The Mystery of the Invisible Dog - M. V. Carey [24]
“The camera is transistorized,” said Jupe as the boys re-entered the apartment. “It runs on batteries. It will only send its signals — the image of what it sees — a few feet, but that’s all we need.”
He closed the apartment door and set the TV monitor on a bookcase. Then he plugged it in and turned a dial. After a second, the screen flickered faintly.
“Hey, Jupe, I can’t make out a thing!” complained Pete.
“Wait until the courtyard lights come on,” said Jupe.
A few minutes later the Investigators and Mr. Prentice were looking at a clear picture of the courtyard below. As they watched, Sonny Elmquist came out of his apartment and disappeared into the rear passageway. He returned carrying a laundry bag and went back into his apartment.
Next a plump young blonde woman appeared in the foreground of the TV screen.
Evidently she had just come in from the front gate.
“That’s Miss Chalmers,” said Fenton Prentice.
Miss Chalmers was just about to unlock her door when Mrs. Bortz appeared behind her. The manager had a package which she handed to the young woman.
“Apparently something was delivered today for Miss Chalmers,” said Mr. Prentice.
“Mrs. Bortz always signs for packages that are delivered when tenants aren’t home.”
“I’m sure she enjoys that,” observed Pete.
“Yes,” said Prentice. “It gives her a chance to know even more about her tenants.”
Mrs. Bortz continued to stand there talking to Miss Chalmers, obviously delaying the young woman and obviously interested in the contents of the package.
Miss Chalmers shrugged finally, put her handbag on a table near the pool, and sat down to unwrap her parcel.
Alex Hassell came out of his apartment then, and he, too, stopped to watch Miss Chalmers.
“People in this building don’t have many secrets, do they?” said Pete.
Mr. Prentice clucked with annoyance. “Miss Chalmers should not let that wretched Bortz woman impose on her,” he said. “She is much too good-natured.”
Miss Chalmers now had the wrappings off her package, and was lifting the lid off a box. The boys saw her smile. She picked something out of the box, popped it into her mouth, then quickly seized another object from the box.
“Chocolates,” said Jupiter.
“That woman would not have to swim so much if she could restrain herself in the presence of sweets,” said Mr. Prentice.
Below, Miss Chalmers offered the candy box to Mrs. Bortz, as if just remembering her manners. Then she stopped, suddenly putting her hand to her throat. The box dropped and chocolates bounced out.
“What … ?” gasped Pete.
Miss Chalmers lurched forward out of the chair in which she had been sitting. She bent double, then fell to the floor of the courtyard and lay there, writhing.
The Three Investigators raced to the door of the apartment and yanked it open.
“Miss Chalmers!” They heard Mrs. Bortz’s voice, rough with alarm. “What is it?”
“It hurts!” cried Miss Chalmers. “Oh! Oh, it hurts!”
Jupe, Pete, and Bob raced down the stairs. By the time Prentice caught up with them in the courtyard, Jupiter was sniffing at a piece of the chocolate candy that had fallen from the box. Miss Chalmers was crying, and Mr. Murphy had come bolting from his apartment to bend over her. Sonny Elmquist was also there, his apartment door standing open.
“What is it?” demanded Mrs. Bortz. She
seized Jupe’s arm and shook it roughly,
causing him to crush the chocolate-covered
candy in his hand. Jupe put the gooey mess to
his nose, sniffed — and looked up in alarm.
“We’d better get an ambulance!” he cried.
“There’s something in the candy that
shouldn’t be there! I think she’s been
poisoned!”
Chapter 11
The Night Watch
“FORGET