The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [7]
“Yes,” said Thurgood. “Well, why not? They don’t make them like they used to, do they?”
“Wasn’t it your Silver Cloud that was used in the movie The Fortune Hunters? ” Pete asked.
“Silver Cloud? Why, yes. I did let one of the studios borrow that not … not long ago.”
“A Silver Cloud?” said Uncle Harry. “Guess my Model T looks pretty humble.”
“I started small, too,” said Thurgood. “Once you really get the old car bug, you’ll probably start buying. You’ll have to enlarge your barn.”
“You mean I’ll have to build a new one,” said Uncle Harry, and he and Thurgood strolled out of the place with Uncle Harry talking excitedly of his plans for his ranch.
“Well?” said Allie, when the two men were gone. “Have you ever seen such a phony?”
“So his clothes are new,” said Pete. “So what? I didn’t remember the name Wesley Thurgood until he got so interested in the Model T, but my dad talked a lot about him and his car collection. He’s got piles of dough and he’s kind of a recluse — has a big house in Mandeville Canyon with ten-foot walls around it.”
Jupiter cleared his throat. “He did not, however, lend a Silver Cloud to be used in the filming of The Fortune Hunters,” said Jupe, in the somewhat stuffy manner he used when imparting information. “There was an article in Film Fun about that car. It didn’t belong to Thurgood. It belonged to Jonathan Carrington, the financier. Also, The Fortune Hunters was not filmed recently. That picture has been out for several years.”
No one contradicted Jupe, who prided himself on his knowledge of motion pictures and the theater. But Allie Jamison crowed in triumph. “What did I tell you? A phony! He lied!”
Jupe smiled. “Not necessarily, Allie. You’re jumping to conclusions again. Wesley Thurgood is a very wealthy man, and if he owns a fleet of antique automobiles and has a man whose exclusive duty is to take care of them, he would hardly be bothered with details.
He might not remember whether he loaned a certain car to a studio at a certain time. No doubt some employee takes care of the negotiations and the mechanic delivers the car to the studio.”
“Ha!” said Allie, since there seemed to be nothing more clever to say.
There was a rather stiff silence in the barn until Magdalena could be heard calling the four young people for dinner.
Chapter 4
Shots in the Dark
“HAVE MORE STRAWBERRY shortcake,” said Magdalena from her end of the long table in the big kitchen. Jupe had just finished the last crumb of his dessert.
“No thanks,” he said. “It was delicious, but I’m trying to take off some weight.”
Magdalena frowned. “You young people — always you worry about weight. Allie, she eats like a sparrow, so she is skinny like a little stick. This summer I try to make her plump like a pigeon.”
“You’ve got it all wrong, Magdalena,” said Allie. “The American Medical Association says skinny is the thing to be. Baby Fatso here,” and she nodded toward Jupe, “should pay attention.”
Jupe reddened. He hated to be reminded of the time when he had been a child star, distinctly on the plump side, and known from coast to coast as Baby Fatso.
“I diet all the time,” said Jupe.
“You mean when you’re not actually eating.” Allie stood up and carried her dishes to the sink.
“Allie, you are a rotten hostess and if you were a little younger I’d turn you over my knee and give you a spanking,” her uncle told her.
Allie didn’t answer. She rinsed her dishes and put them into the dishwasher.
Magdalena got up from the table. “Go and talk with your friends. I will do those.”
“We can help, Magdalena,” Bob offered.
“No, no! I do not like a crowd in my kitchen. Besides, there is the dishwasher and it does the work.”
Uncle Harry, Allie, and the boys retreated to the living room, where Uncle Harry promptly fell asleep in front of the television set. Soon the boys were yawning.
“Deadheads!” jeered Allie. “It’s not even