She refined the scope of her binoculars to peer at what the man held in his hand, and let out a gasp:
“Good gracious, he’s got a knife!” she cried.
Josh and Margaret crowded over by the window to look out as well.
“If only we could hear what they were saying,” Margaret whispered.
“I can read lips;” Jane murmured from behind her binoculars, “I studied lip reading several years ago, and helped a private detective solve a peculiar crime at the time. If I’m not mistaken they’re saying…”
Jane watched for a few seconds as she adjusted the focus on her eyepieces, and looked closely at the man whose face was partially obscured by his hat.
“He’s saying something about the shipment: don’t worry about that, he has it covered – no, we know what we’re doing – the boss will pay up, he always does – what are you doing – leave it, we can get it later-“
Jane repeated as best she could the sentences she saw him speak, paraphrasing for the missing words. They watched as the taller man turned towards the crates, and cut through one of the thick ropes.
“The second one said something about the rope-“
He removed the ropes from the crates, and one of the previously secured tarps began to flap wildly in the gusts of wind that roared past them. He wound the long cord up in a loop, and they turned for the docks.
“Well, that’s that.” Jane said conclusively, “it looks like we’re not going to learn anymore from them.”
“But what are they going to do with the rope?” Margaret thought aloud.
“Strangle somebody, no doubt!” Josh cut in teasingly.
“Very funny! We’re not going to discover anything else by just standing here,” Jane continued, “we better stake out the best locations to take pictures.”
They surveyed the dock, devising a plan that would surely provide them with evidence; and retired for the evening in their respective hotel rooms.
The following day was spent in that enchanting coastal town; allowing the sleuths time to prepare, and recharge physically and mentally after the draining week they had experienced.
When they gathered for sodas at the nearest drugstore, they went over their plans thoroughly for the next day:
“Shouldn’t we call the police today, so they know what to expect?” Margaret asked as she pushed the rebellious straw to the bottom of her bubbling soda.
“Why not, we might as well get them on board.” Josh added.
Jane shook her head,
“Zack has a lot of friends in law enforcement. It’s likely some of them are from Portland, and if they are, the gang could be tipped off by a mole at the police headquarters. We’d be left with nothing to show but overactive imaginations and a few obscure photographs.”
“She’s got a point,” said Josh, “there’s no telling who is involved with these criminals, it seems to be much larger than we expected.”
“My thought is,” she added, “we’ll contact the police two hours before half past eight, leaving them no opportunity to inform the men at the docks.”
“Sounds pretty solid to me, let’s call it a plan.”
Ted shook his head in dissent, but remained mute. They concluded their conversation briefly, and left shortly after leaving a tip on the table for the waiter.
—
On the morning of July 22nd, Jane’s otherwise uninterrupted repose had been intermittent and scarce from the worry and tension of the imminent ordeal. She rose with the sun, and wrote down their findings in her notebook to try and unravel the strange happenings.
It wasn’t long before Margaret too had risen, and joined her at the window.
“It’s about three hours before the planned arrival of that ship;” Jane said, looking out again at the pier.
The men at the dock were hard at work in the foggy morning mist, unloading logs of timber amidst the gradual awakening of the town. Seemingly identical sedans rolled by, and the concept of a planned robbery taking place on such a picturesque day seemed too fantastic to believe.
“We had better wake Josh and Ted before it gets much later; it’s nearly a quarter to six now.” Jane spoke, breaking the silence.
“And we’re following through with our previous plan?” Margaret questioned as she removed the head scarf that tucked away her pin curls.
Jane nodded, and then dressed to leave the room. When she rapped on Josh’s door, she discovered they too were awake; and they met in the downstairs lobby.
Josh came down the stairs with several bags and produced a camera for each person; the same time as Jane handed out spare binoculars.
“We need to stay in touch with each other, if one of us sees something; signal to the other. Margaret, you go and phone the police;” Jane said, looking at the watch on her wrist- “it’s just about time.”
Margaret left to step into the nearest phone booth, and Jane left the lobby with Josh and Ted to look over the docks while she phoned.
It wasn’t long before Margaret came hastening out of the hotel towards them, her face convulsed with irritation, and a little out of breath:
“They won’t believe me,” she began, “they thought I was just pulling a prank on them, and when I told them about the photographs – well, he downright laughed at me, and called me a silly kid!”
Jane turned to her chum and took her by the arm,
“Maybe I can convince them, come on.”
“Wait a minute!” Josh called to them, “it’s too late- and if I’m not mistaken, that’s the ship approaching the harbor now!”
Jane leapt forward and braced herself on the railing alongside the dock.
“They arrived too early, we’re sunk!”
…To be continued, next week on Tuesday, November 2nd! Jane Darcy needs your help to solve the hair-raising mystery surrounding Pinecrest; keep your magnifying glass handy, and don’t miss the next exciting chapter!