The Mystery of the Invisible Dog - M. V. Carey [41]
Fenton Prentice stepped past Sonny Elmquist and walked to the kitchen. He opened the oven door. The crystal hound was there, the gilt string wrapped around it.
“Mr. Prentice, I don’t believe he does know about the money,” said Jupiter. “He isn’t the burglar. He’s only a wanderer who happened to see something in his sleep.”
Sonny Elmquist started and went several shades paler. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
“What did you see, Elmquist?” demanded Jupe. “When you fall asleep here with the television on, what do you see?”
Elmquist was shaking now.
“I can’t help it,” he said. “I dream things. I can’t help it, can I, if I dream things?”
“What did you dream?” Jupe persisted.
“I dreamed about a dog, a glass dog. I dreamed that someone came in the dark, late at night, and put the dog into the water. I couldn’t see who it was.”
“I think,” said Jupiter to his friends, “that he’s telling the truth.”
Chapter 18
The Booby-trapped Ransom
SONNY ELMQUIST’S FACE looked pinched. “Look, you guys, I got the dog out of the pool for Mr. Prentice. I was going to give it to him. Honest I was. And I didn’t steal it in the first place.”
“No,” said Jupe, “you didn’t. You were asleep when the burglary took place. But you did hide the crystal dog once you found it. That doesn’t look very good.”
Charles Niedland leaned against the wall. “Go and get some clothes on and come upstairs,” he ordered. “We want you where we can keep an eye on you.”
Elmquist glared at Niedland. “You have no right to order me around!” he yelled.
“You don’t own the building.”
“And you have no right to invade my apartment, in whatever form,” said Fenton Prentice. “You will do as you are told or I’ll call the police and have you arrested for holding stolen property!”
Elmquist turned and slammed into his bedroom. The boys heard closet doors bang open and drawers being pulled out. In a few minutes Elmquist was back, dressed in a black sweater and light pants.
“You will spend the night in my living room, and you will not go to sleep,” said Prentice.
Sonny Elmquist nodded sullenly.
Prentice cradled his crystal hound. “I suppose Jupiter, that you still wish to catch the burglar tonight?”
“If possible — if we haven’t scared him off with our noise.”
Prentice handed the dog over reluctantly, and he and Charles Niedland led Elmquist upstairs. The Investigators replaced the Hound in the pool and resumed their watch from the balcony.
If he had ever planned to retrieve the dog, the burglar did not do so that night. The long, cold, dark hours passed quietly, and at last the dawn came, grey and foggy.
“He wouldn’t really have to get the dog out of the pool,” said Jupe finally. “He’d simply have to collect the money from Mr. Prentice and then let him know where the dog was.”
The door behind the boys opened. “Breakfast?” inquired Fenton Prentice. He was dressed as immaculately as ever, and seemed greatly refreshed.
Everyone sat down to eat except Sonny Elmquist. He slouched on a chair in the den and refused either to eat or to talk.
After breakfast, Jupiter found a day-old newspaper and began cutting it into small rectangles — each one about two inches wide and five inches long.
“What are you doing that for?” Bob asked.
“Soon the burglar should tell us when to deliver the ransom. We should have a package of money ready for him,” said Jupe. “Mr. Prentice knows where his dog is, so he won’t want to deliver real money.”
“Why deliver anything?” asked Pete.
“Because we want proof of who the burglar is,” said Jupiter. “We’ll treat the package of money with my special ointment. We may not get to see the burglar claim the ransom.
But if he picks up my package, he’ll soon have indelible black spots on his hands. Then we’ll have him!”
“You are assuming, of course, that we know him,” said Fenton Prentice.
“Of course we know him,” said Jupe happily. “He is aware of Gwen Chalmers’
fondness for chocolates. He knows that Mrs. Bortz does her shopping at four in the morning. He must be a tenant here.”
“Hassell!” exclaimed Pete. “He’s the only one left!”
Jupe smiled