The blinds had not been drawn in the bedrooms, and the light streamed in. One room was filled with massive, dark wood furniture, including a bureau crowded with photographs. Across the hall was a room with white furniture and coloured prints on the walls. Jupe had just peeked into this room when a telephone rang loudly.
Jupe jumped. Then he saw that there was a telephone on the table next to the bed. He glanced out the window towards the office.
Ernie was staring at the telephone on Eileen’s office desk. He looked doubtful.
The phone on the bedside table rang again.
Ernie picked up the telephone on the office desk. The telephone in the bedroom abruptly stopped ringing. Jupe smiled. This phone was an extension of the one in the office. Quickly, Jupe lifted the receiver and put it to his ear.
“Si,” said Ernie.
The caller at the other end of the line plunged into a torrent of Spanish. Jupe held his breath and listened, concentrating, struggling to make out as much of the conversation as he could.
The caller identified himself as Alejandro. He said that he was leaving now to see Strauss. There was something said about money. Jupe heard the name Denicola mentioned, and then his own name! Alejandro reminded Ernie that Jupiter Jones had spoken to old man Bonestell about the Denicolas and about the blind man. Alejandro cautioned Ernie to be careful. Ernie said that he would, and that he and Rafi had everything under control. Jupe gathered that Rafi was the room-mate in the office with Ernie. After a few more words, Ernie hung up.
Jupe put the telephone down and looked out. Ernie was in front of the office now, scanning the beach. He was frowning, and when his friend joined him he gestured up the beach towards his little house.
Rafi shrugged and started towards the place.
Ernie’s eyes lighted on the Denicola house. He suddenly looked curious, and he started forward.
Jupe backed away from the window. Darn! he thought. Ernie must have noticed the click when Jupe picked up the telephone.
Jupe heard a step on the porch downstairs, and a key being put into a lock. Ernie was down there. In a second he would be inside. Jupe had no time to get down the stairs. He could be caught and . . .
And what?
A bathroom adjoined the bedroom. Jupe heard a tap in there dripping slightly.
The front door opened with a creak.
In three steps Jupe had crossed the room. He entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then he returned to the bedroom, hid his camera under the bed, and stood behind the door.
Ernie pounded up the stairs, lurched to the doorway of the bedroom, and stood there for an instant, staring into the bathroom. Steam was coming from the shower now. It billowed out through the bathroom door.
Ernie strode through the bedroom into the bathroom, and yanked the shower curtain aside. As he did so, Jupe slipped out from behind the door, ran into the hall, and sped down the stairs. He could hear Ernie shouting as Jupe got the back door open, but he didn’t pause. He raced out of the house.
But now where could he go! He was out in the open, and Ernie would spot him any second!
17
The Final Clue
JUPITER RACED across the Denicolas’ yard towards the highway. He was too heavy to run fast for very long. He needed a place to hide from Ernie. But where?
Jupe saw that a camper was parked nearby on the shoulder of the road. The door in the back was open, and the man who owned the vehicle had turned away for a moment. He stood looking up at the cliffs across the road while wiping his hands on some paper towelling.
Jupe didn’t hesitate. He got swiftly and noiselessly into the camper, curled up on the floor next to some buckets of clams, and pulled a stained tarpaulin over his head. An instant later the door of the camper slammed shut. Then the owner got into the cab and started the engine.
The camper pulled away from the shoulder of the road. It drifted south about a hundred metres, then made a U-turn and picked up speed as it headed north. Jupe pushed off the tarpaulin, sat up, and looked out the window. He saw Ernie as the camper passed Denicola’s. The young man was looking up and down the highway. His fists were clenched, and on his face there was a look of total bewilderment.
Jupiter laughed out loud.
Halfway through the city of Oxnard, the camper stopped for a traffic signal for the first time since it had left Denicola’s. Jupe was ready and waiting. The moment the camper stopped moving, he was out the rear door and heading for the curb.
Jupe walked briskly down the street, turned the corner, and hurried on his way. Ten minutes later he was in the Greyhound Bus Terminal. When the bus pulled out for Santa Monica, Jupe was aboard.
Jupe felt a certain jubilation as the bus sped south. There was now not the slightest doubt that the young men at Denicola’s were spying on Mr. Bonestell. They knew of the conversation Jupe had had with him yesterday in which the blind man was mentioned.
But how could they know?
Jupe frowned. Mr. Bonestell must have talked with someone. Was it Gracie Montoya? Was she the connection? Jupe felt a surge of irritation. How foolish of Mr. Bonestell to talk!
The bus sped past the Denicola pier. There were no cars in the parking lot there, and the little office was empty.
Where was Ernie? Where were his friends? And where were the Denicola women? Ernie was up to some villainy, Jupe was certain of that. There was a conspiracy of some sort going on at the pier. Were Eileen Denicola and her mother-in-law victims of that conspiracy? Were they innocent bystanders who had been spirited away somewhere? Or were they part of the plot?
Suddenly Jupe was frightened. Was Mr. Bonestell safe? Eileen and old Mrs. Denicola had vanished. Would Mr. Bonestell be next?
Jupe was the first one out of the door when the bus stopped in Santa Monica. He had money in his pocket and there were cabs at the kerb. He took one to Dolphin Court.
It was four-forty when the taxi set Jupe down in front of Mr. Bonestell’s house. Jupe rang the doorbell. He felt real relief when Mr. Bonestell came to answer the ring.
“I didn’t even send for you!” exclaimed Mr. Bonestell. He looked hopeful, yet apprehensive. “I was wishing you’d call. Do you have any news?”
“I think so,” said Jupe. He followed Mr. Bonestell to the kitchen and sat down at the table.
“Mr. Bonestell,” he said, “who have you talked with since I left here yesterday?”
Mr. Bonestell looked startled. “Talked with? Why nobody. I haven’t been out of the house.”
“Then someone called,” said Jupe, “or someone came to see you.”
“No,” said Mr. Bonestell. “Nobody called. I . . . I don’t have lots of really close friends. Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s important. Think, Mr. Bonestell. Yesterday afternoon we talked about the Denicolas, and about a blind beggar. Now you must have mentioned this conversation to someone, or how did a person named Alejandro know about it?”
Mr. Bonestell looked upset. “I didn’t talk to anyone,” he insisted. “There wasn’t anyone here–nobody but Shelby, and I didn’t say anything to him. I didn’t! Nothing at all! Shelby isn’t–well, he isn’t easy to talk with. He acts as if what I have to say isn’t very interesting, and I guess maybe it isn’t. Anyway, when he came in last night he went right upstairs and locked himself in his room.”
“And you didn’t talk to him then? Or this morning?”
“No. No more than to say hello. I’m sure of it!”
Jupe sighed. He pulled at his lower lip and gazed blankly at the sugar bowl. Then into his mind came the picture of Shelby Tuckerman–Shelby with his wrap-around sunglasses and his turtleneck shirt. “According to your system of justice,” Shelby had said, “you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty.”
“Odd that I didn’t notice that,” said Jupe out loud.
“What?” said Mr. Bonestell.
“Shelby doesn’t care for your neighbours, does he?”
“I suppose not,” said Mr. Bonestell. “He thinks they’re common.”
“Is he so uncommon?” said Jupe.
Mr. Bonestell shrugged, and Jupe continued to stare at the sugar bowl. “When did Shelby start taking sugar in his coffee?” Jupe suddenly said. “He didn’t always do it, did he? The first night we were here he made a cup of coffee for himself, and he drank it black.”
“Why . . . why yes, I suppose he did,” said Mr. Bonestell. “He only started to use the sugar a day or two ago. He said it gave him a quick lift to have a spoonful of sugar.”