Sam said from across the cellar, "Belongs to anyone can get it, I say. Finders, keepers!"
"In any case," Evans said, "I"m going to make sure it doesn"t fall into the hands of your Major Karnes or any other thief!"
"How?" Jupiter said.
"By fooling him, I hope - and we don"t have much time. I expect he"s taking so long because he"s tying up the boys and making his own plans. But he"ll be here in the cellar soon, he"ll be armed, and he won"t be alone. He"ll expect to see Jupiter but not Sam, so you stay hidden under those stairs, Sam. I"ll admit to him that I"ve found the treasure and that it"s in the storeroom. He"ll be so eager, he and his cohorts, that he"ll take me right into the storeroom to make me show them where it is, and he"ll forget all about Jupiter. So the moment we"re all in the storeroom, you come out fast, Sam, and you and Jupiter slam the storeroom door and lock it with a padlock on the outside."
As Evans went into the storeroom to find a padlock, Jupiter objected, "But you"ll be trapped in there with them!"
"I have my gun," Mr.
Evans said, coming out with a large lock and handing it to Sam, "and I think I can guarantee to capture them.
They"ll be so surprised when the door closes that they"ll run to try to open it - people always react that way.
I"ll get the drop on them, and I"ll hold them until you two free Bob and Pete and bring the police."
"Jumpin" catfish," Salty Sam whispered across the cellar, "here they come!"
"Stand a little behind me, Jupiter!" Evans said. "Sam, if my plan doesn"t work, be ready to jump them! All right, here we go."
Evans positioned himself in the centre of the main cellar just as the wall began to slide open. When it was fully open, Karnes and Carl strode into the cellar with their pistols in front of them. They saw Joshua Evans and Jupiter immediately.
"So, the third boy detective and Mr. Joshua Evans himself," the little major said with a laugh. "I should have known you"d be behind those junior snoops in the boathouse, Evans. All right, let"s stop playing games. Hand over the goods right now!"
Mr. Evans shrugged. "Okay, Karnes, you win. Leave these kids out of it. What you want is in the storeroom in a cabinet on the rear wall."
Carl bolstered his gun as he ran towards the storeroom door.
"Carl!" Karnes snapped. The man stopped, and Karnes waved his pistol towards Joshua Evans. "You go first, Evans. Go ahead, move!"
Evans walked into the storeroom with Major Karnes and Carl close behind him.
Kames never took his eyes off Evans" broad back, as if he were sure Evans was going to try to pull some trick. As they vanished into the storeroom Carl pushed ahead in his eagerness to reach the cabinet on the far wall.
Jupiter was totally forgotten, as Evans had predicted. Sam scrambled out from under the stairs. Quickly he and Jupe pushed the heavy storeroom door closed, and Sam snapped the ma.s.sive old padlock shut!
There was a long moment of silence, and then shouts of rage and the sound of running feet on the other side of the door. The doork.n.o.b was turned, rattled, pulled on! Then Joshua Evans" cool voice spoke on the other side.
"I"ve got you both covered. Put those guns down easy. Nice and easy. Now turn around. Okay, Jupiter, go get the police."
"On our way!" Jupiter cried.
He could hear Joshua Evans chuckle softly inside the storeroom and could almost see him grinning at the furious Major Karnes and Carl.
Chapter 20.
The Criminals Captured TIED HAND AND FOOT, Pete and Bob sat against the van in the dim boathouse.
Hubert guarded them like some great, nervous dog. He held a torch in his shaky hand.
"You don"t give me no trouble, you know? Boss says I got to not let you get away, so don"t you try nothing!"
But Hubert was much too nervous to stand over them for long. He padded over to the water and shone his light under the dock as if hoping to see Major Karnes. Then he padded back to warn the boys again not to give him trouble, and went on to the doors of the boathouse to look outside for any danger that might be sneaking up on him.
He was down at the end of the boathouse dock when a soft hissing seemed to come from Bob"s jacket pocket.
"Records," Pete whispered. "It"s your walkie-talkie. You left it on. Can you reach it to push transmit?"
Bob squirmed as silently as possible and managed to get his bound hands to the outside of his jacket pocket. After a few tries he pressed the right b.u.t.ton through the cloth. He spoke aloud.
"You"ve got us tied up good in this boathouse, Hubert. You don"t have to worry about us getting loose."
Then Bob found the receive b.u.t.ton through the cloth and pressed it. Jupiter"s voice came very low.
"I understand. Listen carefully. Tell Hubert that Karnes wants to talk to him. He knows Karnes has one of our walkie-talkies, so he should come and listen. I"ll handle the rest."
Pete called, "Hubert!"
The giant looked up. "You ain"t supposed to talk."
"Okay," Bob said, "but Major Karnes told us to tell you he wants to talk to you."
"Talk?" The mammoth man looked around to see where the major was in the boathouse.
"On our walkie-talkie," Pete said. "You know, those little hand radios? The major took one of ours, remember?"
"Radio? Oh, yeah, I remember. The boss, he"s talking on one of them?"
"Sure," Bob said. "Come and listen."
Hubert came slowly towards them, suspicious of a trick but too scared of Karnes to risk not doing what the major said.
Suddenly the walkie-talkie boomed out, "Hubert, you dolt, when I say I want to talk to you, I mean it!"
Bob and Pete would have jumped a metre into the air if they hadn"t been tied up.
It was an exact duplicate of the major"s voice, to the last quirk. No matter how often they had seen and heard Jupiter"s skill at acting and mimicking, they were always startled by their friend"s amazing ability to duplicate almost any voice. Hubert went pale, staring at Bob"s pocket as if it were the major himself.
"Y-y-yes, boss."
"Stop stammering, you idiot! Now listen to me. Make sure those two boys are tied up, take their walkie-talkie away, then come on through the tunnel and join us! And I mean right away, you fool!"
Hubert nodded rapidly to Bob"s pocket. "Sure, boss. Right now. I"m coming."
In his anxiety to do what the major said, poor Hubert even forgot to check Bob and Pete"s ropes before he clumsily grabbed the radio, scrambled under the pier, and sloshed on into the narrow tunnel entrance. The instant he was gone, the doors of the boathouse opened and Sam Davis scampered in to untie Bob and Pete.
"We got the major and Carl trapped in the back room of the cellar," Sam chuckled. "Evans tricked "em, and he"s got a gun on "em too. Evans he already found that treasure and he tricked the major right into that storeroom!"
"Mr. Evans has the pirate treasure?" Bob said as he stood up.
"Had it before I even started lookin"," Sam admitted.
Pete untied his feet. "So it was you in the Purple Pirate costume! Looking for the treasure and trying to scare us!
Sam hung his head. "I come back one night cause I fergot somethin", and I saw them guys leave the boathouse. It took me a couple days to find that tunnel. I just wanted to look for whatever they was after. Never meant no harm."
"Never mind that now," Bob urged. "Let"s get out of here before Hubert figures it out and comes back!"
They ran across the dark grounds to the stone tower. Inside, Jupiter was waiting with his walkie-talkie in his hand. As soon as he saw them he bent over the instrument.
"Hubert, you imbecile! Get back to the boathouse! You"ve been tricked! That wasn"t me talking earlier, you idiot! Get your carca.s.s back to the boathouse right now!
If they"ve escaped I"ll have your hide! Hurry, you fool!"
They all listened. Far below they thought they heard the sound of a loud whimpering and then a m.u.f.fled scrambling back towards the boathouse. They all laughed.
"Wow, some impersonation, Jupe!" Pete cried.
"But what do we do now?" Bob asked.
Before Jupiter could answer, they heard the sudden revving of an engine. As they ran outside they saw the van career out of the boathouse, turn on two wheels into the main promenade, and race towards the front gate. Hubert crashed the van right through the gates and vanished into the night.
"He acts like the devil"s after him!" Pete said.
"Just Major Karnes,"
Jupiter said, "and it"s time we turned that particular devil over to the police."
The Three Investigators" old friend Chief Reynolds was working late and heard their story from the officer on desk duty. The chief immediately sent some men to capture the henchman Santos and bring Captain Joy and Jeremy to the Purple Pirate Lair. Chief Reynolds then got in touch with the county sheriff, and they all raced, sirens screaming, to Pirates Cove. By the time they reached the stone tower, Captain Joy and Jeremy and the other policemen had caught up with them.
"We caught the one named Santos," a policeman reported.
"Good," the chief said. "Let"s get the others."
In the cellar the police drew their guns as Jupiter unlocked the ma.s.sive padlock and swung the heavy door open.
"All right," the sheriff said, "come out with your hands up."
A glum-looking Carl and a red-faced Major Karnes marched out of the storeroom with their hands in the air. Smiling, Joshua Evans came out behind them still carrying his pistol. The police promptly clamped handcuffs around the wrists of the criminals.
"Exactly what are you charging us with?" Major Karnes demanded.
"I expect breaking and entering will do," Jupiter said.
"Or possibly attempted burglary, a.s.sault, illegal possession of a concealed weapon, and even kidnapping of the boys!" Chief Reynolds added.
Joshua Evans said, "You got them all?"
"All except Hubert," Bob said, laughing. He told Evans about Jupiter"s trick on the ma.s.sive watchdog. "I"ll bet he won"t stop driving until that van runs out of petrol."
But Jeremy could stand it no longer. "Hey, guys! Mr. Evans! Where"s the treasure?"
Mr. Evans grinned, "Come on." He led them across the storeroom to a large cabinet along the rear wall. Out of the cabinet he took a shiny black lacquered box with glistening bra.s.s fittings and the name LT. WILLIAM EVANS LT. WILLIAM EVANS burned in the top. burned in the top.
He placed the chest on a table and flung open the cover.
"Gosh," Jeremy breathed.
They all gaped at the mounds of rings, pendants, bracelets, gold candlesticks, silverware, and a lot more that shined and glittered even in the dim light. Bob picked up a brooch. Pete and Jeremy plunged their hands into the ma.s.s of jewellery. Jupiter picked up a ring, then carefully fingered the beautiful Chinese chest itself.
"It must be worth millions," Bob said.
"You"re a fortunate man, Evans,"
Chief Reynolds said. "I suggest you hire a lawyer to be sure that everything is legal, but I can"t see what could go wrong. Even if this was pirate loot, there"s no way of proving that now, and it was found on your property. As the piracy was committed when California was part of Mexico, the Mexican government might try to claim the treasure, but there"s no way they could possibly succeed."
"I"ll certainly take your advice, Chief," Evans agreed.
The sheriff ordered his men to take Carl and Major Karnes to the Rocky Beach jail to join Santos. Chief Reynolds sent his men with them to start the dragnet for Hubert.
"Well, boys," the chief said, smiling, "another fine job of detection. I"m proud of you as always, but now it must be time for you to start home. The least I can do is give you a lift."
"I certainly want to thank the boys," Joshua Evans agreed. "Perhaps they would like to come and help me inventory my find tomorrow, eh? I expect those crooks will be out on bail soon enough, and I want the treasure safe in a bank."
"They won"t make bail until tomorrow noon at the earliest," Chief Reynolds said.
"I don"t expect they"ll bother you even then, but to be sure, I"ll leave a man on guard at least until Hubert is caught."
"And Dad and I could help you inventory the treasure right now!" Jeremy cried.
"Well, everyone wants to help," Mr. Evans said. "And I want to reward my three investigators. Boys, take a piece of treasure each."
Eagerly the Three Investigators crowded around the black lacquered chest. Pete took a large gold and emerald brooch. Bob a diamond bracelet, and Jupiter a sapphire and diamond ring. Then they piled their bikes into the police van and got a ride home.
Chapter 21.