The Mystery of Sinister Scarecrow - M. V. Carey [9]
“I’ll do that,” said Woolley. He raised his voice. “Burroughs, kindly bring me a telephone!”
In a moment the houseman appeared with a telephone. He plugged it into a jack beside the door, handed the instrument to Woolley, and went away again. Woolley got Chief Reynolds of the Rocky Beach Police Department on the line.
“This is Dr. Charles Woolley calling from the Radford estate,” he said crisply.
“Three boys have been wandering in and out of here all day looking at our scarecrow and I wondered …” He paused.
“Well, yes, one of them is rather chubby,” he said. After another pause he looked at Jupe. “You’re Jupiter Jones?”
Jupe nodded.
Charles Woolley spoke into the telephone. “That’s right. It’s Jupiter Jones.”
He listened again, then thanked the chief and hung up.
“Chief Reynolds asked me to tell you to stay out of trouble,” he said. “He says there’s no harm in you. In fact, he thinks you’re all right. I’m the one he’s not sure about.”
At that instant a scream began inside the house. It was high and shrill and it went on and on.
“Good heavens!” cried Mrs. Chumley. That’s Letitia! Now what’s happened?”
Chapter 5
A Nasty Shock
WOOLLEY AND THE THREE INVESTIGATORS found Letitia Radford crouched back against a wall in the upstairs hallway.
“Ants!”
she
cried.
She
pointed to a door. “In there!
Millions of ants!”
“Good grief!” said Woolley.
He opened the door, and he
and the boys darted through
into a pretty little sitting room.
Beyond this was a big, square
bedroom with a huge four-
poster bed. And on the bed,
scurrying busily to and fro,
were hundreds of ants!
Woolley stopped short and
stared as if he couldn’t decide
what to do next.
“Mrs. Burroughs!” screamed Letitia from the landing outside. “Bug spray, Mrs.
Burroughs! Quick!”
“Could those be your missing ants?” said Jupe.
Woolley walked forward and peered at the ants on the bed. “They certainly could be.”
“Here now! What’s all this?” said a hearty voice behind them.
The boys turned.
Mrs. Burroughs had appeared in the doorway. She had a can of insect spray in her hand. Letitia Radford hovered just behind her.
“Step aside, if you please,” said Mrs. Burroughs. “I’ll take care of those nasty things straightaway.”
There was a cheerful, no-nonsense air about Mrs. Burroughs, and more than a hint of cockney accent in her speech. She bustled forward with great determination and began to spray the ants.
“Now don’t you worry, miss,” she advised Letitia Radford. “We’ll get these horrid little fellows out of the way and then I’ll change the linens and you’ll be all clean and comfy, just as if nothing had ever happened.”
Letitia glared at Woolley. “It’s your fault!” she accused. “We never had bugs in the house before you came with your cameras and jars and plastic tubes and …”
“My dear Letitia,” said Woolley, “the ants were out on the hillside before I ever came. As to their coming into the house —”
“They didn’t come in,” said Jupe “They were carried in.”
He stooped and picked up a jar which had fallen partly under the bed. There were a few ants inside it.
“Is this yours?” he asked Woolley.
The scientist nodded. “It looks like the one that was taken by the scarecrow the other night.”
Jupiter grinned happily. “A thieving scarecrow! Better and better. This case is getting really interesting!”
“You needn’t sound so happy about it!” cried Letitia Radford. Now there were angry red spots in her pale cheeks. “You can just get out!” She turned on Woolley.
“You, too! Take your horrible ants and go! I’m calling my brother tonight. You’ll be off this place by tomorrow!”
“There now!” Mrs. Burroughs used the tone one might use to soothe a temperamental child. She put the insect spray down, then pulled the bedspread up and folded it over the dead ants. She handed the ant-filled spread to Woolley.
“Off with you now,” she said. “Take ’em out of here. We can sort out who did it later on.”
Woolley meekly took the spread and left. The Three Investigators followed him out and down the stairs.
The scientist paused in the lower hall and