The Mystery of the Monster Mountain - M. V. Carey [2]
Hans and Konrad climbed out of the truck and the boys scrambled down from the back.
“I think Anna has done well,” decided Hans.
“Anna always did well,” said Konrad. “You remember when she was only ten she could bake better pastries than our mother. We always wanted to go to Anna’s and have hot chocolate and pastries.”
Hans smiled.
The sun had started to dip toward the cliffs above the ski slope and the thin mountain air was cool.
“Let’s go in. We will wait for Anna to come back from her big shopping, and perhaps she will have some pastries for us.”
Hans and Konrad started up the steps to the porch. Jupiter, Pete, and Bob stood where they were.
“You aren’t coming?” asked Hans.
“Maybe we should get on to the campground,” said Bob. “You haven’t seen your cousin for a long time, and we don’t want to intrude.”
Hans and Konrad both laughed.
“How can you intrude?” said Hans, “You are no strangers. We have written to Anna and told her the smart things you do. She says you are clever boys. She always writes that we must come and see her, and she wants us to bring you.”
So the three boys followed Hans and Konrad up the steps. The front door was unlocked. It opened directly into a huge room which was furnished with deep leather chairs and a long, leather-covered sofa. There were shining copper lamps and, above a stone fire-place on the far wall, gleaming pewter mugs.
Four places had been set at a big dining table on the right; behind it was the door to the kitchen. On the left hand wall, a rustic staircase led up to the second floor. The room smelled of wood fires and furniture polish, and there was a faint trace of an odor that made Jupe think Anna still baked very good pastries.
“Anna?” called Hans. “Anna! Are you home?”
No one answered.
“So we wait,” said Konrad. He began to roam about the room, touching the backs of the leather chairs. He beamed with satisfaction. “Everything is very good,” he said.
“Yes, Anna has done well.”
But then his wanderings brought him to a door in the wall to the right. Though it had a sign which read “Private, No Admittance,” the door stood open. Konrad looked in and said, “Ho!”
“Ho, what?” Pete wanted to know.
“I think that nobody is perfect,” said Konrad, “not even our Cousin Anna.”
Hans went to stand beside his brother, and he shook his head in mock dismay.
“Anna, Anna! We will tease you about this. Jupe, look at the office of the great housekeeper.”
“Maybe you’d better not look at the office,” advised Pete. “My mother has a fit if I open her desk or look in her pocketbook.”
Jupiter Jones was about to settle down in one of the chairs when suddenly Hans turned to face him. “Jupe,” he said. “Bob, Pete. I think something is wrong here!”
“What is it?” Jupe went to the door and looked into a little room which was obviously the office of the inn. A large desk, covered with papers, faced the door. A file cabinet stood nearby with two drawers open. File folders and papers were dumped helter-skelter on the floor, together with the crumpled debris from an overturned wastebasket.
The drawers were out of the desk and leaning against the wall. The window sill behind the desk chair was a jumble of envelopes, snapshots, and picture postcards. A bookcase had been pulled out from the wall, and an overturned dish spilled a stream of paper clips across the floor.
“This place has been searched!” said Pete, who was right behind Jupe.
“It would seem so,” said Jupe, “and by someone who was either very careless or in a great hurry.”
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” snarled a husky voice from the big room behind them.
The boys spun around.
A man stood near the stairs — holding a shotgun!
Chapter 2
Cousin Anna and a Surprise
“OKAY. SPEAK UP! What are you doing?” The man near the stairs made an impatient movement and the gun in his hands swerved. Pete ducked instinctively.
The man advanced several steps. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with thick, dark hair. His eyes looked very hard and very cold.
He trained the gun on the group huddled by the office door.