"Carey, M.V. - The Three Investigators 27 - The Mystery of the Magic Circle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Carey M.V)

The older man shook his head. "I played bridge with friends last night. I didn't get home until nearly two."

"And when you got back from the pool, the manuscript was gone?" Jupe said to Beefy.

"Yes, it was. I noticed it the minute I came in."

"Could the apartment door have been left unlocked while you were in the pool?" Jupe asked. "Do you ever go down and leave the catch off?"

"Never," said Beefy. "And I'm sure it was locked last night, because I forgot my keys when I went down to the pool. The manager had to come up and let me in with his pass-key."

Jupiter went to the apartment door, opened it, and looked closely at the door-jamb and the lock. "There's no sign of forced entry. And the lobby door is always locked, isn't it? And this apartment is twelve storeys above the street. Someone must have a set of keys."

Beefy shook his head. "There isn't a spare set, unless you count the master key that the manager has. And that's ridiculous. We've had the same manager for years. He wouldn't take a toothpick!"

Bob looked up from his notebook. "Your set and your uncle's set are the only ones?" he asked.

"Well, there was a set in my desk at work," said Beefy. "I kept them there in case I lost mine. But they would have been destroyed in the fire."

"Hm!" said Jupe. "So it would seem." He closed the apartment door and went to stand at the open window and look down at the pool, many storeys below. "Someone came into this building, which is not easy to enter," he said. "Someone then got into this apartment, found the manuscript on the coffee table, picked it up, and took it away. How was that done?"

Pete came and stood beside Jupe. He didn't look down towards the pool. Instead he looked up towards the sky. "They flew in over the roof and came through the open window," he said, "in a very small helicopter. It's the only answer."

"How about a broomstick?" said Uncle Will sarcastically. "That would do nicely if someone wanted to come in through the window, and it narrows our field of suspects. The manuscript was taken by a witch."

Beefy started as if he had been struck. "A witch?" he exclaimed. "That'sа.а.а. that's weird!"

"Why?" said his uncle. "Do you like the helicopter theory better?"

"It's just that it's strange that you mentioned a witch. I read some of the manuscript before I went down to the pool, and it had bits of really crazy gossip about Hollywood people. Bainbridge described a dinner party given by Alexander de Champley, the director. She said he was a magician and a black witch, and he wore the pentacle of Simon Magus!"

Beefy took a pen out of his pocket and began to sketch on the back of an envelope. "There was a drawing of the pentacle in the manuscript," he said. "A five-pointed star in a circle. Bainbridge said it was gold with a circle of rubies on the outside. Now, I've heard of Simon Magus. He was a wizard back in the days of ancient Rome, and people believed that he could fly."

"Marvellous!" said Uncle Will. "This old friend of Madeline Bainbridge put on the pentacle of Simon Magus and flew in here and took the manuscript so that we wouldn't find out that he's an evil wizard."

"If anyone flew in, it wasn't Alexander de Champley," said Jupe. "He died more than ten years ago. But were there other scandalous stories in the memoirs?"

Beefy shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I only read that one anecdote. It's certainly possible that Madeline Bainbridge knew the secrets of lots of prominent people."

"Then that could be it," said Jupiter. "That could be the reason the manuscript was taken. Some person she knows wants to prevent the publication of her story!"

"But how could that person know the manuscript was here?" asked Beefy.

"Easily!" Jupe began to pace back and forth. His eyebrows were drawn down in excited concentration. "Beefy, last night you called Marvin Gray after the fire and told him the manuscript was safe. Of course he told Madeline Bainbridge. Then Madeline Bainbridge called a friend--or perhaps Gray did--and that friend told a friend. Anyone could know."

"It wouldn't have been Bainbridge who told," said Beefy. "Marvin Gray says she doesn't use the telephone. But it's true that Gray might have passed the word on, without realizing what would happen. And Bainbridge's secretary still lives with her. Her name's Clara Adams. She might have done it."

"Of course," said Jupe. "Beefy, couldn't you arrange an interview with Miss Bainbridge? Then you could ask her whom she wrote about."

"She won't see me," said Beefy. "She doesn't see anyone at all. Marvin Gray took care of the negotiations on the contract."