The Mystery of the Blinking Eye Page 14

  “That may mean we’ll have to wait till we get back to Sleepyside to find out what happened to the statue,” Trixie pointed out.

  “Oh, I hope not!” Barbara cried. “We’ve just got to know how it all turns out.”

  “We may never know,” Mr. Wheeler said realistically. “The police aren’t successful in solving all the cases they undertake.”

  “Trixie is!” Honey insisted.

  “With your help, Honey, and the help of all the Bob-Whites. I think we’re going to know more about this soon. I just feel it in my bones!” Trixie smiled confidently.

  “We’ll all gather up our leg bones and amble back to the apartment if you’ve finished your dinners.” Mr. Wheeler smiled and called for the check.

  “It’s wonderful!” Barbara sighed. “This wonderful café, the wonderful fountain with its wonderful lights, and all the wonderful excitement about Blinky. It’s all been—well, just—”

  “Wonderful,” Bob supplied. “So is your vocabulary, Barb.” He smiled affectionately at his twin.

  The Big Search • 17

  DR. JOE was just leaving when Trixie and her group stopped in front of the apartment building. “I wanted to get the latest lowdown on the Belden-Wheeler case,” he told them with a grin. “I don’t dare to go home without a report for Tex and the twins.”

  “Come upstairs, and we’ll give it to you,” Mr. Wheeler invited. “It’ll curl your hair, as Mart says.” Dr. Joe laughed. “I’m afraid I’d find that a major catastrophe. Did something interesting happen? I smell excitement in the air.”

  In the apartment, they told Dr. Joe about the loss of the idol. When Trixie’s fancy started to roam, Mart held her to the bare facts. Dr. Joe listened intently to every word.

  “I’m glad of one thing,” he told Honey’s father, “and that is that you’ve been herding this gang lately. That business of Trixie at the hamburger place still makes my blood run cold. What do you suppose is going to happen next?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, Joe. Say, there’s the telephone. It may be the police calling.”

  Trixie was on her feet immediately. “I’ll get it,” she said.

  They listened. “Hello.” They saw Trixie’s face redden, and it was easy to see that she was very angry.

  “The police must be blaming Trixie for something,” Honey said with concern.

  Mart agreed. “Someone’s mad at someone, for sure.”

  “Now you just listen to me a minute!” Trixie stamped her foot. “You say I’ve double-crossed you. That makes me laugh. You stole that statue right out from under our feet tonight— Stop shouting! I can’t understand a word you say. The diamond?” Trixie turned to her listeners and held her finger to her lips to caution them to silence.

  “Diamond!” Bob whispered.

  “Why don’t you and the others come to our apartment and discuss the matter with us?” Trixie continued. “I want to know who really owns the stone. It can’t be very large.... What did you say?... What do I call large?”

  “Bigger than a bread box!” Mart quipped.

  “Be quiet, please,” Mr. Wheeler warned. “Shall I talk to the man, Trixie?”

  She shook her head vigorously, listened some more, then replaced the receiver.

  “Jeepers!” Trixie looked dazed. “That’s what the idol had inside his head—a big diamond! His head must have been split open when it hit the café floor, and the stone dropped out. Let’s call the police right away and tell them the latest.”

  “We’d better call the café, too. They were just closing when we left, though. The diamond is probably still on the floor there,” Mr. Wheeler said.

  Jim shook his head. “One of the dozens of people who were crawling around helping us try to find the statue probably found the diamond and pocketed it.”

  “I guess you may as well kiss it good-bye, Trix,” Mart said.

  “I certainly will not, Mart Belden.” Trixie was almost shouting. “Blinky just said that stone is worth thousands of dollars! Let’s call the police now, then go back over to that restaurant and hunt again.”

  “It will be too late now, I’m afraid,” Dr. Joe said sadly. “The floor will have been swept and the trash deposited with the tons of waste ready to be picked up in the morning. The cleaners move in fast as soon as the crowd leaves.”

  Trixie snapped her fingers. “I just thought of something! It may not be too late to search the sweepings from the café. I know I’ve read someplace that all the big office buildings save the accumulation of trash from each floor for a day before they burn it!”

  “You’re absolutely right. How smart of you, Trixie!” Mr. Wheeler exclaimed. “Why didn’t I remember that? It’s to keep valuable papers from being burned.”

  “And valuable diamonds from disappearing,” Trixie said, her face one big smile. “What do I do next?”

  “That’s for the police to say.” Mr. Wheeler quickly dialed the familiar number.

  “If I’m going to see any of my patients at the hospital, I’d better be going,” Dr. Joe said regretfully. “I guess I’ll have to wait till morning for the next chapter. Say, I almost forgot to. tell you all how grateful little Evalinda was for the stuffed rabbit you sent her. She sleeps with its nose right next to her face. Trixie, after all you’ve gone through, I surely hope you find that stone.”

  “It’s a mystery to me how he could leave without knowing what the police say,” Barbara said, her eyes bright with excitement. The Bob-Whites and their friends waited expectantly while Mr. Wheeler talked to the police. “I won’t sleep a wink tonight, I know. Gosh, I hope the case is solved before we leave on the plane tomorrow. What did the police tell you?” she asked Mr. Wheeler as soon as he put down the telephone receiver.

  “I had to wait while the officer called the head of the Peruvian police delegation,” Mr. Wheeler reported. “Apparently, Trixie, that diamond is the key to the whole jewel robbery. There is a record of a shipment of twelve of those little wooden statues, all of them assigned to that antique dealer where you bought yours. In them, the thieves concealed diamonds that had formed a necklace stolen from an idol in a temple deep in the jungle in South America. One of the stones, a perfect blue-white one weighing about ten carats, was the center one in the necklace. The Peruvian police are pretty sure that is the one that was in the idol you bought, Trixie, because Blinky and Big Tony and Pedro have been giving you such a hard time. The police are sure you’ve put them on the trail of the other idols. They have that so-called antique dealer in custody.”

  Trixie’s big blue eyes grew rounder. “What did they say is the next move? Did you tell them the diamond may be in the trash at that building?”

  “I did,” Mr. Wheeler reported. “Didn’t you hear me? The officer told me we can’t do a thing till morning. Besides, the crooks just could come back and step right into a trap. He’ll ask then to have a search made. He said he’d try to get in touch with the custodian and see if the trash from the lower level has been added to the rest. Obviously it will make the search much easier if it hasn’t.”

  “Then we have to sit on our hands till morning?” Trixie’s face fell as Mr. Wheeler nodded.

  “We’d better get a game of cards or some guessing games going, then,” Jim said quickly. “There’ll be no sleep tonight for any of us.”

  “We can watch the late, late show,” Mart said cheerfully.

  “I think that’s ridiculous, staying up all night. It will probably be almost noon before the police can possibly make any kind of a report. I’m going to bed.” Mr. Wheeler picked up his hat and opened the door to go to the boys’ apartment across the hall. “There isn’t one single thing anyone can do till noon.”

  “I think I’ll try to, control my curiosity till then, too,” Miss Trask said and bade everyone good night.

  “I know what I’m going to do,” Trixie announced determinedly. “At daylight I’m going back to the plaza and watch them sort the trash. Jim will go with me, won’t you?”

&
nbsp; “Of course,” Jim said. “So will the rest of the gang, I know.”

  “You bet!” Ned agreed. “Let’s get out the playing cards. Two cents says the girls will fall asleep over the game. Barbara and Di are yawning right now.”

  “Not me!” Trixie said briskly. “Will you shuffle the cards, please, Jim?”

  When the first light of dawn crept into the living room, Trixie, Jim, Dan, and Ned were the only ones awake. The rest were sound asleep in their chairs or on the sofa. Someone had turned off the television.

  “We can go now,” Trixie said. “We’ll have to wake the rest, though. They’d never forgive us if we went without them.”

  “Barb and Bob wouldn’t, for sure,” Ned declared and nudged the twins to arouse them.

  “Dad and Miss Trask will know we just couldn’t possibly wait any longer, since Bob and Barb and Ned have to leave this afternoon,” Jim said. “I don’t think they’ll mind. It’ll be daylight, and we’ll all be together. I’ll leave a note for them; then we’ll get breakfast somewhere at the plaza.”

  No elevator was running in the apartment building, so they rushed down the ten flights of stairs to the street, too excited to be quiet.

  Out on the street, the early morning traffic honked, banged, and whistled. An amazing number of people were hurrying to work. Trixie and her friends hurried even faster.

  When they reached the plaza, it was deserted. They went to every entrance. All were locked. Lights shone here and there inside, but when Trixie and Jim peeked through the windows, they couldn’t see anyone moving about.

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, huge trucks backed up on the very low level of the building. Men in denims clambered out. Great doors swung open. The denim-clad men hurried through. Quick as a flash, Trixie was after them, Jim right behind her.

  “Hey, kids, where do you think you’re going?” one of the truckmen called.

  “Beat it!” a stocky maintenance man in front of the door shouted, barring the way.

  “We had dinner here last night, out on the open terrace—” Trixie began.

  “Yeah? So what?” the stocky man asked sarcastically.

  “I lost a very valuable jewel. Haven’t the police called about it?”

  “At five o’clock in the mornin’? Are you kiddin’? Say, Mac,” he called to someone inside the building, “seen anything of a diamond tiara?” He laughed and slapped his sides. “Watch out there, kids!” he called to the rest of the group who were trying to push their way inside. “Keep out of here, or I’ll call a cop.”

  “But, don’t you see, that’s exactly what we want you to do!” Trixie insisted. “The police want to search the sweepings from the restaurant before all the trash gets mixed up together.”

  “Whyn’t you say so?” the man asked. “Hey, Mac, you’d better talk to this kid. Maybe there’s somethin’ in what she’s sayin’. Keep back there, the rest of you. Just you two,” he told Trixie and Jim. “Wait outside, the rest of you. Hey, look. Here comes a cop now, Mac.”

  Mac and the policeman were soon in deep conversation. Soon the maintenance man’s attitude changed. He let the rest of the young people go inside.

  “We’ll hold up the sweepings, but you’ll have to wait till the rest of the trash is hauled away. Keep back out of the way, please,” the policeman warned. “Someone will have to come from headquarters to supervise the job.”

  For an hour and a half the watchers hung around the entrance as huge container after huge container was emptied into the jaws of trucks and driven away.

  “That diamond just has to turn up before we go to the airport!” Barbara said. “We’ll die dead if we aren’t in on the finish.”

  “It doesn’t look as though there ever will be a finish. Why don’t they get going?” Bob moaned.

  It was another hour before anyone showed up from the police department. Then, when two men finally did arrive, they were accompanied by three deeply tanned policemen in foreign uniforms. They were quickly identified as the visiting Peruvians. They shook hands with extreme politeness with Trixie and all her friends.

  The police promptly busied themselves with searching the sweepings. The Peruvians helped, pawing over every inch of the gigantic accumulation while Trixie ran from one searcher to another, dying to get her own hands on the debris.

  After minutes went by, then half an hour, Miss Trask and Mr. Wheeler arrived. Fortunately, Mr. Wheeler was good-natured about the early morning exodus from the apartment. Miss Trask stood quietly aside, watching.

  The search continued. Cigarette and cigar stubs, cleansing tissue, burned matches, ashes, crumpled papers, abandoned matchbooks, gum wrappers, old newspapers, magazines—every sort of remnant of a day’s activity was examined and pushed aside.

  Trixie eyed carefully the ash and dirt residue as the bulkier trash was lifted from it, hoping against hope to catch a glint of the jewel. Her hope was in vain. As careful as Trixie’s search was, the Peruvian police were more thorough. Finally, even they gave up. As the last container was carried to a waiting truck, the men shrugged their shoulders and admitted defeat.

  “It is gone,” the spokesman of the group sighed. “It is perhaps Blinky. Or perhaps someone else picked the stone up from the floor. There were many down on their knees searching, no?”

  Trixie nodded her head.

  “Don’t feel so bad, Trix,” Mart said. “You did all you could to hold on to it. It looks now like good-bye diamond!”

  “Yes, as you say, good-bye diamond,” the Peruvian echoed. “At least, Miss Trixie, if we do not find this jewel, we find the other idols and other stolen jewels— maybe. The man who sell this one to you, the police have him, and he has given us what you call a lead, si?”

  “That’s right, Mr. Wheeler,” the New York policeman said. “It looks as though we may round up the rest of the loot. I wish I felt confident that we’d round up Blinky, Big Tony, and Pedro. We know they used a black Cadillac while they were in the city, and we’ve put up roadblocks at all the exits from Manhattan. I feel sorry for the kid who’s been mixed up in all this. She might have been in on a sizable reward if she’d had the stone. I guess she’ll get something out of it if those two men are caught, for she sure has been on the ball trying to hunt them down!”

  “She’s a real detective. You didn’t know that, did you?” Barbara asked the policeman.

  “No, I didn’t.” He winked at Mr. Wheeler.

  “My daughter, Honey, and Trixie work together,” Mr. Wheeler said seriously. “They’ve turned in some pretty hardened criminals. No, I mean it,” he insisted as the men standing around him laughed. “I’ve learned to respect Trixie’s ambition. I’ve an idea you will, too, before this thing is ended.”

  “Now I’ve heard everything.” The head policeman took off his hat to Trixie. “Well, Miss Detective, you’ll have to work a miracle to come up with that diamond now. There’s not a clue left. We’ll have a full report later,” he added, nodding to Mr. Wheeler.

  The “Obvious” Answer ● 18

  A VERY WOEBEGONE group walked single file around the building to the coffee shop.

  Inside, they lined up at the long counter. They were studying the menus when Miss Trask, counting noses, asked, “Where’s Trixie? Where’s Honey?”

  “And Jim?” Mr. Wheeler added.

  “I thought they went to wash their hands,” Diana said, looking around the coffee shop. “They’ll probably be here in a minute. We might as well order.”

  “If anyone is interested in what I think,” Ned said, “I’m pretty darned sure that Trixie is off on another scent.”

  “That’s impossible!” Mr. Wheeler exclaimed and slid off the stool. His face was stern. “What could she do now? I’m going to be extremely upset with Jim and Honey, too. That Trixie is indefatigable!”

  “Yeah,” Mart agreed, “and persistent, persevering, aggressive, resolute—”

  “Tenacious, enduring, unfaltering—” Bob added, laughing.

  “Unswerving, indomitable—�
�� Mart went on.

  “Unflagging,” Bob continued without pause, “unflinching, obdurate—”

  “And unfailing!” a voice called out triumphantly behind him. They whirled around to see Trixie, who stood grinning, her closed fist above Mr. Wheeler’s head.

  “Trixie!” They crowded around her.

  She opened her hand. There lay the dazzling white diamond, sparkling in the reflected gleam of the ceiling lights.

  “Gosh!” Bob cried, awed.

  “Wow!” Ned added.

  “Where did you find it?” Barbara gasped.

  Trixie was so excited she couldn’t talk. She started speaking, then sputtered and stopped. Honey came to her rescue. “Daddy, let’s go into the lounge, away from this crowd, so we can talk about all that has happened.”

  “It’s fabulous!” Jim said, his eyes on Trixie in deep admiration.

  “I found it in the restaurant!” Trixie announced breathlessly. “Right on the floor! Isn’t it perfectly beautiful? It was lying there just where the idol fell.

  Why I didn’t think to look there this morning, I’ll never know.”

  “The obvious always escapes us,” Miss Trask said softly. “Where did you actually find it, Trixie? That area had been swept thoroughly. The diamond must have been lodged somewhere.”

  “It was!” Honey said. “There was a little crevice in the floor. It had fallen into it. When Trixie left the rest of you, Jim and I didn’t know what had come over her. We just followed. Then we saw her creep around on the floor and come up with that!”

  “Holy cow!” Bob cried reverently. “Now you’ll cut in on the reward. Those handicapped kids sure are lucky to have you for their friend, Trixie.”

  “And we’re lucky to get in on the finish,” Barbara said, hugging Trixie.

  “Boy, I’ll say,” Bob added. “Trixie always gets her man!”

  Trixie’s face fell. “Keep the stone for me, please, Mr. Wheeler. You aren’t in on the finish, Barbara. I don’t always get my man, Bob. Blinky, Big Tony, and Pedro are still at large. Worse than that, I don’t have the ghost of an idea where they may be.”