Jane Carter Investigates: Episode Ninety-Four
I was acting on my hunch that
there was a trapdoor on the bottom of the pool. Now, as I issued instructions
to Thomas Atwood, I wished that I succeeded in examining the pool to confirm
that I was right. I was taking a chance on there actually being any vault
beneath the pool.
“He would never believe such a
fantastic story,” Atwood protested.
“It is not as fantastic as it
sounds,” I assured him. “You must convince him that it is true.”
“I will try.”
“Make the men understand that to
get the gold they must drain the pool and raise a trapdoor in the cement
bottom. Ask to be taken with the men when they go there tonight and demand that
you be given your freedom as soon as the gold is found.”
“They will never let me go alive.
An identification from me would send them all to prison for life.”
“If things go according to plan,
the police will arrive before they have a chance to decide what to do with you.
Do you know these men?”
“The ringleader is Aaron Dietz.
At one time, he was employed by Mr. Furstenberg.”
“Just as I thought.”
“The other two call themselves
George and John. I don’t know their last names. Then there is a girl who seems
to be a sister to George.”
“How did they get you here?”
“On the day of the wedding I was
handed a note, purporting to be from Mr. Furstenberg, just as I reached the
estate. It told me to come at once to the garden. While I waited there, two men
grabbed me from behind. Before I could cry out, they dragged me to their boat
at the river’s edge. I was handcuffed, blindfolded and brought to this cabin.”
I heard the outside door of the
cabin slam shut. I was wasting precious time.
“You understand your
instructions?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“Then goodbye. With luck, we’ll
have you free in a few hours.”
“With luck is right,” Jack
muttered as I slid to the ground.
From the sheltering darkness, I
could see that Aaron Dietz stood on the front porch staring out into the night,
so we made a wide circle around the cabin before returning to the river. It
seemed that we had not been observed, so we boarded the boat and went back down
to the cabin to await further developments.
We sat in the darkness for over
an hour, waiting anxiously. I moved as far away from Jack as possible in the
confined space and stared moodily out the cabin window in near-silence.
“Looks as if my little plan
didn’t work,” I was forced to admit at last. “I might have known it would be
too simple.”
Jack got up, went to the window
and stood there listening.
“Hear anything?”
“Sounds like someone coming down
the path. We ought to get back into our cubbyhole.”
We tiptoed to the closet and
closed the door.
Within a few minutes, we heard a
confusion of voices and the shuffle of feet as men boarded the cruiser. I
wondered if the group included Thomas Atwood and was greatly relieved when I heard
him speak.
“I don’t see why you think I
would double-cross you,” Atwood said. “I am considering my own welfare. You
promised that if the gold is found, you’ll give me my freedom.”
“Sure, you’ll get it. But if
you’re lying about the hiding place—”
The words were drowned out by the
roar of the motorboat engine. The floor beneath us quivered and then gently
rolled. The cruiser was underway.
“We’re heading for the
Furstenberg estate!” I whispered. “Oh, everything is starting out beautifully!”
“I only hope it ends the same way,” said Jack morosely. “I only hope it does.”
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