The Mystery of the Monster Mountain - M. V. Carey [28]
“You found something?” asked Jupe.
“There’s a page here all about Cousin Anna!” said Bob. “Look, there’s a number at the top — PWU 615, California. Then Anna’s name—Miss Anna Schmid—and her address, Slalom Inn, Sky Village, California.”
“PWU 615 ?” said Pete. “Sounds like the license number of a car.”
“Anything else?” asked Jupe.
Bob handed the notebook to Jupe without another word.
“Fascinating,” said Jupe. “A notation that Anna owns the Slalom Inn and also the ski tow, and that she has the reputation in Sky Village of paying cash for everything.
And written at the bottom of the page, the words, “A perfect pigeon!”
“Pigeon?” said Pete. “That’s con-man talk, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” answered Jupe. He closed the note-book and put it back into the suitcase.
“It’s a term used by swindlers. A pigeon is a sucker, a victim, an easy mark.”
“So Jensen is a confidence man, and Anna is his victim.”
“At least Jensen is not a photographer,” said Jupe. “But if he’s a swindler, what is he up to? He hasn’t done a thing here except…”
“Except get rabbit punched by a bear, or a monster, or whatever,” Pete finished.
“He hasn’t even been especially friendly with Anna.”
They heard a car on the road outside. Jupe hurried across the hall to the room occupied by Mr. Smathers. He looked out the window.
“It’s Cousin Anna returning from Bishop,” he reported, “and the license number of her car is PWU 615.”
Bob hastily closed the suitcase and stowed it back in the closet. Pete smoothed the bed where it had rested.
“Do we warn her she’s got a con man registered here?” asked Pete as the boys left the room.
Jupe shook his head. “I don’t think we should do that without real proof. We only know that Jensen has a snapshot of Anna and Havemeyer taken in Tahoe the week they were married, and that he’s particularly interested in Anna’s finances. Bob, you’re going to talk to your father tonight to get the report on Havemeyer. Let’s give him Jensen’s address from his driver’s license — I noticed that he lives in Tahoe Valley — and see if your father’s contact in Reno can find out anything about Jensen.
And until we know more, we had better keep an eye on our supposed photographer whenever he’s around Cousin Anna. If he tries to interest her in some moneymaking scheme, we’d better be ready!”
Chapter 12
Another Searcher
THE THREE INVESTIGATORS came down the stairs to find Anna in the living room, adding several new magazines to a stack on an end table. She started slightly when she heard them.
“Oh,” she said. “I did not know anyone was here.”
“We were searching again,” Jupe explained with a straight face, “We thought we might have overlooked something yesterday when we tried to find the key to your safe deposit box.”
“Oh, yes. The key.” Anna’s forehead creased in a worried frown. “You did not find it today?”
“No,” said Bob. “Mrs. Havemeyer, has it occurred to you that someone might have taken it? The doors here are never locked. Anyone could have walked in here and picked it up.”
“Not when I have hidden it so well,” said Anna. “And no one will wish to take the key if he knows what it is for. Only Anna Schmid can use that key. The people at the bank know only Anna Schmid. Anyone who steals the key gains nothing. But he causes trouble for me. That is why I hid the key when I left for Lake Tahoe.”
“There goes the burglar theory,” said Pete.
“The key must be here somewhere,” said Anna. “If only I could remember where.”
Outside, gravel crunched as a car came up the drive. Then Jensen came in. He had his camera case in one hand. He nodded to Anna and boys and went upstairs.
“Interesting work Mr. Jensen does,” said Jupiter. “It must take a lot of patience to photograph animals. Does he come here often?”
“It is the first time,” said Anna. “He came only five days ago. He did not write first, so he did not have a reservation, but I