Chapter Thirteen
CORPORAL Boyle quickly parked the Jeep in Company B's parking lot, then dashed inside the duty hut.
Gomer was pacing the floor nervously. He looked up and stopped pacing when Boyle came in.
"Oh, Corporal Boyle, I'm so glad you got here!" he exclaimed.
"Pyle, whatever's wrong?" Boyle asked. "You sounded so urgent over the telephone!"
"Oh, it's just terrible!"
"What is?"
"Someone set off a mortar shell right in the barracks!"
Boyle's eyes grew wide. He hadn't expected that answer.
"Luckily, no one was hurt," Gomer continued, "but whoever it was made an awful mess. And it did make a Jeep explode."
"Oh, boy," the Corporal said gravely. "I guess those criminals weren't fooled when we said we were abandoning the case."
"I'm afraid not," Gomer agreed. "And that's not all."
"There's more?"
"Uh huh. Someone knocked a bucket off the roof of the mess hall."
"Really?" Boyle exclaimed, remembering the earlier incident.
"I'm afraid so. Sergeant Hacker was just coming back to the mess hall and he saw a pebble fly through the air and hit the bucket. That's what made it fall down."
"Where's Sergeant Carter?" Boyle asked suddenly.
"Oh, he's off on a date with Miss Bunny," Gomer responded. "When he hears about this latest trouble, I'm afraid he's not going to be too pleased."
"Now that I've heard it, I'm afraid I'm not too pleased," Boyle retorted.
At that moment, Carter came in.
"Hey, Sergeant!" Gomer greeted him. "How was your date?"
"Oh, just fine," Carter said airily. Boyle had a sneaking suspicion that Carter hadn't gone on a date with Bunny. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
"Plenty!" Gomer and Boyle took turns informing Carter of the latest events, including what had occurred upon Boyle's visits to Hofmayer's Gems and Mme. Harper's mansion.
"This is crazy!" Carter said in disgust. "Those criminals sure can't be fooled easily! I thought our ruse about being off the case would make them back off."
"No. I guess they sure can't," Gomer agreed.
"Maybe these criminals have been matching wits with detectives for years and they don't bat an eye when someone says they're leaving the case anymore because they've heard it so many times in the past when it hasn't been true," Boyle suggested.
"It's possible. Anything's possible."
Presently, Boyle said, "You know, it might be a good idea for us to visit this Ed Barton."
"Oh, speaking of Ed Barton, Sergeant," Gomer broke in, "Sergeant Hacker came to tell us that he thinks the man's innocent."
"Oh, really?" Carter said, sounding as though he didn't believe it.
"Uh huh."
"Well, I don't know about that. I'd have to talk to this guy myself." Carter brushed a hand over his desk's top.
"Maybe we ought to see him soon then," Boyle advised.
Carter nodded. "Alright, then, Boyle, we will. Maybe tomorrow sometime. We'll have to find out what the visiting hours are at the jail."
"Has anyone thought anything about the disappearances of Lieutenant Masters and Private Walter Brighton?" Boyle said suddenly. He had told Gomer and Sergeant Carter about it later on in the day that Col. Gray had told him about it.
"Not much, if any," Gomer said apologetically. "To tell the truth, I plum forgot all about the Lieutenant and Walter."
"Well, I didn't," Carter said, slightly haughtily.
"Oh, really, Vince?" Boyle said curiously. "What did you conclude?"
"I don't suppose this is likely," Carter began, "but maybe they were kidnapped."
"Why is that so unlikely?" Gomer wanted to know. "I'm afraid it's actually very plausible, except that I don't know exactly why someone would want to kidnap him."
"Maybe they stumbled onto some important information, such as who the ringleader of the jewel thieves is," Boyle offered, "so someone kidnapped them before they told all."
"And I suppose this is even less likely," Carter went on, "but maybe they're secretly enemy spies and disappeared because someone began to suspect them."
"But if they disappeared, then that would really make them look suspicious if someone suspected them," Boyle pointed out.
"Oh, I'm sure the Lieutenant isn't a spy!" Gomer exclaimed. "I've met him before and he seems too kind to be a spy, and so does Walter!"
"You never know who the spy is, Pyle," Carter replied. "In the movies, the spy is always the person you'd least suspect."
Well, certainly Lieutenant Masters. And Private Alonzo. And Private Brighton. And, well, he had to admit that he didn't really suspect Private Nelson or Ed Barton. Who was left? Who was the spy?
"Vince, you can't keep stringing Bunny along like this! If you'd rather have this Flo, tell Bunny!" the Corporal insisted. "Bunny will be real hurt when she finds out later about Flo."
Carter just gave Boyle a cold stare.
"Look, Vince, don't get me caught in the middle. I just don't want to see Bunny get hurt. And furthermore, Vince," Boyle added, "maybe Flo wouldn't even want to date you if she knew that you had another girl."
"Well, then, if I lose Flo, I'll still have Bunny." And with that, Carter marched out the door.
"Ed Barton?" The desk sergeant looked incredulous. "You guys too?" He was the same desk sergeant who'd been there when Hacker had come. "You guys gonna get him to confess?" He laughed.
After several minutes of enduring his critical laughter, Carter finally said impatiently, "Look, buddy, we've got other things to do, so could you just take us to Barton's jail cell?"
"If you would, please," Gomer added.
The desk sergeant finally stopped his snickering and called someone to escort them to Barton's cell. But when the officer was told which inmate the Marines wanted to see, he said, "You can't see Barton, unless you know where he is."
Everyone looked puzzled. "What do you mean, officer?" Gomer asked.
"Didn't you know? He busted out!"
"Busted out?" Carter repeated. "But he can't! We've got to talk to him!"
"Look, pal, Barton's flown the coop and unless you know where he's headed, you can't talk to him," the officer said cynically.
"Well, then," Boyle said, remembering, "how about Ike Malconi?"
The officer looked grim. "That international spy? I'm afraid he's busted out too. We've got a posse out looking for both of them, but with no luck yet."
"Mercy!" Gomer yelped. "That's terrible!"
Reluctantly, Carter turned away from the desk. "Well, since they're both gone, we can't talk to them, like the officer said, so we might as well leave." He walked over to the door and opened it, followed by Gomer and Boyle. Gomer turned back around and called to the policemen inside, "Goodbye, and it was nice talking to you!"
"We don't know that, Vince," Boyle said gently. "Maybe someone kidnapped him from the jail."
"How, pray tell, could someone be kidnapped from a jail?" Carter snapped.
"Well . . ." Boyle thought for a minute. "Maybe Ike Malconi threw some kind of knockout gas in Barton's cell and then jimmied the lock on the door and carried him out."
"Oh, c'mon, Boyle! How far-out can you get?"
"Maybe the criminal even came up through a hole in the floor and kidnapped Mr. Barton that way," Gomer suggested. "It wouldn't have had to have been Ike Malconi."
"That's ridiculous, too!" Carter insisted. "Let's be reasonable here! Ed Barton must be a criminal and he broke out of jail, maybe even via the old, dig-a-hole-through-the-floor plan!"
Boyle and Gomer exchanged defeated glances. Once Vince Carter got an idea in his mind, it was next to impossible to get him to consider other possibilities, unless those other possibilities were his own ideas too.
"Yes, that Ed Barton must be a criminal," Carter repeated. "And we've got to catch him! Who knows what other trouble will arise from his escape?"
Boyle glanced at Gomer, amused at Carter's rambling.
Carter stopped the Jeep in front of the Congo Club. "Well, why don't you guys try to collect clues to trap Barton?"
"What are you going to do, Sergeant?" Gomer asked.
"Uh . . . I've got an appointment here. I'll see you two later." Hastily, Carter dashed into the restaurant.
Gomer looked puzzled. "Why in the world would Sergeant Carter have an appointment here?" he wondered, gesturing at the building.
Boyle sighed. "Suffice it to say that Vince is falling in love again."
Gomer scanned the area they were in. "I guess we could always go back to that alley behind the Bluebird Cafe. There might be something we missed."
"We've looked there before, Pyle, and so have the police," Boyle reminded him.
"Well . . . is there someone we could visit who might be able to help us?"
"I don't know of anyone," Boyle replied after a moment's consideration. "The only ones I know of we've already questioned."
Gomer suddenly snapped his fingers. "Hey! I've got an idea! Why don't we go to the local theatre?"
"How will that help us solve the mystery?"
"Well, there's a real good suspense movie playing," Gomer informed Boyle excitedly, "and we might get some ideas on who the real criminal is!"
Boyle consented, and they went off to see a movie called The Spies Come Out at Midnight.
During a particularly suspenseful scene, in which several people were being kidnapped in the midst of a thunderstorm, they were taken to the ringleader's hide-out, an old vacant mansion, and locked up in a secret passageway there.
The entire film was captivating, and by the time it had ended, the Marines were surprised at how late it was.
"Are we going to go back to the Congo Club and get Sergeant Carter?" Gomer asked.
"I don't think so," Boyle said ruefully. "He'll come when he's ready, and we'd better get back to the base."
Gomer shrugged. "Okay, Corporal, if you truly think he wants to stay longer."
"I'm sure he does," Boyle sighed. Carter probably wanted to walk Flo home again.
"Why is this happening?" Carter exclaimed. "As if I didn't know."
Suddenly a low tick-tock sound was heard.
"Who's brought a clock with them?" Carter said angrily.
"Vince, that's no clock. It's a bomb," Boyle responded.
"A bomb?"
"That's right, and everyone better get out of the way," Boyle called to the men. "I think a mortar's about to explode!"
Everyone dove for safety. An instant later, a loud Boom! shook the entire mortar range.
After five minutes or so, Carter and Boyle cautiously came out of their hiding spots to inspect the grounds. "Alright, men, you can come out now!" Carter barked. "It's safe!"
Slowly, everyone came back to the range. The mortar that had been ticking was in pieces everywhere.
"Who would do such a terrible thing?" Gomer said indignantly. "Shame, shame, shame!"
"Yeah, Sarge, who would do such a thing?" Duke echoed.
"I don't know!" Carter said grumpily. "I wish I did!"
"Terrible, terrible, terrible!" Gomer announced.
"Why anyone would steal a pink-haired, dark-eyed lucky Troll doll is beyond me!" Carter said, exasperated, when Gomer reported the incident.
"Well, it's simple, Sergeant. Whoever it was wanted good luck," Gomer replied.
Carter glared at the Private in disgust. Boyle looked amused.
"Well, Vince, I guess we'll just have to put out an all-points bulletin for one stolen Troll doll," he said teasingly.
Carter shot Boyle a very miffed look and without a word began filing something he'd taken out earlier.
With everything happening that day, there wasn't any time to concentrate on talking about the mystery. But Boyle often thought about it, wondering what the answer was to the whole puzzle and how much longer it would take for these jewel thieves to be brought to justice.
"We have got to decipher this thing!" he exclaimed, slamming a hand down on his desk. "This is getting more ridiculous by the second! Who knows what kind of threat these criminals will use next? It could be anything!"
Boyle and Gomer could just imagine what Carter was thinking. The mystery definitely had to be solved. Silently, Boyle declared that the mystery would be solved in 48 hours at the very latest, and wondered how impossible it would be to accomplish the task.
He knew he didn't have much time, so he had to work fast. Quickly he searched for the locker that would have the needed proof.
And then he found the right locker—and the needed information—a spy magazine. And, taped inside the front cover, was a letter, which talked about secret government plans and the Mafia.
Boyle gasped. This was worse than he had thought!
And at that minute, he heard someone coming in.
