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us do you think he was deliberately imitating Slater s voice, trying to
make you think it was Slater who was calling you?
Jupe shook his head. I don t think he was, Mr. Sebastian. He was just
trying to disguise his own voice. It s like an actor
Jupe knew a lot about acting. He had once been a child actor himself,
although it wasn t a period of his life he enjoyed being reminded of. His
professional name had been Baby Fatso.
If you ask an actor to change his voice, he went on, the easiest way
for him to do it is by imitating someone else. Using someone else s accent.
Paul Donner, with his European background, had a very distinctive way of
speaking. The best way he could hide it was by using another distinctive
voice. Talking the way Slater did.
Sebastian reached for another candy in his pocket and then changed his
mind.
How did Donner first get on to you three boys? he asked. When he
met you in San Pedro and told you he was Captain Carmel, he knew you
were the Three Investigators, didn t he?
Paul Donner was one of the two men on board Slater s boat that first
morning, Jupe explained. He saw us rescue the stranded whale. He was
still pretending to be working with Slater then. When Slater told him about
his plans to have Constance train Fluke to find the wreck, Donner decided
to go to Ocean World himself the next day. I guess he was just trying to
find some way to stop Slater. Then he saw us there. He recognized us as the
three boys he had seen on the beach. He saw us go into Constance s office.
Then he found our card on the desk after Constance had left. So he called
us and offered a hundred-dollar reward to get Fluke back in the ocean. To
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Another Visit to Hector Sebastian
make sure Slater couldn t use Fluke to find the wreck.
Sebastian considered that for a moment. He nodded.
But why did Donner go to Diego Carmel s office in San Pedro? he
asked. I can understand that with his skills it would be easy for him to
make a key to the door. You say he was snooping around. What was he
hoping to find?
I think he went there to inspect Constance s scuba equipment, Jupe
said. I think it had already occurred to him that that might be one way to
stop the whole diving expedition, by tampering with the air tanks. Later,
when Constance decided to use the equipment from Ocean World, Donner
had to go aboard Slater s boat to empty one of the tanks and fix the pressure
gauge.
Then once you realized the Sebastian looked at Bob. What did
you call him in your notes, Bob?
The masked giant, Bob told him. Except that he wasn t a giant, of
course. He was just padded out to look like one.
Once you realized the masked giant and Paul Donner were the same
man, everything else began to fit into place
He broke off as Don entered. The Vietnamese houseman was carrying a
huge wooden bowl. He set it proudly on the table in front of Sebastian and
the Three Investigators.
Lunch, he announced. Very healthy food. All natural. All unpre-
served.
Pete looked into the bowl. It was some kind of salad. At least it had
lettuce and slices of cucumber in it. But most of it seemed to consist of thin
pink slivers of some unidentifiable substance.
What is it? he asked. What s that pink stuff in it?
Fish, Don told him. Raw fish.
Raw? Pete tried to keep the dismay out of his voice. You mean it
isn t it isn t cooked?
Cooking very bad, the Vietnamese explained.
Very unhealthy. Destroys all natural vitamins.
But you used to cook the brown rice, Pete argued. You said the
television guru
That guru wrong guru. Don shook his head sadly. His show canceled.
Have new afternoon-time guru now. This one much better. Especially for
cooks. He say cooks no cook. You eat your lunch, please.
But we haven t any plates, Bob objected. No plates or knives or forks
or anything.
You eat with fingers. Dip in bowl. New guru say better put your hand
in your mouth than unnatural metal instrument. Same with plates. China
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Another Visit to Hector Sebastian
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