Bob explained to her that she had pushed her glasses up on her forehead, and she quickly pulled them down. Her hand darted into a cubbyhole, and came out with a slip of paper.
“Here it is!” she said. “I knew I had it. Even if it’s one of Bert’s jokes, we were good friends, so I’ll help it along. But surely you boys are too young to have heard Bert on the radio.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bob said. “We never met him, but we’re working on his joke, or whatever it is, to try to find out what he meant. Thank you very much for the message.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, you’re welcome. Dear me, if you see Bert, give him my regards. Oh, what a wonderful screamer that man was. People used to stay up just to hear him on our radio show. It was called
They left Mrs. Harris with all her cats and went out to the car where Worthington was waiting. “Now let’s see this message,” Pete said eagerly.
“Let’s get in the car first,” Jupiter said. They climbed into the rear of the car and Jupiter tore the envelope open. In it he found a sheet of paper similar to the one Bob and Harry had found, and a message that was even stranger because it wasn’t in words, just numbers.
There was a whole column of numbers on the paper, and they started off like this:
“It’s obviously a code of some sort,” Jupiter answered. “We’ll get a message that makes sense once we solve the code. We’ll tackle it later.” Jupiter folded the message and put it into his pocket. “Now we must try to locate Gerald. There are two Geralds on the Christmas card list, and the closest one is Gerald Cramer We’ll try him first.”
He gave Worthington the address and they started off. Jupe pinched his lip thoughtfully as they drove, but said nothing, and Pete thought that if they were making any progress, he certainly wasn’t aware of it. Still, maybe the next message would tell them more.
They pulled to a stop before a house in a rather rundown section. He and Pete got out and started up the walk.
“Of course, as there are two Geralds on the list,” Jupiter remarked as they rang the bell, “our chance of getting the right one is only fifty-fifty. However — ”
“Yeah? Whadda you want?”
A small man, not as tall as Jupiter, thin and bowlegged, appeared at the door.
“Excuse me,” Jupiter said, ignoring the suspicious stare the small man gave him. “I believe you know Mr. Bert Clock?”
“Know Bert Clock? Who says I know Bert Clock?” the man demanded. “It’s a lie. I never heard of Bert Clock in my life. Now beat it.”
“One moment, Gerald, my friend,” said a cultured voice, and a tall, distinguished-looking man with glossy black hair appeared behind the small man. He spoke with a Spanish accent.
“Why are you inquiring about someone known as Bert Clock?” he asked Pete and Jupiter. “You are not, I suppose, detectives?” And he smiled.
“As a matter of fact — ” Pete started to say, but stopped when Jupiter nudged him.
“We are tracing a message Mr. Clock left with some friends,” Jupiter told the tall man. “He left it in different parts. One part he left with a friend named Gerald, and we thought that it might be Gerald Cramer, because his name is on Mr. Clock’s Christmas card list.”
“Very interesting,” the man said. “Please come in. I believe I can help you. My friend here is Gerald Cramer and I apologize for his rudeness. He has had much trouble in his life.”
Pete and Jupe followed the two men into a rather untidy living-room and sat down.
“I don’t know what this is all about, Carlos,” the small man grumbled. “But I don’t like it.”
“Please allow me to handle this matter,” the man addressed as Carlos said sharply. To Jupiter he said, “You see, we are disturbed about Bert Clock’s disappearance, and the curious message he sent to Gerald. We are anxious to know all you can tell us about him. Do you know where he is?”
“No, sir,” Jupiter replied. “We’re just tracing his message. You see, first we ran across a peculiar clock Mr. Clock sent someone, then — ”
“A clock?” Carlos interrupted. “Do you have it there?” He looked fixedly at the small zipper bag Jupiter carried.
Jupiter took out the clock, which was an imitation of the real screaming one, and held it up.
“This is our credential, sir,” he said.
The tall man took the clock and peered at it.
“A very ordinary looking clock,” he said “Now about the message. What was it?”
“It wasn’t very clear,” Jupiter answered. “It said to ask Martha and ask Gerald. But it didn’t say what to ask them. We found a lady named Martha, who had received a letter from Mr. Clock and a sealed envelope she was to give to anyone asking about him. We came here next because Gerald Cramer was the next name on the Christmas card list. Does Mr. Cramer have a message for us?”