The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [41]
Jupiter Jones smiled like a contented cherub. “So we were correct in our reconstruction,” he said. “Everything’s beginning to fall into place.”
“What are you talking about?” demanded Sheriff Tait.
“Maybe you’d like to clue us in, Jupiter,” said Uncle Harry. “I’m as much in the dark as anyone.”
“I can try,” said Jupe with obvious relish. He wolfed down a sandwich and took a deep breath.
“When the dead man in the mine was identified as a wanted parole-jumper — a convicted holdup artist — we wondered what such a person had been doing in such a remote place as Twin Lakes. What had drawn him to Death Trap Mine? So we checked the back issues of the Twin Lakes Gazette and found that several interesting events took place here five years ago.
“We knew that five years ago Gilbert Morgan’s body was sealed in the mine. On the same day that the mine was sealed, a car stolen from Lordsburg was found near the mine.
We could only guess that Morgan came here in that car. So we tried to trace Morgan to Lordsburg, but all we found there was an announcement in the Lordsburg newspaper of the sealing of the Death Trap.
“Five years ago Mrs. Macomber returned to Twin Lakes and purchased her property.
In one of her abandoned houses we found a five-year-old Phoenix newspaper that contained the story of a robbery there — a robbery that netted three men and a woman at least a quarter of a million dollars. That newspaper was dated just days before the sealing of the mine — which was several months before Mrs. Macomber took possession of her property. It seemed quite possible that Gilbert Morgan brought the paper here — that he was in the house before he entered the mine. We guessed that Morgan was one of the holdup men. We now know that he was — and that you are the other two.” Jupiter smiled at Manny and Gasper.
“When that body was found in the mine last week, this place was overrun with curiosity seekers. You, Gasper, came here at the same time — when you heard the news of the discovery of Morgan’s corpse. You got into Harrison Osborne’s barn, and when we surprised you, you attacked Pete with a machete. But you were looking for something. You had to stay on. So you hung around here, perhaps on Mrs. Macomber’s place. I’m sure you were the one who stole food from her kitchen and left a cigarette butt in her sink. Or did she give you food willingly?”
Gasper didn’t answer.
“No matter,” said Jupe. “Manny must have been around somewhere, too, but we never saw a trace of him. I guess you, Gasper, were the lookout. Yesterday afternoon the coast was clear. Everyone in the neighbourhood seemed to be away. So you drugged Thurgood’s dog with some doctored meat, went and got Manny, and came to look for Morgan’s share of the robbery loot.”
Jupe turned to Wesley Thurgood. “You did find that money in the mine, didn’t you?”
Thurgood shook his head. “Sorry, kid, but you’re on the wrong track. I admit I didn’t examine the mine completely when I first opened it. But the sheriff went through it after the hood’s body was found. There is nothing in that mine.”
“Nothing, Mr. Thurgood?” said Jupiter. He took a pebble out of his pocket and tossed it into the air. “Not even … not even gold?”
Thurgood looked startled.
“Gold?” said Sheriff Tait. “There was never any gold in the old Death Trap.”
“There is gold now,” said Jupiter. “I picked this pebble up in the mine the day Allie found Morgan’s body. I showed it to a jeweler in Lordsburg. He said that the bit of shiny reddish metal in it is gold — gold with a high percentage of copper.”
The sheriff looked stunned. “But … but if there’s gold in the Death Trap, why didn’t anyone find it before?”
Jupe dug into his pocket again and took out a second bit of gleaming metal. He handed it to the sheriff. “Because it was not there when Mr. Thurgood bought the mine,” said Jupiter. “When we were in the mine yesterday evening, I found that lodged in a wall, along with a number of other bits of metal. If you will examine it closely, you will see that it is greenish