Diego and Pete opened their mouths to protest, but Bob spoke quickly first:
“Yes, sir, we’ll remember.”Then he added innocently, “Can you tell us what’s in that bag, sir?”
“That’s none of your business, Bob Andrews,” the sheriff snapped. “Now get out of here!”
Reluctantly, the three boys left. They circled the dogs warily, and went back across the dam to the road and their bikes. The rain began to fall heavily again as they rode down the Alvaro’s dirt road to the ruins of the hacienda a mile away.
As they passed the ruins, they saw Pico. He was walking slowly around among the burned rooms of the house as if searching for anything that might have been spared by the flames. “Find anything?” called Pete, as the boys rode up towards the burned-out hacienda.
Pico looked up, startled and then embarrassed. “I’m looking for the Cortés Sword,” he admitted. “It occurred to me that if Don Sebastián had hidden it, he might have hidden it in the hacienda. And with the house burned out, it might be revealed now. Metal does not burn in a wood fire, so the sword would be easy to find. But,” and he looked around at the skeletal walls remaining, “there is no sword here.” He kicked angrily at some roof tiles on the floor.
“But Condor Castle is here, Pico!” Diego cried. “We found it!”
The boys quickly reported their discovery of the old map and the location of Condor Castle, and their search of the ridge near the dam. Pico’s dark eyes gleamed at first, but slowly faded as the boys had to admit their failure to find any trace of a hiding place near the big rock on the ridge.
“Then what good is your location of Condor Castle? You found nothing! You’re no better off than you were.”
“No, that’s not true,” Bob declared. “Next to finding the sword, we’ve made the most important discovery of all.”
“What is that, Bob?” Pico demanded.
“That Don Sebastián did plan to hide the sword for his son José!” Bob said. “Condor Castle was only on the very oldest map. It had nothing to do with where Don Sebastián was or where he lived, so there was no reason to put it on that letter except as a clue. A clue to tell José where to look for something, and the only thing worth all that was the Cortés Sword!”
“Perhaps,” Pico acknowledged, “but you still — ”
Before Pico could continue, two cars came up the dirt road of the ranch and roared into the hacienda yard. The first was the Norris ranch wagon, and the second was the sheriff’s car. Cody and Skinny Norris jumped from the ranch wagon.
“There he is!” Cody cried.
“Don’t let him get away!” Skinny called.
The sheriff got out of his car. “I told you two to let me handle this,” he said. “He isn’t going to run away.”
The sheriff still carried the large brown paper bag the boys had seen earlier. He walked slowly up to Pico.
“Pico, I’ve got to ask where you were on the day of the brush fire.”
“Where I was?” Pico frowned. “I was at the fire, as you know. Earlier, I was with Diego at the central school in Rocky Beach.”
“Yes, you were seen then. That was around three p.m. Where before that?”
“Before? On the ranch. What is this about, Sheriff?”
“We found how the brush fire started. Someone built a campfire back on the Norris ranch, well before three p.m. That’s illegal this time of year, and it wasn’t properly put out. The Norris fence was broken — ”
Cody burst out, “And we found tracks of your horses!”
“You went after them and started that fire!” Skinny cried.
Pico’s voice was cold. “If your fence is broken, and our horses stray on to your land, we go to get them. Good neighbours do that. But I and my friends do not build fires illegally!”
The sheriff opened the paper bag and took out a flat, black sombrero banded with silver conchos.
“Do you recognize this hat, Pico?” the sheriff asked.
“Of course,” Pico said, “it is mine. I was afraid it had been burned in the fire. I am glad you — ”
“You mean you hoped it was burned!” Cody snarled.
“I mean, Mr. Cody, what I say. Is that clear?” Pico’s eyes blazed as he faced the burly ranch manager.
“Pico?” the sheriff said. “When did you lose the hat?”
“When?” Pico thought a moment. “At the fire, I suppose. I — ”
“No,” the sheriff said. “You had no hat at the fire. I remember that. So do firemen I’ve asked.”
“Then,” Pico said, “I do not know when I lost it.”
“Pico, this hat was found at the site of the campfire that started the brush fire.”
“Then why isn’t it burned?”
“The brush fire moved away from the campfire in just one direction. This hat was on unburned ground nearby.”
There was a silence. The sheriff sighed.
“I’m going to have to arrest you, Pico.”
Diego cried out, but Pico silenced the boy. He nodded to the sheriff.
“You must do your duty, Sheriff,” Pico said quietly, and walked towards the sheriff’s car. “Tell Don Emiliano at once!” he called back to Diego.
The sheriff turned to Cody and Skinny. “You two have to come and make your statements.”
“You bet we will,” Cody said.
“It’ll be a pleasure,” Skinny added. He laughed at the boys as he followed Cody to their ranch wagon.
Stunned, the Investigators and Diego watched the two cars drive away. There were tears in Diego’s eyes as he turned towards Bob and Pete.
“Pico couldn’t have started that fire!” he cried.
“No, of course not,” said Bob. “I know there’s something wrong with the sheriff’s story, but I can’t think just what. And I know I’ve seen that hat before. But when, and where? Oh, why couldn’t Jupiter have been here!”
The slim Investigator sighed with frustration. “Well, now we have two problems to solve, fellows. We must find the Cortés Sword, and we must free Pico!”
10
New Ideas
Diego rode off to Emiliano Paz’s, and Bob and Pete hurried back to Rocky Beach. The two Investigators tried to call Jupiter for the rest of the day but got no answer at the Jones house. As Jupe had predicted, his great-uncle’s birthday party was keeping him away till late. Finally Bob and Pete gave up and went to bed.
As Bob came down the stairs to breakfast the next morning, his father looked up from the morning newspaper.
“I see that your friend Pico Alvaro has been arrested on suspicion of causing a brush fire,” Mr. Andrews said. “That’s a very serious charge, Bob, and I’m surprised. Alvaro is an experienced rancher. He shouldn’t make such a mistake.”
“He didn’t, Dad! We’re sure that the sheriff’s made a mistake, or someone is framing Pico, and we’re going to prove it!”
“I hope so, son,” Mr. Andrews said.
Bob gulped his breakfast and then called Jupiter to report what had happened. Jupiter took the news about Pico poorly.
“Of course Pico didn’t set that fire, and you should know why! You could have stopped the sheriff yourself, Bob. Can’t you remember anything? We saw Pico’s hat ourselves.” Jupiter was grumpy because he’d missed all the excitement.
“Well, thanks a lot,” replied Bob, stung. “I just don’t happen to have a photographic memory like you. So when did we see the hat?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you at school,” said Jupe maddeningly.
“Great,” said Bob and slammed down the phone, now in as bad a mood as Jupe.
But the Investigators were too busy at school all day to even talk. Bob and Jupiter both regained their good humour and by the end of school were friends again. Classes ended early, so the boys had most of the afternoon free to pursue their investigation.
“Did anyone see Diego today?” asked Jupiter as the boys cycled through more rain to the salvage yard.
“I looked for him, but I didn’t see him,” said Pete. “I don’t think he made it to school.”