The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

stomach.
    “There are chocolate-covered ants in jars at some of those grocers,” Dan insisted. “I saw them.”
    “Grasshoppers, too,” Bob said. “Even in a store in Des Moines I saw some canned grasshoppers.”
    “And preserved grubworms,” Jim said. “Yummy!”
    “That’s enough!” Trixie said. “This is where we part. We’ll see you not later than five-thirty back at the apartment.”
    “If you turn out a dinner we can choke down, we may put on the magic show for you,” Mart called back. “ ‘Mart, the Mysterious Manipulator of Magic’ —that’s me.”
    “For that, we’ll put pink whipped cream on your fried grasshoppers,” Barbara said. “We like you, Mart.”
    “Like this,” Mart answered, drawing one finger across his throat.

    When Jim and Dan and the girls got back to the apartment, they found Miss Trask, Brian, Mart, Bob, and Ned in excited conversation. Jim unloaded the grocery purchases on the kitchen table. Then they went into the living room to see what all the excitement was about.
    “The joint has been cased, pillaged, plundered, spoliated,” Mart said out of the side of his mouth. “Oh, hush, Mart!” Miss Trask said. “This is serious.” She repeated what she had been telling the boys. “My sister was sleeping restfully at the hospital, so I decided to come back here. Soon after I returned, a man came to the door and told me he wanted to look at the apartment.”
    “What did he look like?” Trixie asked quickly. “Dark, short—I think he was a foreigner,” Miss Trask answered. “I asked him who had sent him and why. He said the owner was planning to sublet the apartment.”
    “Dad and Mother don’t want to sublet the apartment, I’m sure,” Jim interrupted.
    “I’d never heard that they did,” Miss Trask went on, “but he said that he was a prospective tenant, that the custodian had told him to come on up to the apartment and he would meet him here.”
    “I hope you didn’t fall for that,” Mart said.
    “Of course I didn’t,” Miss Trask said indignantly. “Did you let him in?” Jim asked quietly.
    “No, I told him to wait right there in the corridor while I went to check with the custodian.” Miss Trask’s voice trembled. “It took me a long time to find Mr. Pebbles. He was working in the building next door. The same company owns both buildings.”
    “Go on—go on—please!” Trixie begged impatiently. “He told me he’d be up just as soon as he finished replacing some broken tile on the kitchen floor where he was working. He said he had to finish it while the cement base was still damp—”
    “Oh, dear! Miss Trask, what happened ?” Trixie was almost frantic.
    “I’m getting to it, Trixie, as fast as I can. The custodian told me to tell the man to wait in the hall out there.”
    “Then what?”
    “I’ll show you what—just follow me!”
    She led them to the bedroom Honey and Trixie had been sharing. There wasn’t a thing in the room that hadn’t been pulled out of place, turned over, or tossed on the floor. Even the pictures were askew; the mattresses had been moved; the bed coverings were wadded into rolls. Dresser drawers lay on their sides, spilling their contents.
    “Jeepers!” Trixie said in amazement.
    “Thieves!” Honey cried. “I know my beautiful watch is gone, the one Daddy gave me for my birthday. Trixie, did you leave your watch here, too?”
    “I did. There it is on the dressing table. Your watch is there, too, Honey. It wasn’t jewelry he wanted. Here is where one of the men was while his companion was at the United Nations... see? What did Mr. Pebbles say when he came up here?”
    “He hasn’t been here yet; don’t you understand?” Miss Trask said. “It just now happened. When I came back to give that man the message from the custodian, he wasn’t here. The door to the apartment was open, and I found all this!”
    There was a knock at the door.
    “That must be Mr. Pebbles now,” Jim broke in. “We’re here, sir,” he called to the custodian.
    Mr. Pebbles was puffing. “I thought over what you said, Miss Trask. Then I remembered I hadn’t told anyone to look at the apartment. I knew that man was lying and was up to no good. I hurried as fast as I could. He didn’t waste any time, did he? Have you checked to see what he got away with?”
    Trixie and Honey made a quick survey.
    “Not a single thing is missing,” they reported after a few minutes.
    “I guess he was scared off when he