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

Bob laughed. "Come on! You don't really believe they're bad luck!"

Jupe reached for the latch on the gate. Beyond, in the centre of a flagstoned courtyard, was a large swimming pool surrounded by chairs and tables. As Jupe opened the gate, floodlights went on in the pool and in the shrubbery that rimmed the court.

"No peddlers allowed!" said a nasal, raspy voice almost at Jupe's elbow.

A door next to the gate had opened. In the doorway stood a thick-bodied, red-haired woman who squinted at the boys through rimless glasses.

"I don't care whether you're selling magazine subscriptions or candy or taking up a collection to help orphaned canaries," said the woman. "I don't want my tenants disturbed."

"Mrs Bortz!"

The woman looked up and past the boys. A thin, silver-haired man had come down a stairway from a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. "I believe these are the young gentlemen I am expecting," said the man.

"I am Jupiter Jones." Jupe made the statement in the precise, formal way that was characteristic of him. He stepped aside and nodded towards his friends. "Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. I assume that you are Mr Fenton Prentice."

"I am," said the elderly man. He glanced at the woman in the doorway. "We do not need you, Mrs Bortz," he added.

"Well!" exclaimed the woman. She retreated into her apartment and slammed her door.

"Nosy old crone," said Fenton Prentice. "Please ignore her. Most of the other people who live in this building are reasonably civilized. Won't you come with me?"

The boys followed Mr Prentice up the stairs to the balcony. Only a few feet from the top of the stairs was a door which Fenton Prentice unlocked. He ushered the boys into a room with a beamed ceiling and a chandelier which appeared to be very old and precious. On one table stood a small artificial Christmas tree, decorated with exquisite little ornaments.

"Please sit down." Mr Prentice waved vaguely toward some chairs, then locked his door behind him.

"It was good of you to come so quickly," he said. "I was afraid that, this being Christmas week, you might have made other plans."

"As it happens, we find ourselves with a little free time," said Jupiter graciously. "We have few commitments before school resumes next week."

Pete choked back a laugh. The three boys had no plans at all for the rest of the holidays, other than avoiding Jupe's Aunt Mathilda. She had plenty of plans. All of them involved putting the boys to work!

"And now," Jupiter went on grandly, "if you will kindly tell us why you summoned us, we will determine whether or not we can be of assistance."

"Whether or not!" echoed Mr Prentice. "But you must help me. I need action immediately!" His voice shook suddenly and went up in pitch. "I cannot put up with what has been happening here!"

He paused a moment to calm himself, and continued, "You are the Three Investigators, are you not? This is your card?" He removed a business card from his wallet and showed it to the boys.





THE THREE INVESTIGATORS



"We Investigate Anything"

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