The Mystery of the Rogues' Reunion - Marc Brandel [12]
He turned his head slightly as a very pretty young blonde in a short skirt entered through the door of the kitchen. She was carrying a large square box wrapped in golden paper.
She held the box out to Milton Glass while he untied the ribbon and removed the wrapping.
He paused for a second before lifting off the lid.
“You’re each going to receive a very valuable gift,” he announced with his widest, warmest smile, “which I hope you will treasure for the rest of your lives.”
He paused again before telling them what the gift was.
“A sterling-silver loving cup engraved with your name and the title of the series that you have helped make such a tremendous success — The Wee Rogues.”
He removed the lid and handed it to Trixie. He peered into the box. He plunged his hand into it. He grabbed the box and shook it. It fell out of his hands and bounced across the floor before it settled with its open end facing the cameras.
The box was empty. There were certainly no valuable silver loving cups in it.
The First Investigator was watching the talk show host’s face. For the first time since Jupe had met him, Milton Glass was not smiling.
Chapter 4
The Light Strikes
“IT’S NOT ON,” Bob said.
“Are you sure you’ve got the right channel?” Pete asked.
Bob nodded. “They were supposed to show it at a quarter to five, just before the news. It was announced in the paper. But there’s nothing but an old Western.”
After being driven back to Rocky Beach in the chauffeured limousine, the Three Investigators had gone straight to Headquarters.
Pete sat down in the rocking chair and put his feet up. “I guess they decided to cancel it after those cups got stolen,” he suggested. “What do you think, Jupe?”
Jupiter didn’t answer. He was slumped down in his chair behind the desk, pinching his lower lip. It was an old habit. He said it helped him think, and he was thinking hard now.
Bob turned off the television set on which he had been trying to get the scheduled broadcast of The Wee Rogues Talk Show. Two galloping cowboys wearing black hats vanished from the screen.
“They’re still there,” Jupe said thoughtfully.
“Who?” Bob sat on his stool and leaned back against the wall.
“Not who — what,” the First Investigator corrected him. “Those five silver loving cups they were going to give us. They’re still there.”
“Still where?” Pete asked.
“They searched everybody before we left Stage Nine,” Jupe explained. “And they searched the limousine again at the studio gate. Whoever stole the cups could never have managed to get them out. So they’re still there, hidden somewhere in that sound stage.”
“What’s it called a sound stage for anyway?” Pete wanted to know.
“Because,” Jupe explained, “years ago when movies started to talk, all the studios had to soundproof their sets.”
“Well, I guess you’re right about the cups,” Pete said. He knew from experience that the First Investigator was almost always right when he came up with one of his pieces of deduction. “But what do you care? You didn’t really want yours, did you? What would you do with a silver loving cup anyway?”
“Especially the way you feel about the Wee Rogues,” Bob reminded him. He smiled, remembering Jupe’s performance that afternoon. “You certainly showed that Milton Glass what you thought of his whole publicity stunt, the way you played dumb on that show.”
‘I wasn’t trying to show Milton Glass anything,” Jupe answered thoughtfully. “I was simply trying to reassure Bonehead and Bloodhound.”
“How?” Pete couldn’t quite figure out what his friend was talking about.
“It’s like fencing,” Jupe told him. “If you think the man you’re up against doesn’t know
a sword from a scabbard, you may be tempted to let your guard down.”
“Say it in English,” Pete suggested. Jupiter did tend to talk in a way that was too complicated for the other two Investigators to follow.
“If the other contestants on the quiz show think I’m too stupid to remember my own name,” Jupe explained patiently, “they’re not going to be trying