The Mystery of the Monster Mountain - M. V. Carey [31]
Pete and Bob rolled out of their sleeping bags and fumbled in the dark for their shoes.
“Here we go again!” said Pete. “Everybody’s interested in Cousin Anna — or her money or her office.”
The Three Investigators crawled out of their tent and stole across the yard to the office window. It was open, and the boys could see the man who sat in the desk chair, with his back to them. Jensen! He was quietly going through one of Anna’s ledgers, holding his flashlight in one hand. The door between the office and the living room was now closed.
Jensen finished his examination of one ledger and put it aside on the bookcase. He was just reaching for a second book when he stiffened and cocked an ear toward the door. A second later he dived into the kneehole under the desk and snapped off his light.
The Three Investigators ducked down below the window frame. The overhead light in the office clicked on, and the boys heard Joe Havemeyer’s voice.
“You see?” said Havemeyer. “There’s no one here.”
“I heard someone,” said Anna. “I know I heard someone on the stairs, and then the door closed. I think I left the door open. I think … I cannot be sure.”
“You’re imagining things, letting your nerves get the best of you. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re doing beautifully with those two clods from Rocky Beach.
Don’t let them get to you. They won’t stay forever.”
“More than a week,” said Cousin Anna. “They will be here for more than a week.”
“I’m keeping them busy, aren’t I? Now take it easy. We’re set, you know, and nothing will go wrong.”
“Nothing had better,” said Cousin Anna.
There was an edge to her voice that convinced Jupe that she had driven off marauding bears with a skillet.
The office light snapped off and the door closed. The boys stayed where they were, not moving. After a few minutes they saw the flashlight beam again. Jensen was up from behind the desk. He crossed to the office door, turned off his light, and very quietly left the office.
“I’ll be darned,” whispered Pete.
Jupe put a warning finger to his lips. The three crept away from the inn and back to their tent.
“Did I hear what I thought I heard?” said Pete, when they were safely inside the tent.
“Very, very peculiar,” said Jupiter Jones. “I am not especially surprised that Jensen came down in the middle of the night to search through Anna’s records. We know he’s interested in her money.”
“Right,” said Bob. “Only why should Anna be nervous about Hans and Konrad?
Her own favorite cousins.”
“It doesn’t make sense.” June rubbed his forehead. “Nothing makes sense. I’ve never been so bewildered in my life.”
Chapter 13
Cousin Anna’s Home-work
JUPITER AWOKE to chill morning sunlight and birdsong. Pete and Bob were still asleep, so he put on his shoes and got out of the tent without making a sound. He crossed the yard to the back door of the inn, pondering in a groggy, half-awake way on Joe Havemeyer’s words of the night before. Hans and Konrad were making Anna nervous.
Jupe paused at the foot of the back steps. He heard water running in the sink beyond the open window. Anna must be up, he decided. He could picture her in the kitchen, her thin, capable hands moving surely. They were not the hands of a fearful woman. Anna did things as easily and quickly as Aunt Mathilda. In fact, thought Jupiter, Anna was much like Aunt Mathilda. She even took off her wedding ring before she did dishes, as Aunt Mathilda did when she had been on one of her sporadic diets and her ring was too big for her.
Jupe was about to go into the inn and wish Anna a good morning when the water stopped running.
“Coffee not ready yet?” It was Havemeyer’s voice.
“A few minutes. Don’t be so impatient,” said Anna.
“Don’t you be so jumpy,” warned Havemeyer. “Look, I’ll get Hans and Konrad started working this morning, so they won’t be under your feet. You invite those kids out there to breakfast, and then pack a lunch for them and send them off on a hike someplace. Any place but the high meadow. Make sure they don’t head that