The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [17]
“Who’s there, Marvin?” called Madeline Bainbridge.
“Bunch of kids. They probably came up from Malibu,” said Gray. “Ought to call the sheriff and have them thrown in the clink!”
Jupe’s heart began to beat wildly. Was it possible that Gray didn’t recognize him?
“Hey, mister,” said Jupe. “Call the dog, huh?”
“All right, Bruno,” said Gray. “Here, boy!”
The dog stopped growling and went to Gray.
“Now what are you doing here?” asked Gray again. “Can’t you see this is private property?”
“Not in the dark,” said Jupe boldly. “We were hiking in the hills. We got off the path and we couldn’t find our way back.”
“Marvin!” Madeline Bainbridge sounded impatient. “Let the boys go, and come back. You’re holding us up!”
Jupiter looked past Gray to Madeline Bainbridge. Then he glanced at Gray. Gray looked hesitant. He obviously couldn’t decide what to do.
Jupe started towards Bainbridge. “We’re really very sorry,” he said. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“The circle!” gasped Clara Adams. “He’s profaning the circle!”
Jupe went on towards the table where the women stood, repeating his apologies.
One hand was at his belt, unfastening the antenna of the walkie-talkie. With the other hand he held the little radio set at his side, out of sight of the women. He was quite near the table when the antenna came away from his waist. He stumbled on something in his path and fell, stretched out full length on the ground, his head and shoulders almost under the table.
“Marvin!” cried Madeline Bainbridge.
Jupe’s hands disappeared for a moment
under the black cloth that draped the
table. Then he pulled himself to his hands
and knees. “Sorry,” he said again. “That
was clumsy of me. We didn’t mean to
upset you, honest. If you could just point
us in the direction of the road …” Jupe
got to his feet.
“Marvin, show these boys how to get
to the main road,” said Madeline
Bainbridge.
“Thank you,” said Jupiter.
Gray led The Three Investigators out
from under the trees. He pointed across
the fields to the place where, as the boys
knew, the paved road led down to the
Coast Highway. “There!” said Gray.
“Keep going until you hit the road. Then
turn right and don’t come back.”
“Thanks a lot, mister,” said Pete.
Gray stood watching as The Three
Investigators walked away through the tall,
moonlit grass.
“He isn’t going to take his eyes off us until we’re off this property,” predicted Bob.
“I don’t blame him,” said Jupiter. “Would you want strangers at secret rites in your backyard? Let’s hope that he doesn’t look under the table and discover that I put my walkie-talkie there!”
“So that’s why you fell!” exclaimed Pete.
“I thought it might be interesting to listen in on any conversation that occurs after we leave,” said Jupe. “I wrapped part of the antenna wire around the set so that the button is pressed down. The radio won’t receive, but it should send. Let’s not go too far or we’ll be out of range.”
The boys stepped from the meadow on to the paved road. Bob looked back.
Marvin Gray had disappeared. “He’s probably back in the grove of oak trees,” Bob said. He followed Jupe and Pete down the road to the shelter of a clump of bushes.
“Turn on your set, Bob,” said Jupiter. “Let’s listen in on the coven.”
Bob knelt beside the bushes and turned the knob that activated his set.
“… gone for the time being,” they heard Gray say. “They won’t try to come back.
Not after Bruno pinned them down that way.”
“I had hoped that Bruno was locked up someplace,” Jupe muttered.
Gray was speaking again. “It was dumb to let them go,” he declared.
“What should we have done?” said Madeline Bainbridge.
“Run them off a cliff!” growled Gray.
“Marvin!” cried a woman’s voice. It was not Madeline Bainbridge, so the boys assumed that Clara Adams had been shocked at Gray’s suggestion.
“Well, I don’t like kids snooping around,” said Gray. “They’ll go home and talk about what they’ve seen. Next thing we know, there’ll be photographers and reporters