[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
book for Diego Carmel. He let the three boys off there he wanted to look
at several used-car lots in the area and arranged to pick them up at three
26
The Man with the Odd Right Eye
o clock.
St. Peter s Street was near the docks. Most of it was taken up with
battered frame houses and stores selling fishing tackle and live bait or candy
and groceries. Diego Carmel s house was halfway down the block. It was
better kept than most of the others, a three-story building with an office on
the ground level.
CHARTER BOAT, FISHING, it said on the office window. Through the
window Jupe could just see a desk with a phone on it, a few wooden chairs,
and, hanging from a rack, a row of wet suits and scuba gear.
The boys were starting toward the door of the office when it opened and a
man came out, locking the door behind him. He looked at Jupe in a slightly
startled way and hastily put the key in his pocket.
What can I do for you? he asked.
He was very tall and thin with narrow, sloping shoulders and a lined,
studious face, and he was wearing a worn blue suit with a white shirt and a
dark tie.
Jupiter had made a habit of observing people s clothes and appearance
and deducing what he could from them. If anyone had asked him what this
man did for a living, he would have guessed he was a bookkeeper or a clerk in
a small store. Or maybe a watchmaker, Jupe thought, looking at the man s
right eye.
Below that eye, but not below the left one, was a curious fold of puckered
skin. It was almost like a scar. Either the man was used to wearing a monocle,
Jupe guessed, or, more likely, he spent hours every day with a jeweler s glass
screwed into place over his eye.
We were looking for Mr. Diego Carmel, the First Investigator said po-
litely.
Yes?
You re Mr. Carmel?
Captain Carmel. Yes.
The man half turned in the doorway. Jupe could hear the phone ringing
in the office behind him. For a moment Captain Carmel looked as though
he was going to open the door and answer it, then he shrugged his narrow
shoulders in a hopeless way.
What s the use? he asked. I lost my boat last week. In the big storm.
People call, they want to go fishing, and I have no boat.
I m sorry, Bob said. We didn t know.
Do you three boys want to go fishing?
Captain Carmel spoke perfect English. You couldn t say he had any
foreign accent. But there was something in the way he picked his words that
made you realize English wasn t his native language.
27
The Man with the Odd Right Eye
Maybe he was from Mexico, Bob thought, and had spent most of his life
in the United States.
No. No, we just wanted to talk to you, Captain Carmel, Jupe said.
We have a message for you from your daughter.
From my daughter? He seemed a little surprised. Ah, you mean from
Constance?
Yes. Jupe was trying to hide his satisfaction. His hunch had paid off.
Captain Carmel was Constance Carmel s father.
And what was the message?
Oh, it wasn t anything very important. We just happened to see her at
Ocean World this morning and she asked us to tell you she may be working
late tonight.
Ah. He looked at Jupiter and then at Bob and Pete. And you? he
asked. Would you be by way of being The Three Investigators?
Pete nodded. He wondered how Captain Carmel had recognized them.
Then he remembered that Jupe had given Constance one of their Investiga-
tors cards. She must have told her father about them. The three of them
and especially Jupe, with his round face and his stocky build were easy
enough to describe.
I am very pleased to know you. Captain Carmel held out his hand and
they all shook it. He smiled.
Now, what do you say? Don t you think we could all do with a ham-
burger? There is a place down the street here.
Pete thanked him, accepting the invitation. There were very few times
when Pete Crenshaw couldn t do with a hamburger.
They found the place, a lunchroom, and settled into a booth. The ham-
burgers were very good. While the boys ate, Captain Diego Carmel told
them about the storm and the loss of his boat.
He had been bringing a man named Oscar Slater back from a fishing trip [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
book for Diego Carmel. He let the three boys off there he wanted to look
at several used-car lots in the area and arranged to pick them up at three
26
The Man with the Odd Right Eye
o clock.
St. Peter s Street was near the docks. Most of it was taken up with
battered frame houses and stores selling fishing tackle and live bait or candy
and groceries. Diego Carmel s house was halfway down the block. It was
better kept than most of the others, a three-story building with an office on
the ground level.
CHARTER BOAT, FISHING, it said on the office window. Through the
window Jupe could just see a desk with a phone on it, a few wooden chairs,
and, hanging from a rack, a row of wet suits and scuba gear.
The boys were starting toward the door of the office when it opened and a
man came out, locking the door behind him. He looked at Jupe in a slightly
startled way and hastily put the key in his pocket.
What can I do for you? he asked.
He was very tall and thin with narrow, sloping shoulders and a lined,
studious face, and he was wearing a worn blue suit with a white shirt and a
dark tie.
Jupiter had made a habit of observing people s clothes and appearance
and deducing what he could from them. If anyone had asked him what this
man did for a living, he would have guessed he was a bookkeeper or a clerk in
a small store. Or maybe a watchmaker, Jupe thought, looking at the man s
right eye.
Below that eye, but not below the left one, was a curious fold of puckered
skin. It was almost like a scar. Either the man was used to wearing a monocle,
Jupe guessed, or, more likely, he spent hours every day with a jeweler s glass
screwed into place over his eye.
We were looking for Mr. Diego Carmel, the First Investigator said po-
litely.
Yes?
You re Mr. Carmel?
Captain Carmel. Yes.
The man half turned in the doorway. Jupe could hear the phone ringing
in the office behind him. For a moment Captain Carmel looked as though
he was going to open the door and answer it, then he shrugged his narrow
shoulders in a hopeless way.
What s the use? he asked. I lost my boat last week. In the big storm.
People call, they want to go fishing, and I have no boat.
I m sorry, Bob said. We didn t know.
Do you three boys want to go fishing?
Captain Carmel spoke perfect English. You couldn t say he had any
foreign accent. But there was something in the way he picked his words that
made you realize English wasn t his native language.
27
The Man with the Odd Right Eye
Maybe he was from Mexico, Bob thought, and had spent most of his life
in the United States.
No. No, we just wanted to talk to you, Captain Carmel, Jupe said.
We have a message for you from your daughter.
From my daughter? He seemed a little surprised. Ah, you mean from
Constance?
Yes. Jupe was trying to hide his satisfaction. His hunch had paid off.
Captain Carmel was Constance Carmel s father.
And what was the message?
Oh, it wasn t anything very important. We just happened to see her at
Ocean World this morning and she asked us to tell you she may be working
late tonight.
Ah. He looked at Jupiter and then at Bob and Pete. And you? he
asked. Would you be by way of being The Three Investigators?
Pete nodded. He wondered how Captain Carmel had recognized them.
Then he remembered that Jupe had given Constance one of their Investiga-
tors cards. She must have told her father about them. The three of them
and especially Jupe, with his round face and his stocky build were easy
enough to describe.
I am very pleased to know you. Captain Carmel held out his hand and
they all shook it. He smiled.
Now, what do you say? Don t you think we could all do with a ham-
burger? There is a place down the street here.
Pete thanked him, accepting the invitation. There were very few times
when Pete Crenshaw couldn t do with a hamburger.
They found the place, a lunchroom, and settled into a booth. The ham-
burgers were very good. While the boys ate, Captain Diego Carmel told
them about the storm and the loss of his boat.
He had been bringing a man named Oscar Slater back from a fishing trip [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]