The Secret of the Haunted Mirror - M. V. Carey [33]
climbed into the front room of the
bungalow. Beyond the empty room with
its torn wallpaper, there was a kitchen.
Jupe could see worn linoleum and an
old sink. He went swiftly to the kitchen
door. Then he stopped.
Jeff Parkinson was there!
He was on the floor, very securely tied.
A soiled handkerchief gagged his mouth, but his eyes were open and alert. When he saw Jupe his eyes crinkled a bit, as if he were trying to smile.
Chapter 15
A Race Against Time
JEFF SAT IN THE MIDDLE of the kitchen and rubbed his ankles with both hands. “My feet are numb,” he complained. He grinned at Jupe, and at Pete and Henry Anderson, who had come running from the bread van when Jupe called. “Am I glad to see you guys,” said Jeff. “I wasn’t sure that little crook was going to come back here and let me go, once he had the looking-glass. After I called my grandmother he dragged me in here to the kitchen in case anybody got curious about his car being parked at the front and started peeking in the windows.”
“Little crook?” said Jupiter. “That eliminates Señor Santora and also the phantom of the mirror. Neither of them are small. I assume you mean the burglar.”
“It was him, and his name is Juan Gómez. He didn’t bother to tell me why he wants the mirror.”
“You’d better call Mrs. Darnley,” advised Pete.
Jeff nodded, got up, and made his way unsteadily to the white telephone in the living-room. He sat down beside it and dialled the number of the Darnley house. The three listeners in the old house in the valley heard the sound of a single ring at the other end, and then Jeff was saying, “Hello, Grandma. It’s me, Jeff. I’m okay.”
Incoherent sounds came through the receiver.
“I’m really okay,” said Jeff. “Jupe and Pete found me.”
Jeff talked another minute and then handed the phone to Jupe. “She’s putting Bob on,” he said.
“Bob? I thought Bob was in Beverly Hills, watching Santora!” Jupe took the telephone. “Bob? What happened?” he asked. Where’s Santora?”
“I blew it!” said Bob. He sounded very discouraged. “He got away from me.
About four o’clock he came down from his room and went out. I went after him. He had a car parked on a side street down from the hotel. He got into it and drove off, and there wasn’t a cab in sight. I called Mrs. Darnley, and Jean said you were out trying to find Jeff, so I came back here.”
“What about the mirror?” Jupiter asked.
“Your uncle and Hans and Konrad left a couple of minutes ago for San Pedro,“Bob told him. “They’ve got the glass loaded on the truck and they’re going to deliver it, as requested. Say, where are you, anyway? Is Jeff really okay? Mrs. Darnley wants …”
Bob broke off in mid-sentence, and Jupe heard Mrs. Darnley’s voice.
“Who kidnapped my grandson?” she demanded.
“The small man who broke into your house and was found in the library, Mrs.
Darnley,” said Jupe.
“Juan Gómez?” said Mrs. Darnley.
“That’s his name,” said Jupiter. “Jeff tells me that he is now on his way to San Pedro.”
“I didn’t get the licence number of his car,” groaned Jeff. “Oh, blast! I didn’t get the number. I was too scared. He had a gun.”
“Never mind,” said Jupiter Jones. “Mrs. Darnley, since Jeff is out of danger, you can call the police and have that warehouse in San Pedro surrounded. Uncle Titus and Hans and Konrad will deliver the mirror, and when Gómez shows up to get it the police can arrest him. Then you’ll have the kidnapper only . . .” Jupe paused and grinned, “only, if you do that, we may never find out exactly how the puzzle fits together. We may never know how he’s connected to Santora, or to Baldini, that magician who impersonated the ghost of Chiavo.”
“I intend to know everything,” said Mrs. Darnley.
“Good!” said Jupiter Jones. “Then we don’t have any time to waste. Pete and I will go straight to that warehouse. Tell Bob to meet us in San. Pedro. Tell him to stand where he can see us when we come off the freeway. We’ll be in a cab and we’ll stop at the intersection and …”
“You won’t be in a cab!” protested Henry Anderson suddenly.
“What?” said Jupiter Jones.
“I said, you won’t be in a