The Monkey Howled at Midnight (3 page)

Otis, Cody, and Rae waited for the others in the great hallway. “I've got something to tell you guys,” said Rae. She leaned toward them.

“After I washed my hands I walked back through the living room. I saw a cell phone lying on the floor. I thought it was mine and had dropped out of my pocket when we ran into the room. It never occurred to me that it might belong to someone else. I picked it up and checked the list of calls to see if anyone had phoned. I found country codes in there from all over the world. Sixty-five, eight hundred fifty-two, um … sixty-one …”

Rae glanced upward. “Sixty-five, that's the country code for Singapore … and eight hundred fifty-two, that's Hong Kong, and sixty-one, that's Australia.”

“How do you know all this?” asked Cody.

Rae shrugged. “I just got interested one day when it was raining, so I looked them up.”

Otis nodded his head. “That's Rae, all right,” he said. “Random-knowledge queen.”

“Come on, Rae,” said Cody, shaking his head. “Did you really think that cell phone belonged to you, or were you just being nosy?” He knew that Rae had a way of letting her curiosity get the best of her at times.

“Well …” Rae reddened. Then she shrugged. “When we left the dining room I saw Luis pick up the phone and put it in his pocket,” she whispered. “He looked really strange—pale and kind of scared.”

“I wonder why Luis was getting those calls from everywhere. Friends?” Otis wondered aloud. “I noticed something else. Pino and Luis don't get along very well with their father. It seems like he pushes them around.”

Cody opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a loud argument. It was coming from behind two heavy doors that led to a room off the hall. One of the voices belonged to a twin. The other belonged to Mr. Estevez.

“I don't want to hear about it anymore!” he thundered.

“But, Dad, it can't just go on and on and on.”“I'll bet Mr. Estevez is arguing with Luis about selling land again,” said Rae. “Let's wait out front. We don't want them to open the doors and find us here listening.”

“That's right,” Otis agreed.

They went out on the sunny porch. There was a man sitting down on the steps. He stood up when he saw them.

“I'm Aldo,” he said. “You must be the Carson twins and Cousin Rae.”

Aldo was an extremely tall young man with a shaved head. Broad shoulders and muscles nearly popped through his shirt. He looked like he could knock down a brick wall without trying hard.

Cody spoke up. “I'm Cody Carson and this is my brother, Otis.”

Aldo nodded, then smiled at Rae. “I've heard about all of you.”

At that moment Carlos appeared on the porch. “Did you deposit the check I gave you for helping with the garden?” he asked Aldo.

“Yes, I did,” Aldo answered with a nod. “I did it last week.”

“What check? What for?” Mr. Estevez asked as he walked onto the porch.

“Oh—I asked Aldo to fetch some plants to add to the garden,” Carlos explained. “I didn't pay an excessive amount.”

“Good,” Mr. Estevez said shortly. “Some people think I'm made of money. By the way, Carlos—you mentioned a raise. I really don't think it's necessary.”

Carlos's face was expressionless. “Of course, sir,” he said.

Rae and the twins cast sideways glances at each other. It was embarrassing to hear Mr. Estevez talk about money with his employee. It should have been done in private. But they had already begun to realize that Mr. Estevez didn't treat anyone with kid gloves.

Luis appeared with Mr. Carson and Maxim. “Let's start the tour,” he said.

They went from the Museu do Indio to the Museu do Homem do Norte. They saw pottery and woven goods and materials from the native tribes. All day long, Mr. Estevez's phone kept ringing. “I'm sorry, but I can never ignore a phone call,” he said. “It could always be business, and it could always be important.”

Pino took out his phone in the Museu do Homem do Norte. “I'm turning mine off,” he said.

Mr. Estevez looked at him sternly. “You should take the business more seriously. So should your brother. You'll be running it someday.” Then his phone rang again.

“No, no, no—it can't be done,” he said, shaking his head. “I can't give you another chance. You've had too many already.” He hung up and sighed.

“That was a former employee,” he said. “I hate to fire anyone. But he just wasn't doing the job. I suspected he might be stealing, too. He denied it and I couldn't prove anything.” He shrugged. “Well, let's keep on looking.”

“It's a wonderful museum,” said Mr. Carson.

Rae and the twins agreed. They were learning a lot. But they hadn't learned how to tell the Estevez twins apart.

Moments later, Mr. Estevez got another phone call. As he spoke, his voice shook with rage. “I already told you everything I had to say,” he snapped. “I am here with friends at the Museu do Homem do Norte and I would like to enjoy my day. I don't want to hear from you again. Ever.” He hung up.

“Same disgruntled employee?” Maxim asked.

“Uh—yes, yes it was,” he answered. He clenched his jaw tightly.

About half an hour later they left the museum and headed out into the warm sunshine. “What would you all like to do?” Mr. Estevez asked. “We could visit our famous floating dock. It was specially made to rise and fall with the river water.”

“That sounds really interesting,” said Otis.

“It does,” Cody echoed.

“I'd like to see it, too,” said Rae.

“It sounds like a plan,” Mr. Carson agreed. “Which way do we go?”

“Follow me,” said Mr. Estevez. He stepped off the curb.

A black sports car came rocketing through the traffic, hurtling along at a dizzying speed. It swerved giddily along, dodging through traffic like a pony in a barrel race. Horns honked wildly.

There was no mistaking where the car was heading. It was streaking right toward Mr. Estevez!

[
Chapter Four
]

T
he Chameleon said good-bye and put down the phone. His eyes had turned from gray to black. He grabbed the snake that was hanging around his neck and flung it across the room. It hit the floor and began to curl itself up into a ball.

The man could smell a problem coming a mile away. He could sniff the stink of one in the air right now. This guy wasn't going to cave in.

He put in a call to his chief contact in Brazil. “Your friend isn't going to cooperate,” he said. “I want the problem taken care of. This time, do it right.”

[
Chapter Five
]

“T
hank you, boys, for pulling me back just in time,” Mr. Estevez said shakily. “You saved my life.”

“Anybody get that license-plate number?” Otis asked. The car had sped around the corner so quickly that even his eagle eyes hadn't caught it. Everyone else shook their heads.

“There are some crazy drivers in this city,” said Aldo.

“That didn't look like some random crazy driver,” Rae observed. “It looked like he was trying to run down Mr. Estevez.”

“The same thing happened last week, Dad,” said Pino. “Remember when we came out of the bank?”

“Well, that car wasn't going as fast as this one,” said Mr. Estevez. “It was just a coincidence.” He took a couple of deep breaths. “There
are
some crazy drivers in this city.”

“What about that disgruntled employee?” asked Otis. “Maybe he followed you. Or maybe it was someone else who knew you had gone into the museum.”

“I think we should tell the police,” said Pino.

“No! No police.” Mr. Estevez waved his hand. “I don't think anyone is trying to kill me. My former employee is no murderer. Besides, he's in Rio de Janeiro, where most of his family lives. I know, because I paid for his plane ticket and saw him board. I drove him to the airport.”

“Oh, come on,” said Aldo. “It was just a crazy driver heading for an accident.”

“It better have been an accident.” Luis glared. He clenched his fists at his side. “Anyone who deliberately tried to hurt my father would have to tangle with me.”

Later, back at the Estevez mansion, the twins and Rae took a walk in the garden. They wanted to talk over what had happened that afternoon.

“I'm not so sure it was an accident,” Otis said. “That car was heading straight for Mr. Estevez.”

“I still think that employee he fired could be the culprit,” said Cody. “Maybe he wasn't in Rio de Janeiro at all. Maybe he came back to take revenge on Mr. Estevez.”

“Maybe he did,” Rae agreed. “You know, I'm always telling you not to look for mysteries everywhere, but I have to admit that it looks like something is going on here.”

“The numbers in Luis's phone may not be a clue after all,” Cody said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I noticed that Pino and Mr. Estevez had exactly the same model. Maybe they got them mixed up. If the phone I saw Luis pick up really belonged to Mr. Estevez, it's probably perfectly reasonable to have all those numbers since he does business all over the world.”