The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [26]
“Allie dear!” she cried, and her voice was high and a bit shrill. “Jupiter. Good morning!”
The jewelers’ man departed for his car.
“Your mother’s necklace, dear,” said Miss Osborne to Allie. “Open the package, won’t you, and see if they did a good job?”
Allie silently tore away white wrappings and opened a dark green leather box. Inside, arranged on white satin, was a necklace that was inches wide. It held more than a hundred diamonds, all blazing with cold, white light.
“Gaudy, isn’t it?” said Allie to Jupe.
“My dear, it’s most historic,” Aunt Pat said.
“It is also heavy as lead,” Allie told her. “My mother practically gets a neck ache every time she wears it.” She closed the box. “I like pearls better. You don’t need an armed guard following you around when you wear them.”
Miss Osborne turned away from Allie. “Is that a car in the drive?” she asked.
“It’s the werewolf of Rocky Beach, returning from the barber,” Allie told her.
“Allie, put the necklace in your mother’s safe,” said Miss Osborne quickly.
A car door slammed in the back court. Aunt Pat looked toward the rear of the house, and she hid her hands in the folds of her robe. “Right away, dear.”
“Okay, Aunt Pat,” said Allie. She went up the stairs with the box and just missed Hugo Ariel, who came in reeking of hair tonic.
Allie, without the box, reappeared at the top of the stairs. “I’ll talk to you later, huh?”
she called down to Jupiter.
“I’ll be waiting,” promised Jupe, and he left.
Jupiter busied himself in the salvage yard for the rest of the day. He was never far from his workshop, however, where he could check to see if the telephone in Headquarters was ringing. At five, Allie called.
“What did you think of Aunt Pat’s performance this morning?” asked Allie.
“I thought it was almost professional,” said Jupe. “But it was clear she didn’t want Hugo Ariel to know that the necklace was delivered today.”
“She must have called the jewelers after Ariel made his appointment with the barber,”
said Allie. “I think the delivery was timed so that Ariel wouldn’t be there to see it. But if it’s so blasted important to keep Ariel away from that necklace, why did Aunt Pat have it returned? She could have ordered Van Storen and Chatsworth to hold it until my mother got home.”
“Unless she needs it,” said Jupiter.
“She’d better not need it!” cried Allie. “It’s my mother’s.”
“True,” said Jupiter. “And since it is your mother’s, and since you do know the combination of the wall safe, it would be no trouble for you to remove the necklace. Would you let The Three Investigators have it for a short time? There’s something I’d like to confirm. Could you get the necklace out of the house without its being seen?”
Allie didn’t hesitate. “I’ve got a poncho that I wear sometimes when I’m riding. You could almost hide a live rooster under that.”
“Very good,” said Jupiter. “Bring the necklace to the salvage yard the first minute you can. It’s probably going to be safer here, anyway. I’ll wait for you in my workshop. Now, if you’ll hang up, I’ll call our friend Worthington. We’ll need him tomorrow.”
Allie was at the salvage yard before six with the green leather box containing the necklace. Jupe took it from her, and after she left he stowed it away in the desk in Headquarters. Early in the morning Worthington appeared with the Rolls-Royce.
“This is a great responsibility, Master Jupiter,” said Worthington, when Jupe gave him the box. “A necklace that once belonged to an empress!”
“You’re the only one who can do it,” Jupe told him. “It would look very peculiar if I tried, or if Bob or Pete had the necklace.”
Worthington nodded. “I’ll be extremely careful,” he promised. “I should be back here by about two.”
“We’ll all be waiting,” promised Jupe. It was almost exactly two when Worthington returned to the salvage yard.