The Mystery of Monster Mountain, стр. 23

18

Mr. Hitchcock Learns a Secret

Two days after they returned to Rocky Beach, The Three Investigators called on Alfred Hitchcock at his office.

“I see that you have made the newspapers again,” said the famous motion-picture director. “I assume that you have written up this entire astounding affair. What are you going to call it? The Mystery of the Mirror Image?”

“We thought The Mystery of Monster Mountain might be a better title,” said Jupiter Jones.

“Monster Mountain?” Mr. Hitchcock frowned. “I have carefully gone over every news story on the kidnapping of Anna Schmid, and I have seen no mention whatever of a Monster Mountain.”

“We didn’t tell the reporters everything,” said Bob, and he handed a file across the desk to the director.

“I should have guessed it,” said Mr. Hitchcock. He opened the file and began to read.

The boys waited in silence until Mr. Hitchcock finished reading the notes that Bob had made on the case. When Mr. Hitchcock closed the file, he nodded. “Clever deductions, Jupiter Jones,” he said. “And there really was a monster?”

“We saw it,” Jupe told him. “But who would believe us? Hans and Konrad and Anna saw it, too, but they don’t even believe it. Hans and Konrad quickly decided that they’d seen a bear on its hind legs. Anna has buried the whole episode in the back of her mind and refuses to talk about it. And Mr. Smathers will never tell.” Jupiter shrugged.

Pete explained, “After the deputy took away Havemeyer and his wife, Mr. Smathers talked to us. He told us that if we said anything to the newspapers or the sheriff about the monster, he’d deny it and say that it was a bear we saw in the hermit’s cabin. It would be his word against ours — and no one believes wild stories from kids.”

“So it’s a secret,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “I appreciate the fact that you’ve shared it with me. I suppose it was Smathers who punched you, Jupiter, and who erased the creature’s tracks near the earthquake fracture?”

“He admitted it,” said Jupe. “But, again. he said he’d deny it if we mentioned the incident to the authorities. Whatever that creature is, Mr. Smathers wants to protect it, and the only way he can protect it is to conceal the fact that it even exists.”

“Quite right,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “If people knew there was a monster on the mountain, I am sure that numbers of men like Havemeyer would be out with tranquilizer guns hunting for it.”

“In a way, I’m glad it all turned out as it did,” said Bob. “I spent a couple of hours at the library last night, checking out some of the California folklore books. For years there have been reports of strange tracks in the Sierras and the Cascade Range. We have our own version of the Abominable Snowman, I guess, except that nobody’s ever been able to prove that he really exists. He stays back in the wild country, out of sight.”

“We can assume that the one we saw came down to the inn to get food, Just as the bears did,” said Jupe. “Mr. Smathers saw its tracks in the yard two days before we arrived at Sky Village. That very day, Havemeyer bought the tranquilizer gun, and the next day he had men up from Bishop to dig out that so-called swimming pool. Smathers guessed what he was up to, and he started hiking all through the high country, trying to find the creature and warn it. He passed the hermit’s cabin several times, but since he didn’t speak, Anna didn’t know anyone was nearby.”

“Poor Anna,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “What a dreadful experience that must have been.”

“She was pretty well recovered by the time we left,” Pete said. “And Hans and Konrad had a terrific visit with her. They like the real Anna much better than fake-Anna. She made lots of hot chocolate and pastries for them, and they yanked the wooden forms out of that hole in her back yard and filled it in. No swimming pool. No bear pit. Mr. Smathers was tickled pink.”

“I am sure he was,” said Mr. Hitchcock. “Mr. Jensen must also have been highly gratified to see the man who swindled his sister put behind bars.”

“You can say that again,” said Pete. “He gets the cold shudders when he thinks of what might have happened to the real Anna Schmid while he was hanging around trying to protect the fake Anna Schmid. Havemeyer wasn’t always a con man. He’s been arrested for armed robbery, and once he shot a bank guard. The man didn’t die, but probably only because Havemeyer’s a bad shot. So he can be violent.”

“Mr. Jensen is also glad that Havemeyer didn’t uncover his game.” Added Bob. “Jensen could have been in great danger himself. He said he’d had quite enough violence after being hit the night he took a picture of the bear.”

 “Why did he shoot that photograph?” asked Mr. Hitchcock. “And who hit him?”

“As I guessed,” said Jupiter, “Mr. Jensen snapped the bear merely to keep up the pretense that he was a wildlife photographer. He told us he looked out his window that night and saw a bear coming to the trash cans and decided the shot was too convenient to pass up. We figure it must have been the monster who hit him. Mr. Smathers claims the flash going off scared the beast, and it struck out instinctively. We’re only guessing here. Jensen now blames the attack on a second bear.”

“Is Jensen not in on the secret of Monster Mountain?”

Bob shook his head. “There wasn’t any need to tell him. And he probably wouldn’t have believed us anyway. I don’t think anyone besides you would believe us!” The investigator grinned.

“And you’re pleased about that, I see,” said Mr. Hitchcock.

Bob nodded. “I guess Mr. Smathers has made a convert out of me. I sure didn’t like the looks of that animal, but it would be kind of a shame to stick it in a cage and have people pay fifty cents a head for the privilege of getting a peek at it. And it’s kind of fun to think that there is something back there in the hills that we haven’t classified and catalogued and counted. I mean… well… ”

“You are a romantic,” concluded Mr. Hitchcock. “You are a preserver of nature’s unsolved mysteries. I quite agree with you. Few places are unexplored today, and few things are unexplained. We need the unknown and legendary creatures to stir our imagination.”

He stood up and handed the file back to Bob. “Long live the monster of Monster Mountain,” he said, “and if I were you, I would not hesitate to publish the file on the case of Anna Schmid. The monster will safely remain a legend. As you keep pointing out, no one will believe you!”