“And in all these years she’s never returned it!” the old man exploded.
“But Uncle, it was your own fault,” the magician pointed out. “You drove them both out and made them afraid of you. And Helen was on her way to return it to you. The thieves knew from her letter when she was arriving. They were on the lookout for her and tried to force her to tell them where the rest of the collection was. Can’t you see what they were planning? Be sensible, Uncle Paul, and let us put it in a museum where it will be under guard—”
“Never!” roared Uncle Paul.
“I think we will have to place it under guard while you are being questioned,” Peter said quietly. “I hate to have to say this, Mr. Riker, but your house was not burned by the forest fire, and you will have to satisfy the insurance company as well as our office that you had nothing to do with either of the fires. The law says arson on state forest land is a federal offence.”
Mr. Riker protested vehemently. Nevertheless, when the chief deputy of the rangers drove his car up to the vault, the old man got in with surprising meekness. Judy suspected that the excitement had tired him out in spite of his rambunctious spirit.
“I’ll have to go with Mr. Riker, Angel,” Peter said. “Do you mind driving home, or would you rather wait here for me?”
“I don’t mind driving a bit,” Judy replied. “But before we start, I want to find out why the statue seemed to talk. It’s solid cement. Nobody could possibly get inside it.”
“No,” replied Peter, “but there are hollow pipes running through it. They were probably placed there to keep the cement from cracking. Old Paul Riker, down in the cave, must have shouted through them in order to scare people away.”
“Hollow pipes,” Judy said thoughtfully. “Peter, do you think the tree talked the same way?”
“Perhaps,” he replied. “Horace told me he heard it say, ‘We’re starved!’ just before you and the kids dashed in from the barn.”