The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [27]
They’ve never forgiven me for taking your father’s place! Or it was Thomas. We don’t know about Thomas. Now here’s what we do. You hired these three boys to find that silly manuscript by that has-been actress. We’ll just have them go and watch Grear’s apartment, and Mrs. Paulson’s house, and Thomas’s place, too. They’ll see what happens after the detective from arson visits them. I’m betting that after they’re questioned, the one who did it will give himself away. He’ll pack up and run. You’ll see!”
Beefy looked helplessly at The Three Investigators.
“Why not?” said Jupiter. “Stranger crimes have been committed for stranger motives. If you’ll give us the addresses, we’ll go and stake out the three houses. It can’t hurt.”
“Okay.” Beefy went into the small study off the living-room. He was back in a minute with three addresses written on three pieces of paper.
“Now,” said Jupiter, “suppose I watch Mrs. Paulson’s. Bob, you can see what Mr.
Grear does when he’s not working. And Pete can keep an eye on Mr. Thomas.”
The boys went to the door, with Beefy following them. He came out into the hall, his face grave and concerned.
“You’re just doing this to humour Uncle Will, aren’t you?” he said.
“Not quite,” said Jupiter. “We’ve checked on all the members of Madeline Bainbridge’s magic circle — all that we could find, that is. As far as we can tell, none had any opportunity to take the manuscript, and none of them even knew it was here.
Now we had better check the people who did know — and who did have the means.
Any one of the three could have taken your keys from your desk and had a duplicate set made. All three were at the fire and heard where the manuscript was. Perhaps the visit of the man from the arson squad will stir something up. Not that I think the theft of the manuscript is necessarily connected to the fire. But we can’t be sure.
“There is one thing you can do for us while we’re gone,” Jupe added.
“What’s that?” asked Beefy.
“Your uncle says he was playing bridge with friends at the time the manuscript was taken. You could talk with his hosts and make sure this is true.”
Beefy looked startled. “You suspect Uncle Will?”
“I don’t know,” said Jupiter. “I’d just like to have his alibi confirmed.”
Beefy nodded.
“We’ll meet back here after the man from the arson squad has seen our three friends,” said Jupiter. The Investigators went off, leaving Beefy standing in the hall, frowning to himself.
Chapter 13
The Deadly Trunk
HAROLD THOMAS lived in a small apartment house not far from Beefy’s building.
There was a little park directly across the street, and Pete settled himself on a bench there, tried to ignore the children playing under the trees, and watched.
It was almost an hour before a plain dark sedan parked in front of Thomas’s building. The man in the seersucker blazer got out of the car and went into the apartment house.
Pete didn’t move, but his heart beat a little faster.
The investigator from the arson squad wasn’t in the apartment more than fifteen minutes. Pete saw him come out and get into his sedan and drive away. Still Pete waited.
Half an hour after the detective had left, Harold Thomas came out and glanced up and down the street. He hesitated, looked back at the apartment, then turned south towards Wilshire and strode briskly away.
When Thomas was half a block from the apartment, Pete began to follow him, walking on the opposite side of the street. He tailed Thomas south, across Wilshire, and soon reached a dismal little area where small industrial buildings were clustered together. There were a few apartments, but these were shabby little places with peeling paint and torn screens.
Harold Thomas stopped in front of one of these run-down houses and looked up and down the street. Pete ducked out of sight behind a parked car.
After a moment, Thomas crossed the street and went in through the open gate of a car wrecking yard. He stopped briefly at a shed which stood beside the gate, then went on. Through the fence that enclosed the yard, Pete saw him threading