“If you’re scared,” Sean said hopefully, “you don’t have to help us.”
“I’m not scared, and I want to help,” Jennifer insisted.
Suddenly Sean looked over his shoulder toward a stand of trees near the Hamburger Hut, which was closed for the night. “Did you hear something weird just now?” he asked. “Like a cough or something?”
“Stop trying to be funny,” Brian told him. He turned to Jennifer. “Sure, investigations can be dangerous. If a perpetrator knows you’re suspicious of him, there’s no telling what he could do. But during any investigation, there comes a time when it’s important to go to adults for help. Sometimes we call on Dad, sometimes the police. In this case, if we can get the information we need, we can call on the sheriff.”
Jennifer nodded and looked impressed. “When you said perpetrator, you sounded just like the private eyes on TV.”
“We—investigators and the police, that is—call them ‘perps’ for short,” Brian told her.
Sean made a face. “There you go again. If Dad heard you bragging …” He stopped, listened a moment, then said, “There’s that weird noise again, like somebody panting, and I’m not trying to be funny. Didn’t you hear it?”
Jennifer frowned and said to Brian, “I don’t think Martha would do anything that would be dangerous to us. She’s worked for Dad since before I was born, and she’s awfully nice.”
“She’s just one of the suspects,” Brian said. “Don’t forget Edna, Caesar, and also Palmer.”
“And Robert Hopkins,” said Sean.
“Right,” said Brian. Then he told Jennifer about his conversation with Palmer in the restaurant.
“But Robert doesn’t work here anymore, so what does Palmer being friends with Robert mean?” Jennifer asked.
“That’s our job as investigators. We try to find out.”
A ruffle of cool air caused Sean to shiver. He reached for a towel to wrap around his shoulders and glanced toward the Hamburger Hut.
“What the—” He jumped. Something had moved in the darkness beyond the circle of lights around the pool.
“Brian!” said Sean. “Somebody is spying on us!”
“Who?” Jennifer gasped.
“Where?” Brian asked, jumping up.
“I saw someone step back behind the Hamburger Hut, but I don’t know who it was. It’s too dark back there to tell.”
The three of them stared at the Hamburger Hut.
“I don’t see anybody,” Jennifer said.
“Look.” Brian pointed at the trees near the Hut. “Those branches are moving in the wind. Could that be what you saw?”
“I don’t know,” Sean said. “Maybe.”
It was Jennifer’s turn to shiver. “Why don’t we go inside?” she suggested.
“In a minute,” Brian said as he jotted down a few sentences in his notebook. “I’m writing what you’ve told me about Martha to add to what I’ve written about Palmer. Sometimes just going over the information helps an investigator think of a new line to follow.”
He put his notebook and pen on the table and stood up. He looked carefully around the pool area. “I don’t see anyone here but us. Come on!” he said, grinning. “Let’s go swimming before it gets too cold. Race you to the other side!”
Brian dove into the water. Sean and Jennifer followed. But before any of them reached the middle of the pool, the underwater lights had suddenly gone out, and the pool was plunged into darkness.
“What happened?” Sean yelled. It was so dark he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face.
“I don’t know!” said Jennifer. “It’s way too early to turn off the outside lights.”
“It’s probably just a power failure,” said Brian. Then, from the far end of the pool, came what sounded like muffled whispering, then a low growl and a deep chuckle.
“What was that?” asked Sean.
There was a loud splash. Then more heavy splashing.
“Something just jumped into the water with us!” Brian said.
“Something like what?” shouted Jennifer.
“I don’t know!” Brian shouted back.
“Yikes!” Sean cried. “Whatever it is it’s swimming right toward us!”
“Oh, Brian,” whimpered Jennifer. “What are we going to do?”
“Swim!” yelled Brian. “Swim as fast as you can!
7
NONE OF THEM STOPPED running until they had reached the back porch of the hotel.
Sean took two deep breaths before he tried to talk. “Brian,” he said, “that was close!”
“It sure was,” answered Brian. Then he turned to Jennifer. “Has anything like this ever happened before?”
Jennifer’s eyes went wide with alarm. “You mean have guests ever been attacked before in the pool? No! Never!”
Brian shook his head. “No. I meant, is it uncommon for the lights to go out like that?”
“The outdoor lights are programmed by computer to go off automatically,” she said. “But the underwater lights stay on all night. Rain or shine.”
“Is there a switch for the lights?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, “there’s a control panel in a metal box near the Hamburger Hut. But it’s locked. Only the head maintenance man would have a key.”
“The Hamburger Hut!” echoed Sean. “Brian, that’s where I thought I saw someone spying on us!”
“Right,” said Brian.
“Do you think whoever was spying on us also turned off the lights?” asked Jennifer.
“It’s possible,” answered Brian. “The thief might have discovered that we were asking a lot of questions and wanted to know how much we knew.”
“But that doesn’t explain whatever that … thing was in the pool,” Sean said.
“I’m not sure exactly,” said Brian.
“It was so dark I couldn’t see anything,” Jennifer said. “And with all that splashing, I couldn’t hear much, either.”
“All that splashing. Hmmm.” Brian rubbed his chin. “Sean, why would the thief want to make so much noise if he really meant to harm us?” he asked.
Sean shrugged. “Maybe he just wanted to scare us,” he said.
“Right!” agreed Brian.
“But why?” asked Jennifer.
“I think he found out we were asking a bunch of questions about the thefts,” explained Brian, “and he wanted to know how much we knew. So he followed us down here to spy on us. Then he decided to try to scare us away. After all, we’re just a bunch of dumb kids, right?”
Jennifer wrapped her hands around her shoulders and shivered. “Well, he scared me,” she said.
“Jennifer, if you’re frightened, you can get out of this. Sean and I will finish the investigation without you.”
“No!” Jennifer tossed her wet hair out of her face. “I told you before, I’m not scared. And now I’m mad! I want to help Dad by finding out who the thief is!”
Sean glanced down at the puddles spreading around their feet. “If we’re going to do any more investigating,” he said, “we better find some towels and dry off.”
“Okay,” Jennifer told them. “Change clothes fast and we’ll meet in the main lobby by the elevators in five minutes.”
When Brian and Sean returned to their room, they discovered that their mother had already left. Brian fished their room key out of the pocket in his trunks and opened the door. He and Sean hurried to dry themselves and get dressed.
Sean was just toweling his hair dry when Brian suddenly cried, “My notebook! I left it on the table next to the pool! C’mon, let’s go back.”
“Go back!” said Sean. “Are you nuts?” But Sean had learned that once Brian had made up his mind to do something, it was no use arguing. He dropped the towel on the bed and followed Brian.
On the way Sean and Brian met Jennifer, and Brian explained about his notebook.
“I’m going back to get it,” he said.
“What if whoever was there is still t
here?” Jennifer asked.
“He had no reason to stay after trying to frighten us,” Brian said. “Besides, there’s something I want to check out.” He opened the door to the hotel’s back porch and pointed down the hill. “Look! The pool lights are on again.”
But neither Jennifer nor Sean looked convinced that it was safe to go back.
“Why don’t you two stay here,” said Brian. “I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes.” Then he jogged away down the hill toward the pool.
A short time later he came trudging up the hill, carrying their towels.
“I found this on the ground near the Hamburger Hut,” he said, holding open his hand. It was the steel lock to the light box, and it was broken.
“Wow!” said Jennifer. “Did you get your notebook?”
Brian sighed and shook his head. “My notebook’s gone.”
“Uh-oh,” Sean said. “The guy who was spying on us might not have been able to hear everything we said. But now that he has your notebook he’ll learn what we found out.”
“Which is nothing but suspicions so far,” Brian said.
“Do you think the thief is going to come after us?” Sean asked. Jennifer gasped.
“Let’s not panic,” Brian said. “Why don’t we check out our suspects and see who could have been here.”
“We already know Caesar got sick and went home early,” Jennifer said. “And Martha goes off duty at six.”
“Then let’s find out where Palmer is,” Sean suggested.
“He’ll be in the talent show,” Jennifer said, “and Edna will be, too. She and some of the other employees have a ukulele band.”
Brian looked at his watch. “The show’s already started. Mom will be wondering where we are. Let’s get to the ballroom and see if Edna and Palmer are there.”
“Wait a minute,” Sean said. “If they are, then whoever was at the pool wasn’t one of our suspects.”
“Could be,” Brian said. “It depends on what time the acts go on. Let’s go to the talent show and find out.”
As they slipped quietly through the ballroom doors, one of the bellmen was in the middle of his song.
Martha Wood got up from a nearby chair and put a hand on Jennifer’s arm. “Sit back here with me,” she whispered. “There are some empty chairs.”
“I thought you were off duty,” Jennifer whispered back.
“I am, but I didn’t want to miss the talent show,” Martha said.
They sat down, and Sean whispered to Brian, “What if it was Martha at the pool? She’s one of the two people you were talking about. She’d have had time to get back here.”
A woman sitting in front of them turned and held a finger up to her lips, so Sean settled back and listened.
The bellman received enthusiastic applause, and the announcer introduced Edna Marker and her ukulele band.
Brian murmured to Sean, “So would Edna.”
Next, a trio of musicians entertained the audience with some great jazz, and two waitresses followed that act with a tap routine.
Finally, the announcer said, “And last—but certainly not least—we present our popular Palmer and Pete and their assistant, Jed Peterson!”
“Palmer had plenty of time,” Sean whispered.
“They all had time,” Brian whispered, and leaned forward for a closer look at Pete.
Palmer and Jed ran onto the stage, and Pete—a small black dog—hopped on his hind legs after them. Jed held out a hoop as Palmer bent over. Pete leaped through the hoop onto Palmer’s back and balanced again on his hind legs.
Palmer walked slowly across the stage, and Pete ran back and forth between his legs. When they reached the far side of the stage Pete did a double somersault, and the audience broke into laughter.
Jed pulled a table and boxes onstage and built a tower, which Pete climbed. Then Pete sailed through the air into Palmer’s arms. The act went on with Pete performing one trick after another, happily wagging his tail at the applause—and the treats he was given by Palmer.
When the act was over, Sean asked, “Do you think that animal in the pool could have been Pete?”
“There’s no way of finding out,” Jennifer answered.
“Oh yes there is,” Brian said. He jumped up when the announcer closed the show and the people in the audience began to leave the ballroom. “Sean, run and tell Mom we were here so she won’t go looking for us.” He turned to Jennifer. “Come with me. We’ve got to catch up with Palmer before we’re too late!”
8
BRIAN AND JENNIFER MET Palmer as he came out the backstage door of the auditorium, his dog on a leash.
Brian bent down to pet Pete.
“Watch out,” Palmer said, and tried to pull Pete back. “Pete’s not friendly to strangers. He bites.”
But Brian already had his hands deep in the thick hair around Pete’s neck, and Pete wagged his tail happily.
Brian stood up and wiped his hands on the seat of his jeans. He looked Palmer right in the eyes. “Your dog’s still damp,” he said.
“I’m not surprised,” Palmer answered, and smiled. “Pete got into some mud, so I gave him a bath right before the show. That’s why we were last on the program.”
Palmer tugged on the leash and strode away, Pete trotting to keep up.
“Do you believe him?” Jennifer whispered.
“A good investigator tries to keep an open mind while he’s collecting facts and evidence,” Brian said. He automatically reached into his pocket for his notebook and was frustrated when he remembered he no longer had one. “In the morning, as soon as the gift shop opens,” he said, “I’m going to buy a new notebook.”
A short while later, as Brian and Sean got ready for bed, Sean flopped across the end of his bed and waited for Brian to finish brushing his teeth. His mother was already in bed in her connecting room, but she’d told Brian and Sean, “No TV. It’s late, so go right to sleep.” But Sean was too restless to sleep. He wanted to ask Brian what he’d learned when he’d spoken with Palmer.
From where he lay he could see the hall door to their room. Just then something was slid under the door.
“Yikes!” Sean yelped, and scrambled to his feet.
Brian came out of the bathroom, his pajamas on. “What’s the matter with you?” he asked.
“Somebody shoved something under the door!” Sean said.
Brian turned to see what Sean was staring at. “My notebook!” he said.
Brian cautiously opened the door and looked up and down the hall. “Nobody’s out there,” he told Sean as he shut the door. He locked the dead bolt, then thumbed through the pages of his notebook. “That’s funny. Nothing’s been changed,” he said. “And whoever took it didn’t write anything in it. I wonder why he brought it back.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” Sean said. “Maybe somebody else found it, saw your name in it, and brought it back.”
“My name isn’t in the notebook,” Brian said slowly.
“Brian,” said Sean, “this is getting really scary.”
Brian nodded. Was returning the notebook, he wondered, supposed to be a warning from the thief that he knew who Brian was and could find him whenever he wanted to?
Brian wished he knew.
9
THE NEXT MORNING AFTER breakfast Brian called Jennifer. “Let’s meet by the elevators,” Brian said. “I want to go to the offices and talk to Martha about her nephew, Robert.”
On the way downstairs Sean asked, “What about Robert? Jennifer said he didn’t even work here when the meat began to be stolen.”
“I know,” Brian said, “but I keep wondering if there’s some connection. That’s why I want to find out more about Robert from Martha.”
Jennifer was waiting for them as they stepped out of the elevator. “Caesar really was sick yesterday evening,” she said. “He called in and said he’s got the flu.”
“Then he can’t be a suspect,” Sean said.
“That depends on if he was telling the t
ruth,” Brian said.
Sean groaned. “How are we supposed to find out?”
Brian led the way past the guests at the checkout desk. Sean and Jennifer followed.
“Brian, I hope you can solve this case,” Jennifer said.
“How about me?” Sean asked.
Jennifer was so busy smiling at Brian she didn’t take notice of Sean.
Sean didn’t want to stick around and get sick to his stomach watching Brian showing off and Jennifer enjoying it.
“Hey, Brian,” he said. “You don’t need me to go with you to talk to Martha Wood. I’m going to check out something else.”
He waited for Brian to ask what he had in mind, but Brian didn’t stop looking at Jennifer.
Shaking his head, Sean turned to go toward the coffee shop. The lobby was crowded, and he had to step sideways to avoid the bellmen who were wheeling luggage carriers in and out of the hotel. As he dodged around a couple who were hurrying to the front desk to register, he bumped into a large suitcase, knocking it over and falling on top of it. “Yikes!” Sean yelled.
“Are you making a habit of this, little buddy?” Jed Peterson asked. He helped Sean to his feet.
“I’m sorry,” Sean said. “I hope I didn’t hurt the suitcase.”
“No harm done,” Jed told him as he picked up the suitcase and swung it to his other hand. The suitcase was old and battered, Sean noticed. And whoever owned it was traveling light, since it had felt almost empty when he had knocked it over.
Jed tucked the suitcase out of the way, next to the bellmen’s stand. Then he walked away, busy with his work.
Sean found Edna Marker at the coffee shop. He was curious about Edna because she was an ex-burglar. A middle-aged, slender woman with glasses that kept sliding down her nose, Edna had seated them that morning when the Quinns had gone to the coffee shop for breakfast. Maybe I should hang around the coffee shop and keep an eye on her, Sean had thought. Private investigators spend a lot of time waiting and watching the people they are investigating, he knew. That is an important part of detecting, too.
The small lobby outside the entrance to the coffee shop was filled with chairs and a lot of large potted plants. Edna was talking to Jeanne, the hostess for the dining room, when Sean arrived, so he slipped quietly into a chair behind a broad-leafed palm.
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