“Then you think this Khan is the bank robber, Bob?” Chief Reynolds asked again.
“Yes, sir!”
“I was beginning to wonder if the robber had really fled Rocky Beach. Too many people have claimed to have seen him, but no one actually has.”
“That’s just what Jupe said,” Bob said.
“Jupiter is a bright lad,” Chief Reynolds acknowledged.
“He thinks the robber is still after what he hid in the crooked cat,” Bob said, “and I think Khan was searching Andy’s equipment trailer. That proves he’s the robber! He was looking for what he had hidden.”
“Yes, that could well be, boys,” the Chief said.
“Khan is a strange man. He stayed aloof from us,” Mr. Carson said. “He never got friendly with anyone.”
“Well, we’ll find him,” Chief Reynolds said grimly.
The police, and Mr. Carson’s roughnecks, had spread out over the entire area. They were searching the open lot, all the carnival booths and tents, and vehicles. No cars or trucks had been reported missing. They were combing the old amusement park again, and searching all along the edge of the ocean, and through the streets and buildings near the carnival. After still another hour they had found no trace of the boys or Khan.
“I’m worried,” Chief Reynolds admitted at last. “They seem to have vanished into thin air. But we won’t give up. I think that that old amusement park is the key, so I have men searching all through it again for — ”
Shouts came suddenly from far off inside the amusement park.
“It’s my men!” Chief Reynolds exclaimed. “They’ve found something! Follow me, boys!”
The boys and Mr. Carson hurried after the Chief through the hole in the high fence. At the edge of the dark ocean they saw a knot of policemen and roughnecks.
“Have you found them? The boys?” Chief Reynolds demanded.
“No, Chief,” a policeman said, “but we found him!”
The knot opened, and two policemen pushed Khan forward. The strong man shook them off like flies and glared.
“What the devil does this mean!” Khan demanded.
The bearded strong man’s muscles gleamed in the hard yellow light of the electric lanterns.
“Tell us what you’re doing here, Khan!” Mr. Carson snapped.
“That’s my business, Carson.”
Bob couldn’t hold himself back. “He’s the robber! Make him tell what he’s done to Jupe and Pete!”
“Robber?” Khan roared. “I’m not the robber, you fools! I chased him. I told you that.”
“And what have you been doing for the last three hours while we looked for you?” Chief Reynolds wanted to know.
“I came back here to look for the robber on my own! I had a hunch that — ”
“He’s lying!” Bob cried hotly. “I’ll bet even that beard is false!”
Before Khan could move, Chief Reynolds reached out and grabbed his beard. Khan hurled the Chief off and the black beard came off in the Chief’s hand! They all stared at Khan.
“All right,” Khan said, “of course it’s false.” The strong man went on to pull off his sideburns and wild wig, revealing himself as a young man with close-cropped light hair. “We all wear costumes in the carnival. What’s a strong man without a black beard?”
“But you never took off your beard and hair, Khan!” Mr. Carson said. “You were hired wearing that beard and hair! You let us think that was your real appearance — even when the San Mateo police questioned us all!”
Khan waved his massive hand. “You know why, Carson. I’m used to working better shows than your two-bit carnival. I didn’t want to be recognized and have my reputation ruined.”
“I don’t think he’s even a strong man!” Andy cried.
“Is he Gabbo, Dad?”
“No,” Mr. Carson said, looking closely. “He’s not Gabbo.”
“But he is lying!” Bob accused hotly. Khan faced them all menacingly, his muscles bulging.
“Am I, boy? Then — ”
Khan was staring out towards the ocean. “What —?”
“Chief, look!” a policeman cried.
Everyone looked out at the ocean. On the moonlit water was a strange sight — a lopsided, half-collapsed out-rigger boat sailing raggedly up to the shore with Pete and Jupiter on their feet and waving to them with broad grins.
“It’s them!” Bob said.
“Pete, Jupe!” Andy shouted.
Jupiter and Pete beached their ungainly craft and came running up to rejoin their friends. In a matter of minutes they had told the whole story of their hours on the ocean and the island.
“You sailed back in that?” Chief Reynolds asked.
“Pete is an excellent sailor,” Jupiter replied, “and we had to get back at once! I think I know where to find what the robber has been looking for! I don’t think he’s found it yet!”
“But we have the robber, Jupe!” Bob said “It was Khan there all along, just as you suspected,”
Jupiter looked at the strong man standing surrounded by policemen and glaring angrily at them all. I.
“No,” Jupiter said. “Khan isn’t the robber.”
Khan growled, “I told them that, boy.”
“He’s an impostor, Jupiter,” Mr. Carson said, “and he was searching Andy’s trailer. You saw him!”
“No, sir, I don’t think he was,” Jupiter said politely but firmly. “When Pete and I were under the tarpaulin in that boat, I realized that there must have been two men, and that Khan was chasing the real robber. When he heard us in the fun house, he thought we were the robber.”