupe stiffly. He was still smarting slightly after the rebuff of the day before.
“The card? Yes, and I think I have been very foolish. I have looked everywhere and I cannot find my key. It is very important. Perhaps you will find it for me.”
“You wish to retain The Three Investigators?” asked Jupe.
“Retain? What is this retain?”
“Jupe only means that you authorize us to search for the missing key,” Bob explained. “Sometimes there is a fee for our services, but not in this ease. We are freeloading here, and the food is delicious,”
“Way ahead of that canned stuff we brought when we thought we’d be staying in the campground,” said Pete.
“Thank you.” Anna smiled. “Retain. Yes, I wish to retain you to find the key. It is so silly. You see, when I left here to go to Lake Tahoe, I did not wish to carry the key with me, so I hid it in some clever place. Now I do not remember where I put it. I was so clever that I fooled myself.”
“What does the key look like?” asked Jupiter.
“It is small,” said Anna. “Like this.” She held up her hand with thumb and forefinger about two inches apart. “It is the key to my safe deposit box.”