Nick West: The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon

He picked up the hand gingerly and held it out to Bob and Pete. Pete shook his head, and Bob took it. “It even feels real,” Bob said. “Maybe Mr. Shelby wears an artificial arm, and his hand just happened to come off accidentally when you shook hands.”

Jupiter shook his head. “You heard him laughing a moment ago. No, it’s just another one of his practical jokes. That’s all. He’s got a funny way of scaring people.”

“Yeah,” Pete said sarcastically. “Very funny. Let’s get out of here before he thinks of something else.”

Bob tossed the fake hand away. The boys turned and raced down the walk.

Avoiding Mr. Shelby’s portcullis, the boys zigzagged the path. They slowed down as they approached the closed metal gate.

It swung open noiselessly, as before, and The Three Investigators hurried through.

“He’s a good sport anyway,” Bob said, as they ran the street. “At least he didn’t have his gate bite us on the way out.”

“Keep going,” Pete muttered. “I’ll thank him when I’m far enough away.”

Finally they slowed and came to a breathless halt.

“Now what do we do?” Bob asked. “Wait for Hans to pick us up?”

“I move that we keep running all the way back to Rocky Beach,” Pete said. “What’s twenty miles when you consider how much safer it is there?”

Jupiter plucked at his lower lip. He glanced at his wrist watch. “There’s still a little time. How do you fellows feel about taking a quick look at that cave down below, before we go home?”

Pete looked towards the cliff ridge. “You mean the one the dragon’s supposed to have gone into? I’ll give you my vote in two words, Jupe. Forget it.”

Jupiter nodded. “How do you feel, Bob?”

“Like Pete,” Bob answered. “Besides, you heard Mr. Shelby telling us how dangerous it is. I don’t know about the dragon, but I don’t think I’d be any happier under a landslide.”

Jupiter was walking to the cliff edge. He put his hand on the old weatherbeaten stair handrail that ran steeply down to the beach.

“I suggest we take a look,” he said. “Then, when we get home, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re up against.”

With that, he took a step down and quickly disappeared from view.

Pete looked at Bob. “How come he always outvotes us, one to two?”

Bob shrugged. “He’s just more stubborn than we are. You and I are probably nicer people.”

“Yeah,” Pete muttered. “A lot of good it does us. Come on. We’d better go down after him before Mr. Shelby sends a flying object after us. Or that Mr. Carter across the street decides he needs some target practice.”

With that, Pete reached for the handrail and started down. Bob followed. The steps were narrow and old, set close together, and the descent to the beach was steep. As they ran down, Pete and Bob grabbed the rails at first. Then, as they gained momentum and confidence, they merely reached out and slapped at them.

Jupiter couldn’t help but hear the clatter behind him. He glanced back once, saw what was happening, and grinned. It was a race to the bottom now.

Not as agile as the others, Jupe could still make an effort when he wanted to. He increased his pace as he bounced from step to step.

He was perhaps fifteen feet from the bottom when it happened.

Suddenly, without warning, a step collapsed under his weight. His momentum carried him downwards. The next step cracked and broke away, too. He attempted to brake by grabbing the handrail.

It tore loose and came off in his hand. Then he was yelling and falling in space.

Immediately behind, Bob and Pete heard his warning cry too late. The entire staircase below was collapsing like a deck of cards on end. The railing above the section that Jupiter had clung to was their only chance. They threw themselves at it frantically.

It tore loose, too.

Helplessly, they plunged headlong downwards. Loose boards hurled after them.

Jupiter’s mind worked quickly as he fell. In the split second before he landed, he had two nagging thoughts. Was this accident a real one?

Or was it to keep The Three Investigators from investigating the mystery of the dragon on the beach? That was all he had time for.

He landed with stunning force. Bodies and boards crashed about his head.

Everything went black!

“Jupe, are you all right?”

Jupiter blinked and opened his eyes. He saw the blurred faces of Pete and Bob looking down at him.

He grunted and sat up. There was a lot of sand on his face, and he brushed it off carefully before replying.

“Of course I’m all right,” he said finally. “Not that the effect of both of you landing on me at once did me any good. In addition to knocking the breath out of me, you practically buried my face in the sand!’

Pete grinned. “He’s okay. He can still talk!’

“I hear him,” Bob said. “As usual, he’s making it seem our fault. As I recall, his weight broke the steps and railing first. What were we supposed to do — fly over him?”

Jupiter got to his feet slowly. He kicked at the litter of broken boards all round them. Then he picked up a splintered piece and studied it. He stooped and picked up another, comparing it with the first. He nodded as if satisfied.

“Your statement is correct, Bob,” Jupiter said. “My weight did break the steps first. But I’m inclined to believe that I had help. These steps appear to have been tampered with. Enough to make them give way at the slightest pressure.”

He extended the boards to his two partners.

“If you notice, the top part is splintered sharply. See how jagged it is? The bottom part is broken more evenly. Almost as if it had been partly sawn through before we came down the steps.”

Bob and Pete looked at the boards closely.

“Maybe you’re right,” Bob admitted. “But who knew we were coming down them?”

“Sure.” Pete said. “It was your own idea, Jupe. If we never went down the steps, the accident could have happened to anybody in the neighbourhood. We’ve only met Mr. Carter, Mr. Allen and Mr. Shelby, so far. There must be a lot of others who use this staircase.”

He pointed up the beach. “It’s a long walk to the other one. And a longer walk to the next one. Anybody could have come down here.”

Jupiter sighed and threw the boards down. “We don’t have the equipment to examine these boards anyway, to find out if they were actually sawed or not. Maybe I’m wrong in my deduction.”

Pete and Bob stared at each other. It was a rare day when Jupiter ever admitted to a wrong guess about anything.

Jupiter set his lips firmly. “However,” he said, “we can’t let ourselves be sidetracked by the accident on the steps. Our main purpose in coming down was to examine the beach here and the cave for evidence of the dragon. Let’s get on with it.”

Without a backward glance, Jupe started walking towards the sea. “We’ll look for tracks leading from the water inland towards the cave first. What Mr. Allen claimed he saw took that direction.”

Bob and Pete joined him, and the three advanced slowly over the sand. The wide expanse of beach appeared deserted. Overhead a few seagulls, screaming raucously, swooped about in erratic flight.

Pete pointed to one of the gulls who had just landed. “Maybe we ought to ask one of them if he saw a dragon recently. That would save us a lot of trouble.”

“Good idea,” Bob said. “And if they won’t talk, there’s that tug with the salvage rig about a mile out.”