The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar - M. V. Carey [2]
The man had vanished!
Chapter 2
The Lost Wallet
“HE COULDN’T REALLY BE BLIND,” said Bob. “How could a blind man get away so fast?”
“Perhaps a blind man can move quite rapidly when he’s familiar with a place,”
said Jupiter Jones. “And, of course, a blind person is used to navigating in the dark.”
Jupe spoke in the careful, somewhat fussy way that was characteristic of him.
It was the next morning, and Bob was with his friends Jupiter and Pete Crenshaw in Jupe’s outdoor workshop at The Jones Salvage Yard. The rain had passed. The morning was clear and fresh, and the boys were reviewing the events of the evening before. The wallet that the beggar had dropped lay on Jupe’s workbench.
“Even if he was a phony, why would he run?” said Bob. “He acted as if he were scared of us.”
Bob stopped and thought for a moment. “I guess none of us were acting as if we had much sense,” he said. “The lady who was waiting with me at the bus stop just disappeared while I was in the alley. I suppose the bus came and she automatically got on it. And the driver of the car that hit the blind man drove off when I told him the man was gone. And I stood there like a dope with the wallet. I should have given the driver the blind man’s name, and my name too.”
“You were in shock,” said Jupe. “In emergencies, people often behave in odd ways.”
While listening to Bob, Jupe had been tinkering with an old television set that his Uncle Titus had brought into the salvage yard the week before. Jupe had replaced worn tubes with new ones and had made several adjustments to the inside of the set.
Now he put the television upright on the workbench and plugged in the set.
There was a promising hum. “Aha!” said Jupe.
“You’ve done it again,” said Pete, in mock admiration.
“Perhaps,” said Jupe. He twisted a dial.
The three boys grinned. Jupiter Jones was something of a genius when it came to repairing things or making things out of salvaged parts. He had put together three walkie-talkie radios which the boys used with great enjoyment. He had repaired the old printing press that now stood in one corner of the workshop. He was also responsible for the periscope that was part of the equipment in Headquarters — an old mobile home trailer which was hidden away near Jupe’s workshop, concealed by piles of junk and all but forgotten by Jupe’s Uncle Titus and Aunt Mathilda.
Jupiter’s aunt and uncle were aware that Jupe, Bob and Pete were interested in crime and detection. They knew that the boys called themselves The Three Investigators. But they did not know how really active the boys were in the field. The mobile home had been fitted with all sorts of equipment to help the Investigators solve the puzzles that came their way. It held a small crime lab, complete with fingerprint equipment and a microscope. The boys did their own film developing in the photographic darkroom. A filing cabinet was filled with notes on their cases, and there was a telephone which they paid for with money they earned helping out around the salvage yard.
It appeared that a television set would now become part of the furnishings in Headquarters. The set on Jupe’s workbench squawked to life, and a picture flickered on to the screen and steadied.
“… coming to you with a mid-morning news-break,” said an announcer.
A newscaster appeared on the screen and wished everyone a good morning. He then said that the latest Pacific storm had passed through Los Angeles, and that Southern California could look forward to several days of clear weather.
“There have been mudslides in the hills above Malibu,” said the newsman. “And in Big Tujunga Canyon, residents are mopping up after yesterday’s flash flood.
“On the