No visitors allowed!” Fortin said sharply

“I’m Wilcox from Animal Control of the Public Health Service, ” he told him. “I have an order to inspect your place again. Here are my credentials.”

All this time two dogs had been yelping and barking in the background. Mr. Fortin certainly had protection, Nancy thought.

“Wait until I tie up these animals, ” the owner said.

He closed the door and was gone so long that Nancy thought perhaps he was not going to let them in. Finally the door opened.

Fortin was a slender man about fifty years old with a reddish complexion. It flashed across Nancy’s mind that he did not give the appearance of an animal trainer. His hands were rather soft-looking, not like those of a person used to heavy work. He escorted the callers through the center hall and out to the kitchen. He opened a rear door which gave a view of the many cages backed up against the house just beyond the kitchen door. Nancy got her notebook ready.

“These cages look very clean and the animals well-kept, ” Wilcox remarked, and Nancy wrote this down.

She followed him outdoors and around the three sides of the cages which seemed to be well-constructed. Each had a sheltered area.

“Very good, ” said Wilcox.

All this time Nancy’s eyes had been roaming around the jungle. She could not detect anything suspicious.

Fortin led the way back inside the house and headed for the front door. At once Wilcox spoke up. “I have orders to look over the whole mansion.”

The owner frowned and said, “Why is this necessary? A license issued to me to keep the animals certainly doesn’t permit the Public Health Service to pry into my private life! ”

Wilcox replied, “Those are my orders. There could be vermin in the house from those wild animals.” Before Fortin could object, Wilcox started up the stairway. Nancy followed, then Fortin.

After a quick inspection of the second-floor rooms, Wilcox said, “Everything seems to be all right.” He turned to Fortin. “I thought maybe you had some small animals up here.”

“Well I don’t! ” Fortin snapped.

He started down the stairway, but Nancy held the health officer back. She whispered, “See that door over there? It probably leads to the third floor.”

Her companion nodded. “I want to take a look upstairs, Mr. Fortin, ” he called and walked over to the door.

As Wilcox opened it, the owner’s face turned red with anger, but all he said was, “You’ll find nothing up there. It’s an old tower.”

Nevertheless, Wilcox climbed the stairs, with Nancy at his heels and Fortin behind her. The tower had windows which looked out on the ocean. In front of one stood a powerful telescope.

“That came with the house, ” Fortin explained. “It’s so old I guess it was put in soon after the people built the place. They probably watched the ships at sea.”

Nancy had walked over and looked through the telescope. She could plainly see the Space Center and the rocket that would take the astronauts to the moon.

“Everything okay? ” Fortin asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Everything’s okay, ” the Public Health officer replied, and Nancy wrote this down, along with her observations relating to the telescope.

As the visitors were coming down from the second floor, Nancy noticed a man in the lower hall. He was the big fellow with the whip! Instinctively she held the notebook partly across her face so that she would not be recognized.

When they reached the foot of the stairs Fortin ignored her. He introduced his associate to Wilcox as Joss Longman, saying he was the best animal trainer in the world.

Wilcox nodded, then checked through the first floor with Nancy. They found nothing suspicious. Back in the hall the two men were waiting for them sullenly.

“That’s all now, ” Fortin said sharply and walked toward the front door, but Wilcox did not move.

“We haven’t seen your basement yet, ” he said.

Hearing this, Longman turned quickly and hurried toward the kitchen. Nancy saw him open a door at the back of the hall and disappear.

Once more Fortin began to argue that the Public Health Service had no right to intrude on his privacy.

“Orders are orders, ” Wilcox said firmly. “Take me to your basement.”

Fortin glared at the visitors, then he slowly walked to the kitchen. When they came to the door at the rear of the hall through which Nancy had seen Longman disappear, she put out her hand toward the knob.

“Don’t go in there! ” Fortin shouted at her. “That’s a clothes closet.”

Nancy doubted this but she followed him into the kitchen. Fortin began to talk about how old-fashioned the room was.

“That’s only a coal stove, ” he remarked. “It’s pretty hard learning to cook on it. As soon as I get more money, I intend to replace it with a modem range.”

Nancy suspected that the man was stalling for time. He went on talking about the outmoded plumbing and what trouble they had with it. She was convinced that Longman had gone ahead to conceal something in the basement.

“What is it, ” she wondered, “that they don’t want us to see? ”

Finally Fortin opened a door in the kitchen and clicked on a light in the basement. He led the way down a steep flight of wooden steps. Longman was not in sight. Nancy was sure he had used a secret entrance to the place.

Wilcox had already started walking around the basement which contained nothing but old furniture and piles of rubbish thrown against the walls. This seemed odd to Nancy. The Public Health officer did not act as if he suspected anything.

Fortin asked, “Well, are you satisfied now with your inspection? ”

Wilcox looked stern. “I don’t think much of your housekeeping, ” he replied. “Please see that the trash is cleaned out of here.”

“Okay, ” Fortin growled.

The two men started up the stairway. Nancy, pretending that she was writing down what Wilcox had said, purposely leaned against a pile of old furniture. Presently the load shifted. Nancy grabbed a child’s desk for support.

The next moment the whole conglomeration of furniture came tumbling down on her!