The Secret of the Crooked Cat - Arden William (читать онлайн полную книгу .txt) 📗

Then Pete exclaimed:

“Gosh, a tattoo is something everyone remembers!”

Bob added, “They’d hardly remember anything else once they’d seen that tattoo. We hardly did.”

“And he made sure everyone saw that tattoo, which would have been foolish if it was a real tattoo he couldn’t remove,” Jupiter emphasized. “I believe he is an ordinary man, younger and not swarthy, and with no tattoo! And I am convinced he must be the Amazing Gabbo. Only a trained carnival performer could fool Mr. Carson.”

“But there’s no human fly in the show, Jupe,” Pete said.

“No, he wouldn’t use his real act But most carnival performers can do other acts.”

“And Andy said Mr. Carson doesn’t really know Gabbo,” Bob pointed out.

“Exactly,” Jupiter agreed. “Andy said Mr. Carson might know Gabbo if he really looked closely for him. But Gabbo has been in prison, and quite a few years have passed. If Gabbo kept to himself and was rarely seen out of some costume, Mr. Carson would never recognize him. Each performer has his own private trailer or truck. If he changed in his trailer, it would be easy to be seen mostly only in his costume.”

“The crooked cats, Jupe,” Peter said. “What does he want with them? Is the money in them?”

“No, Second,” said Jupiter. “That would be totally impracticable. I would guess that something inside one cat shows where the $100,000 is. Or is something he must have to retrieve his loot. A small map, a key, a sign that identifies him, or a left-luggage ticket!”

“Something he hid in a crooked cat during that fire in San Mateo in case he was searched!” Bob decided.

“Wow,” Pete cried, “that would sure explain it all.”

“But,” Bob wondered, “if he has what he wanted from the crooked cat, wouldn’t he go after his loot right away, as the Chief thinks? Would he stay around here?”

“No, I think he would stay at the carnival, Records,” Jupiter stated firmly. “He is actually safest there, if no one knows he’s a member and what he really looks like. He doesn’t suspect that anyone has guessed that he’s there. He must know the police are looking for him now. And he must realize that if he left the carnival now he’d draw attention to himself. No, his best course now is to lie low! At least until the carnival leaves Rocky Beach, or closes.”

“Well,” Pete said, “if you’re right, he won’t do any more at the carnival. He isn’t out to wreck it.”

“Yes,” Jupiter pronounced, “we can safely say there will be no more accidents. And the carnival will be open any minute now. It’s time to catch our robber! We’ll take our signallers, just in case. Come on, fellows.”

They crawled out through Tunnel Two, and on their bikes rode towards the carnival. It was dusk, with the mountain wind rising strong. They parked their bikes near the carnival and joined the early crowd of customers streaming towards the entrance. Suddenly shouts rose ahead!

The people round them began to run towards the carnival.

“Something happened at the carnival!” Pete cried.

“It sounds like some accident!” Bob exclaimed.

Jupiter blinked as he began to run, too. “It can’t be another accident! I know I’m right!”

15

The Robber Strikes!

They pushed through the gawking crowd and saw the carousel broken and tilted over on to the ground. Mr. Carson was shouting orders to his crew of roughnecks. The boys found Andy looking at the carousel in despair.

“What happened, Andy?” Pete asked.

“We don’t know, Pete,” the carnival boy replied in an agitated voice. “It was turning, ready for the first ride, when the engine started smoking, and it tilted over and collapsed! Three horses broke, see?”

Roughnecks were working feverishly with levers to raise the carousel back on a level. Others hammered the broken horses back together, and Mr. Carson was trying to repair the smoking engine. He stood up to wipe his brow, and a knot of angry performers surrounded him.

“How many more accidents do we have, Carson?” Khan said.

“Your equipment is in bad repair,” The Great Ivan said. “We are all uneasy.”

“The equipment is fine,” Mr. Carson said. “You know that.”

The tall, sad clown said, “Carousels don’t break easily. It’s a sign! We must close this unlucky show!”

“It is an unlucky show!” the fire eater said. “Maybe Rajah’s escape was a third accident after all, and the next three are beginning!” All the performers murmured, nodding their heads.

“We have to close, Mr. Carson,” a wire walker said.

“After tonight,” the tall clown said. “Immediately!”

“How can you go on?” Khan asked. “How can you pay us all with no carousel, and — ”

Mr. Carson stood and looked at them all helplessly. The roughneck who had been working on the engine with him looked up and began to talk urgently to him. Mr. Carson looked worried, but he faced the performers with a sudden smile.

“The carousel will be fixed and running within half an hour,” he announced. “No real damage but a burned-out bearing. Now, let’s get on with the show!”

“There will be worse, I know it,” the tall, sad clown said.

But most of the performers began to smile again. They nodded with relief and hurried away to their tents and booths. Khan was the last to leave.

“The show is dangerous, Carson.” the strong man said in a warning voice. “Too many mistakes and accidents. You should close.”

Khan stalked away, and Mr. Carson stared after him. Then he turned to the boys with troubled eyes. They could see that he was very worried. He had his whole future, and Andy’s future, in the carnival.

“Are they going to work, Dad?” Andy asked.

“They’ll work. Carnival people are happy folk. They forget trouble quickly — as long as we have no more accidents.”

“The carousel’s okay?” Andy hoped.

“Yes, Andy,” Mr. Carson said, his face grim. “That’s not what worries me. My roughneck mechanic tells me that the bearing was tampered with, and the bolts were loosened, so that when the bearing froze the bolts were sure to shear. That’s what knocked the carousel over.”

“You mean it was sabotaged, Mr. Carson?” Bob exclaimed.

“Yes, I do,” Mr. Carson said. “I owe you three boys an apology. It seems that someone must be trying to ruin the carnival.”

Jupiter burst out, “Perhaps not sir! I think a bank robber may be causing your troubles!”

“Bank robber?” Mr. Carson said, staring. “You mean that robbery on our last night in San Mateo?”

“Yes, sir!” Jupiter declared. “I think the bank robber is a member of your carnival!”

Mr. Carson flared up. “That’s ridiculous, son! The police did come, and found no one!”

“Because he set off the fire in San Mateo, sir,” Jupiter rushed on. “He set it to give him time to get out of his disguise, and to hide something in a crooked cat! That’s why he was after the cats.”

“No, Jupiter, none of our people look anything like the man the San Mateo police wanted. No one is tattooed.”

Pete blurted out, “Jupe says he was in disguise all the time except here! Even the tattoo is a fake.”

Mr. Carson looked at them all. “Well, that is possible, I suppose, but who — ”

Jupiter burst in, “I think I know who he is already, sir! From his escapes, some clothes we found, and what Andy told us, I’m certain the robber is the Amazing Gabbo!”

“Gabbo?” Mr. Carson said, his face taking on a strange expression as he studied the boys.

“Yes, sir!” Jupiter continued. “Andy told us you don’t really know him by sight. I think that if you — ”

“No, Jupiter,” Mr. Carson stopped the First Investigator, his hand held up. “Boys, your logic and deductions are excellent. Very impressive, really. But you see, when the police told me of the robber’s escape from that blind alley, I recalled Gabbo and his criminal record at once. I realized that he just might hide in a carnival, and that I wouldn’t recognize him unless I knew he was around and made a point of looking for him. So I did. I studied all of my performers — out of costume!”