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Could the missing pages have something to do with that?”

“No,” she said. “No, I … I don’t suppose so.”

“Did the trip have anything to do with the chimps?” Jupe persisted.

“Maybe. I suppose it could have. I didn’t really know much about his work. I only helped with the animals, and I went with him because … because he was nice and he didn’t feel well.”

“What address on Harbourview Lane were you looking for? And who lived there?”

Jupe pressed on.

Eleanor looked worried and nervous. She cleared her throat and ducked her head, and the boys saw a tear run down her cheek.

“I’m not doing too well today,” she said. “I’m sorry. Maybe you’d better go.”

The boys left. In the hallway outside the workroom they met Mrs. Collinwood.

She had on a ruffled apron over her print dress, and she wore a dark wig with a white streak in it.

“Everything all right?” she said, smiling brightly.

It struck Jupe that Mrs. Collinwood was a bit of a busybody—and might know useful things. Jupe allowed his face to settle into a mournful expression. “I’m afraid we’ve upset Eleanor,” he said. “I mentioned Dr. Birkensteen to her. She’s crying.”

“Teh!” Mrs. Collinwood shook her head. “She was fond of him. But then, we were all fond of him. He was one of the nicest people here.”

“Do you know why he went to Los Angeles that day?” said Jupe. “The day he died? Did he have friends there?”

“I don’t know. He wasn’t one for much talk. I suppose it had something to do with those animals. You can’t imagine how he fussed over them. You’d think he was raising children and getting them ready for college. And whenever one of them died, he’d carry on as if he’d lost his best friend.”

“A lot of them died?” said Jupe.

“Yes. And he’d do autopsies to see why. Sometimes he did operations when they were alive too. And sometimes when they were sleeping, he’d just stand and watch them.”

She looked thoughtful. “They used to sleep so much. They seem livelier now.”

There was a thump and a crash from a room down the hall.

“Oh, dear!” said Mrs. Collinwood. She hurried to an open doorway. “Frank, try to be more careful.”

Frank DiStefano came out. He had a broom in one hand and two pieces of a white dish of some kind in the other. “No real harm done,” he said in his insolent way. “It was empty.”

“The next time it might not be,” she said.

He ignored this and went on, nodding to the boys.

“When are you going to get those things from the market?” Mrs. Collinwood called after him.

“For Pete’s sake, I’m going now!” he cried. “What do you want from me, anyway?”

Mrs. Collinwood made an exasperated noise as he disappeared through a door at the end of the hall.

When the boys went out through the front of the house, they saw DiStefano getting into an old two-door sedan that was parked in the drive. He started the engine, then waited for them to reach the driveway.

“Got to keep these women in their place,” he said. He gave a cocky grin and offered them a lift.

The boys looked at the back seat and saw a jumble of magazines, muddy boots, a crushed box of tissues, a scuba mask, and a wet suit.

“Thanks anyway,” said Jupe. “We’re only going to the bottom of the hill.”

DiStefano nodded and the car spurted away.

“He’s got a big mouth,” said Pete.

Jupe only said, “Um!” for he was musing on the conversation he had just had with Mrs. Collinwood.

“I wish Dr. Birkensteen hadn’t been so reserved,” he said at last. “If he had told Mrs. Collinwood more about his mysterious errand in Rocky Beach, I’m sure she would have talked of it just now. She isn’t a deceitful or secretive person — which I think is more than we can say for Eleanor Hess. I’m sure Eleanor is lying to us. But why? What is she concealing?”

“Something about the cave man?” Bob ventured.

“Who knows?” sighed Jupe.

When the Three Investigators reached Newt McAfee’s meadow, they spotted Thalia McAfee out on the back porch.

“Have you seen Eleanor?” she called.

“She’s up at the foundation,” Bob called back.

“Hmph!” said Thalia. “Fussing with those animals again! She’d bring them here if I’d let her, but I told