The Mystery of the Kidnapped Whale - Marc Brandel [22]
Bob and Pete knew Jupe was right. He was always right when it came to remembering exactly what someone had said.
Jupe sat there for a moment without moving, then he picked up the phone and dialed.
“Hullo.” Constance’s voice answered over the loudspeaker.
“It’s Jupe.”
“Hullo, Jupe. You okay? You sound sort of worried.”
“I’m not worried,” Jupe told her. “I’m just puzzled.”
“You’re puzzled.”
“There are a couple of questions,” Jupe said, “you might be able to help us with.”
“Go ahead.”
“When we gave you our Three Investigators card in your office at Ocean World, did you show it to anyone else or tell anyone about us?”
“No.”
“What did you do with the card?”
“I guess I left it on my desk.”
“Could anyone have seen it there?”
“Sure. I suppose so. I share that office with some of the other trainers so it’s hardly ever kept locked.”
“So almost anyone who had seen us go into your office could have waited until you left and just walked in and seen the card on your desk.”
“I guess they could. I didn’t really look at the card until you three had gone, then I –”
“Then you got worried about Fluke and you drove straight over to Oscar Slater’s house to make sure he was okay.”
“That’s right. How did you know?”
“We were in the parking lot when you drove by.”
“So you were. I almost ran over you, didn’t I?” Constance paused. “What’s the other question, Jupe?”
“It’s about your father. When he was taking Slater down to Baja California to sell those pocket calculators –”
“Yes.”
“How long had he been gone before he ran into that storm and lost his boat?”
There was quite a long silence. Constance seemed to be trying to remember.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “You see, when I’m working, it’s too far to commute to San Pedro, so I stay with a girlfriend in Santa Monica. I usually went home to San Pedro to see Dad every Monday on my day off. But I had to go to San Diego about that time. So I hadn’t seen Dad for two weeks when the hospital called and told me –”
Her voice broke off. She was obviously recalling the shock of that terrible call.
Jupe waited sympathetically until she spoke again.
“I see what you’re getting at,” Constance said in her usual brisk voice. “Dad and Slater could have been out at sea all that time and I wouldn’t have known.”
“It’s possible, isn’t it?” the First Investigator agreed.
“You think it’s important?”
Jupe did. After Constance had hung up, he sat for several minutes thinking how important it could be. Had Captain Carmel and Oscar Slater actually reached Baja? Were they on the way back when they ran into the storm? He had to find out.
How?
He looked at Pete. “How about a quick trip to Malibu?” he asked.
“Sure.” Pete was on his feet at once. “That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said –”
“How about you, Bob?”
“Okay.”
Bob had an idea what Jupe was suggesting and he thought it was a good plan. But his mind was still busy with what the First Investigator had said earlier.
“There are three possible suspects,” Jupe had announced.
He had mentioned two of them.
Oscar Slater.
And Paul Donner.
“Wait a second, Jupe,” Bob said. “Who’s the third suspect you were talking about?”
But the First Investigator had already opened the trap door.
He disappeared into the tunnel without answering Bob’s question.
Chapter 9
Help from Hector Sebastian
“BROWN RICE,” proudly announced Hoang Van Don, the Vietnamese houseman who worked for Hector Sebastian.
He set a huge steaming bowl on the patio table and smiled broadly at the Three Investigators.
“Very healthy,” Don said. “Has all natural vitamins. No chemicals. No preservatives.”
And no taste either, I’ll bet, Pete thought, leaning forward and sniffing it.
He almost missed the days when Don had taken all his recipes from the late-night television commercials. At least fish fingers and frozen pizzas were better than the goo he