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The two policemen stared.

“Naturally, he was startled when the caretaker came down from the choir loft,” Jupe continued. “Possibly he became desperate when the caretaker returned to the church after the search. The caretaker would notice, wouldn’t he, if there was a statue where none was supposed to be? Father McGovern, was the caretaker able to remember what happened when he hurt himself?”

The priest shook his head. “He thinks he stumbled. He has a bad concussion, and he’s being treated for shock.”

“He may have been struck,” Jupe pointed out. “He turned out some of the lights, but even so, the burglar may have been afraid he’d be seen. He may have crept up behind the caretaker and —”

The priest put up a hand to stop Jupiter. “I should have come back here with him,”

he said. “Poor Earl!”

“I hate to think how this is going to look on a report,” said one of the policemen. “A burglar who masquerades as a statue! A kid who says he saw a ghost!”

“I saw a man wearing dark clothes and a white collar,” corrected Jupe. “I did not say I saw a ghost.”

“How would a mortal man get in?” demanded the housekeeper. “The door was locked. You heard Father McGovern say so himself. It was the old one — poor restless soul!”

“He got in with a key,” decided the second officer. “He had to, because when he went out again he locked the door. Father McGovern, who has keys to the church?”

“I do, of course,” said the pastor. “And Mrs. O’Reilly … my assistant … Earl, of course. I suppose his are with his things at the hospital. And there’s an extra set in the parish house, in case anyone loses his. In the coat closet in the downstairs hall. They’re on a hook there.”

“Are they, Father?” asked Jupiter.

Father McGovern turned and hurried down to the parish house. He was back in a few minutes.

“They’re gone,” he said.

No one spoke.

“It … it is a rather stupid place to leave a set of keys,” the pastor admitted. “So many people come to the parish house for one thing or another. They often use the coat closet.”

“What you’re saying, Father,” said one of the officers, “is that almost anyone in the neighbourhood could have gotten his hands on the keys to this church.”

The pastor nodded glumly.

“We’d better call the lieutenant,” said the older policeman. “He’ll want to know that the burglar, alias the vanishing saint, came back here tonight as a phantom priest.”

“That’s not what happened,” said Jupiter.

“You said you saw a guy in black clothes and a clerical collar,” the policeman reminded him.

“I did. But he wasn’t the one who pushed me down and locked the door on me. The person in black was down there, towards the front of the church. Whoever pushed me was here in the back. The ‘phantom’ wouldn’t have had time after he put out his candle to get back here and out the door. Tonight there were two intruders in the church!”

“Two people!” The housekeeper moaned. “The old one, and one other.” She turned on the pastor. “And don’t you be telling me to go and make myself a nice cup of tea,” she warned. “I’ll not hear of it this night!”

Chapter 9

The Burglar Calls!

THE THREE INVESTIGATORS spent the rest of the night keeping watch in the Prentice apartment. There were no shadowy visitors and no further disturbances. In the morning, Mr. Prentice was astir early, scrambling eggs and making toast.

“Well, boys,” he said as he served them breakfast, “have you come to any conclusions?”

“Yeah. I’m stumped!” said Pete.

“It’s too soon to say that,” reproved Jupiter. “Things are just beginning to get interesting. We have a great deal to think about.”

“Like what?”

“Like the burglar. His use of the church next door intrigues me.”

“That’s all very well,” said Mr. Prentice. “But what has the burglar to do with the shadow in my apartment?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Jupe. “But I think there may be some connection. Mr.

Prentice, do you usually see the shadow at a particular time of day or night? I’ve seen him twice in the early evening. When