“I thought you were dead tired,” said Pete.
“I am. But I’m going to need the shake to revive. Because it’s going to take a while to explain my plan for catching John Hemingway Powers!”
Jupe’s plan was simple. They would set a trap for John Hemingway Powers by planting some bait in Coach Duggan’s latest scouting report — and hope that Powers fell for it. Luckily the next day was Thursday, the day that Powers usually came into the office for the game statistics.
Early the next morning the Three Investigators went to Shoremont College and zeroed in on Coach Duggan’s office.
Jupe and Pete hid in a janitor’s closet across the hall. While they watched through a crack in the door, Bob poked his head into the office. “Hi. Remember me?” he said, pouring on the charm for Coach Duggan’s secretary.
“Don’t tell me you’re still lost,” she said.
“No — lost again,” Bob said.
Once again the blonde offered to point Bob in the right direction, but this time Bob got her to walk with him part of the way, leaving the office unoccupied. As soon as they were gone Pete and Jupe sneaked into the inner office and headed straight for Coach Duggan’s computer.
Jupe had it up and running in seconds.
“I’m into Coach Duggan’s scouting reports now,” Jupe said, his fingers flying on the keyboard. As he typed, entering information, a smile broke across his face.
“What’s so funny?” Pete asked, taking his eyes off the doorway for only a second.
“Tell you later. I’m almost done.” Jupe finished typing and then exited the program. “It’s in there. Step one completed. Let’s go.”
They ran back into the closet, where they hid and waited, hoping Powers would come.
Two hours later Powers arrived. As Bob had reported, he went into Duggan’s office and emerged a few minutes later with a computer printout.
“There goes the bait,” Jupe said. “Powers has used the computer. And Duggan hasn’t been in his office all morning. Step two completed. Now it’s time for step three. Good luck, Pete. Sorry I can’t go with you, but it’s too risky. I might be recognized as the parrot. Make it quick — and make sure you go in there alone.” Pete stepped out of the closet carrying a clipboard in his hand and a pen behind his ear. He walked across the hall.
“Can I help you?” asked Duggan’s secretary, sitting at her desk sipping a can of diet soda.
“Computer maintenance,” Pete said, tapping the clipboard with the pen. “Gotta check it out.”
“Coach has one,” she said. “I’ll show you.”
“No. I mean, thanks. But — uh — I’ll find it.”
“Okay,” said the young woman.
Pete went into the back office and sat down at the computer. Sweat instantly beaded on his forehead. A car he could take apart and stick back together blind-folded. Computers were a different animal. His hands trembled as he typed on the keyboard. Delete... delete... He checked and double-checked Jupe’s instructions on his clipboard.
When Pete was finished, he left Duggan’s inner office, thanked the secretary, and walked into the hall. A quick, quiet knock on the closet door brought Jupe out.
“You did it?” Jupe asked.
Pete nodded. “I deleted all of the stuff you just put in.”
“Good. Step three completed. Now we just have to wait for someone to contact Luke Braun — even though he doesn’t exist!”
15
The Game Is Over
“Okay, tell us everything about the fictitious Luke Braun,” Bob said, driving back to Rocky Beach.
“You mean everything I made up for the scouting report?” said Jupe. He had a look of pure smugness on his face. “For starters, Luke Braun is a straight-A student.”
“Always important to a basketball coach,” Bob said, rolling his eyes.
“It’s important to me, and I created him.” Jupe bristled. “He’s six feet six inches tall.”
“That’s more like it,” said Pete. “He has a remarkable shooting percentage, he’s completely ambidextrous — I thought that was an interesting touch—and I wrote that he was fast, slim, and agile. I also added that Coach Duggan thought Luke was destined to become the next Magic Johnson.”
“Wow!” Pete said. “Hey, if I were a coach, I’d sign that kid up no matter what.”
“That’s the idea. To make Powers salivate to recruit him for Shoremont. I also added that Luke was going to decide by today what college to attend. Of course since Luke doesn’t exist, I gave him your phone number and address, Bob. Now we just have to wait at your house for the phone to ring.”
In the middle of the afternoon the right call finally came. Bob answered and immediately pointed at the receiver to signal Jupe and Pete that this was it.
“Yes, this is Luke Braun,” Bob said, taking the phone and sitting down sideways in a large stuffed living room chair.
Jupe could tell from the smile on Bob’s face that the phone call was going exactly as planned. First Bob acted interested in talking to Michael Anthony — but then he began to set the trap.
“Sure, I want to talk to you. But I’m not comfortable meeting you someplace. My parents and I decided that I wouldn’t meet with anyone except here at my house and with them. My dad just lost his job, and we don’t have much money. They’re very eager for me to find a college that can help out.”
Bob listened some more and finally gave Pete and Jupe a thumbs-up. “Great,” he said, and hung up the phone. “E.T.A. — one hour.”
When the doorbell rang about an hour later, Bob answered it.
“Hi, you must be Michael Anthony,” said Bob, opening the door. “I’m Luke.”
Barry Norman came in and sat down, but he was looking at Bob quizzically. “The scouting report said you’re six six.”
“I do some fantastic stretching exercises before each game,” Bob said.
The answer obviously didn’t sit well with Barry Norman. He squirmed in his chair. “You are Luke Braun?”
“Sure. Some people think I’m the next Magic Johnson,” said Bob. “Can we talk money now, Mr. Anthony, because I’ve got three other schools coming over to bribe me this afternoon.”
Barry Norman’s face remained calm as his eyes surveyed every inch of the room. “I think I’ll be going, Luke.”
Bob stood up before Norman could move. “Wait!” he said. “I want you to meet my mom and dad before you go. They’re really eager to say hello, especially since they’ve made me what I am today. Hey, guys!” At that signal Pete and Jupe walked into the living room. They were delighted to see Barry Norman’s face, already confused, go pale.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Norman,” said Jupe. “We forgot to tell you in Chief Reynolds’ office that we are the Three Investigators. This is Bob Andrews, our third associate.” Jupe could not conceal his triumphant smile. “I also want to thank you for coming, Mr. Norman, because by showing up today, you have just proved who is behind the bribery scheme at Shoremont College.”
“No, I haven’t. And if you think I’m going to incriminate someone, you’re very naive.”
“You already did incriminate someone,” said Bob, “when you called me.”
“You see, Mr. Norman,” Jupe explained, “there is only one way you could have learned about Luke Braun and gotten his phone number. And that is if John Hemingway Powers told you. Because Luke Braun doesn’t exist.”
Jupe sat down on a couch two feet away from Barry Norman’s chair. The two stared at each other for a long time.
“I’m making no admission of any guilt, you understand,” Norman finally said. “But if I were working for John Hemingway Powers, so what? I haven’t done anything illegal, and for that matter neither has John Hemingway Powers.”
“That may be true,” Jupe said. “But I can’t imagine that your law practice will benefit from all the negative publicity when this news reaches the press. On the other hand, if you cooperate, President Harper might agree to keep you out of it.”