The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [24]
Then, frightfully clear in the quiet of that small room, they heard the sound. They heard the singing which had frightened Marie out of the Jamison house, and which had driven Allie to ask for help.
“The voice of the serpent,” said Jupe.
Bob shuddered and put the tape recorder quickly down on the table, but the dreadful, wordless song went on and on.
The tape turned slowly to its end. The terrible singing faded to a low sob and died.
When the little machine emitted only a soft hum, Jupiter Jones realized that he felt cold.
The sunlight that had streamed into the apartment was gone, and it was growing dark.
And there was a man standing in the doorway. Bentley!
Chapter 12
The Houseman’s Sudden Move
“OH MY GOSH!” exclaimed Pete.
Bob jumped, and quickly turned off the little tape recorder.
Jupiter Jones stood still and considered several possible explanations that he could offer Bentley. He decided that none would do. “We were just leaving,” he said.
The man with the walrus mustache remained in the doorway. “Were you planning to go out the way you came in?” he asked. “You used the window, didn’t you?” Bentley’s voice was angry. There was no bluster in it, and no fright. Jupe saw that Bentley was no longer the meek houseman. It might take dynamite to move him out of the doorway.
Jupiter thought quickly. “Bob,” he said, “give me that tape.”
Bob lifted the spool of tape off the little recorder and handed it to Jupe.
“That tape is my property!” said Bentley.
Jupe held up the tape. “Tell us, Bentley, how did you record this? Did you hide the machine on the patio the night Miss Osborne had guests?”
The houseman moved then. He lunged across
the darkening room and gripped Jupe’s wrist.
“Run for it!” shouted Jupe to his friends.
Bob and Pete rushed for the open door. Jupe
let go of the tape suddenly and hooked his right leg behind Bentley’s left knee.
The houseman floundered backward, cursing.
The spool of tape flew across the room. Jupe let it go and ran.
As Jupe shot out the door, Bentley grabbed
the back of his shirt. Jupe tore free and bounded
down the stairs.
Bentley didn’t try to follow. He stood on the landing holding a piece of Jupe’s shirt and
watched the boys snatch up their bikes and pedal
rapidly away.
The Three Investigators were blocks from
Tennyson Place before they stopped.
“Are we in trouble, or is Bentley?” wondered
Pete. “If he calls the police, we can tell them about that tape and those files.”
“The tape and the files can easily be hidden or destroyed,” Jupe pointed out. “We are guilty of housebreaking, and Bentley has seen us with Allie. He knows where to find us if he wants to.”
“What do we do now?” asked Bob.
“We go back to the salvage yard, report to our client and wait. We may not have any trouble. We know that Bentley had to be trespassing on the Jamison property to get that recording of the meeting with Ariel and the others. We know that he has a credit report on Miss Osborne. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if Bentley had to explain why he has that credit report?”
“Blackmail?” asked Pete.
“Possibly,” admitted Jupe. “Let’s get back to Headquarters and call Allie.”
“She could have warned us that Bentley would be at that apartment tonight,” said Pete bitterly.
“She may not have known,” said Jupe.
At Headquarters, Jupe’s guess was proved correct. The telephone was ringing when the boys made their way up through the trap door into the mobile home trailer. The caller was Allie Jamison.
“Oh, you guys, I’m sorry!” she began. Jupiter put the telephone down on a loudspeaker system he had rigged up so that the other Investigators could hear the conversation.
“Bentley caught us,” said Jupiter tersely.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I tried to reach you, but you’d already left. He said he’d forgotten something he needed. I couldn’t tell him he had to stay in nights, could I?”
“I wish you had tried,” Jupiter told her. “I am out half a shirt and he now knows we are spying