“So that lieutenant was right!” said Bob. “He saw Don Sebastián on a ridge across Santa Inez Creek. He saw him at the statue, and thought it was a real horse as he was a stranger and didn’t know about the statue!”
“Exactly, Records.”
Jupiter led the others across the bridge and started to climb the steep ridge. Pete stared at the headless horse standing against the now clearing sky.
“Don Sebastián must have been hiding the sword cover when that lieutenant saw him,” the Second Investigator said. “So you think there’s some clue we missed at the statue, First?”
“Ashes… Dust… Rain-Ocean,” the stout leader of the team intoned. “I was convinced it was Don Sebastián’s last message to his son José, and it was! Think, fellows! The rain comes from the ocean, and goes back to the ocean in the end. What do ashes go back to? What does dust go back to? They were very religious people, the Spanish Californians. They — ”
“Ashes to ashes!” Diego cried.
“And dust to dust,” Bob echoed. “The phrase from the church’s burial service! It means that in the end everything goes back to where it came from. Where it began!”
“Yes!” Jupiter crowed. “Don Sebastián, badly wounded, had only a short time. He wrote a clue he was sure José would understand at once. He knew José would realize that he had tried to save the sword from the Americans, and wrote those four words to tell José where it was — back where it had begun. With Cortés himself!”
Reaching the top of the ridge, they all looked at the headless horse with its bearded wooden rider proudly staring out over the Alvaro land.
“You mean,” Uncle Titus said, “that the sword is hidden in the statue after all? Just like the cover?”
“But we searched the statue,” Diego protested. “There isn’t anywhere to hide a sword!”
“Don’t say he buried it!” Pete groaned. “I’ve had more digging than I want for another hundred years!”
“No, Second,” Jupiter said, “I don’t think any digging will be necessary. Remember how we wondered from the start about why Don Sebastián would separate the sword from its leather cover? The cover protected the valuable sword yet for some reason he separated them. Well, now I know the reason!”
“Why, Jupe!”
“Tell us!”
“Where is the sword, First!”
Jupiter grinned. “Remember that pot of black paint in the cave that Don Sebastián wrote the message with? Well, he used that paint for something else, too. He really returned the sword to where it had started. It’s not hidden in the statue, it’s hidden on the statue!”
The stout leader reached up and pulled at the wooden sword hanging at the side of the wooden figure of Cortés. It came off in his hands with a ripping of nails, and as it hit the side of the headless horse it clanged! Jupiter took out his pocket knife and scraped at the black surface of the scabbard just as a dazzling sun broke through the clouds.
When Jupiter had scraped, a long row of gems glowed red and blue and green and diamond white against silver metal!
“The Cortés Sword,” Jupiter said, holding it up to the sun.
21
Alfred Hitchcock Sees Justice Triumph
“Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,” Alfred Hitchcock intoned. “A brilliant message by Don Sebastián, my young friends, and an even more brilliant deduction by our brainy Jupiter!”
The boys were in the comfortable office of the famous motion-picture director some days later. They had come to report on their latest case and to ask if Mr. Hitchcock would provide an introduction to Bob’s written account of it. With the boys was an armed guard, for they had brought the Cortés Sword to show Mr. Hitchcock. It lay on the director’s desk with all the black paint now removed. It was a dazzling display of gold, silver and jewels. Jupiter pointed out one of the emeralds. It was the stone that the boys had found in the line shack, now safely back in place on the sword.
“A most rare treasure indeed.” Mr. Hitchcock almost purred as he touched the fabulous sword with more than a hint of envy. “So the Alvaros are saved, and what of those who caused all the trouble and harm?”
“The sheriff caught those three cowboys back in the hills on the Norris ranch, as I expected,” Jupiter said. “It seems they were hiding out there with Cody’s help because they were wanted in Texas for robbery. They admitted setting the hacienda on fire, so Cody is free of the charge.”
“Does the rascally Cody go free?” the director demanded.
“No, sir,” Bob said. “He’s charged with various felonies for framing Pico, harbouring fugitives, and loosing his dogs at us. Just to name some of the charges!”
“Ah,” Mr. Hitchcock said with satisfaction. “It appears he will not be worrying about keeping a job for some time to come.”
“Of course,” Pete added, “Skinny got off with almost nothing. He didn’t really do anything except keep silent about what Cody and the three cowboys had done. His father’s lawyers blamed it all on Cody’s bad influence and got him probation. Mr. Norris has already sent him out of the state to military school!”
“I fear that young Skinner’s poor behaviour stems from an over-indulgent parent,” the director said with a sigh. “Let us hope that it’s not too late for the military school to help! But now, what will happen to the Cortés Sword?”
“Well,” Jupiter said with a grin, “when Mr. Norris saw it, he offered to buy it himself!”
“For less money than anyone else offered, of course,” Bob added. “I guess Mr. Norris just can’t help being greedy.”
“A local bank has loaned Pico and Diego the money to pay off the mortgage to Mr. Norris at once, so they don’t have to decide what to do with the sword right away.”
“Generous of them.” Mr. Hitchcock snorted. “Thunderation! Bankers are like patrons of the arts — they give you money when you no longer need it!”
“Anyway,” Pete said, “Pico and Diego have just about decided to sell the sword to the Mexican Government for their National Museum of History, even though that’s not the highest offer. Pico says the sword really belongs to the history of Mexico and the Alvaro family.”
“A proud and honourable decision,” the great film maker said.
“The Mexican Government is still going to pay more than enough for the Alvaros to pay off their loan, rebuild the hacienda, and buy more farm equipment,” Jupiter said, and he smiled. “And enough for them to buy Mr. Norris’s ranch, too!”
Mr. Hitchcock gaped. “You mean the arrogant Norris has abandoned his attempt to be a land baron?”
“Yes, sir,” Pete laughed. “It seems that Pico could sue him for big damages for what Cody did in his employ! When Mr. Norris heard that, he fell all over himself offering to sell his land to the Alvaros at a very low price — if they agreed not to sue!”
“And Pico and Diego may even be able to buy back more of the old Alvaro land grant,” Bob added.
The famous director roared with laughter.
“Magnificent!” he boomed. “The tables are neatly turned! Sometimes it seems that justice really does triumph! This is one case I shall insist on introducing!”
The boys thanked him, and left with the sword and the guard. Mr. Hitchcock sat smiling as they departed. Justice had indeed been well served in the case of the Headless Horse, and, the famous director had no doubt, would be again in the next adventure of The Three Investigators!
