The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow - Arden William. Страница 24

“Later he was caught,” Pete interrupted again, “and that was the cry for help we heard. Vittorio hoped his brothers would find his note, but we found it instead.”

“And fortunate it was!” said Mr. Hitchcock. “You boys solved the mystery well with little to go on. Tell me, were those amulets clues to the Hoard?”

“No, sir,” Jupiter explained, “except that they proved there really was a Hoard. Of course, Natches wanted the first amulet because he thought it might have come from Vittorio. I’m afraid I committed a grave error about the second amulet, and Mr. Harris led me on. Everything he told me was a lie.”

“An error, young Jones?” Mr. Hitchcock said, eyebrows raised.

“Yes, sir,” Jupiter admitted sadly. “I assumed that Ted was guilty and the amulets were clues. That blinded me to the truth. It also made it easy for Mr. Harris to fool us. He simply encouraged me to continue believing what I had already assumed was true.”

The famous director nodded slowly. “Yes, that is the worst error an investigator can make — assuming something to be true before it is proven. An open mind, always, that is the only way to escape being fooled. Now, explain one more point, young man. What caused you to realize that the laughing shadow was a kookaburra bird, and thus led you to Harris’s Australian origin?”

“Well, of course, I was still fooled at the time, and thought the shadow was Ted. But his accent reminded me that there are British-type accents that don’t come from England.”

“Yes, I see that,” Mr. Hitchcock agreed. “But what led you to the kookaburra and Australia in particular?”

Jupiter grinned. “It was the way no one could agree on what the shadow sounded like when it laughed. We all heard it differently. I remembered Edgar Allan Poe’s famous story, ‘The Murders in the Red Morgue,’ and… ”

“Thunderation, of course! In that story no one could agree on what language the unseen murderer had been heard to speak. None of them could recognize the speech — because the murderer was an ape and was speaking no language at all!”

“Exactly, sir.” Jupiter looked pleased with himself. “I suddenly thought that perhaps the laugh wasn’t from a person at all. That’s when I remembered an Australian animal that laughed. At first I couldn’t remember exactly what animal, but when the bird came flying out of the dark I suddenly remembered the kookaburra bird.”

Mr. Hitchcock laughed. “Splendid! The Laughing jackass had the final merriment at Mr. Harris’s expense. Ah, the sight of that Hoard must have been magnificent.”

“It was, sir,” Bob agreed, “and we’ve brought you a piece.” He laid a dazzling gold goblet on the desk. “With Miss Sandow’s compliments, sir.”

“Thank the good lady, lads. This will join my growing collection of mementoes of your exploits. Now, what of rest of the treasure. It belongs, I suppose, to Miss Sandow.”

Pete said, “Professor Meeker is studying it. I believe the State has to determine its final disposition. Museums are eager to have pieces for their displays.”

“Miss Sandow hopes that the Indians will realize some benefit from it,” Bob added. “It would be nice if the Yaqualis could take some money back to their village.”

Mr. Hitchcock nodded. “So the case ends. But, my young friends, I fear it is not complete. I detect a loose end.”

“A loose end?” Pete exclaimed.

Jupiter was baffled. “I can’t think what, sir?”

“Unless I missed something in your report, E. Skinner Norris is still to be dealt with.”

The boys grinned.

“Never fear,” said Jupiter. “We have plans for him.”

And on that ominous note the case was concluded.