The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [30]
enough air.”
“Take it easy, kid,” said the man. He
dabbed at, Pete’s face with the towel. “I’m
going to call the cops! I could have wound
up with a corpse in one of my cars!”
“Pete, what happened?” said Jupiter.
Pete took the towel and held it to his face. “I saw Harold Thomas leave his apartment and come here,” he reported. “I tailed him. There was a grey van parked here among the wrecks. He opened the back doors and looked in. It was full of film cans.”
For an instant no one spoke. Then Bob said, “Great jumping catfish!”
“The Bainbridge films!” exclaimed Beefy. “Harold Thomas had them?”
“Sure looked like it,” said Pete. “I saw a few of the labels. After he checked the films, Thomas got into the van and drove away. That’s when I tried to call you and didn’t quite make it.”
“So Thomas stole the films,” said Jupe. “He could have set the fire, too, to draw attention away from the robbery at the film laboratory.”
“He must have noticed you as he drove away,” said Bob. “He came back and bopped you while you were trying to make your telephone call.”
“No.” Pete frowned, remembering the incident. “It wasn’t him. The guy who hit me didn’t come from the street. He was walking towards the office from someplace inside the wrecking yard.”
Bob’s eyes went to the man in overalls.
“Oh, no!” cried the man. “It wasn’t me! I don’t know what all this is about, but it wasn’t me. I wouldn’t hit anybody. Listen, I’ve got kids of my own. I find kids poking around here, I just yell at them and chase them over the fence!”
“I believe you,” said Jupiter. “But if Pete is sure it wasn’t Harold Thomas, there had to be another man.”
“Thomas’s confederate,” declared Bob. “Remember, there were two hold-up men who stole the films.”
“Clever of them to hide the van with the films here, where there are hundreds of other vehicles,” said Jupe. “But they took a terrible chance.” Jupe looked at the owner of the yard. “You could have started stripping it, or …”
“The grey van?” said the man. “No. I wouldn’t touch that grey van. A guy was paying me to let him park it here.”
“Oh?” said Jupiter.
The man looked terrified. “Something stolen in it?” he said. “I didn’t know there was any stolen property involved. I run a clean operation. There aren’t any hot cars on my lot. Listen, are you guys going to call the police?”
“Do you want us to?” said Jupe.
“They’ll never believe me,” said the salvage man. “I don’t know anything about stolen property, but they’ll never believe me. This guy came driving in that grey van see. He’s about so tall, with dark hair slicked back.”
“Thomas,” said Beefy.
“That wasn’t his name,” declared the salvage man. “He had a funny name. Puck.
Mr. Puck, that’s what it was. He said he didn’t have any place to park his van at home. He said he couldn’t park it on the street in front of his house because he’s in a two-hour parking zone, and he’d get a ticket. So he wanted to know if he could leave the van here in the yard. I know that sounds kind of screwy now that I hear myself saying it, but it sounded okay then. So I figure, what the heck? It’s ten extra bucks a week. Why not?”
“Because he’s a crook, that’s why not!” said Bob.
“Okay, okay. How was I supposed to know that?”
“Never mind,” said Jupiter. “It doesn’t matter now. And let’s not notify the police.
They wouldn’t believe any of us. What we have to do now is get evidence.”
“The stolen films are evidence,” declared Pete. “Good solid evidence!”
“True. But Thomas has had time to hide them someplace by now. Maybe …
maybe if we can get into his apartment, we can find something else that would be incriminating.”
Pete stood up and took a step or two, as if testing his legs.
“You okay?” said Bob anxiously. “Are you going to be well enough to go with us?”
“Yes. I’m okay now.”
“Then let’s go,” said Jupe. “Only let’s be careful. Thomas could have been warned by now. He could be waiting for us.”
“And there’s that second man,” said Bob. “We know he exists. We’d better watch out for him.”
Chapter 15
The Vanishing Suspects
“I’M GOING IN WITH YOU,” said