The Secret of the Haunted Mirror - M. V. Carey [41]
But, in spite of themselves, the boys shivered a bit. When the police sergeant asked them to leave, they did not hesitate. They left.
An Invitation for Mr. Hitchcock
IT WAS TWO WEEKS LATER that The Three Investigators called on Mr.
Alfred Hitchcock, the famous motion picture director. Jupiter Jones had an envelope, which he handed to Mr. Hitchcock without comment.
“Oh?” said Mr. Hitchcock. He opened the envelope and took out a sheet of rich-looking, cream-coloured stationery. He glanced at the few lines written on the notepaper, then put it down on his desk. “So Mrs. Jonathan Darnley invites me to a dinner party at which I am to have the honour of meeting Señor Rafael Santora,” he said. “I know Mrs. Darnley, and I know also that there must be a reason for her to send you with this invitation.”
Bob smiled and handed a file folder to Mr. Hitchcock, “I guess this could be considered classified information,” he said. “But we told Señor Santora you’d be interested in this case and that you’d keep the facts secret.”
“You assume a great deal,” said Mr. Hitchcock, and he opened the file.
The boys waited in silence while Mr. Hitchcock read Bob’s typed notes on the Case of the Haunted Mirror. Finally the director turned over the last page of the report and looked up at Jupiter.
“I suppose it was the mention of a photograph that let you guess the mirror’s secret — and where it was hidden,” he said.
“Yes,” answered Jupe. “When Señor Santora told how his uncle was being blackmailed with a photograph, I knew there had to be a negative somewhere. Since we had already taken the mirror apart, the only hiding place left was under the labels
— the ones that furniture restorers had put on when they repaired the glass. Manolos had put his ‘evidence’ — the photograph and the old newspaper stories on microfilm because regular film negatives were too large to hide under a label. Every year Manolos would simply remove the label over the microfilm, make new prints for President García — we have since learned Manolos had a darkroom in his house —
and then put the microfilm back under a new label. I suppose he had stolen a supply of fresh labels, or else had had them printed up.”
“I am surprised that he trusted Juan Gómez so much,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “The man is obviously an out-and-out scoundrel. Why would Manolos ever let Gómez know the proof was concealed in the mirror?”
“We’ll never know for sure,” said Jupiter. “Gómez isn’t talking. Perhaps Manolos kept Gómez in line by promising that one day he would have the secret. Perhaps Gómez merely guessed over the years that the mirror was the source of Manolos’
power. Gómez probably helped him take it down every year, though I’m sure he wasn’t allowed to see what happened next.”
“Seems a great deal of trouble to go to over a bit of microfilm,” said the director.
“He could have hidden it anywhere.”
“Manolos did have imagination,” said Jupiter Jones. “There’s a kind of evil poetry in what he did, He used the mirror originally to get that poor servant girl in Madrid to commit a crime. He took advantage of that crime to implicate García, and he hid the incriminating evidence against García right on the mirror.”
“One can appreciate the artistry,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “And what do the police think of the entire matter?”
“They think Gómez is some kind of a nut,” said Pete, “and believe me, nobody’s going to tell them different.”
Mr. Hitchcock nodded. “And I am sure they will see to it that Gómez will not be at liberty for quite some time. Tell me, how was Gómez able to find Santora’s hotel?
And how did it happen that Santora showed up at that warehouse in San Pedro at exactly the right moment?”
“Señor Santora and Gómez were both keeping track of each other,” answered Jupe. “Each was afraid the other would get the mirror first. We assume that Gómez discovered Santora was in town because he had the Darnley house under surveillance.