"Dixon, Franklin W - Hardy Boys 037 - The Ghost At Skeleton Rock (Original)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dixon Franklin W)

Joe dialed the first number. The quavering, high-pitched voice of an elderly
woman answered the phone. In reply to Joe's question, she snapped suspiciously,
"A purple turban? What on earth are you talking about?"
Joe tried to explain. But the woman's reaction was unfriendly, as if she
suspected some kind of a hoax.
"Young man, I can't make head nor tail of what you're saying. Sounds to me as if
you're trying to be funny — or else you've got the wrong number!"
With a loud sniff, she hung up.
"Whew! Guess I didn't do too well on that one," Joe told his brother. "Next time
remind me not to sound like such a crackpot!"
Joe dialed another number. The listing on this one was "Hugo's Meat Market."
"Yah, I'm Hugo," said a voice in a heavy German accent.
Joe explained that he was doing some private detective work and was trying to
locate a person named Hugo who had some connection with a purple turban — or
maybe someone known as "Hugo Purple Turban."
"Ach, no, I never hear of anyone like that," the butcher replied. "But if you
like some good knackwurst, just drop around any time!"
Frank chuckled as Joe hung up the phone, "We're getting nowhere fast. Let me
try."
The third Hugo listed was a Wilfred K., a jeweler and watch-repair expert.
" 'Hugo purple turban?' Hmm," the man responded thoughtfully. "Sounds to me as
if it might refer to that fortuneteller."
"Fortuneteller?"
"The Great Hugo, he calls himself—at least that's the name painted on his
trailer. He has a tent pitched beside the road, on Route 10, just north of
town."
"Thanks a lot, sir!" Frank exclaimed, with a surge of excitement. "Sounds like a
swell lead!"
As he cradled the phone, a peppery feminine voice spoke up from behind the boys.
"Before you get too deep in another mystery, take my advice and—"
"Oh, hi, Aunt Gertrude!" Joe smiled and turned around.
Frank said mischievously, "Aunt Gertrude's just jealous, Joe, because she
doesn't know all the facts!"
"Nonsense!" retorted their aunt, a tall, angular woman, who was Mr. Hardy's
maiden sister.
Although Aunt Gertrude would never admit it, Frank and Joe knew that she was
just as deeply intrigued by the Hardys' cases as the boys and their father.
Frank told her about Mr. Hardy's puzzling communication "Hugo purple turban" and
went on, "The man I just talked to on the phone seemed to think it might refer
to some fortuneteller called The Great Hugo."
"The Great Hugo! Why, of course!" Aunt Gertrude's eyes narrowed with a look of
suspicion.
"Do you know him?" Joe asked eagerly.
"I've heard about him—and what I've heard isn't good!" Miss Hardy explained that
two women she knew had gone to have The Great Hugo tell their fortunes. After
leaving his tent, they had discovered money missing from their handbags, which
they had hung on the backs of their chairs.
"You mean Hugo stole it?" Frank asked.
"Who else? Naturally, the women couldn't prove it," Miss Hardy added, pursing
her lips, "but there's no doubt in their minds."