The Mystery of the Invisible Dog - M. V. Carey [40]
Bob stood up. “Count me in, too. Tonight something should happen — and I want to see it!”
Chapter 17
The Shadow Acts
AT MIDNIGHT, the gate clicked open. The slim, slouching shape of Sonny Elmquist appeared below and went into his apartment. A light shone out briefly from Elmquist’s windows and then went out.
The watchers on the balcony waited.
A door opened and closed. The Three Investigators could see someone moving below them!
Pete gripped Jupe’s arm.
The shadowy shape drifted slowly to the shallow end of the pool. It slid into the water silently and moved forward, barely making ripples.
Suddenly the Three Investigators heard the person take an audible breath. He dived under the surface with a small splash. Then a beam of light shone under water. Whoever had gone into the pool had a waterproof flashlight. Its beam swept back and forth across the bottom of the pool.
A hand appeared in the beam of light. It stretched down and closed around an invisible object — the transparent Carpathian Hound!
The person surfaced and climbed out of the pool. A moment later a door opened and closed again.
Pete reached back and rapped softly on Prentice’s door. It opened immediately.
“It was Elmquist!” whispered Pete.
The Three Investigators, backed up by Prentice and Charles Niedland, hurried down the stairs.
Sonny Elmquist’s windows remained dark.
“He could have been wandering in his sleep again,” said Pete quietly.
“Nonsense!” declared Jupiter. He rang Elmquist’s bell, waited a second, and then rang it again.
“Elmquist!” he shouted. “Elmquist, open the door! Open it, or I’ll call the police and they’ll break it down.”
The door opened. Elmquist stood there wrapped in a bathrobe, his bare feet and legs showing beneath the robe.
“What?” he said. “I was sleeping. What is it?”
Jupe reached in around the doorway and flipped on an electric switch. A lamp went on, revealing that Elmquist’s black hair was plastered wetly against his head.
“You were in the pool,” Jupiter accused.
“I wasn’t—” Elmquist began a denial, then felt a drop of water run down his face from his hair. “I was just in the shower,” he said.
“No, you were just in the pool,” corrected Jupe. “There are wet footprints leading to your door.”
Elmquist looked down at the evidence and shrugged. “Okay, so I was in the pool. It was a rough day at the market, and a swim makes a guy relax. What of it?”
“Where’s the Carpathian Hound?” cried Prentice. “You scoundrel! You young thief!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Elmquist. But his eyes darted sideways, towards his tiny kitchen.
“In one of the cupboards, I imagine,” said Jupiter. “You haven’t had time to hide it anywhere else.”
“You’re out of your mind!” protested Elmquist.
“Mr. Prentice,” said Jupiter, “I think you had better call the police. Tell them to come and bring a search warrant.”
“You can’t search this place!” cried Elmquist. “You can’t get a warrant in the middle of the night!”
“Perhaps not,” said Jupe. “Very well, we’ll wait until morning and we’ll get a search warrant then. In the meantime, we will be in the courtyard and you will not be able to leave your apartment without being seen.”
“You can’t do that!” Elmquist was almost shouting. “That’s … that’s harassment!”
“I don’t see why,” said Jupe. “There’s no law against our sitting out in the courtyard, where we can’t help seeing if you leave. But why make extra trouble for yourself? Give us the dog now and we won’t have to ask the police to get it.”
Elmquist glared at him for a few seconds, then stepped back out of the doorway.
“It’s in the oven,” he said. His voice was sullen. “I was going to give it back to you, Mr. Prentice. Honest.”
Fenton Prentice sniffed. “Were you going to give it back after you got the ten thousand?”
“Ten thousand?” Sonny Elmquist looked truly bewildered. “What ten thousand?”
“You don’t know?” said Jupiter Jones. “You really don’t know about the money?”
Sonny Elmquist stared at them. “I thought Mr. Prentice might want to give me a reward, for getting the dog back. But ten thousand dollars?