John Blaine - Rick Brant 19 by The Ruby Ray Mystery

Author:The Ruby Ray Mystery [Mystery, The Ruby Ray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-06-05T11:55:36+00:00

CHAPTER XI

Dead End in theAlps

Rick Brant studied the map, wishing he had one that showed topographic features more clearly. But even from the road map he could see the situation.

They were on the side of a rocky mountain. It wasn’t much of a mountain compared with theAlps , of which it was only one of the foothills, but it was pretty respectable at that. It rose perhaps three thousand feet above the valley floor. The side road they were on came up a gradually ascending shelf until the shelf leveled off about one thousand feet above the valley floor.

The shelf varied in width. At the bottom, where the road entered, it was just wide enough for the road. At the top, it was just about two hundred yards wide where the paved road ended at the picnic grounds, then it narrowed slightly until it was only about one hundred yards wide where the fence blocked it off.

“The shelf probably widens out again inside the fence,” Rick said. Since the dirt road wound through dense fir trees, they couldn’t see very far.

“Probably,” Scotty agreed. “There must be a house in there. Well, what do we do now? Crash the gate?”

Rick shook his head. “I think we’d better go to the nearest city-that’sZurich -and phone the embassy atBerne . We can report that the fox has gone to ground, so to speak, and ask for further instructions.”

“You make sense as always, ol ’ buddy.” Scotty turned the car expertly and headed back toward the paved road. “We still have no idea what Keller is up to, but at least we know his destination.If this is his destination.”

“It is,” Rick said. He could not prove that Keller was at trail’s end, but he felt certain of it.

“Company ahead,” Scotty announced.

A huge car blocked the road ahead. Rick recognized it as an American Packard, a car that hadn’t been manufactured for many years. There was a man waiting by it. As they approached, he waved his hand, flagging them down.

“We’d better get out and flank him,” Scotty said“Just in case.”

Scotty nosed the Mercedes right up to the man before stopping. He opened his door and got out as Rick followed suit on the other side. They came around to the front of the roadster, getting the man between them.

Rick doubted that this tactic would do much good if it came to a fight. The man was about six feet six inches in height, and probably weighed close to three hundred pounds, none of it fat. He was hatless, with sandy blond hair and a red complexion. He had a tough face, but a pleasant grin. The grin was

turned on as he waited for the boys.

“Can we help you, sir?” Rick asked politely.

“Possibly.I was wondering if you expect to see very much ofSwitzerland just by trailing Dr. Keller.”

Rick knew that their faces had registered surprise at the direct approach, but maybe the expressions would be misinterpreted as bewilderment. “We’re tourists,” he explained“Students”

The big man leaned against the side of his ancient Packard and grinned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.