The Mysterious Visitor
Page 14
"That’s enough," the lieutenant said. "For now, anyway." He gestured to Molinson. "The sergeant and I will cope with Mr. Britten. Will you be so kind as to cope with the Beldens?"
"Gladly, sir," Molinson said, grinning. "Shall I dump them in the river, sir, take them home, or give them badges?"
"All three, in that order," the lieutenant said sternly, but his eyes were twinkling.
"Just leave me in the river," Trixie said mournfully. "When Moms sees me in these clothes at this horn of night—I mean morning—well, frankly, Lieutenant, I’d rather go to jail."
"That’s just what I thought," he said. "The next time you try to capture an armed criminal single-handed, I hope that you will know enough at least to wear something on your feet."
Rewards for Everybody • 19
ON SATURDAY MORNING the Bob-Whites met at the clubhouse. The Beldens hadn’t had much sleep, what with Trixie and Mart arriving after midnight in a patrol car, and the long explanations that were necessary. Bobby had slept through it all, but Brian had been awakened by his mother’s cry of surprise when she first caught sight of Trixie. Then, just as they were all going to bed, Mr. Lynch had called and had had a long talk with Mr. Belden. So it was nearly dawn by the time the Beldens finished talking and dawn before Trixie fell asleep.
When she and Brian and Mart arrived at the clubhouse, they found that Honey and Jim had not heard anything about the exciting events of the night before. "I thought Di was coming out early to bring you two up to date," Trixie said, propping her eyes open with her fingers. "I myself am too tired and sleepy to talk about it. Di will tell you all about it when she arrives."
"Trixie, please," Honey begged. "How can you expect Jim and me to sit here calmly until Di arrives, when all you’ve told us is that Monty was arrested early this morning? Tell us everything." Trixie sighed and began at the beginning, for what seemed to her about the one hundredth time. "The best part of it all," she finished, "is that Moms and Dad aren’t too mad at me."
"They’re not mad at all," Brian put in. "They’re proud of you, Sis. After all, you didn’t plan to get yourself kidnapped by Monty."
"I still don’t understand about the tape-recording machine," Honey complained. "How did it get into the trailer?"
"That’s Mart’s story," Trixie said wearily. "You have the floor now, Mart."
Mart grinned. "Well, you all know Ty Scott— the guy I was supposed to spend last night with. The tape recorder belongs to him. It’s his hobby. He belongs to a club, and the members send each other tapes and all that sort of thing. Like pen pals, you know. Anyway, he let me borrow it last night without asking a lot of questions. I put it in my bike basket and carried it out to the Lynches’, arriving around nine fifteen. I knew Monty would be listening to TV in the Robin then, so he didn’t hear me when I sneaked into the garage and hid on the other side of the limousine. When the program was over, he went into the house, and I went into the trailer. I hid the machine under a bunk, plugged it into an outlet, and, just as I got everything all set, I happened to glance out of the window and saw Trixie limping barefoot along the driveway. I was so stunned to see her that I just stood there with my mouth open until she turned the handle on the door. It was too late then to shut the machine off. I barely had time to get into the shower compartment and close the door before Trixie walked into the trailer."
Trixie nodded. "That was the click I heard, and it scared me to death."
"I don’t understand, Mart. Why did you hide from Trixie?" Jim demanded.
"Because," Mart said, "she would have ruined my plan."
"Just what was your plan?" Honey asked. "Whatever could you possibly hope to prove by installing a recorder in the Robin?"
"Exactly what I told you at the meeting yesterday afternoon," Mart said. "I planned to get a confession out of Monty and have it recorded without his knowing anything at all about it."
"I still don’t get it," Jim said. "Why should he confess to you in the Robin or anyplace else?" "Let me tell my story in my own way," Mart pleaded. "I planned to greet him when he came back out to the Robin for the eleven o’clock TV show. I was going to confront him with the fact that I had seen him enter Olyfant’s hotel both before and after he went to stay with the Lynches. It wasn’t true, but it would certainly have shocked him into saying something. I then planned to say that I would not tell on him if he gave me a share of the loot. Ten percent, to be exact."
Honey gasped. "Five thousand dollars? Why, Mart, he wouldn’t have given you that much money. You didn’t have any real proof."
"I didn’t expect him to give me any money at all," Mart said patiently. "I simply wanted him to talk, and I think he would have talked plenty under my skillful questioning and cleverly put accusations."
Jim groaned. "And, I suppose, while he was watching you, you would have unplugged the machine, taken it from its hiding place, and walked off with it under your arm! A fat chance you would have had of getting far! You’d have been stopped before you got to the door!"
Mart snapped his fingers. "You forget, my dear James, that I had no idea then that the crook was going to depart that night. I planned to return, after he’d gone to bed in the house, and remove my equipment then."
"Well, it might have worked, at that," Jim admitted. "But you took an awful chance, Mart. He would probably have done the same thing to you that he did to Trixie when he caught her there."
"True," Mart said, "but I didn’t know he had a gun. None of us had any idea that he did. If he had tried to get rough with me, lacking a gun, I would have knocked him cold. He’s nothing but a flabby-muscled little shrimp, and I guess that’s why he does—or did—carry a gun."
"One thing I haven’t yet figured out," Trixie said. "Did you plan to leave that machine running until he came back to the Robin at eleven? Those spools don’t last more than half an hour, do they?" Mart nodded. "That was luck—sheer luck. I started it in order to test it, and never did turn it off. When the spool runs out, the machine goes off automatically."
Trixie sighed. "That wasn’t the luckiest part of it all. I hate to think about what might have happened to me if you hadn’t been hiding in the shower, Mart. Who knows where I’d be now!" She shivered.
Honey gave her an affectionate hug. "It must have been simply awful, Trixie. I would have died of fright."
Jim cleared his throat. "Well, let’s call the meeting to order. We can’t wait any longer for Di. We must decide today what we’re going to do about a clubhouse. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas?"
At that moment Di burst into the cottage. "Oh, it’s all so wonderful," she cried, her pretty face flushed with excitement. "Mother realizes now that none of the strange things that have been happening at our place lately would have happened if she had been running the house the way she used to do. So she’s fired Harrison and the nurses, and I’m going to get paid for helping her take care of the twins."
Mart chuckled. "That makes you a full-fledged Bob-White, or should I say fledgling?"
"Speaking of birds," Honey said to Di, "does anyone know what happened to the valuable china ones that disappeared from your father’s study?"
Di nodded. "Monty confessed to everything, you know. He stole them and gave them to Olyfant. When the police raided his hotel this morning, they found them in his safe. So this time he will go to jail."
"Well," Brian said, "I guess that pretty much ties everything up neatly. Except for the Beldens’ winter sports equipment." He pointed to the sleds and skis and snowshoes. "There’s no room for them in our garage, and we can’t keep them here any longer. This cottage belongs to Tom and Celia now."
Di laughed. "I forgot to tell you about the reward Dad is giving Trixie and Mart."
"Reward?" Trixie was very wide awake now. "What reward, and why?"
"The Robin," Di said. "Because you kept Monty from getting away with it, not to mention fifty thousand dollars!"
"The Robin?" Trixie stared at Mart. "Do you understand what she’s talk
ing about?"
"Birds," Mart said. "Bob-Whites and robins and valuable china ones. Not that any of this talk is making much sense to me."
Di giggled. "In words of one syllable, Mart, Dad is giving you and Trixie the red trailer, otherwise known as the Robin. And won’t it make a wonderful clubhouse for the Bob-Whites?"
Trixie collapsed in a heap on the dirt floor. "I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. We can’t accept it, either, can we, Mart?"
"No," he said thoughtfully. "Not for a clubhouse. But we can give it to Tom. After all, he played a big part in helping us prove that Monty was an impostor. I, for one, would never have suspected the guy if Tom hadn’t told us what he did."
"That’s right," Trixie yelled excitedly. "And if you hadn’t suspected him, I wouldn’t be here today. And Monty wouldn’t be in jail."
"I guess Tom does deserve a reward, too," Di said. "But do you have to give him the trailer?" "Heavens, no!" Mart said airily. "We simply make a deal. We keep our clubhouse, and he parks the Robin on that plot of land Honey was telling us about."
"It’s perfect!" Honey clapped her hands. "The ideal spot for the Robin is that clearing in the woods on the hill behind the stable. It’s got a beautiful view of the Hudson. I’m sure Celia and Tom will be happy about the whole thing, aren’t you, Jim?"
"More than happy," Jim agreed. "Boy! Am I ever glad we don’t have to give up this place."
Di sighed contentedly. "I’ve got more news. In that little black notebook which Trixie found in Monty’s pocket, the police discovered the name and address of my real uncle, my mother’s real brother."
"Somehow," Trixie said dreamily, "I always felt sure he was alive."
"He’s very much alive," Di said. "Mother telephoned him this morning long-distance. He has a huge dude ranch out in Arizona, and he’s going to fly east as soon as he can for a happy reunion." "Why didn’t he ever try to get in touch with your mother?" Honey asked.
"He did," Di explained. "But by the time he found out who she was, Dad was rich. Trixie was right about that. My real uncle felt that suddenly showing up then would, well—"
"—make him look like a heel," Mart finished. "Money certainly does complicate things, doesn’t it? I’m glad I haven’t got any. Except for that dollar Trixie owes me, which amounts to the same thing."
"That’s right; rub it in," Trixie said exasperatedly. "Is it my fault I can’t pay you back today? Is it my fault I’m not going to get my allowance?"
"Oh, Trixie," Honey cried sympathetically, "why aren’t you going to get your allowance?" "Because," Trixie said ruefully, "Moms and Dad didn’t exactly like the idea of my searching Monty’s room and the pockets of his coat, even if he did turn out to be an impostor."
Brian chuckled. "It’s more than that, Sis. The idea is for you to look before you leap into situations which seem perfectly safe but, in your case, almost always turn out to be highly dangerous. In case you’ve forgotten, you had a narrow escape last night."
Jim sandwiched one of Trixie’s hands in both of his and said fondly, "Depriving her of her allowance for one week, I’m afraid, isn’t going to change this nitwit. Unless we do something drastic about it, I’m afraid she’ll end up a pickpocket."
"True, true," Mart said cheerfully. "I think I’ll reserve a room for her in Olyfant’s hotel right now."
Jim winked at Brian. "She’ll never learn unless we punish her. I vote we suspend her from membership in the club for six months."
"Oh, you can’t do that," Di cried. "It would ruin everything."
"Why?" Mart demanded. "If we spent less time tracking down crooks, we’d have this clubhouse a showplace before Christmas. Curtains, shelves, cupboards, benches, and tables." He waved his hands. "But, instead, because of Trixie, we get a trailer handed to us on a silver platter. Who wants a clubhouse we didn’t fix up ourselves? And if we don’t suspend Trix, we’ll never get time to fix this one up."
"Oh, please listen to me," Di begged. "The real Uncle Monty has invited us all to spend the Christmas holidays at his ranch."
"What?" they all shouted at once. Mart added, "Why didn’t you say so before?"
"I’ve been trying to," Di told him, "but you keep interrupting to tease Trixie. If it’s all right with your parents, maybe Dad will charter a plane. Then we could all fly out to Arizona and back, too."
Christmas in Arizona! Brian grabbed Mart’s arm excitedly. "Cowboys and Indians and horses galore—why, it’ll be like living in a Western movie!"
"And Trixie will probably find us another mystery, even in Arizona," Jim added, smiling at Trixie.
Trixie smiled, too. But, deep down inside, she felt that, somehow, another exciting mystery was waiting just around the comer. After all, it would be a long time till Christmas!
An Unhappy Friend • 1
A Mysterious Suitcase • 2
A Long-lost Relative • 3
Trixie Is Suspicions • 4
Di’s Initiation • 5
Halloween Plans • 6
Lots of Surprises • 7
Hidden Portraits • 8
A Clue and a Warning • 9
Bad Sews • 10
Hawthorne Street • 1J
A Narrow Escape • 12
Blue Eyes—or Brown? • 13
"I’m Not Afraid!" • 14
Too Many Problems • 15
Just One Chance! • 16
Prisoners • 17
"A Likely Tale!" • 18
Rewards for Everybody • 19
Table of Contents
An Unhappy Friend • 1
A Mysterious Suitcase • 2
A Long-lost Relative • 3
Trixie Is Suspicions • 4
Di’s Initiation • 5
Halloween Plans • 6
Lots of Surprises • 7
Hidden Portraits • 8
A Clue and a Warning • 9
Bad Sews • 10
Hawthorne Street • 1J
A Narrow Escape • 12
Blue Eyes—or Brown? • 13
"I’m Not Afraid!" • 14
Too Many Problems • 15
Just One Chance! • 16
Prisoners • 17
"A Likely Tale!" • 18
Rewards for Everybody • 19