The Mystery of the Rogues' Reunion - Marc Brandel [18]
that you couldn’t possibly have stolen anything.” He paused for a moment. “Do you mind if I call you Jupiter?”
“Most people call me Jupe,” the First Investigator told him. “Jupe, then,” the director went on. “Hector Sebastian also said that you have a real talent as a detective. He mentioned that you and your friends have solved several baffling mysteries.” Jupe nodded. Modesty was not one of his outstanding qualities, and it was pleasant to hear that his friend Hector Sebastian shared his own high opinion of his abilities.
“So it occurred to me, Jupe …” Lomax paused briefly. “Since the movie studio naturally doesn’t want any publicity about the theft of those cups, since the studio doesn’t even want to report the matter to the police …” He paused again. “It occurred to me that this might be a perfect case for you and your two friends to handle. If you can find out who the thief was, there might even be a small reward for you.”
Jupiter thanked him. “We’d be most interested in taking the case, even without a reward,” he added.
“Good.” Lomax ran his fingers through his thin white hair. “Then between ourselves — and this is in the strictest confidence, Jupe — I may as well tell you that I have a strong suspicion about who did steal those cups.”
Jupe didn’t say anything. He waited for the director to go on.
“When I was leaving the sound stage last night,” Lomax told him, “I saw someone running away from the door. Someone who must have been startled by my footsteps. It was pretty dark when I got outside, but I saw a young man hurrying towards the studio gates.” Jupe waited again.
“I couldn’t see his face,” the director explained, “but his walk was immediately familiar to me. The way he turned his feet out, like Charlie Chaplin. It was that boy who used to play the part of Footsie.”
“Do you think he came to the sound stage to retrieve the cups?” Jupe asked.
The director nodded. “It’s the obvious answer, isn’t it? What other reason could he possibly have for being there?”
Jupe couldn’t think of any. “But that doesn’t exactly prove that Footsie was the thief, does it?” he asked.
“No, but it’s a very strong lead.” The authority was back in the director’s voice. He straightened his shoulders. “Perhaps I had no right to do this. But today being Saturday with no shooting at the studio, I knew that the sound stage wouldn’t be used again until Monday. So when I left, I padlocked the door.”
He took a key from his pocket and put it on the desk. “My hunch is that Footsie did steal those cups,” he said firmly. “And I think he’ll go back to that sound stage, hoping to find it unlocked. Hoping to find those cups still hidden in that arc light.”
“You may be right,” Jupe said. “After all, he has no way of knowing that we’ve already found them.”
“No. The publicity department has strict orders to say nothing about it.” The director pushed the key across the desk towards Jupe. “Take it,” he said. “And keep your eye on Footsie. Maybe you can find some way of trapping him. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some things to do before the show.”
Jupe took the key and stood up.
“Keep your eye on Footsie,” Luther Lomax repeated as the First Investigator left the office.
Outside in the corridor Jupe glanced at his watch. He still had almost two hours to kill before he was due in the television studio upstairs. He took the lift back to the lobby and made himself comfortable on a sofa in the corner. People kept moving in and out through the street doors, pausing at the reception desk, heading for the lifts.
Suddenly Jupe leaned forward, shielding his face with his hands. There he was, the very person Jupe had been told to keep an eye on.
He saw Footsie walk past him and step into a lift. He saw the door close behind him. Jupe stood up and watched the indicator panel as the lights flashed on and off, pausing occasionally as the lift stopped at various floors.
It stopped several times. There was no way Jupe could