Jefferson Long opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it again.
“How could you!” said Madeline Bainbridge. “How could you do that to a mere boy?”
“And then there’s the money,” said Jupiter brightly. “The ransom for the films. It was only paid this afternoon. I would not be surprised if at least part of it is still in Thomas’s car. And perhaps there’s some in Long’s car as well. There hasn’t been time to put it in a secure hiding place. Shall we look and see what we can find?”
“No!” shouted Thomas. He lurched towards the door.
Beefy tackled him, bringing him crashing to the floor, and sat on him. The material of Thomas’s suit ripped, and a wallet spilled out on to the floor, together with three key chains, all loaded with keys.
“Aha!” cried Beefy.
“I’ll have the law on you!” shouted Thomas. “You don’t have a search warrant!”
Gray had been standing in a corner of the room, quiet and almost forgotten. As Beefy held up the keys, Gray moved. He raced past Beefy, brushed Uncle Will to one side, and was out the front door and thundering down the steps before anyone could move.
“Marvin!” cried Madeline Bainbridge.
“He won’t get far,” Pete assured her. “I fixed his car so that it won’t start. His and Thomas’s and Long’s, too. We’ll just call the police and they can pick Gray up as he’s hiking down the hill.”
But then, from outside, there came the sound of a car engine starting.
“Oh, blast!” shouted Beefy. “That’s my car! He’s taking my car! I left the keys in the ignition!”
Peter raced for the kitchen and the telephone, and Madeline Bainbridge went to the window. “He’ll be sorry,” she said, as the car pulled away from the house. “He’ll be very sorry.”
Jupiter and Bob saw the car’s headlights flash through the lemon grove. The car reached the road and skidded into the turn. It didn’t slacken speed one bit.
“Oh my gosh!” yelled Bob.
The watchers in the ranch house heard tyres screech on the road, and Madeline Bainbridge screamed.
An instant later, there was a ripping of metal and a smashing of glass as the car crashed sideways into a tree. And then there was silence–a silence that seemed deadly. Madeline Bainbridge stood with her hands to her face, her blue eyes wide with horror.
“Madeline!” Clara Adams went to her and put her arms around her. “Madeline, it wasn’t your fault!” she said.
“It’s like the last time. It’s like Ramon all over again.” And Madeline Bainbridge began to weep.
“It’s only a coincidence,” said Jupe.
Pete had come back into the room. “The sheriff is coming,” he said. “I’ll call again, and I’ll ask them to send an ambulance.”
Jupiter nodded as he, Bob, and Beefy headed outside to see how Gray was. “It’s an unfortunate way to end things,” he said, “but I think we can say that this case is closed.”
22
Mr Hitchcock Declines an Invitation
A WEEK AFTER THE Bainbridge films were recovered by Video Enterprises, The Three Investigators called on Alfred Hitchcock. “I assume that you have been getting your notes in order,” said the famous motion-picture director as Jupiter, Pete, and Bob took seats across the desk from him.
Bob smiled and handed a file folder to Mr Hitchcock.
“Excellent,” said the director. “The accounts in the press of the recovery of the money paid for the Bainbridge films were interesting enough, but I have looked forward to learning more about the part you lads played in the whole affair.”
Mr Hitchcock began to read, and he did not speak again until he had perused the last sheet of paper in the folder. “Fascinating!” he said at last. “A woman victimized by her own guilt–a woman who hid herself away from the world and trusted no one.”
“No one but the wrong man,” said Pete. “He could have gone on swindling her, too, if we hadn’t taken the bull by the horns and gone in that afternoon to find her drugged and asleep. The accountants are going through her affairs now, to see exactly how much Gray took from her. Gray’s in the prison ward at the County Hospital. The district attorney will bring charges when he has more complete information.”
“He’s fortunate to be alive,” said Mr Hitchcock. “Ramon Desparto did not survive when his brakes failed on that road. Of course I can’t believe that Miss Bainbridge really caused either of those accidents. I admire mystery inordinately, but believing that a witch can cause a car accident is . . . well, a bit much, wouldn’t you say?”
Jupiter smiled. “We’ll never really know, I guess,” he said. “Beefy Tremayne is convinced that Gray hit the tree simply because Gray took Beefy’s car, and Beefy and all of his possessions are doomed to malfunction.”
“That should be of some comfort to Madeline Bainbridge,” said Mr Hitchcock. “She seemed distressed at the thought that she might actually have harmed both Desparto and Gray.”
“She’s trying to get over the idea that she’s to blame,” said Bob, “and she’s trying to use her magical powers to help Beefy overcome his clumsiness. Actually, he doesn’t seem to be tripping over so many things or knocking over so many things as he used to, so maybe the magic works.”
“Also, his uncle isn’t giving him such a hard time,” Pete reported. “Having William Tremayne around would upset anybody and make them drop things.”
“Tell me,” said Mr Hitchcock, “did the police really find Jefferson Long’s fingerprints on that wrecked automobile? The one in which Pete was shut up?”
The boys grinned. “That was Jupe bluffing,” said Bob. “He was hoping Long would say something and give himself away. Actually, it was Thomas who cracked and ran–or tried to run. That was just as well. Thomas had all those keys in his pocket, and they included the keys to Beefy’s apartment and the keys to that pharmaceutical firm where Thomas used to work. So Jupe was right when he guessed where the magnesium came from.”
“Even without that bit of evidence,” said Jupe, “the police have plenty on both Long and Thomas. The ransom money for the Bainbridge films was in the trunk of Long’s car. He’d been so sure of himself that he hadn’t even bothered to move it. He was promptly arrested. Now he’s out on bail, and finding that his long friendship with law enforcement people is dead. They know now that he was just using them and they’re furious.
“As for Thomas, whose real name actually is Goodfellow–he’s served time for a number of things, including grand larceny and arson. He tried to go straight and keep an honest job, but he simply couldn’t. The pharmaceutical firm where he used to work has had an audit, and there are shortages in the accounts there. Thomas simply couldn’t keep from stealing, no matter what.”
“How fortunate that he is no longer in circulation,” said Mr Hitchcock.
“But Madeline Bainbridge is in circulation again,” reported Bob. “She’s decided that it’s dangerous to be a hermit, so she’s giving a party next Friday evening. She’s inviting the local members of her old magic circle.”
“Are they coming?” asked Mr Hitchcock. “You state in your report that the ladies seemed to dislike Madeline Bainbridge.”
“They do, but they’re also curious,” said Jupiter. “They want to see what she looks like after all these years, so they’re coming. And they’ll find her so unchanged that I’m sure they’ll believe that she is a witch! A good witch, perhaps, but a witch all the same.”
“No doubt the simple life she’s led has helped to keep her young,” said Mr Hitchcock.
“Wonderfully young,” Jupe reported. “She says she owes it all to health foods–she’s eaten nothing else for more than thirty years.”
“I trust she doesn’t consider deadly nightshade a health food,” commented Mr Hitchcock dryly.
Jupe laughed. “No, she told us that it was reserved for use in certain Sabbat potions–in very tiny quantities, of course. By the way, you are also invited to her party if you’d like to come. We told her we were seeing you today and she said she’d always admired your work. Would you care to dine on health foods at the ranch above Malibu? Or are you nervous about eating with witches?”
Mr Hitchcock considered this, and then he shook his head. “Please convey my regrets to the lady,” he said. “I am not at all nervous about witches–especially charming ones like Miss Bainbridge. However, when it comes to health foods–well, there I draw the line!”