The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs - M. V. Carey [20]
“Um, yes,” said Jupiter.
“The rescuers will eventually remove us from the dangers on Earth,” said Mrs. Barron.
“They won’t take all of us, of course, but they will rescue the people who can make the greatest contribution to rebuilding our civilization when the time of chaos is over.
“My husband has always refused to believe that this will happen. But last night after he saw the spaceship, he didn’t go to bed. Instead he sat up and read Korsakov’s book and the one by Contreras. This morning he is willing to believe that we were visited by rescuers.”
“That should please you,” said Jupe.
“Not if the rescuers turn out to be ruffians who go about knocking people on the head,”
she said. “I wish I could be sure they’re not.”
“You know,” said Jupe, “those attackers might not have been aliens at all.”
“I know.” She smiled sadly. “Somebody could be staging a very elaborate hoax. I mentioned the possibility to my husband this morning and he flew into a rage. I should have known better. He has decided that there are aliens here and he doesn’t wish to be contradicted. He believes that they have come to take him away to safety.”
“I guess he would like that idea,” said Jupe. “Mrs. Barron, tell me about the staff here.”
She looked surprised. “The staff? You are an inquisitive boy, aren’t you? I feel as if I’m making a report down at police headquarters.”
Jupe’s wallet lay on a table next to his bed. Without a word he reached for it, took a card out of one of the pockets, and handed the card to Mrs. Barron. It read: THE THREE INVESTIGATORS
“We Investigate Anything”
? ? ?
First Investigator — Jupiter Jones
Second Investigator — Peter Crenshaw
Records and Research — Bob Andrews
“Investigators!” said Mrs. Barron.
“Solving puzzles is our special interest,” said Jupe, “and we are quite good at it. We are not prejudiced, you see, as many adult investigators are. We are willing to concede that the most absurd events can actually take place, and frequently we are proved correct.”
“I see,” said Mrs. Barron. “Well, perhaps the events that have taken place here are rather absurd, and perhaps we do need some detectives. I think I do, especially. Will you accept me as a client?”
“Certainly,” said Jupiter. “You have just retained The Three Investigators. Now tell us about the staff.”
“All right.” She sat in a small armchair at the foot of Jupe’s bed. “We met Hank Detweiler when we visited the Armstrong Ranch in Texas. Charles was impressed with the job he was doing there, and he had the credit bureau in Austin run a check on him. Charles is a great believer in credit ratings. He says if people are careless about money, they’ll be slipshod about other things, too. Hank wasn’t careless about money, so Charles hired him.
“We found Rafael through the post-graduate office of the University of California at Davis. He graduated six years ago and went to work for West Coast Citrus, and he had a good record. John Aleman owned his own garage in Indio. He worked on our car when we were passing through and did an excellent job.”
“His credit record was satisfactory?” said Jupe.
“It was. Elsie’s wasn’t so good. She paid her bills late, and several times there wasn’t enough money in her bank account to cover her cheques. She’d been helping a younger brother, however, so it was understandable that she ran short on cash now and then. She was working as a cook in a small restaurant in Saugus, and with the salary she made there she set her brother up in a little radio shop. She’s a very good cook, so Charles decided to take a chance on her.”
“What about Mary Sedlack?