The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar - M. V. Carey [25]
“But isn’t it a possibility?” said Jupe. “She’s a makeup artist and she seems to be very friendly with Mr. Bonestell. Pete, perhaps you’re right. Perhaps Grade Montoya is the link between the beggar and the robbers and the crew at Denicola’s.”
“She isn’t the beggar,” insisted Bob. “The blind man had whiskers. I was standing right behind him at the bus stop, looking down at his face. He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days. Would a makeup artist bother with whiskers?”
“Hm!” said Jupe. He looked disappointed. “Still, the girl might have pumped Mr.
Bonestell for information and then passed it along to the robbers — one of whom might have been the blind man. The scar —”
“The scar is a fake,” said Bob.
“Oh?” Jupe grinned. “You found something at the library.”
“I sure did,” said Bob. He had been holding a Manila envelope on his lap. Now he took copies of several news magazines out of it.
“Mesa d’Oro is an interesting little country,” he said. “Only fifteen thousand square miles and less than four million people, but it’s had its share of trouble.”
Bob opened one of the magazines to a place he had marked with a slip of paper.
“Here’s a recap of its history in World Affairs, from three years ago,” he said. “As you’d suppose, the country was once a Spanish colony. Then in about 1815 the landowners threw out the Spanish governor and declared the country’s independence.
They elected a president and formed a legislature.”
“That’s nice,” said Pete. “And what does that have to do with blind men and bank robbers?”
“Maybe nothing,” said Bob. “It’s background. Now, in 1872 there was a revolution. People got killed, and they’re still getting killed today!”
Pete and Jupe both sat up straight.
“A revolution that started in 1872 is still going on?” cried Pete. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
“Well, yes and no,” said Bob. “The revolution of 1872 was something like the French Revolution or the revolution in Russia in 1917. The landowners in Mesa d’Oro—the ones who had thrown out the Spanish governor—they’d become corrupt.
They got rich on the labour of the poor people and didn’t give anything in return.
Most of the poor people were descended from the Indians who had owned the country in the first place, but the landowners didn’t think they were important.
“Finally an Indian named Juan Corso began to get his own people organized. He went around the country giving speeches about rights for everyone. The landowners didn’t like this at all, so they tossed Corso in jail.”
“You
o
sa
s id
i
so
s m
o ethi
h n
i g
abo
b u
o t a revo
v l
o u
l tio
i n
o ,” remin
i ded
Jupe.
“Jail
i i
l n
i g Co
C r
o so
s
o
was
s
the
h
st
s art of
o
f it
i ,” expl
p a
l in
i ed Bob
o .
b
“Co
C r
o so
s
o was
s very po
p p
o ula
l r wit
i h
h
the
h com
o mon
o pe
p op
o l
p e
l .
. The
h y got
o
mad and
n st
s or
o med the
h
e capi
p t
i al.
l
.
The
h y
fr
f eed
Co
C r
o so
s
fr
f om
pr
p is
i o
s n
o ,
, and the
h n ha
h n
a ged the
h
e
pr
p esi
s d
i ent,
,
a
guy
named
Arturo
o Rod
o rig
i uez
z fr
f om
o a tree.
.
The
h
pr
p esi
s d
i ent’s
s
so
s n
o ,
Anast
s asi
s o
i
o Rod
o rig
i uez,
z
, fo
f u
o ght
h
ba
b ck.
. The
h re was
s a lo
l t
o of
bl
b o
l o
o d
o sh
s e
h d,
and
d
the
h
gov
o ernment
n cha
h nged
e
d
ha
h nds
s
se
s veral
l tim
i e
m s,
s
, bu
b t fi
f n
i a
n ll
l y
l Co
C r
o so
s
o was
s made
e pr
p esi
s d
i ent an
a d Ro
R d
o r
d i
r g
i u
g e
u z
e
z fl
f e
l d
e
d to
t
o Me
M x
e i
x c
i o
c
o
City.
“Now
o tha
h t sh
s o
h u
o ld
l ha
h ve be
b en the
h end of
o
f tha
h t,” co
c n
o t
n i
t n
i u
n e
u d
e
d Bo
B b
o ,
b
, “but it wasn’t.
Rod
o rig
i uez
z sa
s t in
i Mexic
i o
o Ci
C t
i y and be
b gan act
c in
i g li
l k
i e an exil
i e
l d kin
i g.
. Meanwh
w i
h l
i e
l the
la
l ndow
o ners
s le
l ft
f in
i Mesa
s d’Oro