untended. Of course, Jupiter knows what we buy as well as I do. He could go out there after he has his lunch.”
“Why don’t all you boys come?” Ted said quickly.
“Konrad could drive us in the small truck,” Jupiter suggested.
“I say, that would be wonderful!” Ted exclaimed. “The boys and I could talk. I’ve learned so little about America.”
Aunt Mathilda, who was always on the look-out for items for the yard, was soon persuaded. The boys ate quickly, then located Konrad. In a very short time they were all in the truck, following Ted’s small sports car. Ted had looked for Skinny Norris to thank him, but Skinny was nowhere in sight. He had vanished completely. This surprised the English boy, but it didn’t surprise the investigators at all.
“I wonder what Skinny’s up to?” Pete said in the truck.
“One of his usual attempts to confound us, I presume,” Jupiter answered. “I’m not worried about Skinny. But I am wondering why Ted happened to show up at the salvage yard the day after you fellows picked up that amulet.”
“You think he knows we found the amulet, but doesn’t know it was stolen from us?” Bob asked.
“Gosh!” Pete said. “That would mean there’s more than one group mixed up in this!”
“Or perhaps he knows the message was removed from the amulet, and wants to get hold of it,” Jupiter suggested.
“Gee,” Bob protested, “he seems like too nice a fellow, Jupe.”
“Perhaps it is only a coincidence,” Jupiter conceded, “but I suggest we be alert, watch what we say, and keep our eyes open.”
Bob and Pete agreed quickly. Meanwhile the truck, which was out of Rocky Beach by now, followed Ted Sandow’s sports car into the mountains. They drove up the winding road to the top of the pass and soon turned in at the big iron gates of the Sandow Estate, where Bob and Pete had heard the laughing shadow the previous night.
Beyond the gates and the high wall, they drove along a narrow macadam road for about half a mile until they saw the Sandow house. It was a big, Spanish-style house with white walls and a red-tile roof. There were bars on many windows and small balconies in front of some on the second floor. But the white walls were cracked and dingy, and the whole house looked badly neglected.
Ted led them directly to a low, brick barn behind the house. Inside, they found a great jumble of furniture, bric-a-brac, household items of the past, and some things they could not even name. There was so much dust on everything that it seemed as if nothing had been touched for at least fifty years.
“Aunt Sarah seems to have been something of a hermit, chaps,” Ted observed. “I’m sure she has no idea what’s here.”
Jupiter, who loved old junk as much as his Uncle Titus, looked at the mounds of forgotten relics in awe. “It’s a bonanza! Look at that spinning wheel! And that old lap writing desk for travellers.”
For an hour the boys picked happily over the great, dusty piles, completely forgetting the amulet, the Chumash Hoard, and the weird laughing shadow. Then, at last, Jupiter gave up and stood back looking at the piles.
“Uncle Titus is going to want just about all of it, and we haven’t even made a dent.”
“Why not come up to the house, then,” Ted suggested. “We’ll have some lemonade and biscuits, and you can talk to Aunt Sarah.”
Bob and Pete, remembering their real reason for wanting to come to the Sandow Estate, nodded quickly and looked at Jupiter. This was just what they wanted, but no one would have guessed it from seeing Jupiter’s impassive face.
“That sounds fine, Ted,” the First Investigator agreed. “Konrad can start making a partial list of what’s here.”
“I’ll send a beer out for him,” Ted said.
“A beer is good.” The Bavarian grinned.
Inside the big, house, the boys were taken into a cool, informal room with dark, antique Spanish furniture. Ted went to ask the maid to bring the lemonade. When he came back, he was with a bird-like woman whose hands fluttered up to her neat white hair. Her pale eyes lit up with pleasure.
“I’m Sarah Sandow. I’m so glad to see that Theodore has found friends. He tells me you’re from the salvage yard. I want to dispose of everything. I’ve been letting things accumulate for far too long.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jupiter said, as Bob and Pete nodded.
“Now that Theodore is here I’m beginning to take an interest in things again. The estate is in dreadful disrepair.”
The maid brought in the lemonade and biscuits, and Miss Sandow served them herself. She seemed happy to have the boys in the house.
“After last night,” she explained, as the boys began to eat, “Ted convinced me that it wasn’t safe to have all those things lying out in the barn.”
The boys tensed, and Jupiter said, “Last night, ma’am?”
“A gold statuette was stolen. From under our noses,” Miss Sandow said indignantly. “It was one of two which my poor brother Mark left behind when he had to run away. They were all I had of Mark’s.”
“It was really my fault, chaps,” Ted explained. “You see, my dad had mentioned that my grandfather had told him about two little gold statues. I found them lying forgotten at the bottom of a drawer and was examining them in the library. I left the library, and when I came back one of them was gone?”
“You don’t know who took it?” Jupiter asked.
“We know it was some boy. Mr. Harris saw him.”
“That I did, boys,” said a deep voice from the direction of the door.
The boys turned and saw a healthy-looking man in a bright sports jacket and Bermuda shorts that displayed his long, knobbly legs. His grey eyes had a twinkle in them. His hair was sandy-coloured, and a small scar on his ruddy face give him a perpetual smile.
Ted introduced them, explaining that Mr. Harris was a friend of his Aunt Sarah’s.
“Interested in our robbery, are you, boys?” asked Mr. Harris with a smile. He spoke with an English accent that was somehow different from Ted’s. It sounded to Jupiter like a slightly cockney accent.
“Saw a boy running from the house and chased him to the gates. When I got there, though, I couldn’t find him. He must have had friends. So I suppose we’ve seen the last of that statuette.”
“Perhaps we could help, sir,” Jupiter said quietly. “We have had some success in recovering lost and stolen articles.”
“And solving mysteries, too,” Pete declared.
Mr. Harris laughed. “You sound like detectives.”
“Yes, sir,” Jupiter said. “We are, in a small way. This is our card.”
Jupiter handed Mr. Harris one of their large business cards which read:
Mr. Harris laughed. “Well, now, perhaps you could get Miss Sandow’s statuette back. Detectives, by Jove, and you have solved mysteries?”
“We sure have!” Pete exclaimed. “Chief Reynolds of the Rocky Beach police even made us deputies.”
“Did he indeed?” Mr. Harris grinned, looking at the card in his hand.
From his chair across the room, Ted asked, “What are the question marks for, fellows? You don’t question your abilities, do you?”
“The question marks are our symbol,” Jupiter explained, looking towards Ted with a frown. “They stand for all the mysteries we attempt to solve. Sort of a trademark.”
“That’s great,” Ted said with enthusiasm. “Let the boys try, Aunt Sarah, and I’ll work with them!”
“But, Theodore,” Miss Sandow objected. “There may be a gang of thieves. Would it be safe for boys?”
“Miss Sandow is right,” Mr. Harris said. “Robbery is not a matter for boys.”
“We’re always careful, ma’am,” Jupiter said, “and we would go to Chief Reynolds if we found anything serious. If it was a boy who took the statue, we might be in a good position to help. We’ve found that boys are often less afraid of other boys. All we would do is try to locate the statuette.”
“There, Aunt Sarah,” Ted declared. “You can see that the boys are responsible, and Chief Reynolds trusts
