The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar - M. V. Carey [45]
Bob did not move again. The dog was a guard dog, and Bob knew it. It would hold Bob there all day if it had to. Bob was caught!
Chapter 16
Hot Water for Jupe
THE DENICOLA HOUSE was warm with the smell of cheese and herbs and rich tomato sauce. But for once Jupe was unaware of the smells of good food. He sat in the living room across from old Mrs. Denicola, listening to her tell about her dream.
“In my dream I saw your friend in a room,” said the old lady. “There was a terrible noise, and the walls twisted and came apart. I did not know the room where he was, and I did not know the boy. Then this morning I saw the boy painting for Ernesto, and I knew he was the boy from the dream and that he must leave here. The danger is here. I feel it very strongly. And the danger is not just for him. It is for me, too. So I tell him to go, and he must have listened. He is not here.”
Jupe frowned. “Mrs. Denicola, do your dreams always come true?” he asked.
“No. Most of my dreams are like the dreams of everyone. They are nonsense.
They are made of the pieces of old memories. But some dreams are different.
Sometimes in dreams I meet strangers. Then, when I am awake, I meet these same people and I know that it was a true dream. I do not know everything, of course. In my dream I have only a glimpse of something. It is like a light that flashes—a beacon.
If it is a bad dream you know to beware, for the beacon marks the place where there is danger.”
“Are your dreams always about danger?” Jupe asked.
“Oh, no!” She smiled suddenly. “I dreamed of a young lady with red hair before my son Alfredo met Eileen. That was a good dream …”
Jupe saw that she was about to embark on family history, and hastily changed the subject. “The man you call Ernesto — is he a relative?”
“Not that one!” She looked scornful. “He is what we call the beach bum, eh? He does not amount to much. But perhaps he has a good heart. Those two who live with him in the little house on the beach, they are from South America. Always Ernesto has one or two from South America. They live with him until they have jobs. They learn a little English. Then they move on. I think Ernesto’s father was from South America, and once he needed such help, and now Ernesto gives help out of respect for his father. And so no one is completely without worth.”
Mrs. Denicola frowned now. “And you?” she said to Jupe. “You did not really come to find a wallet, did you? And your friend who pretends to be a schoolboy idler
— I think he was spying, was he not? Who does he spy on? On Ernesto? Something is happening that we do not know. Something that is hidden from Eileen and me.”
“I think something is happening,” said Jupiter. “But I don’t know exactly what.
Mrs. Denicola, you dreamed of a blind man who found a wallet. Have you seen that man since your dream? When you were awake?”
“No. I have not seen him.”
“But my friend Bob has seen him, and so have I,” said Jupe.
Jupe took a Three Investigators card out of his wallet, wrote a number on it, and gave it to her. “If you see the blind man, would you call this number?” he said. “If I’m not there, someone will take the message. And if anything unusual happens—perhaps something Ernie does or says—would you let us know? I’m worried about my friend.”
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