The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [26]
“There have been strangers around lately,” Jupe pointed out. “Morbid people drawn here by the finding of the holdup man’s body in the mine. If one of them helped himself to your food — he might just come back!”
Chapter 12
A New Suspect
A FEW MINUTES LATER the Three Investigators and Allie crossed the road to Harrison Osborne’s property. Bob was lugging his stack of newspapers.
“What’s with those?” Pete asked, indicating the papers. “They of great historical interest or something?”
“And why did you guys shut me up back there?” said Allie.
Bob shifted the pile of papers so that his companions could see the one on top. “Most of these are copies of the Twin Lakes Gazette,” he said. “They’re more than forty years old.
They must have been left in the house by whoever lived there before the mine closed. But the paper on top is a Phoenix paper, and the date is five years ago — May ninth. Look at that headline!”
“Hm!” said Jupiter. “I suggest that we find a private place and read that article with care.”
The Three Investigators and Allie hurried past Uncle Harry’s house and into the barn, where Bob put the papers down in a pile near the old Model T. They knelt on the floor and Bob unfolded the Phoenix newspaper with its bold headline.
ARMOURED CAR HELD UP
MASK ED MEN ESCAPE W I TH $2 50, 000!
Today at 3 P.M. an armoured truck belonging to the Securities Transport Corporation was robbed outside the Phoenician Savings and Loan Company on North Indian Head Road. Three men wearing ski masks and armed with sawed-off shotguns forced driver Thomas Serrano and guard Joseph Ardmore into the rear of their truck. After binding and gagging Serrano and Ardmore, the holdup men escaped with an undisclosed amount in negotiable securities, and cash estimated at approximately $250,000.
According to a witness, who asked that his name be withheld, the thieves got into a white Chrysler sedan that was parked near the armoured truck. They crouched on the floor. A woman then emerged from a nearby card shop, took the wheel of the Chrysler, and sped away from the bank, heading north on Indian Head Road. No complete description of the holdup men could be obtained, but the woman was described as between 55 and 60 years of age, slender, with slightly graying hair and tanned skin. She is said to be approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs about 130
pounds and was clad in dark slacks and a white turtleneck shirt. The witness reported that she wore an unusually large Indian necklace of turquoise and silver.
“Wow!” said Pete. “They got a quarter of a million bucks!”
Jupe mused, “May ninth. That paper is five years old, and it’s dated May ninth. Bob, wasn’t that the day before the sealing of Death Trap Mine was announced in the Lordsburg newspaper?”
“Right,” said Bob. “And on May 11th, five years ago, a car was stolen from Lordsburg.”
“At that time,” said Jupiter, “all of Mrs. Macomber’s houses were empty — she didn’t come back to Twin Lakes and purchase her property until October. But someone who had been in Phoenix on May ninth was here and left that paper in one of the houses that she now owns.”
“Gilbert Morgan, the dead holdup guy!” cried Pete.
“It seems possible,” agreed Jupe. “Phoenix is not far from Lordsburg. A quarter of a million dollars stolen only days before Death Trap Mine was sealed… . Then a car stolen in Lordsburg and driven to Twin Lakes, and five years later the body of a known holdup man is found in the closed mine… . Yes, it’s conceivable that Morgan was in Phoenix on the ninth of May — holding up an armoured car — and that he went immediately to Lordsburg and then came to Twin Lakes. And I think we can figure out what he was doing here.”
“He was hiding out!” declared Pete.
“No,” said Jupiter. “No one would hide out in place like Twin Lakes. A stranger in this town would be too obvious. But suppose that Morgan took part in that robbery and was looking for a safe place to hide his share of the loot. What could be safer than a mine that was about to be sealed?”
Allie looked bewildered. “But