The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [44]
“But how do you know Thurgood didn’t find it and stash it away somewhere?” asked Pete.
“That’s not likely,” answered Jupe. “If he found the money, why would he stay here and take the chances he took to pull off his mine swindle? Just consider it. After Morgan’s body was found, the place was overrun with sightseers. Sheriff Tait was in and out. Yet Thurgood hired his Mexican labourers and brought in his investors and set off dynamite explosions in the mine. If I had found $250,000, I would simply have taken it and left.”
“I would, too,” said the sheriff. “That’s why I figure the money is still up here someplace. The problem is, where? I know it’s not in the mine because I searched all through there after Morgan’s body was found. But maybe Morgan hid the loot in one of the old mine buildings — they were empty at the time.”
“Hey, he could have put it in one of Mrs. Macomber’s houses,” said Allie.
“Wow, let’s start looking!” cried Pete. “A quarter of a million bucks!”
The group set to work right away. First they searched all of Mrs. Macomber’s houses.
In one of them they found Harrison Osborne’s missing machete hidden under a sofa, but there was no money. They pried into every corner of the cavernous old mine works and Thurgood’s cabin. They combed through Wesley Thurgood’s possessions. Although they found precise records of bank accounts and lists of names and addresses — probably of Thurgood’s duped investors — they found nothing that would point to a hidden cache amounting to a quarter of a million dollars.
“There’s one more chance.” Jupe pointed across the fields to Uncle Harry’s barn.
“That’s the only other building that was here five years ago when Gilbert Morgan came.
Gasper tried to search it himself, but we scared him off. Morgan may have hidden the money someplace else, or buried it in the ground, but let’s at least try the barn.”
At first the barn seemed to offer few opportunities for a hiding place. The walls were simply wooden planks, held in place by uprights. The floor was hard bare earth, and the loft was empty except for dust and spiderwebs. Allie climbed into the old Model T and poked around without much enthusiasm. “Maybe Morgan didn’t even have the money with him when he came to Twin Lakes,” she said.
She sat down in the car, then looked surprised and wriggled slightly. “Seat’s loose.”
“Loose?” exclaimed Jupe. “Allie, get out.”
“Migosh!” She leaped from the car.
Pete and Jupe quickly lifted the car seat and tumbled it into the back of the old auto.
“And there it is!” said Jupe triumphantly.
Sheriff Tait stepped to the car. In the space under the seat there were dozens of plastic-wrapped packages. The sheriff picked up one and opened it — and stared at a sheaf of twenty-dollar bills. They still looked new, crisp, and untouched.
“I wonder how long it takes to count to 250,000!” said Pete.
“I think it will take quite a while,” said the sheriff. “I plan to count very slowly!”
Chapter 21
A Souvenir for Mr. Sebastian
WHEN THE THREE INVESTIGATORS entered Hector Sebastian’s living room several days after their return to California, the mystery writer could barely conceal a smile. “You said on the telephone you had been in New Mexico pruning Christmas trees,” he said. “Since you wanted to see me as soon as possible, I guess you managed to turn an ordinary summer job into an adventure among the evergreens.”
Bob smiled and handed a file folder to the mystery writer.
“Ah,” said Mr. Sebastian, and he began to read the notes that Bob had made on the events connected with Death Trap Mine. When he finished, he paused for a moment.
“Jupiter, I hope you feel guilty that you suspected innocent