The Mystery Of The Singing Serpent Part 12

"We've known for some time that there was an imitation. We guessed that Shaitan wanted the Empress Eugenie diamonds, and that that's why Hugo Ariel stayed in this house. Did they threaten you, Miss...o...b..rne?"

She began to sob. "It was horrible! Horrible! They said I had to make an offering." She took a handkerchief from a pocket in her gown and scrubbed at her eyes. Then she blew her nose in a determined manner.

"But I fooled them," she said proudly. "I pretended to hold out. I made them wait.

Wasn't that clever? Because the thing they have is paste, and the real necklace is safe!"

"In the vault at the jewelers'?" asked Jupe.

"At the jewelers'? Why, no. It was delivered when they brought the imitation. The real one was in a sack - an ordinary paper sack. I put it in the pocket of my robe and then later I hid it."

Allie sighed. "It's still in this house?"

"Of course it's in this house. Where else would it be? But it's safe. No one will ever find it. I'll never tell. I won't even tell you you."

Allie knelt beside her aunt. "All right, Aunt Pat. You don't have to tell me. But we must call the police." Her voice was very gentle.

"No!"

"Now we have proof," said Jupiter. "What they did to you is extortion. You must speak to Chief Reynolds."

"No!"

"Miss...o...b..rne, those are dangerous men, and they are by no means finished with their business in Los Angeles. Unless you talk to the police, innocent people may be hurt."

"An innocent person has has been hurt, and it's my fault. I can't! I won't! You don't know what you're asking! You don't know what it would mean!" been hurt, and it's my fault. I can't! I won't! You don't know what you're asking! You don't know what it would mean!"

"All right, Miss...o...b..rne," said Jupiter. "Only think about this: How long will it take Dr. Shaitan to discover that the necklace is an imitation? What will happen then?"

Pat Osborne was silent.

"Think about it, Miss...o...b..rne," said Jupe, "and don't wait too long."

Chapter 17.

A Warning from Pete MISs...o...b..RNE WAS still sitting in the living room, dazed, when The Three Investigators left.

"That woman is really, really dumb!" said Pete.

"Is she ever!" agreed Bob. "And we can't do anything if she won't talk to the police."

"There is one thing we can do," said Jupiter. "We know what Shaitan plans. He's going to eliminate the delicatessen that's across the street from Noxworth's store. We'd better locate that delicatessen and warn the owner. He'll be the next one to receive the serpent."

"But will he believe us?" asked Bob.

"Probably not," said Jupiter. "However, we can give him one of our cards and ask him to call us if a serpent object suddenly appears in his life. When the serpent is delivered, he'll be curious. I think he will call us."

The boys reached The Jones Salvage Yard and went into the office, where Jupiter consulted the Los Angeles telephone directory. "Noxworth's Mini Market is at Beverly and Third," he said.

"There couldn't be two of them," said Bob. "Do we call Worthington?"

Jupiter frowned. "Let's not run Worthington ragged. We can get into Los Angeles on the bus. Once we see Noxworth's store, we can easily spot the opposition. Only, I have a feeling we'd better not all go. If Shaitan shows up at Allie's house again, she'll call here. I want to be here if that call comes."

Bob leaned against a filing cabinet. "I'd like to stay here, too," he said.

"Okay. I'll go," said Pete. "But if that call comes from Allie, you guys had better yell for Chief Reynolds and the Rocky Beach Police Department. No telling what those crooks will do when they find out the necklace is a fake."

Pete hiked off to the highway then, to catch the bus into Santa Monica. In Santa Monica he transferred to a Los Angeles bus, and by noon he was standing at the corner of Beverly and Third.

Pete spotted Noxworth's Mini Market immediately. It was directly across the street from the bus stop, and Pete decided that the store matched the man. The windows, like Mr. Noxworth's unders.h.i.+rt, would have been better for a good was.h.i.+ng. Tatters of newspaper decorated the parking lot, and someone had dropped a pop bottle near the door.

Shards of green gla.s.s lay there undisturbed.

Pete scanned his side of the street. A television repair shop shared the block with another food store. Gleaming chrome letters on the wall of the delicatessen proclaimed that H. Hendricks supplied gourmet foods. Inside the shop, a large man with dark, curly hair scooped potato salad into a carton, while a plump lady consulted her shopping list. The white formica counter was spotless and uncluttered. There was no other food store in sight.

Satisfied that he had located Noxworth's compet.i.tion, Pete waited until the plump lady left the store. Then he went in.

"Mr. Hendricks?" said Pete.

"Yes?" said the man behind the counter.

"You are are Mr. Hendricks?" asked Pete. "I mean, you own this store, don't you?" Mr. Hendricks?" asked Pete. "I mean, you own this store, don't you?"

The man looked Pete over. Pete saw that he had more than his fair share of muscles.

There was no trace of gray in his dark hair, and the brown eyes were steady and clear. In short, Mr. Hendricks looked well able to take care of himself.

"You need a job, son?" he asked. "I hired a boy to deliver for me last week, but if -"

"I don't need a job," said Pete. "I only need to be sure you own this shop."

"You fussy about who sells you your pickles? Okay, I'm Hendricks and I own this place.

Now what's on your mind?"

"I came to warn you, Mr. Hendricks. I know this is going to sound crazy, but something bad will happen to you. I don't know exactly what, but it'll be bad."

Pete put one of the cards of The Three Investigators on the counter and wrote the private number of Headquarters on it. After a moment's thought, he added the number of The Jones Salvage Yard.

"If you should see a snake -" began Pete.

"I'll call the zoo," said Hendricks.

"I don't mean that kind of snake," protested Pete. "It won't be a live snake. It might be a statue of a snake, or a pin or something like that. It will be a cobra. If someone delivers a cobra to you, call either of these numbers. If one doesn't answer, the other will."

Hendricks did not touch the card. He looked as if he were waiting for the punch line to a joke.

"We think we can help you," Pete said quickly. "It's very serious. Someone's out to get you. When you see the snake, you'll know that something bad is going to happen. Now if you'll cooperate with us, we can -"

"Beat it," said Hendricks.

"Mr. Hendricks, we want to help."

"I said beat it!" The brown eyes had gone hard.

"Maybe when you see the snake, you'll change your mind," said Pete.

Hendricks started around the counter and Pete fled to the door. "Call any time," he said.

"Scram!" shouted Hendricks.

Pete scrammed. On the bus ride back to Rocky Beach he decided, unhappily, that he had not been at all successful in delivering the warning. He felt that Jupiter Jones might have done a better job. Jupe could be very convincing.

It was afternoon when Pete reached The Jones Salvage Yard. Bob and Jupe were there.

Bob was looking on as Jupe hosed down a sundial which Uncle t.i.tus Jones had recently acquired.

"Noxworth's compet.i.tion is a man named Hendricks," said Pete. "He is one heck of a tough guy."

"Did you warn him?" asked Bob.

"I warned him, and I left our card and the telephone number of the yard and the telephone number of Headquarters. He chased me out of his store."

"He didn't believe you." Jupiter turned off the hose. "We expected that. But if he does receive a snake object, he may call."

"I don't think we should wait for that call," said Bob. "We should go to the police now.

How can we protect a man who won't listen to us?"

Jupiter turned toward the gate of the salvage yard. A patrol car was pulling in, and Chief Reynolds was at the wheel. "It looks," said Jupe, "as if the police have come to us."

The head of the Rocky Beach Police Department stopped his car and got out. He approached The Three Investigators with the air of a man who is both weary and irritated.

"Would you hot-shots please tell me what you're doing now?" he asked.

"Have you had a complaint about us?" asked Jupe. "I've had a call from the Los Angeles Police Department, Juvenile Division. They asked me if I knew you, and I had to admit that I did." The chief pointed a finger at Pete. "You paid a call on a merchant named Hendricks today," he accused.

Pete gulped.

"You left your calling card and the telephone number of this place," said the chief, "which is why the LAPD called me. They think that you're trying to shake down Mr.

Hendricks."

"Shake him down?" cried Pete. "I wasn't trying to shake him down. I was trying to warn him."

"It didn't sound that way to Hendricks. It sounded more like a threat. Care to explain?"

"We'd be glad to," said Jupiter quickly.

"Fine," said Chief Reynolds. "I'm listening."

Jupiter decided that professional ethics would not permit him to mention Allie and her aunt, but otherwise he told the chief everything. He told of finding a mysterious house in Torrente Canyon, and of the peculiar brand of magic being practiced there. He admitted entering the house. He related the conversation he had overheard between Shaitan and his confederate. "We believe that Mr. Hendricks is in danger," he finished. "When the power of the singing serpent is invoked -"

Chief Reynolds held up his hand. "That's enough. Don't get so carried away. Los Angeles is full of weirdos who burn candles and chant to the moon. If they arrested everyone who thinks he's got some kind of pipeline to super power, there wouldn't be standing room in the city jail. Now I will explain about you three to the Los Angeles police, and that won't be easy. But please do me a favour. Keep out of other people's houses, or you'll really collect a load of buckshot some day."

When he had gone, Pete said, "You should have told him about Miss...o...b..rne and that necklace."

"I couldn't," said Jupiter. "Allie is our client and we have to protect her. And Miss...o...b..rne would deny our story, anyway."

In the office of the salvage yard, the telephone rang. Jupiter went to answer it. He was back outside in seconds. "That was Allie," he said. "The power of the singing serpent has been invoked against her aunt! The cobra was just delivered!"

Chapter 18.

Living Terror ALLIE WAS WAITING in the doorway when the boys arrived at the Jamison house. She had the cobra in her hands. It was not a piece of jewelry, like the serpent which Margaret Compton had received. It was a gilt statue about six inches tall. The body of the snake was a heap of s.h.i.+ning coils. The hooded head reared out of this. Red eyes sparkled as Allie held the thing up.

"Who was the messenger?" asked Jupiter Jones.

Allie led the way to the living room and put the statue down on the coffee table. "I don't know," she said. "Someone rang the bell and left the box on the front porch and took off."

"I don't suppose it matters," said Pete.

"No, I don't think it does. What does matter is that Aunt Pat got to the box before I did. Even before she unwrapped it, she was shaking. She knew."

"And then?" asked Bob.

"She saw the snake and she read the card."

Jupe bent over the white square of cardboard on the table. " 'Belial will claim his own. A soul is more precious than diamonds,' " he read aloud.

"They printed it nice and big, so she'd be sure to get the message," said Allie.

"And she got the message?" said Bob.

"Well, she fainted. I never saw anybody faint before. I didn't know what to do. After a while she opened her eyes and began to moan. I got her upstairs and put her to bed."

"Will she talk with the police now?" asked Bob.