One False Step (7 page)

Matt started telling him what an incredible apartment the von Battenbergs had, Chet followed with a detailed account of all the food that had
been available, and Tony recited the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of close to fifty girls who were there. He'd written them all on scraps of paper.

“They just kept giving them to me,” Tony said, stuffing the papers back in his pocket. “I told them I didn't live in Philadelphia, but that didn't seem to matter. They said that the next time I was in town, I should give them a call, and they'd tell me where the best parties were.”

“Wow! I should have been dancing more,” Matt said. “I was too busy checking out the apartment design. I'm going to be an architect.”

“Heather and Alice want to show us historic Philadelphia tomorrow,” Joe said. “They're picking us up at noon.”

“Not me. I'm not getting up until the middle of the afternoon,” Chet said. “I've already seen the Liberty Bell!”

“Well, I haven't, but I'll catch it next time,” Tony said. “I don't want to fall asleep at Aérocirque.”

“I guess I won't go either,” Matt said. “There's nothing more embarrassing than being a fifth wheel.”

“It's not a date, Matt, it's just a walking tour of downtown Philadelphia,” Joe said. “You're more than welcome. I think Heather and Alice were expecting all of us to go.”

“Well, I hope they won't be disappointed, but I think I'll pass,” Matt said.

Frank didn't press the issue. Joe made him realize that his initial suspicions about Elisabeth might have been on target. If it were just the four of them, Heather and Alice might open up with some details about her that would answer some of their questions.

•   •   •

The restaurant Heather and Alice took the Hardy boys to was so tiny that it only held about twenty people. It was down a narrow street, almost an alley, off Chestnut Street. It was called Betsy Ross's Kitchen.

“My parents have had a standing reservation for this day every month for years, but I told them I wanted to take the famous Hardy boys, so they agreed to wait until next month to eat here,” Alice said. “After you've eaten your meal, you'll realize what a sacrifice my parents made for you.”

“Even though it's in the middle of all the things that tourists see, very few tourists know about it,” Heather added, “and even if they did, they're usually not here long enough to get a reservation.”

When the waiter came, Frank suggested that Alice and Heather order for them. When the meal came, both Frank and Joe pronounced it absolutely remarkable.

When they had finished their desserts, Alice looked at her watch and said, “Well, we need to start the walking tour. I just remembered a doctor's
appointment I have later this afternoon.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

“That's okay,” Joe said. He folded his napkin and laid it on the table. “Are you sure you won't let us pay for this?”

“I'm positive,” Heather said. “My father has an account here. It's taken care of.”

The four of them exited the restaurant and walked back up to Chestnut Street.

Over the next hour they visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and Old City Hall.

At Carpenters' Hall, Alice said, “This is where John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, and the other delegates formed the First Continental Congress in 1774.”

“You could say this is where America began,” Heather added. “It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.”

•   •   •

Last night at Aérocirque and later at Elisabeth's party, Joe thought, Heather and Alice never once struck him as being interested in anything but having a good time. For the next hour, though, they gave Frank and Joe more information about American history, or at least Philadelphia's part in it, than they often got in some of their classes at school. It was interesting.

After stopping for a few minutes at the Philadelphia Visitors Center, they continued on to the
Betsy Ross House. From there, they stopped at Benjamin Franklin's grave site to pay tribute to him.

“This is great,” Joe said. “Frank and I had never been to Philadelphia before.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Heather said.

“Me too,” Frank agreed. “We've been to almost every place else in the world.”

“I'm also glad that Philadelphia has a mystery for you to solve,” Alice said. “How's it going?”

“Mario had already left for the office by the time we got up this morning,” Joe said, “so we don't know if there have been any new developments.”

Frank was amazed that neither he nor Joe had mentioned Elisabeth von Battenberg to Heather and Alice yet. They were having such a pleasant time that he had forgotten to do it, but just as he was about to broach the subject, he stopped and looked down the street. “Is that Elisabeth?” he asked.

Joe, Heather and Alice turned in the direction Frank was looking. “It looks like her to me,” Joe said. “Who's that she's with?”

“Looks like some of the acrobats from Aérocirque Troupe D,” Alice said.

When neither Alice nor Heather said anything else, Frank said, “Do you want to go say hello?”

“No!” Heather said.

Frank and Joe gave her a surprised look.

“We're having too much fun, and she's with
someone, anyway,” Alice said. “Do you mind if we don't?”

“No, not at all, but I thought the three of you were friends,” Frank said.

Heather took in a deep breath and let it out. “We've never really been friends,” she said. “Elisabeth came to our school last year, and she was fun because she had lots of good stories about life among Europe's lesser royalty.”

“Europe's
lesser
royalty?” Joe said.

Alice nodded. “You know, the kings and queens and princes and princesses without a country to rule,” she said. “Elisabeth's family hasn't been in power for hundreds of years, and even when they
were
in power, they only ruled over a small part of Germany. But it's still interesting to hear about.”

“But lately she's been acting kind of weird,” Heather said. “I think it started when her father put together Aérocirque and brought it over for its American tour.”

“It did. That's all she talked about,” Alice said. “After Aérocirque arrived in Philadelphia, all she wanted to do was hang around with the acrobats.”

Heather shuddered. “I think they're all kind of creepy.”

“She told us last night at the party that she didn't really know any of the acrobats that well,” Frank said.

“That's not true. In fact, that's about all she wants
to do anymore—hang around with them,” Alice said, “but Heather and I aren't interested.”

Frank looked down the street. Elisabeth and the acrobats were heading in the opposite direction. “Maybe she just wants to show them historical Philadelphia, like you're doing for us,” he said.

“Well, she's going the wrong way,” Heather said. “That's where all the new high-rise apartments are.”

Joe strained to see down the street. It looked like Elisabeth was pointing to the top of one of the apartment buildings. Suddenly, he had a chilling thought. Would the next robbery take place there?

“How can you be sure those guys are from High-Wire Troupe D?” Frank asked.

“Well, when Elisabeth first told us about Aérocirque, she made the acrobats sound so romantic,” Heather said. She rolled her eyes. “I can't believe we were so naïve back then.”

“She had pictures of them in her room, and one night when we had a sleepover, she showed us tapes of their practices in Europe,” Alice added. “Her father had filmed them according to their speciality, and we just sort of got to know them.”

“On tape, they did look handsome and muscular,” Heather said, “but in real life, well, they're mostly real creeps.”

Joe looked at Heather and Alice. “Will we see you at tonight's performance?” he asked.

“Well, we hadn't planned to go, even though Elisabeth is expecting us to,” Alice said, “but we'll go if you guys are planning to be there.”

Heather took a deep breath. “We were actually planning to break off our friendship with Elisabeth today,” she said, “but I guess we can stand her one more night.”

“We'll make sure you're not alone with her,” Frank said. “We won't let you out of our sight.”

“Frank Hardy, I plan to hold you to that,” Alice said.

•   •   •

When Heather and Alice dropped Frank and Joe off at the Zettarella's house, Chet, Matt, and Tony were just having breakfast.

“I haven't felt this great since . . . I don't know when,” Matt said. “This is the life!”

“Are you two hungry?” Gina asked as she piled more pancakes on Chet's plate.

“No, we had a really great
lunch
at Betsy Ross's Kitchen,” Frank said, looking at Chet. “We'll probably wait until
dinner
to eat again.”

“Well, if you get hungry before that, just say something, and I'll fix it for you,” Gina said. She gave them all a big smile. “I haven't felt this happy since our boys were home.” She shook her head.
“I'm sure that probably sounds silly to you, but I enjoyed being a mother more than I ever enjoyed stocks.”

“
Stocks?
” Joe said.

Gina nodded. “When Mario and I met, I worked for one of the big brokerage houses downtown,” she said. “I was making a lot of money buying and selling stock for my clients.”

“That's great,” Frank said.

“Well, my clients and my colleagues thought I was crazy when I married a police officer and moved out to the suburbs,” Gina said. “I wouldn't recommend it for everyone—but I made the right decision for myself.”

•   •   •

Just as Chet, Matt, and Tony finished breakfast, Mario arrived home from work. “Well, we struck out on the drivers,” he said to Frank and Joe. “They knew each other all right, but they both have alibis for the nights of the robberies. And frankly, after what I heard from the officers who talked to them, the two men are closer to being saints than crooks.”

“Really?” Joe said. “Why would Gretchen Wall's father make up a story like he did?”

“People
love
conspiracies,” Mario said. “I really shouldn't have reacted the way I did, thinking that somebody was hiding something from us, because I know better. It's just that, well . . . we're feeling the pressure because of who's being robbed. These
people are movers and shakers in the city. If we don't arrest somebody soon, we're the ones who are going to be moved and shaken, if you know what I mean!” He let out a big sigh. “Enough of that, though. Are you boys ready for another Aérocirque performance?”

“Sure thing,” Joe said.

“Well, I need to wash up, but then we'll leave,” Mario said. “I'm driving the van tonight. Bill pulled another detail.”

•   •   •

Everyone was waiting in the police van when Mario finished getting ready. Frank made sure he had the front passenger seat, because there were some things that he wanted to ask Mario on the way to the stadium. Joe was in the seat behind him.

When they were finally on Highway 611 headed north to the stadium, the time seemed right to Frank to start questioning. “What do you know about Baron von Battenberg and his daughter?”

“What do you mean?” Mario said.

“Are they really as wealthy as everyone thinks they are?” Frank asked.

“What are you getting at?” Mario said.

Joe leaned forward. “Elisabeth seems fascinated by all the money her friends have. She talks about it constantly,” he said. “If her father were really as wealthy as everyone thinks, would she be doing that?”

“Maybe rich people like to talk about their money,” Mario said. “You're really asking the wrong person.”

“Well, it's not so much that she's just talking about it, Mario, it's the way she's talking,” Frank said. “She sounds almost envious—as if she wants what she doesn't have.”

“I don't know how we could find out without checking the von Battenberg's bank accounts,” Mario said, “and at this point, I can't think of a reason why a judge would let me do that.”

Frank leaned back. “Yeah . . . I can't either,” he said.

“Judges don't consider hunches as solid evidence,” Joe added, “and that's about all it is at this point.”

“Tell me about it,” Mario said.

They rode the rest of the way to the stadium in silence, but Frank's mind was mulling over all of the suspicions that were developing in his head. He was trying to get them in some kind of order.

Joe was doing the same. It was weird how it all worked too. Since he had been around mysteries all his life, certain events, certain things that people said worked their way into his subconscious where they mingled together. Then, all at once, something that hadn't made sense suddenly
did
make sense, and he was on to a possible solution to the crime. He knew that that's what was happening to him now, and probably to Frank, too. He sensed
it wouldn't be long until they cracked this case.

Mario parked the police van right at gate forty-two and motioned to one of the police officers who was helping with crowd control. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, but every seat in the house is taken,” the police officer said. “That Baron von Battenberg is going to be richer than he already is!”

Frank and Joe looked at each other.

“I think you and I must be in the minority, thinking that they don't have as much money as everyone thinks they do,” Frank whispered.

Joe nodded.

When they got to their seats, Elisabeth, Heather, and Alice were already there, but Joe noticed that Baron von Battenberg was conspicuously absent.