I’ve carried on - on to what could be the end. The Minotaur quite obviously stands for secrets. Look very deep inside your heart and perhaps you’ll find forgiveness. Is it too late?

  “Whiskers!” Pete cried, understanding dawning on his face.

  “The treasure was never inside the statue at all! It was hidden

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  inside the cement base the statue was standing on!”

  “Which means it’s still at Fulmer Park!” Bob added in astonishment. “It was right under our noses!”

  “Julius couldn’t be sure the statue would be there forever. But he gambled on the statue’s base staying put!” Allie crowed. “Now all we have to do is go and find it! Why didn’t you say that’s a thinking cap you’re wearing?”

  “Which leads me to tonight’s operation,” Jupiter said importantly. “And unfortunately, you three won’t be there to see if my deductions prove accurate.”

  “What?” Allie and Pete yelped together.

  “Why not?” Bob demanded.

  “Because we need a diversion,” Jupe explained. “We know Masher and Croaker will be following our every move. And who knows where Jujab is. He could appear at any moment to snatch the treasure away! But if we can fool them into following you three, while I go for the real treasure, we can safely return the Gypsies’ book back to Gregorio.”

  “But isn’t that dangerous for you?” asked Allie. “Besides, how will you get the statue of Philip Fulmer off its base?”

  “I’ve already made the proper arrangements,” Jupe grinned.

  “Hans and Konrad have volunteered to do the labor. They’re quite pleased to be able to help out the Gypsies.”

  “So what’s the diversion going to be?” Pete wondered.

  “I’ve arranged that as well,” Jupiter said with a satisfied smirk. “I took the liberty of calling Worthington at Rent ‘N Ride and reserved the use of the Rolls Royce for tonight. You may not be in the thick of the action, but at least you’ll be leading a wild goose chase in style!”

  “But why did you call me and tell me to sneak over here – to be sure I wasn’t seen by anyone?” Allie asked.

  Jupiter smiled more broadly than ever.

  “Because you’re playing me tonight!”

  86 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler Chapter Sixteen

  Rope, Chisel, Hammer

  ALLIE GAVE JUPITER a rueful glance.

  “Please tell me I don’t have to wear that hat!” she grimaced.

  “Indeed you do,” Jupiter chuckled. “I’ve been wearing it around the yard all day in case Masher and Croaker have been spying on me. When they see you leave here tonight wearing one of my shirts and this hat, they should be adequately deceived.

  Then I’ll sneak out through Blue Gate Two and into the back of the yard’s small truck. Hans and Konrad will have their window open. When I hoot like an owl, they’ll decide to go for a drive –

  to Fulmer Park!”

  “Golly,” Bob blinked, “that plan just might work!”

  “Meet back at the front gates of the salvage yard at precisely ten o’clock. Hopefully I should have the Gypsies’ treasure in hand

  – and perhaps something else as well!”

  “What else is there?” Pete wondered.

  “I’ll leave it as a surprise,” Jupiter said mysteriously. The stocky boy looked at his wristwatch and nodded grimly. “It’s time.” He stepped into the small room that served as Headquarters’ laboratory and quickly changed shirts. He handed the shirt he had been wearing to Allie.

  She looked at the flowered pattern on the shirt and rolled her eyes.

  “Couldn’t you have worn a simple t-shirt?”

  “It’s the smallest shirt I own,” Jupe explained. “I’ve been suf-focating in it all day. It will still be a little big for you, but in the darkness it should prove to be an adequate disguise.”

  Allie put it on over the shirt she was wearing, glaring at Bob and Pete when they started laughing.

  “A little big?” Pete howled.

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  “You could fit two Allie’s in there!” Bob chuckled.

  “Fortunately there is only one Allie in this world,” Jupiter sighed. “And that is more than enough. Now then, according to my watch, Worthington should be pulling up at the front gates at this very moment. I’ve instructed him to pull as far into the yard as possible and extinguish his headlights. Bob, Pete – I want you to get into the Rolls as quickly as possible, shielding Allie between you. If Masher and Croaker are only allowed a glimpse of someone in a flowered shirt and ridiculous hat, they should be completely fooled into believing it’s me. Which reminds me…”

  The First Investigator plucked the gardening hat off and plopped it down on top of Allie’s head.

  “A perfect fit!” he said proudly.

  “I’ll get you for this if it’s the last thing I do,” Allie muttered.

  “But if we’re going to make the disguise as authentic as possible…” she grabbed an old burlap sack and tucked it up under her shirt, giving her the appearance of a roly poly stomach.

  “There!” she said. “Now I’m practically your twin!”

  “It’s time to begin phase one,” Jupiter announced, ignoring her attempt at humor. “I will wait in my workshop while you three commence to the car.”

  When they had exited the trailer, Bob, Pete, and Allie hurried through the piles of salvage to the front gates. The boys talked loudly to ‘Jupiter’ the entire way, and when they reached the Rolls Royce, Worthington tipped his cap and opened the back door.

  Moving quickly, the three of them piled into the plush auto.

  “Good evening, Master Jones,” the tall chauffeur said loudly as he shut the door behind them. He moved his lanky frame around the car and climbed behind the massive steering wheel, rolling down his window and speaking loudly once more. “Where shall our destination be tonight, Master Jones? Ice cream, you say? Splendid!”

  The English chauffeur fired the car to life and pulled it gently

  88 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler through the salvage yard’s tall gates, driving off in the opposite direction of Fulmer Park.

  Back in his workshop, Jupiter scratched absent-mindedly at his cast and paced back and forth, glancing every few seconds at his wristwatch. When the time came, he moved silently as a cat toward the front of the yard; taking a back way through the junk.

  When the yard’s small office came into sight, he stopped and scanned the area. Lightning flickered once more in the darkening sky and thunder rumbled off in the distance. Jupiter could hear the television coming from Hans and Konrad’s house, which meant they had remembered to leave their window open. He smiled and darted behind a stack of old bricks, and then waited once more, watching the front of the yard for any sign of Masher and Croaker.

  When nothing moved, he crouched low and scooted behind an assortment of sundials. Stepping as quietly as a mouse, Jupe hurried to the rear corner of the yard. Here was located a secret entrance and exit that the boys seldom used – not even Allie knew about this one!

  Fifty yards past Red Gate Rover’s painting of the San Francisco fire, there was an abstract rendering of a whole collection of odds and ends, including a lava lamp, a giant magic eight ball, and a big American flag ten feet wide.

  By the light of the streetlamps, Jupe located two garden gnomes that rested atop a large oil drum. As a joke, the boys had nicknamed the gnomes “Bogart” and “Bacall” after Aunt Mathilda’s two favorite actors. The “Bogart” gnome’s finger pointed at the fence – and at the exact location of the secret gate!

  On one particularly lazy day at the yard while Uncle Titus and Aunt Mathilda were on a buying trip in Sand Diego, Jupiter had rigged up a tension wire connected to a spring. One had only to give “Bogart’s” head a half turn to the left, and a catch was released, allowing two boards in the fence to swing open.

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  On the opposite side of the fence was the painting of the giant eight ball. Because the boards in the fence were painted almost entirely black, and the number eight was squarely in the middle of the boards, the boys had named this gate “Black Gate Eight.”

  Jupiter had voted for “Contingency Eight,” but Bob and Pete thought “Black Gate Eight” had a better ring to it. Jupe finally relented, reasoning that the uninitiated might think that the salvage yard actually had eight secret gates!

  Moving quickly, he opened the gate just enough to squeeze through, and then closed it gently behind him. Next he crawled to the salvage yard’s small truck, which was parked in the gravel drive beside the Hans and Konrad’s house, and slipped into the bed – covering himself with a tarp.

  “Whoo… whooo…” he called softly.

  A few moments later, Jupe heard the television turn off and the brothers leave the house. They talked jovially about the approaching storm, and Konrad hustled back inside to shut the window.

  Jupe grinned again – phase two was in motion!

  Following Jupiter’s instructions, Hans pulled out of the drive and pointed the truck away from Fulmer Park, just as Worthington had done earlier. He drove the truck all over Rocky Beach, turning at random and stopping for gas, and then stopping again for ice cream.

  Jupiter eyed his watch apprehensively. When nine o’clock arrived, he rapped on the bed of the truck. This was the pre-arranged signal that Hans should start driving to the park. Within ten minutes they were across town and entering the dilapidated neighborhood near Fulmer Park. Hans parked the truck deep within the shadows a block away.

  The brothers hopped out and fetched a tool box out of the back of the truck. Jupiter climbed out from beneath the tarp and led them toward the overgrown hedge maze. No one spoke a word.

  90 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler When they reached the statue of the philanthropist in the center of the maze, Konrad set the tool box down and rolled up his sleeves.

  “You sure about this, Jupe?” he asked uneasily.

  “Yah,” Hans gulped, “we won’t break laws.”

  “I’ve made the necessary arrangements,” Jupiter assured them. “Tonight’s activities are perfectly legal.”

  “Hokay,” Konrad said warily. “Sure hope so.”

  He pulled a monkey wrench from the tool box and handed it to Hans, and then grabbed one for himself. The two brothers strained at the large bolts at the base of the statue that held it in place, grunting and gritting their teeth as they worked.

  Finally the bolts gave a tiny squeak.

  Then a creeeeeeeeeak…”

  And then they slowly began to turn!

  Lightning was flashing almost continuously now and the wind had picked up, making the trees and the maze seem all the more ominous to the clandestine workers.

  “We should hurry – before lightning strikes,” said Hans.

  “Almost there now,” Konrad grunted.

  With one last tug, the final bolt was removed. The brothers, sweating heavily despite the dropping temperature, tossed their wrenches aside. Hans pulled a rope from the toolbox and tied one end around the head of the statue. The other end he threw over a thick tree branch. Konrad rocked the statue gently, and then joined his brother as they eased the head of it to the ground. The base was now revealed and Jupiter rushed over to examine it, flashlight in hand.

  “We’ll need a chisel and hammer!” he said urgently, licking his lips in excitement.

  Hans handed him a hammer and then stepped back, still debat-ing whether this was vandalism or not.

  Jupiter began chipping away at the top of the statue’s cement base, holding the chisel awkwardly in his injured hand. He had

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  barely struck the chisel ten times when it suddenly broke through a little – revealing a small pocket inside. Jupe chipped away more concrete, and then grabbed his flashlight and shined it inside.

  Unable to contain their curiosity, Hans and Konrad looked over Jupiter’s shoulders.

  “There’s something in there!” Jupiter crowed in triumph. “It looks like a metal box!”

  “Let me help,” Hans grunted. “I get it out of there!”

  With several swift blows of the hammer, the remaining concrete had been cleared. Once more, Jupiter shined his flashlight inside and grinned. A small metal box, about eight inches square and three inches deep rested inside the open cavity. It was slightly rusty, but otherwise appeared intact.

  Jupe plucked the box out and sat it on the edge of the statue’s base. A battered padlock was clamped tightly through a small loop on the front of the box. Konrad grabbed a pair of bolt cutters from his toolbox and snapped it off.

  His eyes wide with excitement, Jupiter slowly lifted the lid of the box.

  “Congratulations, young Jones!” said a voice in the darkness.

  Hans and Konrad grabbed their wrenches and peered into the gloomy maze. Quick flashes of lightning showed a man in a white suit. His face remained shrouded in darkness.

  “Who’s that?” Konrad called out.

  The stranger chuckled and puffed on a cigarette in a long holder. In his other hand he held a gun.

  “Please drop them,” he said politely. “I am not a man of violence, but when the prize is so great, well…”

  The brothers looked at each other, and then slowly dropped their wrenches to the ground. They stood up and moved in close beside Jupiter.

  “I knew I could rely on you, my young friend. As always, you do not disappoint,” the stranger continued. “Clever to the last!

  92 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler Masher and Croaker were fooled quite easily by your little misdi-rection ploy. Naturally, I am not so gullible!”

  “Who is it?” Hans hissed to Jupiter. “Is it that crazy Jujab fellow? We should have the police!”

  Jupiter shook his head and held the metal box close to his chest. “No – not Jujab. Someone much more dangerous!”

  “Not Jujab?” Konrad blinked. “Then who?”

  Jupiter gulped and nodded as the stranger stepped into the glow of the stocky boy’s flashlight.

  “Hans, Konrad,” Jupiter announced in a steady voice, “I’d like you to meet Hugunay.”

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  Chapter Seventeen

  The Tables are Turned!

  HUGUNAY! The international art thief The Three Investigators had tangled with when they had solved the mystery of the stutter-ing parrot, and again when they had cracked the case of the screaming clock! The same art thief who had broken into the Louvre in Paris, who had stolen Rembrandts, Picassos and Van Goghs, and who was wanted by the police in a dozen different countries!

  Hugunay gave a small bow and smiled.

  “The pleasure is mine, I assure you,” he said in his distinct French accent. The debonair European gestured slightly with his gun hand. “But as much as I’d like catch up on old times, my young nemesis, I really must be flying. What you hold in your hands will finally allow me to retire – to hang up my tools of the trade once and for all – and vanish from the face of the Earth!”

  “It’s a book, isn’t it?” Jupiter said suddenly, hoping to buy some time. “It’s Romulus Romero’s sketch book. That’s what we’ve been chasing after this whole time!”

  Hugunay gave a bored smile and puffed on his cigarette.

  “Indeed it is. One of the last of the missing DaVinci codexes.

  You seem surprised? But of course the old Gypsy Gregorio would not tell you more than you needed to know – for your own safety. Yes, there are sketches by his distant relative, Romulus Romero within those pages, a talented artist in his own right; but there is something more! Notations and diagrams by the master himself. One of the last unclaimed examples of Leonardo DaVinci’s genius! It is worth a fortune – it is priceless!”

  “How do you know what’s in it?” Jupiter wondered. “For that matter, how did you know about the monkey’s paw?”

  “My boy,” Hugunay shrugged, “it is my business to know. By

  94 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler now you should realize that when a DaVinci surfaces, whether it is a painting, a sculpture, or a sketch, Hugunay will not be far behind.”

  The art thief took a step forward, the smile disappearing from his face. He cocked his pistol and held it up before him.

  “And now that we all know what the grand prize is in our little game, it is time to hand it over to its rightful owner. So, if you please…”

  Jupiter held the metal box tightly to his chest and shook his head. “The rightful owner is Gregorio Romero!”

  “Careful, Jupe!” Hans said nervously. “This man – he’s not to be fooling around with!”

  “Yah,” Konrad agreed, “Maybe you should give him the box.

  We don’t want trouble.”

  “Sound advice,” Hugunay said softly. “You have proven yourself to be an admirable opponent, young Jones. Perhaps the most clever and resourceful foe I have faced in my long and illustrious career. But this time you have lost – you must realize this.”

  Jupiter’s mind raced as lightning crackled all around, illumi-nating the hedge maze and the fallen statue of Philip Fulmer in an eerie glow. The stocky boy suddenly thought of something else to ask the thief.

  “I will hand over the book – if you will answer one question for me.”

  Hugunay plucked his cigarette from its holder and produced another one from inside his jacket. Taking his time, he carefully inserted it into its holder. With a careless shrug, the art thief con-sulted a pocket watch that he produced from inside his jacket pocket.

  “As you have once again proven yourself to be a worthy adversary, I will grant you one question – but then the box!”

  Thunder boomed as Jupiter nodded his head.

  “Agreed,” he shouted above the tempest.

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  96 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler

  “Then ask away, my boy,” Hugunay said.

  “I want to know who this Jujab character is. And Masher and Croaker, too!”

 

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