The Mystery of the Rogues' Reunion - Marc Brandel [30]
Bonehead lifted his hand, reaching inside the doorway. A figure in blue jeans and a denim shirt appeared beside him. Then Bonehead’s groping fingers found the switch. The lights in the cabin went off.
Bonehead slammed the cabin door shut. The two figures moved forward in the almost total darkness.
Pete didn’t dare raise his head to look at them. He lay without moving, pressed down into the grass. He didn’t even see their feet as they passed within a few steps of him, but he felt as thought they were treading on him.
In that instant before Bonehead turned off the light and the two figures stepped away from the door, Jupiter had seen them both quite clearly. He had had time to recognize Bonehead’s companion.
It was Peggy.
Jupe stood watching her back as she and Bonehead walked towards the archway and disappeared into the street.
Pete joined him. “It was pure blind luck they didn’t trip over me,” he said, sounding a little breathless, as he often did after a narrow escape. If there was one thing the Second Investigator didn’t enjoy, it was taking risks.
But the First Investigator was already hurrying after Bonehead and Peggy. Bob and Pete fell in behind him.
By the time they reached the archway the young man in the leather jacket and the young woman in jeans were twenty metres away, walking quickly along the pavement towards Hollywood Boulevard. Gordon Harker was parked across the street, the limousine pointing in the opposite direction. He would have to make a U-turn to catch up with Bonehead and Peggy. Jupe made a quick decision.
“Ask Mr. Harker to swing around,” he told Pete. “And follow me, back me up. Come on. Bob, we’ll try to keep them insight.”
Pete ran across the street to the limousine. Jupe and Bob hurried along the pavement towards the boulevard.
There were few pedestrians on Las Palmas. If Bonehead looked back, he might catch sight of the two Investigators following him. Jupe and Bob kept their distance, staying close to the shop fronts.
After a minute Jupe heard the limousine coming up behind him. He was within fifteen metres of Hollywood Boulevard by then. He saw Bonehead and Peggy pause at the traffic lights there. He waited until the limousine pulled up beside him. He opened the back door to climb in.
And then everything happened very quickly.
Bonehead and Peggy crossed Hollywood Boulevard.
Bob and Jupe jumped into the limousine.
A yellow foreign car appeared for a moment at the corner of the boulevard.
The limousine glided quickly forward.
Jupe leaned out of the window to keep his eyes on Bonehead and Peggy.
They had disappeared.
The yellow car sped across the intersection.
“Go after it,” Jupe said.
Gordon Harker went after it. But the lights changed to red. There was no way the chauffeur could make a left turn to follow the foreign car. Jupe caught a glimpse of two familiar figures sitting in the back of it as it raced out of sight down Hollywood Boulevard.
Bonehead and Peggy.
Gordon Harker took off his cap and relaxed behind the wheel, waiting for the lights to change again.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m afraid we’ve lost them.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jupe reassured him. He knew exactly what had happened. Bonehead and Peggy had arranged to meet the yellow car at the intersection of Las Palmas and the boulevard. That was how they had disappeared. They had simply jumped into the back of the car the moment the lights changed.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jupe went on thoughtfully. “At least we’ve learned something.”
“You mean about Peggy?” Bob asked. “About her being with Bonehead?”
Jupiter nodded. “And something that might be even more important than that,” he said. “We’ve all seen that big fancy yellow foreign car before. We know who it belongs to.”