Scene of the Crime (7 page)

"Yeah, the saboteur really fouled up and got caught by the camera. But he still managed to clear his tracks."

"Maybe all the tracks weren't covered," Frank said. "Maybe we just need a gimmick to flush him out."

"A gimmick." Janet rose to her feet. She took the pad from Joe and placed it back under the sweaters.

"Come on," she said, looking at her watch. "I've got to go practice my stunt. But I think I have the perfect idea." She led them back outside and locked the door. "Meet me at seven at my trailer. I'm going to bait and hook our fish."

"Janet." Frank grabbed her arm. "What have you got in mind?"

"You'll see."

"Don't play games," Joe warned her. "If you make the wrong move, you could get killed."

"My plan is perfect," she said, running off.

At seven Frank and Joe left the stunt building and herded for Janet's trailer. "I wonder what she has in mind?" Joe said. "I guess we're about to find out." Frank suddenly stopped and pointed across the lot. "There she is. Hey, Janet!"

But Janet didn't seem to hear. She kept walking toward her trailer. Frank and Joe followed the back of her black satin jacket, the logo for The Lost Princess glittering as she walked.

"Hey, Janet!" Joe shouted.

The girl glanced over her shoulder. When she spotted Frank and Joe approaching, she abruptly took off — away from them.

"Janet, stop!" Joe shouted.

But she didn't stop she cut her way around props and crew members.

"Something's wrong," Frank said.

They chased her along a path, lost sight of her for a moment, then caught another glimpse of her jacket. Janet had a good lead, but Frank and Joe were faster. By the time she reached her trailer, she was just a few feet ahead.

She held the key in her hand, thrusting it up to unlock the door before they caught up to her.

Just as the key slipped in, Joe grabbed her by the shoulder. With a cry of fear, she spun around to face them.

Only it wasn't Janet.

It was Kitt Macklin!

A STRAINED AND SICK expression came over Kitt Macklin's face.

"So, what have we here?" Joe asked, grinning at the actress.

"I — I, ah ... " Kitt swallowed hard. She turned to Joe and flashed her movie star smile. "It's really all quite simple—and highly amusing, actually."

"So tell," Joe said. "We need a laugh."

"You know Burke's been flirting with Janet," Kitt whispered confidentially. "Well, I suspect a little romance has been going on behind my back. Burke denies the whole thing, but — "

"Why are you here?" Frank interrupted.

"But I don't believe him," Kitt went on, ignoring Frank's question. "I thought I'd check to see if he's sent her any more flowers."

"That still doesn't explain how you got Janet's jacket and keys."

"Janet was working, and her jacket was on a chair with the keys in its pocket." Kitt gave them a big grin. "So I thought I'd 'borrow' it for a while to check out her trailer."

Joe and Frank exchanged glances.

"You'll have to do better than that," Joe said. "The jacket story might have washed if you weren't also wearing similar jeans and the same color T-shirt and had your hair in a pony tail, the way Janet's been wearing hers."

"It was a good disguise for going into her trailer," Kitt told them.

"You went to all that trouble just looking for flowers?" Frank said. "Come on."

"So you think I'm lying?" Kitt raised her chin. She stepped off the stairs, but Joe grabbed her arm before she could walk away.

"Let go of me," she protested.

"Sure." Joe released her arm. "But I wish you'd level with us."

Tears welling up in her eyes, Kitt slumped down on the trailer steps. "Okay. There's also this." She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small white envelope. Frank unfolded the letter inside.

" 'I know who has the missing film,' " he read. "Signed, 'Janet Wynn.' " Frank glared at Kitt. "Is that why you're here? You have the film?"

"No!"

Suddenly Kitt was up, pushing Frank back and rushing past him. But she hadn't run more than a few steps when a canister of film flew out from under her jacket.

Kitt reached for the canister as it fell to the ground, but Frank scooped up the film while Joe grabbed her. "Look what I found," Frank said.

But he didn't have long to enjoy his discovery. From behind Janet's trailer, Burke Quinn ran forward. The actor roared like a madman, his hands aimed for Frank's throat. Frank turned just as Quinn charged him, and he nearly had the wind knocked out of him.

The film can flew up in the air. But Joe caught it before it hit the ground.

"Hit him, Burke," Kitt shouted, furious.

Quinn and Frank struggled and rolled around on the ground. Finally Frank managed to pin Quinn beneath him, his legs imprisoning the actor's arms.

"What gives?" Frank shouted. "Why'd you attack me?"

"You guys can't manhandle my girlfriend," the actor shouted back.

"Burke, you were defending me?" Kitt asked. "How wonderful."

"Did you also help Kitt steal the stunt film?" Frank asked.

"She didn't steal it," Quinn said, "I did."

Frank and Joe stared at him.

"I did it as a little prank. I wanted a private viewing of some of the rushes in my trailer, that's all. But I didn't sabotage any stunts."

"But why did you just steal the stunt scenes?" Frank asked.

"I wanted to see if the action scenes were going to be strong enough. This is an action movie, and if it's not exciting, it won't sell."

Frank let go of the actor and helped him to his feet. Quinn took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Frank, who read it quickly.

"It's the same as the one Kitt received," he said.

"I would have put the film back," Quinn explained. "Only after what happened to the captain, I was afraid to admit what I'd done."

"When these notes arrived," Kitt said, "we decided to stash the film in Janet's trailer."

"We hadn't even looked at them yet," Quinn added.

"Where are the rest of the reels?" Joe asked.

Kitt unzipped her jacket, slowly pulling out five more canisters. Grudgingly, she handed them over to Joe.

"What a relief," Joe said. "For a moment I thought you'd suddenly put on weight."

Kitt made a face. "What are you going to do now?"

"You're not going to turn us in, are you?" Burke Quinn sounded nervous.

"There's only one thing to do," Frank decided.

"Let's go view the reels and see if we can spot our saboteur."

Cal was in the projection booth when they arrived to view the missing reels. They took their seats while Cal threaded reel 242 — Janet's motorcycle stunt scene—through the projector.

"Now we'll see if the captain's hunch was right," Frank said.

Before Janet's ride, the cameraman had taken a series of shots, first filming a wide-angle panoramic view of the set. Next the camera closed in on the road and fence. At last the scene settled in on Janet's motorcycle, following her down the road and into the fence. Joe winced as he once again watched her hit the wall and go up in flames.

"See anything suspicious?" Frank asked.

Kitt Macklin and Burke Quinn shook their heads.

"It all went by too fast," Joe said.

They watched the scene again, then a third time.

"Hold it," Frank said. "I think I see something. Cal? Can you slow this down?"

"Sure. I'll roll it one frame at a time." Cal fiddled with the projector. Then the scene appeared on the screen as still shots from a slide show.

"Right there!" Frank shouted.

In the corner of the picture, a man was standing by the fence, a gallon container in his hand.

Quickly he doused the fence with a clear liquid. Then for half a second—in the space of just three frames—the man turned toward the camera.

Joe's eyes opened wide. "It's Gil Driscoll."

"Stuntmen," Burke Quinn growled, putting his arm around Kitt. "You can't trust any of them."

Frank sat very still. "I was just thinking that Janet probably sent those notes, but she couldn't possibly have seen the film."

"Of course not," Joe agreed. "Sending those notes to Burke and Kitt was just a trick to expose the saboteur."

"But if she sent notes to Burke and Kitt, she sent notes to other people on the set as well."

"You don't think — " Joe slapped his forehead.

"Exactly," Frank said. "If Gil Driscoil got a letter, too, then Janet is in danger."

Joe looked at his watch. "And her next stunt begins in just a few minutes."

The entire crew seemed to be on hand to witness the film's most dangerous stunt - Janet and Ed free-falling from the top of the Garfield mansion.

When Frank and Joe reached the set, Janet and Ed were already up on the roof of the building, which was well lit. In fact, the whole area was lit up like day. On the ground, directly beneath them, two large air bags were being set up to break their falls.

"There's Gil!" Joe exclaimed.

The stuntman was helping to move Janet's air-bag into place. Slowly, with his back turned to the crowd, he reached inside his cowboy boot.

"A knife," Frank shouted. "He's got a knife!"

But the crowd was too loud and too excited to make sense of the warning. Frank and Joe pushed forward, struggling through the knot of people.

Everyone was looking up at Janet and Ed as Frank and Joe saw Gil Driscoll slash Janet's air bag. Slowly the air bag began to deflate.

"Stop the stunt!" Frank shouted, still pushing through the crowd. "Stop it!"

His shouts alerted the saboteur. Driscoll turned and spotted Frank and Joe battling their way toward him. They'd reached a temporary barricade set up to keep everyone at a safe distance.

"Hey!" a security man shouted as Joe hopped the wooden horses.

Driscoll took off. Joe ran after him, but the saboteur ducked around the side of the building. And when Joe turned the corner, Driscoll was gone — vanished into the darkness.

"A minute to action!" Sy Osserman called through his megaphone.

"Hold it! Don't jump!" Frank called up to the rooftop, as he scaled the wooden barricade.

But the crowd noise was too loud for the stunters above to hear. Before Frank could call out again, he was tackled by two security guards.

"Don't jump!" Frank continued to shout as the guards were dragging him off. "Look," he said to the security men. "You've got to stop the stunt. It's been sabotaged!"

The guards continued to drag him along.

Frank twisted in their grasp, kicking one guard behind the knee. As the man's legs buckled under him, Frank pushed him in front of his partner and ran for the building.

Joe was ahead of him, dodging the guards, who were coming for him like running backs.

Together, the Hardys entered the building and plunged up the tall, steep back stairs.

"Thirty seconds," Sy Osserman called.

Frank and Joe pulled themselves along the railing, taking the stairs three at a time. They heard the security men pounding along behind them. "We can't think of them now," Frank gasped, pushing Joe ahead. Joe felt his heart pounding. Never had he run up stairs so fast before.

They reached the trapdoor to the roof and Joe smashed his shoulder against it, Frank right on his heels. The fresh air revitalized them, and the sight of Janet, poised, ready to jump, pumped up their adrenaline, which made them scramble even faster.

"Action!" Sy Osserman bellowed.

"Janet, don't jump!" they screamed.

Joe dove forward, his arms straining to grab hold of Janet's ankles. His chest hit the roof edge, and he teetered.

But Joe's straining hands came up inches short. Janet floated in the air just beyond his grasp.

Then she dropped like a stone, and fell to the ground below.

"JANET!" JOE SCREAMED.

The crowd stared silently from below, while the camera rolled, capturing Janet's fall to certain death.

Down she dropped, seeming to pick up speed as she passed the top floor, then the third, the second ...

Suddenly Ed Kemble, his arms and legs fluttering in the wind as if he were trying to fly, reached over and grabbed Janet!

Joe broke into a broad smile. This was his old screen hero Ed Kemble, coming to life before his eyes. He was taking a big risk, but by pulling Janet close to him, he was diverting her from her own air bag and over to his.

Arm in arm they descended the last two stories, to land hard, smack in the center of Ed's fully inflated air bag. Their bodies bounced up once, as if they'd hit a trampoline, then softly fell back to rest.

Instantly the crowd gathered around them. Janet gave Ed a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ed smiled and waved at the crew. He was pleased to be cast as a hero again.

At the director's orders, the security men had brought Frank and Joe to his trailer. Osserman was now pacing back and forth before them, while the Hardys sat together on the couch, explaining the situation.

"You're saying Gil Driscoll sabotaged all the stunts?" Sy Osserman asked. "I can't believe it."

"Check out the air bag," Joe said. "It's slashed with a knife—and we saw him do it."

"We've got hard evidence against Driscoll, too," Frank added, handing the director the important canister of film. "We've recovered the missing rushes — "

Osserman's eyes lit up. "How?"

"That's not important," Frank cut in, protecting Kitt and Quinn. "What is important is that during the filming of Janet's motorcycle stunt, the camera caught Gil Driscoll sabotaging the fence."

"Are you certain it's Gil?" Osserman asked.

"He's only on film a few seconds," Joe explained. "But when you run the scene in slow motion, frame by frame, there's no doubt at all."

The director slapped his forehead. "I just can't believe it! Gil's one of the best stuntmen in the country. He earns top dollar for his craft. Why would he toss his entire career away?"

"Good question," Frank said.

"Maybe we should consider catching him to find out." Joe jumped to his feet. "He can't be far away yet. And if we call Chief Fraser to set up roadblocks — "