The Mystery of the Monster Mountain - M. V. Carey [38]
Sky Village isn’t going to burn after all.”
“My inn?” said Anna. “Is my inn still there?”
“A little sooty, I guess,” said Pete, “but it’s still there.”
When Anna came to the ski slope, she hesitated for a moment to note the scene below.
The bulldozer lumbered and roared as it cut a broad belt of clear earth between her inn and the fire. There was a milling, hurrying crowd of people on the road below.
A second borate bomber flew overhead, then dumped its load on the flames.
Then, in an instant, there was a gust of cool air and a freshness on the meadow.
The wind had changed.
“Sky Village will not burn,” said Anna, and she started down the slope.
Several times she almost fell, and Hans and Konrad had to support her, but she would not hear of being left on the slope until they could get help from the village.
She was shaking and stumbling when they reached the bottom, but her head was high.
Several firefighters in hard hats surged past her, intent on their jobs. Gabby Richardson was there, too, spraying the roof with a hose so that no stray ember could set fire to her inn.
Anna smiled at Richardson. “I think you are a good friend,” she said.
Richardson briefly looked away from the stream of water that splashed onto the shingles above. “When I’ve got time,” he told her, “I’d like to hear exactly what’s been going on around here. Can’t get a word out of that guy inside.” Richardson nodded toward the inn.
“Guy inside?” said Jupiter Jones.
“Jensen,” said Richardson. “He’s waiting in there for you.”
Hans, Konrad, Anna, and The Three Investigators went up the front steps and into tile Slalom Inn.
Mr. Jensen, the bogus nature photographer, was indeed waiting. He sat on the arm of one of the big leather chairs in the living room. Opposite him, on the sofa, the woman who called herself Anna sat and glared. Her bleached hair stood up in spikes on her head, and her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. The man named Joe Havemeyer was stretched out at her feet. He seemed to be sleeping.
“What happened?” asked Bob.
Jensen stared at Anna. “Miss Anna Schmid?” he said. He looked over at the false Anna. “Unbelievable! If it weren’t for the hair, no one could tell which was which.”
Bob pointed at Havemeyer. “What happened?” he said again.
Jensen grinned, and his homely face was suddenly cheerful. “Oh, I shot him,” he said, “with his own tranquilizer gun!”
Chapter 17
A Mirror Image
IT WAS DARK before the firefighters had the blaze contained. Even then, the inhabitants of Sky Village did not relax. Many of them stayed on the fire lines to keep an eye on the hot spots where flames still danced in the charred trees. Some stray gust of wind might still carry burning embers into the town.
At the Slalom Inn, Hans and Konrad hovered over their cousin. Anna lay on the sofa covered with an afghan, and prepared to tell her story to a young deputy sheriff who had spent a hot, tiring afternoon manning a roadblock at the foot of the mountain, turning back sightseers who wanted to get closer to the fire.
The deputy sat on a straight chair close to Anna, and scowled at Jensen. The bogus nature photographer had an air of almost hysterical joy as he kept the tranquilizer gun trained on Joe Havemeyer. Havemeyer had recovered enough to sit and glower at Jensen.
The platinum-haired woman who had pretended to be Anna Schmid leaned an elbow on the dining table and kept her eyes closed. Even by lamplight she looked strangely haggard, as if she were very, very tired.
The deputy opened his notebook. “Before we begin,” he said to Jensen, “put that gun away.”
“I will if you put handcuffs on this crook,” said Jensen. “He tried to get away earlier. He’s not going to try again.”
“Nobody’s going to get away.” The deputy touched the pistol which hung from his belt. “Put that thing down before somebody gets hurt,” he ordered.
Jensen shrugged and put the tranquilizer gun in the closet. Then he took a chair from the dining table, set it before the front door, and sat down.
“That is a good idea,” said Hans. He planted himself in another