The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls

by Julia K. Duncan

  Peggy burst into laughter. “That makes Jo’s efforts to hold them all the funnier. I wish you could have seen her—she talked with her hands as much as she did with her mouth.”

  “She’s a true Mexican, then,” laughed Florence. “That’s the way they do. But this won’t get us anything to eat. We’re going to have your fried chicken today. How does that suit you, Peg?”

  Peggy nodded approval. “Fine! Who says I don’t rate high in this household?”

  “Don’t get so conceited,” teased Florence. “I just thought that’d be the easiest thing to fix.”

  Joking and laughing over their work, the morning passed quickly.

  As soon as lunch was over and the girls had gone to their room for the siesta hour, Jo Ann pulled a pair of knickers from her trunk and began putting them on. “It’ll be much easier to climb in these, and I won’t be nearly as conspicuous,” she remarked to the girls.

  “Since I’m not going to do as much climbing as you are, I won’t bother about changing,” put in Peggy.

  “Peep out the door, Florence,” Jo Ann ordered a moment later, “and see where Felipe is. If he’s awake, get him out of the way. We can’t wait any longer—we’ll have to hurry, or we can’t get through before the city wakes from its siesta.”

  “W-ell,” she agreed hesitantly, walking over to the door. The next moment she called over her shoulder, “He’s awake. I’ll have to put him to work at something.” She disappeared into the hall.

  “I’m so excited I can scarcely wait,” Jo Ann went on as she finished dressing. “Let’s see—I’ll need my flashlight. By the time I get in that narrow opening, there won’t be much space left for the light to filter through.”

  “Have you the rope?” asked Peggy. “Do you suppose it’ll take you as long to fasten it as it did before? Gee, I hate to think of that sun!”

  “You forget the parasol’s still up there. I’ve got everything I need. Are you ready?”

  Just then Florence returned and announced that she had sent Felipe to sweep the kitchen.

  Thus assured that Felipe was out of the way, the girls slipped quickly to the balcony.

  Unfastening the string from the hinge where they had left it, the rope dropped within reach. With the flashlight fastened to the back of her belt, Jo Ann climbed, hand over hand, up to the roof.

  As soon as she had helped Peggy over the ledge and slipped the rope off the iron bar, the two girls hurried on across the roof. They did not want to stay in the sun longer than necessary or climb back to the balcony before a crowd of spectators.

  “Isn’t this view gorgeous!” exclaimed Peggy, running first to one side of the building and then to the other, to gaze down on the city lying quietly below.

  “Yes,” nodded Jo Ann, busily making the necessary preparations for her hazardous adventure. “Bring me the parasol a minute, will you?”

  “All right, but what in the world are you going to do with a parasol?”

  “Wait a minute and you’ll see. I’ve got to fasten this rope to the wall by poking it through this little hole—left here for a drain I suppose. You’ll notice the roof slopes down this way a little.”

  “Yes, I see, but how’ll that fasten it?”

  “Well, I’ll tie this stick”—Jo Ann held up a piece of wood—“to the end of the rope, then push it through the hole.” Suiting her words to action, she began poking it with the parasol. “Climb up on the wall and tell me when it comes through, will you?”

  “All right,” said Peggy, scrambling up on the wall. “It’s through!” she called a moment later.

  “Now—you see the stick hangs across the opening, making sort of an anchor for the rope,” Jo Ann explained. “Isn’t it lucky for me that hole was in the right place? I’d surely hate to drive another iron bar in this wall. It’s terrible!”

  “Wh-ew!” Peggy gasped as she looked down over the wall. “It’s so high on this side of the house, you’d break every bone in your body if you fell on these cobblestones!”

  “Cut out the dramatics, Peg,” scolded Jo Ann. “I’ll be careful. Tell me if the loop on the end of the rope comes just a little below the window,” she added, testing the knots in the rope.

  “Yes, it’s all right.”

  “Fine! Everything’s ready, then—ready for the great adventure—the solving of the mystery.” The next moment Jo Ann was over the edge of the wall.

  Peggy watched, breathless, till Jo Ann disappeared; then, throwing herself across the wall and oblivious of the intense heat of the stones, she watched anxiously as Jo Ann descended the sheer side of the building.

  With the utmost caution Jo Ann slowly made her way down the rope. Carefully she lowered herself from knot to knot. A false move might be dangerous. “It’s lots more dangerous than I realized,” she told herself.

  On a level with the window she stopped. Then, while standing in the loop on the end of the rope and clinging tightly to it with one hand, she tried to get a fingerhold in the opening. Unfortunately, on a wall that was over two feet thick and perfectly smooth, it was not possible; moreover, it was exceedingly difficult for her, while clinging to a rope high in the air, to crawl into an opening only two feet high and four feet across. Holding tightly to the rope with both hands, she finally swung her feet into the window, but could get no further. In this half-sitting position her head and shoulders came above the top of the opening.

  “To think I’m in the window and yet can’t look inside!” she exclaimed aloud.

  “What’s the matter?” called Peggy anxiously.

  “Oh, I’m just too big to get into this hole!” she answered disgustedly.

  “Well, come back up here, then. Give up this foolishness while you’re all in one piece.”

  “What! Give up when I’m this near? I should say not!” Jo Ann’s voice was emphatic.

  She began wriggling and twisting more determinedly than ever, and at last, after repeated efforts, she managed to stretch herself across the broad ledge, with her feet dangling in the air. After resting a moment, she worked herself around till she faced the mysterious room.

  Immediately she felt cold air against her face and caught whiffs of a dank, musty odor.

  Her heartbeats quickened as she realized how near she was to solving the mystery. What secret lay concealed within these walls?

  Unfastening the flashlight from her belt, she threw its rays around in the darkness. Blank walls, stained with age, loomed before her. As nearly as she could judge, this tiny, high-ceilinged room was only about six by ten feet, and the window in which she lay, about fifteen feet from the floor.

  The room appeared perfectly bare. Not an object of any sort was to be seen. For what had it been used? Since it had at one time been connected with the rest of the house, there was bound to have been some reason for its construction.

  “Peggy and Florence’ll have the laugh on me if there’s nothing in this room and I’ve had all this work for nothing,” she thought. “There ought to be something to show what it was used for.”

  Again casting the rays of her light over every inch of the room, she stopped suddenly on noticing the curious appearance of the floor. One half of it was the dull gray color of the cement, and the other half, black.

  Taking the string from her belt, she fastened it securely to the flashlight and carefully lowered it down the wall into the room. As the rays shone directly on the floor, she gasped in surprise. The black strip was an open shaft!

  “Why is it there?” she asked herself. “Where does it lead?”

  Peggy called down just then, “Jo! Oh, Jo! Come on. It’s time to go, and I’m roasting.”

  Jo Ann kicked her feet in response. Why would Peggy interrupt her at such a time?

  By twisting and turning the string she was able to throw the light back and forth along the shaft. Carefully she examined it. There was some object at one end of it, she was sure, but in the dim light she could not distinguish what it was.

  Again Peggy’s impatient voic
e floated down to her.

  “Oh dear, there’s Peg calling again,” she groaned. “I suppose I’ll have to go now, but I’m coming back—with more light and more rope.”

  Just as she started to wind up the string, it suddenly slipped through her fingers. Down fell the flashlight to the floor, then rolled over and disappeared down the black hole.

  As its rays shone on the sides of the shaft, Jo Ann caught sight of something which made her gasp in surprise. In her excitement she almost fell off the ledge in her attempt to get a better look at this object.

  “Why! This is a bigger mystery than I ever dreamed!” she ejaculated aloud.

  CHAPTER XI

  THE HASTILY PLANNED MERIENDA

  Thrilled with delight over what she had discovered, Jo Ann could scarcely wait to share the secret with Peggy and Florence. Things were working out to her entire satisfaction at last.

  With the utmost caution she eased herself around on the stone ledge. Nothing must happen now to prevent the further investigation of this mysterious room.

  As soon as Jo Ann’s head appeared outside the opening, Peggy called eagerly from the roof, “Jo, did you find anything?”

  “Why, of course!” she called back. “Isn’t that what I came for?”

  “What is it?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know!”

  “Jo, don’t be so mean. Was there a room?”

  “I’ll tell you later.” Lying flat on her stomach, Jo Ann reached for the rope.

  Getting out of the opening, she found, was much more simple than getting into it. With little difficulty she pulled herself out of the window and slowly climbed to the roof.

  “What’d you discover? Tell me, Jo,” pleaded Peggy. “Was it worth the trouble?”

  “I should say so. I’ll tell you all about it when we get off the roof. Let’s hurry down before the people begin to stir in the streets.”

  “All right. I’m about roasted.”

  “I’ve found a real mystery this time,” Jo Ann added as she pulled the rope up over the edge of the roof.

  “If you say any more, I’ll die of curiosity before we get off this roof.”

  “And I’ll leave you right here, too,” Jo Ann returned lightly. “Before that happens, though, push the rope in that hole a little to loosen it so I can catch hold of the stick with the parasol.”

  Obediently Peggy dropped to her knees and began pushing the rope while Jo Ann reached for the other end with the hooked handle of the parasol. After working for several minutes she managed to get hold of the rope and slip the stick out of the knot at the end. Peggy easily pulled the rope through the hole then, and off they started across the roof.

  “I’ll have this rope fixed back on the bar in a jiffy now; then we can get off this hot roof,” Jo Ann remarked.

  As soon as she had tied the rope on the bar and tested the knot she added, “You first, Peg. You’ve been in the sun longer than I have. Let me help you. It’s a little hard getting over the wall.”

  “What do you think I am—a baby?” asked Peggy with injured dignity. “I can do it if you can.”

  “Oh, I beg your pardon,” laughed Jo Ann. “When you get down I’ll lower the parasol to you. Be sure to keep a sharp lookout for Dr. Blackwell and Felipe. I don’t dare to let them see me in these knickers—they’d know I’d been up to something unusual. I’m more anxious than ever now to keep our adventures a secret till we solve the whole mystery.”

  Peggy nodded assent as she leaned over the wall and looked down. The next moment she exclaimed in surprise, “I wonder where Florence is! I thought she’d surely be waiting for us on the balcony, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. She’s probably worried frantic—we’ve been gone so long. Be sure to be as quiet as you can now till you find out whether anyone’s in the office.”

  Quietly Peggy slipped over the edge of the wall and down the rope to the balcony. Tiptoeing to the door, she peeped into the office. To her consternation there was Dr. Blackwell dozing in his chair by the desk.

  After waving an excited warning to Jo Ann she hesitated a moment, debating whether to stay on the balcony or to slip by Dr. Blackwell and see if Felipe were asleep in his chair by the door.

  “If Felipe’s still asleep, I’ll signal Jo to come on,” she told herself.

  Softly she crept into the office. When she had almost reached the hall door, Dr. Blackwell suddenly gave a little start and looked around.

  “Why, Miss Peggy—I thought you were asleep!” he exclaimed.

  “Well—I—I didn’t want to sleep this afternoon,” she stammered. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Do go on and finish your nap.”

  As she hastened out of the room she saw Felipe turn and look at her in surprise.

  “He’s wondering where I’ve been—how I got into the office without his seeing me,” she thought. “Poor Jo’s in bad luck again, with both Dr. Blackwell and Felipe awake. I knew we were staying up there too long. I wonder how on earth Florence and I’ll ever manage to get both the doctor and Felipe away from the office long enough to give her a chance to get to her room.”

  As she was crossing the hall she met Florence coming from the rear.

  The moment they got inside their room Florence asked anxiously, “Where’s Jo—is she all right? I’ve been worried to death over you girls.”

  “She’s caught up on the roof again. Your father’s in the office, and she’s scared to come down for fear he’ll ask her some embarrassing questions. Those knickers’d give her away. If I hadn’t had on a dress, I’d have been caught.”

  Florence nodded understandingly. “I know he’d be shocked if he saw Jo in knickers. Girls never wear knickers in the city. He’d know she’d been up to something.”

  “What’ll we do? We can’t let her stay up there all afternoon. Can’t you think of some plan to get your father and Felipe out of the way a few minutes?”

  Florence wrinkled her brows in a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know what to say. Let’s see. The only thing I can think of is to make some coffee and invite Dad to our merienda in the dining room.”

  “That’s fine, but what about Felipe?”

  “We’ll have to decide that later. Come on; we’ll fix the coffee, and by the time it’s ready maybe we can think of something for him to do.”

  Hastily they prepared coffee and dainty sandwiches, then went to the office for Dr. Blackwell, who promptly accepted the invitation to the merienda.

  “We’ll join you in the dining room in a minute,” Florence told him.

  As soon as Dr. Blackwell had left the office and Florence had sent Felipe to the drugstore for some ice cream, Peggy grasped this opportunity to call Jo Ann. She flew to the balcony and whistled softly. The moment Jo Ann’s head appeared over the wall she called, “The coast’s clear. You’ll have to hurry, though.”

  Jo Ann needed no urging to get off the roof. She literally dropped to the balcony, drew the rope up and fastened the cord in its accustomed place, then ran to her room.

  In an amazingly short time she emerged looking cool and fresh in a soft green dress. Meeting Felipe in the hall with the ice cream, she offered to carry it to the dining room.

  When they were almost through their lunch Felipe announced that a patient was waiting to see el doctor.

  The moment Dr. Blackwell was out of hearing Peggy burst out, “Jo, tell us quickly, before anything else happens, what you found in that room.”

  “I found plenty. There’s a bigger mystery than we ever dreamed of.”

  “Well, tell us—what is it?” insisted Peggy.

  “Yes, do hurry, Jo,” added Florence. “I can’t wait another instant.”

  “Well, I’ll start at the beginning,” Jo Ann replied. “When I finally got in that window—I had to lie on my stomach to do it—all I could see was a small dark room. There was the odor of decaying wood or something—it smelled old and stale.”

  “Oh, do you s’pose they could’ve used that room as a sort of dungeon or cell
and left people in there to die?” gasped Peggy, wide-eyed.

  “I hardly think so—there wasn’t a thing to suggest that. It was perfectly bare. I thought for a while you girls had the laugh on me this time. I hated to admit I’d gone on a wild-goose chase. I was just about ready to turn around and climb back to the roof when I decided to look again, and then—” She paused dramatically.

  Both girls waited breathlessly, then Peggy ejaculated, “Go on! Don’t keep us in suspense any longer.”

  “Then I threw the light over the floor again and noticed one half of it was black while the other half was gray. Now what do you suppose that black strip was?”

  Peggy and Florence shook their heads. “How do we know?” said Peggy. “Go on.”

  “I couldn’t tell either, in the dim light. Then I tied my flashlight on a string and lowered it down as far as possible. That black strip was—a—black—hole!”

  “I don’t see anything wonderful about that,” scoffed Peggy.

  “Why do you suppose they’d have a hole like that in a house?” put in Florence.

  “That’s just what I was wondering,” said Jo Ann. “When the string slipped out of my hand and the light fell bumping down the hole, I—”

  “How could it bump down a hole?” broke in Peggy skeptically.

  “Well, it did—and that’s what I got so excited about.” She paused again.

  “Cut out the dramatics,” Peggy ordered impatiently.

  “Now, young lady, if you don’t like the way I’m telling this, I’ll stop right here.” Jo Ann smiled teasingly.

  “Oh, do go on,” begged Florence.

  “Well, then—as the light bumped over and over, I saw remnants of a crude ladder or steps of some sort. There seemed to be some rough heavy poles—something on the order of that scaffold the workmen used—but it looked as if there were steps between the poles. I couldn’t see very well.”

  “But how could there be pieces of wood left in there if this house is as old as you said it was?” demanded Peggy. “It’d all be decayed long ago.”

  “Not in this climate,” put in Florence quickly. “Are the doors of the house decayed? You see the air in this country is so dry that things do not deteriorate as they do in the ozone belt.”