The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs - M. V. Carey [31]
Pete got down on his knees and peered under the bed.
“Does she read science fiction, too?” asked Bob.
“No,” said Pete. “Nothing here but dust and a pair of shoes.”
Jupe turned to the small table next to the bed. He opened the drawer there and saw more hand lotion and more curlers and a few snapshots.
Carefully, disturbing the other things as little as possible, Jupe picked up the photographs.
There was a Polaroid picture of Elsie at the beach. There was another of Elsie sitting on the front steps of a frame house. She was smiling and holding a small ragmop of a dog on her lap. There was a larger photograph of Elsie in a satin blouse and a paper hat. She was seated at a table with a bull-necked, dark-haired man. Behind her were balloons and bunting, and a girl with long, sandy hair danced with a slender, bearded young man.
“Looks like a New Year’s Eve party,” said Bob.
Jupe nodded, replaced the pictures in the drawer, looked into Elsie’s crowded closet, then went on to Mary Sedlack’s room.
The quarters occupied by the girl who served as veterinarian on the ranch were prim and austere. There were few cosmetics. Clothes were hung precisely in the closet or folded neatly in drawers. The top of the bureau was bare except for the china figure of a galloping horse. There were several books on the care of animals in a bookcase under the window and there was a box of tissues on the bedside table.
“She’s crazy about animals, and that’s all,” Pete declared.
“At least it’s all that she allows to show,” said Jupiter.
They went on to Banales’ room, where they found lists and schedules for planting and several books on cultivating and harvesting.
“I don’t think we’re finding out much we didn’t already know,” said Pete. He and Bob followed Jupe downstairs to the huge living room of the ranch house. This contained shabby sofas and chairs and a collection of dog-eared magazines. The pantry was filled with food. When they went outside and looked under the house, they saw cobwebs and bare earth and beetles and spiders.
“Sometimes searches reveal nothing,” said Jupiter. “Very well. So much for that. Now we had better find Mrs. Barron. At least we can tell her that the soldiers are imposters.”
The boys went across the drive and up the back steps of the mansion. Jupe rapped at the door. When no one answered, he turned the handle and pulled the door open. “Hello!” he called. “Mrs. Barron?”
He heard the scratchy, raspy noise of static coming from the dining room. An instant after he called, it ceased.
“Who’s there?” said a woman’s voice.
“Jupiter Jones,” said Jupe. “And Pete and Bob.”
The Three Investigators went through the kitchen and into the dining room. Mary Sedlack sat there with a portable radio and a tape recorder on the table in front of her.
“You want to see Mrs. Barron?” she asked. “She’s upstairs. Go through the hall and yell up the stairway. That’ll get her.”
Jupe nodded at the radio set. “Are you getting anything?” he asked.
“Just static,” said Mary. “Mr. Barron asked me to listen in and if anything comes through that makes sense, to put it on tape.”
She turned the volume up slightly, and the static blared again. Then suddenly it faded away, to be replaced by a low humming noise.
“Whoops!” said Mary. “Now what?”
She touched the record switch on the tape machine and the spools of tape began slowly to turn.
“Charles Barron,” said a voice—a deep voice that was strangely musical. “Charles Emerson Barron. This is Astro-Voyager Z-12 attempting contact with Charles and Ernestine Barron. Repeat! We are attempting contact with Charles Barron! Please attend, Mr. Barron!”
“Hey!” cried Mary Sedlack. “Hey, it’s a message! Hey, you guys, get Mr. Barron!
Quick!”
Chapter 14
Doomsday!
“REPEAT,” said the voice on the radio. “This is Astro-Voyager Z-12