"Carey, M.V. - The Three Investigators 23 - The Mystery of the Invisible Dog" - читать интересную книгу автора (Carey M.V)

"Unfortunately, they did not."

"Too bad," said Murphy. He went around Prentice and up the steps. A second later the boys heard an apartment door inside the courtyard open and close.

"I think I will retire upstairs," said Mr Prentice. He stood up weakly. "Please call me tomorrow with your agreement to help, boys. I can't go on this way much longer. First the haunting intruder, then Edward's death, and now the burglary--it's more than a man can bear!"





3

The Magic Ointment



VERY EARLY the next morning, Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw met in front of The Jones Salvage Yard. This establishment was owned by Jupiter's Uncle Titus and Aunt Mathilda Jones. It was a fascinating spot for anyone interested in curious old objects. Uncle Titus did most of the buying for the yard, and he had a talent for collecting unusual items along with ordinary junk. People came from all parts of Southern California to prowl through his finds. Wooden panelling rescued from houses which were to be torn down, ornate iron fences, marble mantles, old-fashioned, claw-legged bathtubs, odd brass doorknobs and hinges--all were to be found in Uncle Titus' stock. There was even a pipe organ, which Uncle Titus loved and refused to sell at any price.

When Bob and Pete arrived that December morning, no bargain hunters prowled through the heaps of salvage. In fact, the great iron gates of the yard were padlocked.

Pete yawned. "Sometimes I wish I'd never met Jupiter Jones," he announced. "Some nerve, calling at six in the morning!"

"No one ever said Jupe didn't have nerve!" Bob remarked. "But if he called that early, we know it must be important. Come on."

The boys left the locked gate and walked along beside the board fence that surrounded the yard. This fence had been decorated by artists of Rocky Beach, for whom Uncle Titus had done favours from time to time. The front section featured a seascape--a stormy scene which showed a sailing ship foundering amid mountainous waves. In the foreground, a painted fish put its head out of the painted sea to watch the sinking ship. Bob pushed on the eye of the fish, and two green boards in the fence swung up. This was Green Gate One, a secret entrance to the salvage yard.

Bob and Pete went through the opening and let the gate swing shut behind them. They now stood in Jupiter's outdoor workshop, an area separated from the rest of the yard by carefully arranged heaps of junk. There was a small printing press in the workshop, and behind this was a piece of iron grating. Bob pulled the grating aside, bent down, and crawled into Tunnel Two, a length of corrugated pipe that ran beneath piles of salvaged iron to Headquarters.

Headquarters for the Three Investigators was a battered old mobile home trailer which stood at one side of the yard. It was hidden from view by heaps of old lumber and scrap iron.

Pete followed Bob into the tunnel, pulling the grating into place behind him, and crawled for forty feet. The pipe ended directly under a trap door in the floor of Headquarters.

"What took you so long?" asked Jupiter Jones when Bob pushed open the trap door. The chubby youth was in the tiny laboratory which the boys had fitted out.

Bob didn't answer, but Pete groaned as he climbed into the trailer. "I thought it would be nice if I brushed my teeth and put on some clothes before I came over," he said. "What's so important that we have to get up at dawn, and what have you got in that jar?"

Jupiter tilted the ceramic jar in his hand so that the others could see some fine white crystals.

"Magic powder," said Jupe.

Pete slumped into a chair and leaned sleepily against a file cabinet. "I hate it when you act mysterious," he said. "I especially hate it early in the morning."

Jupe took a flask of water from a shelf above the laboratory counter and poured a few drops over the white crystals, then stirred with a small plastic spoon. "These crystals are a metallic compound," he said. "I read about them in an old book on criminology. They will dissolve in water."

Bob sighed. "Are you going to give us a lecture on chemistry?"

"Perhaps." Jupe opened a drawer and took out a tube of thick, white ointment. He squeezed a good amount of this into the solution in the jar and then mixed everything slowly and thoroughly. "I've been holding this ointment for emergencies," he said proudly. "It will absorb water--not everything will."

He peered happily at the creamy paste in the jar. "That should do it," he announced as he screwed on a lid. "We now have a magic ointment."