William Arden - The Secret of the Crooked Cat

“It’s him!” Bob exclaimed. “He’s got the crooked cat!”

Andy shouted, furious, “Stop, you thief!”

The man’s head jerked round at Andy’s shout He saw the boys and Konrad, and whirled instantly towards the rear of the house. He disappeared among the back garden trees. Konrad bellowed like a bull and pounded in pursuit.

“I get him, boys!” Konrad yelled But the tattooed man was faster than Konrad or the boys, and vanished into the next street while they were still among the trees. Pete was the first to reach the next street. He stood staring helplessly as the others panted up. They all watched as far up the street the small blue car started and quickly roared away out of sight. “We had him, and we lost him!” Pete moaned.

“He got my last crooked cat, too!” Andy wailed.

“We got his licence number earlier,” Bob pointed out eagerly. “The police can trace him!”

“That would take some time, Records,” Jupiter said, crest-fallen. “But possibly in his haste he left some clue at the house! Come on, fellows, hurry!”

As they reached the big white house, a pretty woman was standing on the side steps with a small boy behind her. Her eyes were wide with alarm, and she looked suspiciously at the boys and Konrad. “Do you boys know that awful man?” she demanded.

“We do, Ma’am,” Jupiter declared. “He is a nefarious thief we have been attempting to apprehend. We traced him to your house, but we came just too late.”

The woman stared. “You’ve been trying to catch a criminal like that? Why, you’re only boys!”

Jupiter frowned in annoyance. The First Investigator had long resented the assumption of adults that because they were “only boys,” they were without intelligence or ability, and therefore unimportant.

“It is true we are ‘only boys’, Ma’am,” Jupiter said a little stiffly, “but I assure you that we have much experience solving puzzles and crimes. I presume you are Mrs. Mota?”

“Why, yes,” Mrs. Mota said, startled “How on earth did you know my name?”

“We knew that man was coming here,” Jupiter explained. “Unfortunately, he delayed us. We really didn’t expect to find him still here, but I gather that you have just come home?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Mota nodded. “Billy and I were out. We came home only a few minutes ago. Billy went straight up to his room, and the next thing I knew he was calling for help!”

The small boy, no more than ten years old, said eagerly, “He was up on the stairs to the top floor! He jumped down when he saw me and grabbed my crooked cat!”

“Of course, you had the crooked cat with you!” Jupiter understood in a flash. “That was why he was still here! He couldn’t find the cat in the house, so he had to wait!”

“After he had Billy’s cat,” Mrs. Mota went on, “he started down, saw me, and ran up to the second floor. That was when I began to call for help.”

Pete said, “And he climbed out of the second-floor window and down the wall!”

“Like a human fly!” Bob exclaimed.

“Billy,” Jupiter said, “Did you find anything on that crooked cat? Or anything inside it?”

“Nope,” Billy Mota said. “I guess I never looked.”

The boys all looked glumly at each other. The last crooked cat was in the hands of the tattooed man. They stood in the dusk trying to think of what they could do next.

“He got what he wanted,” Bob said. “We’ll never find him.”

“We could still get the licence number of his car traced,” Pete said hopefully.

“That will take time, Second,” Jupiter said again. “It has to be sent to Sacramento. Perhaps we should — ”

Konrad, who had been standing silently by all this time, now stepped up to Jupiter and broke in.

“We now call the police, Jupiter.”

Jupiter protested, “But, Konrad, by the time — ”

Konrad shook his head. “You call the police now. Your Uncle Titus would say that, too. This lady is robbed, her house broken in. The man is dangerous, I think. We have lost him. It is now for the police.”

Bob agreed. “We can’t catch him now, Jupe.”

“We’d better call Chief Reynolds, First?” Pete said.

Jupiter sighed and his shoulders dropped. “I suppose you’re right. May we use your telephone, Mrs. Mota?”

“Of course you can, boys,” Mrs. Mota said. They all trooped inside, and Jupiter called Chief Reynolds. It didn’t take long. The Chief, respected anything the boys reported. Jupiter started to hang up.

“He’ll be right over here, and — ” Jupiter stared at the receiver in his hands. “Andy! Call your father at the carnival! Find out if anyone is missing!”

“Missing?” Andy frowned. “Jimmy, Jupe, I told you I never saw that man before.”

“We agreed he is probably in disguise,” Jupiter said. “That swarthy face could be a mask, and a tattoo can be hidden. Find out if everyone is at the carnival!”

“Well, all right,” Andy said, dubiously, “but my Dad’s awful busy just before the show opens, and it’s hard to be sure who’s there or not.”

“Try, Andy!” Bob urged.

Andy went to the telephone, and dialled. He listened for a time as the phone rang and rang.

“He’s not in the office, fellows,” the carnival boy said. “I’ll try the box office, and see if they can find Dad.”

Andy was still on the telephone when they heard police cars screech to a stop outside. Konrad looked relieved. Chief Reynolds himself strode into the house with some of his men. The boys quickly told the Chief their whole story.

“Good work, boys,” Chief Reynolds said. “With your description and the licence number we should be able to get him. Do you know what he is after in those crooked cats?”

“No, sir,” Bob admitted. “But it must be awful valuable, the trouble he’s taking,”

Pete added. “Jupe thinks maybe it’s something smuggled!”

Chief Reynolds nodded. “That is a very good thought. I’ll instruct my men to be alert for a valuable item inside the cat, and send out a call for any information the border patrol might have on a wanted smuggler.”

The Chief hurried out to the rest of his men. Andy Carson was still trying to get through to his father at the carnival. Jupiter, who was disappointed at having to call in Chief Reynolds before the boys even knew why the cats were valuable, watched Andy nervously.

“He would have had time to get back to the carnival by now,” the First Investigator said in dejection. “Unless, of course, he doesn’t go back at all this time,” he added hopefully. “Keep trying, Andy.”

Andy nodded, and dialled once more, just as Chief Reynolds came back into the house. The Chief was walking fast, his face serious as he approached the boys.

“Boys, you may have stumbled on to something far more important than you know! I’ve just had a report that a man who answers your cat-thief’s description, tattoo and all, is suspected of a daring one-man bank robbery only last week! He escaped with over $100,000!”

Jupiter cried quickly, “In San Mateo, sir?”

“What?” Chief Reynolds said, looking at Jupiter. “Now, how did you know that, Jupiter?”

“The fire at the carnival, sir! It was in San Mateo. I’m convinced that the cat-thief is a member of the carnival. He must have set off the fire by accident after the robbery, or maybe on purpose to help him to escape!”

“You can’t be sure of that, Jupiter,” the Chief said.

“The coincidence would be too much, Chief,” Jupiter insisted. “If you go to the carnival, you’ll — ”