The Mystery of the Kidnapped Whale - Marc Brandel [41]
For a moment Bob couldn’t understand where the anguished scream had come from. Then he saw that Paul Donner had managed to struggle to his feet and was lurching up the beach toward them.
Slater half turned. The scream had startled him too. As he spun around to face Donner he had his back to Bob. Jupe was only a few yards away. The First Investigator nodded, stretching out his hands. Bob threw him the box. Jupe caught it.
“You cheat.” Paul Donner had reached Slater. “You traitor!” he screamed. “You liar. You blackmailer.”
He was clawing at the bald man’s chest, straining to get his hands around his throat. Slater lowered his gun and tried to push him away. Paul Donner fell backward, pulling Slater on top of him.
Jupe was still holding the box. Pete was standing ten yards away down the beach. A little way out at sea Constance, who had been busy with Fluke, had heard the scream too. She was swimming rapidly in toward the shore with Fluke beside her.
Jupe threw the box to Pete.
Slater rose slowly to his feet, leaving Donner lying on the sand. All the fight had gone out of the tall, thin man. He climbed weakly to his knees.
Pete had caught the box.
He saw Constance swimming to shore. He saw Slater look at Bob and then at Jupe, searching for the precious case. Pete didn’t wait for Slater to look in his direction. Hugging the box against his chest, he raced for the ocean.
Slater ran after him.
Pete reached the sea’s edge. He waded out until the water was up to his waist. Slater wasn’t far behind him now.
“Stop!” Slater shouted.
Pete couldn’t see him. But he could feel that gun pointing straight at his back. It was one of the most unpleasant feelings he had ever had in his life.
He stopped.
“Here.” Constance lifted her arms out of the water. “Pete, here.”
Pete hesitated. He could feel that gun so clearly it might have been pressing against his skin. He could feel the light metal case in his hands. He could see Constance’s raised arms.
Pete had played a lot of basketball. He was pretty good at it. For an instant he reacted as he would have done in a close game. For an instant he forgot Slater. He almost forgot Slater’s gun. He was holding the ball. Constance was shouting at him to throw it.
He bent his knees, lowered his elbows, then, quickly straightening his whole body and shooting up his arms, he threw the box in a long high curve out to sea.
Constance caught it.
Pete ducked underwater.
He stayed there as long as he could, holding his breath. When he couldn’t hold it any longer, he slowly, cautiously raised his head. Constance was twenty yards out. She was treading water, watching the shore. Fluke was floating beside her, holding the flat metal box in his jaws.
Keeping his head low, Pete turned and looked toward the beach. Slater had put his gun away. He was standing at the water’s edge with his bald head lowered in a way that reminded Pete of a snorting bull. A bull that had lost its momentum for the present and was gathering its strength, waiting to see what would happen next.
Jupe and Bob were standing in front of him. Jupe seemed to be doing all the talking. Pete waded ashore and joined them.
“We’re not trying to rob you, Mr. Slater,” Jupe was saying. “We agree that half of anything in that box belongs to you. All we’re trying to do is to protect Constance and her father. All we want is to see that she gets her fair share.”
Slater didn’t say anything for quite a long time. He was breathing hard through his nose.
“What are you suggesting, boy?” he asked.
“I’m suggesting we take that box into town. I think we ought to take it to Chief Reynolds. He’s the head of the Rocky Beach police. He’s a very fairminded man. And there’s no question of anyone having broken any laws. You just tell him your story. And Constance can explain her father’s side of it. Then Chief Reynolds can decide how much of the contents of that box belongs to you. And how much of it belongs to Constance.”
There was another long silence. Slater looked out to sea, where Constance and Fluke were floating side by side. There was