The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow

“But, Jupe,” Bob objected, “why would he want to hire us if he’s the one who stole it? I mean, Ted was the one who persuaded Miss Sandow to hire us. He pushed hard for us.”
“Maybe too hard,” Jupiter observed. “He almost forced his aunt to hire us. Look, fellows, he must suspect that we have the amulet. He wants it back. That reward was his idea, and he made a point of saying no questions will be asked about where we found it if we turn it over. He’s inviting us to return it for the reward.”
“How would that help him?” Bob pointed out. “We’d give it to Miss Sandow. Why didn’t he come to us in private? He could have.”
Jupiter looked annoyed. “I admit I’m baffled about that. But two things are sure now: first, Ted wants the amulet; and second, his getting it back is much more important than any value it has.”
Pete groaned. “And we’ve lost it. There’s no way we can get it back.”
“But maybe there is,” Jupiter said. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since the man stole it. With his unusual appearance and clothes he’ll have a hard time hiding in Rocky Beach. He should be easy to spot. We’ll just use a Ghost-to-Ghost Hook-up!”
“Sure!” Pete looked enthusiastic again.
“He should be easy for kids to find,” Bob said.
“Let’s help Konrad and get home fast,” Jupiter suggested.
An hour later they had listed everything they thought Uncle Titus might want, and were on their way home. They reported to Aunt Mathilda, who was so fascinated by the list of Miss Sandow’s junk that she never noticed the boys slip away to their headquarters. Once inside the hidden trailer, they went to work setting up the Ghost-to-Ghost Hook-up.
This was the name Jupiter had given to a method he had devised for locating someone by using all the kids in Rocky Beach, or the whole area if necessary. It was a brilliant scheme because it was so simple. The boys simply phoned all their friends and asked for the information they wanted. If their friends couldn’t answer, the friends then phoned their friends who were not known to the investigators. In this way, they could contact every kid in the area in almost no time.
The Three Investigators prepared their description of the man in white and his battered car, mentioning the fact that another man had been with him, and then phoned their friends. They left the telephone number of their headquarters and asked anyone who saw the men or the car to contact them at once. Within an hour nearly every boy and girl in Rocky Beach would be looking for the dark man.
“Now,” Jupiter grinned, “we wait.”
But by six o’clock not one call had come in, and the boys looked at each other in glum surprise. Not one kid in Rocky Beach even thought he had seen the strangers.
“They must be hiding,” Bob said.
“If they’re in Rocky Beach at all,” Pete said.
“I’m sure they are,” Jupiter insisted. “The Ghost-to-Ghost Hook-up just takes time. We’ll hear, but meanwhile… ”
“Meanwhile,” Pete said, looking at the clock, “we had better get home for dinner.”
Jupiter sighed unhappily. The limitations of being a boy sometimes made the stocky leader of the trio squirm. But he, too, would soon have to appear for his dinner.
“All right,” the First Investigator agreed, “but after dinner, Bob, you go to the library and find out all you can about the Chumash Hoard. The library has a special collection of local histories, and we need to know everything about the Hoard. Also, look up Miss Sandow’s brother.”
“Don’t tell me what I’m going to do!” Pete exclaimed.
“You,” Jupiter said with determination,“ are going to go back out to Sandow Estate with me. Something is going on out there, and I want to know what it is.”
“But, Jupe, what can we learn out there?” Pete wanted to know.
“For one thing,” the First Investigator said, “we can try to find that laughing shadow again.”
Pete wailed. “Do we have to?”
“Be back here as soon as you can,” Jupiter said firmly, ignoring Pete’s wail. “And dress in dark clothes.”
* * *
The sun was going down behind the high mountains to the west when Pete and Jupiter reached the iron gates of the estate. They hid their bikes in a grove of trees, and Jupiter took a small, bulging sack from his parcel carrier.
“The wall is too high to climb,” Jupiter whispered, “and it runs round the whole estate on the main road side, so I came prepared.”
Bending over to open his sack, he took out two of the small, home-made walkie-talkies he had built for the trio, and a rope with a large, four-pronged hook at the end.
“The walkie-talkies are in case we become separated,” he explained, “and the rope has a grappling hook on it. I found four of them in a batch Uncle Titus bought recently.”
Jupiter threw the hook up to the top of the wall, where it caught on the stone ridge. The two boys tested it, and Pete pulled himself up. At the top he peered over. Then he hauled Jupiter up. They pulled the rope over and lowered themselves down inside the wall. Jupiter returned the rope to the bag which he hid.
“We’ll go up to the house,” the First Investigator whispered in the fading twilight. “Be alert, Pete.”
They made their way through the trees and brush to a small rise from where they could watch the house and barn. The estate grounds became dark and quiet as the last rays of sunlight vanished. There was light inside the big house, and shadows moved, but no one came out. All was quiet. In the distance they could hear cars passing on the road.
The boys became stiff and cramped from lying so long in one position. Pete’s leg went to sleep, and he moved to start the circulation. But Jupiter remained absolutely still. The lights went out downstairs in the house, and the moonless night grew even darker.
Suddenly, Jupiter touched Pete.
“What?” Pete whispered, startled.
“There!”
A vague, tall shape moved near the house. The shadow hesitated for a time as if listening, then began to move past the barn towards the woods to the east.
“When he reaches the woods, we’ll… ” Jupiter began.
The First Investigator never finished. At that moment a wild, chilling laugh echoed through the dark night.
 
8
Shapes in the Night
The laugh seemed to fill the dark night — high and crazy like a wild hyena.
“It must be him!” Pete whispered. “The laughing shadow! But he looks different somehow.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s not so humpbacked-looking,” Pete explained. “But that laugh sure sounded like him.”
“We’d better hurry!” Jupiter warned. “We might lose him.”
Quickly they left the small rise and headed towards the woods. The shadowy figure had taken a path that led through the trees. The boys followed behind as close as they dared. Fortunately the man never paused or looked back. He kept walking steadily ahead at a rapid pace. The wild laugh had stopped for the time being.
For more than a mile, according to Pete’s estimate, the shadowy figure walked east, deeper into the forest. Then he turned off the main path into a smaller side path which led down into a small, bowl-shaped valley. There was a dirt road in the valley, and a low, rambling house built of logs. The house had a porch all round, shuttered windows, and a stone chimney.
“Some kind of hunting lodge,” Jupiter whispered.
“Look!” Pete hissed.
A large, dark, oblong shape was moving along the road towards the lodge. As it drew closer, they saw that it was a truck with its lights out. The truck glided to a stop beside the man they had been following. A second man, short and heavy, jumped from the cab of the truck. There was a brief, whispered conversation in front of the lodge, then the short man went to the rear of the truck and lowered the tail-board.
Four more shadowy figures climbed down from the rear of the truck. The short man herded them into a line and pushed them towards the lodge. The taller man turned on a porch light, and the four newcomers stepped on to the porch, passing through the frontdoor in single file.