The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [28]
“Yes, miss,” said Worthington.
“We’ll get into the house,” Jupiter Jones assured her. “We have a plan.”
“What is it?”
“Wait and see,” advised Jupe.
Allie had a long wait. They reached Torrente Canyon to find the road outside the walled house empty and deserted.
“Good!” exclaimed Pete. “We’re the first ones here.”
Worthington parked up the road beyond the house and Bob got out of the car. “I’ll keep watch from that bunch of oleanders across from the gate.”
“Good,” said Jupe.
Bob nodded and walked back toward the big house. He was hidden in the oleanders, watching, when the first car came up the road.
It was Madelyn Enderby who got out, crossed to the gate and reached for the telephone set into the wall. Bob was about to leave his hiding place when the purple Corvette appeared. Hugo Ariel was at the wheel. In the twilight, Bob could barely see Miss Patricia Osborne. Her head was bowed and she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. Ariel helped her out of the car. The buzzer on the gate rasped, and Ariel and Miss Osborne joined Madelyn Enderby and went in.
A few minutes later, a pale blue Cadillac rolled to a stop. Bob saw a thin, brown-haired man go to the telephone in the wall. Careful not to make a sound, Bob slipped out from behind the oleanders and crossed over to the gate.
The man was holding the telephone receiver to his ear, listening. Then he said, “I will descend to the lower circle.”
He hung up and turned.
“Good evening,” said Bob. “I’m looking for 1483 Torrente Circle.”
“This isn’t Torrente Circle,” said the man. “It’s Torrente Canyon Drive. You’re on the wrong street.”
The buzzer on the gate sounded. The man stepped past Bob, opened the gate and went through.
Bob returned to Worthington’s Ford. “I will descend to the lower circle,” he said. “The guy on the phone says, ‘The night is dark,’ and then you have to answer, ‘I will descend to the lower circle.’ ”
“The password!” Allie leaped from the car.
“Keep alert,” Jupe told Worthington.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” promised the chauffeur.
The Three Investigators followed Allie down the road to the gate. Jupiter lifted the telephone receiver from the niche and put it to his ear.
“The night is dark,” said a husky voice.
“I will descend to the lower circle,” answered Jupe. His tone was as deep as he could manage.
The telephone clicked and Jupe hung up. A moment later the gate buzzed. Pete turned the handle and pushed, and the huge portal swung easily in.
The Three Investigators and Allie slipped inside. The gate shut behind them. When Bob tried the handle on the inside, it wouldn’t move.
“There’s a switch hidden in the ivy to the right of the gate,” said Pete. “The night I fell off the wall, that thug used it to open the gate before he tossed me out.”
Bob peered at the ivy. “I see it. Looks like a circuit breaker.”
“Don’t touch it,” warned Jupe. “It might set off some kind of alarm. We know where it is. We can use it if we need to get out fast.”
“Now for the house,” said Allie.
“No. Now we wait,” Jupe told her. “If this meeting of the fellowship is anything like the one we saw before, there are more people to come.”
Jupiter was right. From a shadowy corner of the grounds, the boys and Allie watched the gate open again and again to admit visitors. After fifteen minutes, eight more people had walked up the long drive to the house.
“Eight, plus Madelyn Enderby, Miss Osborne and Ariel and that one I overheard on the telephone,” said Bob. “That makes twelve, the same as the other night. I wonder if that’s all.”
It was. When ten minutes had passed without a sound from the gate, they decided to move.
“Now let’s watch it,” warned Pete. “I don’t want to meet that guy who guards this place.”
They moved slowly and noiselessly across the grass. When they were quite close to the house, they saw that one tiny chink of light showed through drapes which had been drawn over a long window. They edged away from this and circled to the back of the building.
“There’s a door,” said Jupe softly. He crept forward