The Mystery of Sinister Scarecrow - M. V. Carey [18]
A sudden skittering sound made the boys freeze.
“Mice!” said Pete. He relaxed and clomped loudly up the rest of the stairs, as if to scare off anything else in the house.
In the back of the house on the second floor there was a room that had wide windows with no glass.
“You get a great view of the Radford place from here,” said Pete. “You can see the back windows and some side windows and part of the terrace and the lawns. And that’s just what someone’s been seeing.” Pete pointed to the floor, where several cigarette butts had been ground out on the bare boards.
“A mysterious watcher,” said Jupe. “Did he see Letitia Radford react to the tarantula just now, and then start toward the Radford place? Or was he up at the Radford house when the tarantula appeared? We have no way of knowing, do we?”
Jupe’s manner was cheerful, as it often was when a case took an unusual turn. “At this point we have a number of suspects who might be capable of frightening Letitia Radford.”
“And knocking Woolley cold, too,” said Pete. “Let’s not forget Woolley. He’s our client.”
“Yes, he did engage us,” agreed Jupiter. “And let’s not forget him. Because he’s a suspect, too. After all, what do we know of him? Simply what he’s told us. Is he really an entomologist? Or does he have some other reason for wanting to be on the Radford estate?”
“What other reason could he have?” demanded Pete.
“We don’t know. What reason would anyone have for tormenting Letitia Radford?
Does she threaten someone? Has she injured someone?
“I suggest we find out more about our suspects. Mrs. Chumley cannot possibly be the scarecrow, since she cannot walk. But let’s check into Burroughs and his wife.
And Malz. He doesn’t seem the type to steal insects, but nothing is impossible. And Woolley. He’s the one who put up the scarecrow on the fence, and who has unwittingly provided the ants that were put on Letitia Radford’s bed. Perhaps he knows more than he lets on. Or perhaps the attacks on Letitia are an attempt to get at Woolley.
“We have to find a motive for the strange happenings here. When we know more about the people involved, we may have a motive. We can get started on our research first thing tomorrow!”
Chapter 10
Searching for Answers
AT TEN THE NEXT MORNING Pete Crenshaw presented himself at the reference desk of the research library at U.C.L.A. Dr. Barrister, a professor at Ruxton University, had called the library on his behalf. Barrister had been involved in one of the cases that The Three Investigators had solved, and had become a fast friend of the boys’. He often advised them when they needed information on academic subjects.
The girl at the desk was not a great deal older than Pete. She grinned when he introduced himself and mentioned Dr. Barrister’s telephone call.
“So you’re the one who’s doing a paper on ants” she said. She took two books off a shelf behind the desk. “These are the books Dr. Woolley wrote about his work in Panama. They’re the ones you wanted, aren’t they?”
“Yep,” said Pete, hoping they were. He felt uncomfortable posing as a serious student. Suppose someone asked him a question he couldn’t answer? Pete was an athlete, not a book lover. But Jupe had dismissed his objections to this library assignment, saying that a good detective had to be at home in many worlds. He had helped Pete work out a cover story and told him to relax.
Pete carried Dr. Woolley’s books to a long table that was flanked by brightly colored chairs. He sat down, opened one of the books, and began to read.
Half an hour later he pushed the books aside. He understood very little more about army ants than he had when he first entered the library. The books were extremely technical, and were filled with mysterious scientific terms. However, they were comparatively new and they still had their dust jackets. On each dust jacket was a photograph of Charles Woolley and a brief biography of the entomologist.
Pete made notes on