The Genius Thieves (11 page)

Halfway across the courtyard, Frank stopped short. "Wait a minute, Joe," he said.

"What are you doing?" Joe demanded. "Let's get to Mansfield before this guy makes Swiss cheese out of us!"

"No. Come here!" Frank pulled his brother into the middle of the courtyard, toward the statue of George Howe Chartwell. They ducked behind the pedestal of the statue just as the masked man came out behind the back of Van Cott Hall.

In the darkness Frank and Joe could only see his silhouette, but they could tell that he was looking for them. They couldn't tell who he was when he took off his ski mask and trotted off toward Mansfield Hall.

"Just as I thought," said Frank. "He knows where I live. We can't go back there now. Who knows? He may even have a key!"

"You've got a point," Joe said. "But what's our next step?"

"Follow me." Frank led Joe back into Van Cott Hall. The party was just then starting to break up. Dozens of students milled around in the dorm's large front foyer. Frank and Joe plunged into the crowd.

"How can you think of partying at a time like this?" asked Joe, baffled.

"Just stay with me," Frank answered. "This is perfect; the foyer is too crowded for the guard to pay attention to us."

Frank kept an eye on the guard as more and more students filed into the foyer from the party. Then, as soon as the guard turned his back to talk to someone, Frank and Joe darted up the stairs toward the rooms.

"This is a girls' dorm," explained Frank. "They don't allow male visitors this late. That's why we had to sneak."

"Hmm, I suppose you're used to this sort of thing by now," said Joe slyly as they walked down the second-floor hallway. Frank gave Joe a playful slap on the head and walked up to room 21.

He rapped softly on the door. There was no answer. Then he knocked a little louder.

"Who is it?" called a voice from inside.

"It's me, Sarah — Frank."

Sarah opened the door with a look of astonishment on her face. "How did you get up here?" she asked. Then she saw Joe. "Who's he?"

"Sarah, this is my brother, Joe." He grinned. "Don't mind the blond roots."

Joe turned red as he shook Sarah's hand, embarrassed. "It's supposed to wash out," he mumbled.

"Come on in," Sarah said, with concern in her voice. "My roommates are still at the dance. I was just doing some homework. Is something wrong?"

"It's a long story!" said Frank. "Can we use your phone?"

"Of course. You're not in danger, are you, Frank?"

"If you consider being chased by an armed wacko through the campus 'danger,' yes!" said Joe.

Sarah looked fearful as Frank made his call. "Hello, Dad? You've got to get over here, I think we've got the computer thieves—in action! It's Ives Hall, room C-forty-two. Got it? ... As soon as you can get here—with police! We're heading over there right now! 'Bye!"

"Can you be on call in case we need you for anything, Sarah?" Frank asked. "We're on the brink of breaking this!"

"You know you can," she answered. "But why don't you wait till your father gets here?"

"Too long," said Joe. "The thieves may be done by that time. We should only need him for the clean-up."

With that, Frank and Joe ran down the stairs, sneaked back into the foyer crowd, and walked out the front door.

They looked all around the courtyard. There were no suspicious shadows. They tiptoed around to the back of Van Cott. No one was there.

Then, as fast as they could, they ran past Mansfield to its neighboring dorm, Ives Hall.

Ives was spooky looking, with tall, gabled roofs and narrow windows. Its deep red brick had become almost black with age, and there was a creaky wooden porch along the front of the building.

"This looks like a haunted house," said Joe. "And what are we going to tell this guard?"

"This is a boys' dorm," said Frank. "Just nod your head at the guard and look like you know where you're going!"

They both did just that, and the guard woke up from a catnap to nod back. They went up the stairs to the fourth floor.

"You'd think one of these buildings would have an elevator," Joe grumbled.

Frank ignored him and went ahead to find C-42. His eyes widened as he read the names on the door: "Goldman, Farnsworth, and Pierce."

"The three honchos at my tribunal!" Frank whispered as Joe read the names. "No wonder they wanted to expel me! They're doing the thefts!"

Muffled, agitated voices could be heard through the door. Frank and Joe put their ears against it to listen.

At first they had a hard time sorting out the sounds — hurried voices, computer noises, the sound of a phone hanging up — a modem — the closing of a window. But soon the voices became more distinct, and the brothers could make out snatches of whispered conversation: "Let them get away?"

"I couldn't help it. They're more — "

"Found out where we are!"

"I knew we should never have gotten involved! We're all going to be expelled!"

"Where's our money?"

"Haven't we transferred enough by now — "

"No! We need a million — we're almost there!"

Joe turned to Frank and said, "Let's throw some excitement into their lives." He knocked on the door.

All at once the voices stopped. Joe knocked again. There was frantic shuffling inside.

"Who is it?" a very polite voice sang out.

"Subscription boys for the Prison Gazette!" Joe answered.

He was met by silence once again.

"Open up, fellas, unless you want to pay for a new door!" Joe said.

The door opened halfway. Ty Farnsworth peeked out. "Frank! I didn't recognize your voice!" he said. "That's a crazy sense of humor you have." He looked at Joe. "I don't believe we've met."

"We'll all have plenty of time to get to know each other," said Frank. "Mind if we step in?"

"Of course not," said Ty. He opened the door all the way. Frank and Joe walked in to see Lloyd and Stu lying casually on their beds, reading textbooks.

"Studying awfully late, aren't you?" said Frank. "I guess you have to squeeze your work in around bank swindles."

Lloyd rose calmly to his feet and gave Frank a puzzled smile. "That's a very strange joke, Frank. Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

"He's feeling a lot better than you'll be feeling behind bars!" said Joe.

Lloyd looked at his roommates, who both shrugged their shoulders. "I'm afraid you're making no sense. I'll have to ask you to — "

"Why don't I just spell it out for you, Pierce?" said Frank. "The three of you have learned that playing with computers can be profitable. For the past couple of weeks you've been using this computer to loot the Bayport Bank and Trust for hundreds of thousands of dollars, transferring them to some secret account. I admire you for catching on to me early. You tried to expel me, set my room on fire, forge my English exam, and then — "

"This is totally ridiculous!" said Lloyd.

"Is it? You told me you'd read my admissions essay, Lloyd—and you're in my English class. Who else would know what my handwriting looked like?"

All three roommates laughed. "And you, Goldman," Frank said, "you went after me with that oar, pretending it was because you were jealous. You probably couldn't care less about Sarah." Then he turned to Ty. "And was it you, Farnsworth, who took my roommate Arnie's key at the Young Turk the night of the fire?"

Stu and Ty both started to protest, but Frank cut them off. "And then, when the going was getting really rough, one of you put on a mask and tried to kill us off—as well as Dwight Trilby! I think you'll have a lot of explaining to do when the police get here. And you'd be wise not to try anything — assault and battery will just make it easier to convict you!"

Lloyd folded his arms thoughtfully. "I think the stress here at Chartwell has gotten to you and your friend, Frank. Maybe you should sit down with us and relax. Let me take your jackets."

Lloyd sauntered over to the closet and opened the door.

Frank and Joe were completely unprepared for what came next.

Out of the closet stepped a man — a man with a mask and a gun!

FRANK AND JOE lifted their hands in the air. The masked man waved them over to the window with his gun. Frank and Joe obeyed. Then he continued waving.

"Y - you mean you want us to jump?" Joe said. He looked down on the blacktop three stories below.

The masked man nodded.

Lloyd Pierce began fidgeting. He looked over at Stu and Ty, who also seemed uncomfortable.

"Come on," Lloyd said to the man. "I thought you said no violence."

The man waved toward the window with even more conviction.

"Hey, hey!" said Stu, grabbing the masked man's arm. "If you do this, they'll blame the deaths on us! They'll say we pushed them!"

The mysterious man wrenched his arm loose. With one swift blow, he whacked Stu over the head with his pistol.

A hush fell over the room as Stu crumpled to the floor. Lloyd and Ty looked shocked.

"Uh — okay! J - just tell us what to do," said Ty. "And we'll do it—right, Lloyd?"

Lloyd was dumbfounded. Ty poked him roughly in the back. "Right, Lloyd?" Ty repeated.

"Oh!" Lloyd said, shocked back to reality. "Right! Anything you want!"

The masked man pointed to the window again with his gun and made a lifting motion.

"You want us to open the window?" Ty asked.

The man then pantomimed a push with his hands. "And then push them out?" said Lloyd, terrified. "Wait a minute — "

Ty was already walking over to the window. "Do what he wants, Lloyd!" he snapped. "He's got a gun!"

"There's got to be another way!" Lloyd said. He stepped forward to plead with the man, crossing in front of Frank and Joe.

That was all Joe needed. He grabbed Lloyd's outstretched arm and threw him into the masked man. The two of them fell onto the floor, and the man let loose a shot.

Thwoosh — Crack! The bullet whistled through the silencer and hit the computer. Sparks flew through the air and the masked man shielded his eyes. With lightning speed, Joe ripped the computer monitor out of its socket and hurled it at the man.

Both Lloyd and the masked man scrambled away as the heavy box flew toward them. Frank and Joe then headed for the door.

They heard the sound of crashing metal as they ran into the hallway. They bolted down the stairwell and out the front door, past the sleeping guard.

"Let's get as far away from here as we can!" yelled Frank.

"Nobody's tailing us!" Joe called out, looking over his shoulder.

"They will! Come on!"

Two shots sliced the air; one hit the ground near Joe's foot and the other dented a nearby metal Dumpster. Frank and Joe dove behind the Dumpster.

"Where are they?" Frank whispered.

Joe carefully stuck his head above the Dumpster. No one was in the courtyard, but he heard voices. He looked up to see three figures on a catwalk along the top of Ives Hall.

"They're on the roof!" Joe said.

"Ives is the tallest building on campus. They'll see us wherever we go!" said Frank.

"Have no fear." Joe picked up two large rocks and hurled them as far as he could. They rustled leaves and branches as they fell through the trees behind Ives.

Ty, Lloyd, and the masked man rushed to the other end of the catwalk. Two more muffled shots sounded, but farther away.

"Look at that! They think we're all the way over there!" said Frank, amazed.

"Sometimes the oldest tricks are the best," Joe replied with a grin.

"That sounds familiar," Frank said.

While the rooftop snipers were distracted, Frank and Joe quietly scurried away from school grounds.

After a while they reached residential streets in Kirkland and felt safely distant from campus. They sat on a curb.

"This is ridiculous," said Joe, looking around. "We're totally useless here. Let's wait a few minutes for the three of them to get off the roof and then go back!"

Frank shook his head, deep in thought. "Too risky," he said. "Besides, we've got to intercept Dad. Police or no police, he's not going to be expecting homicidal maniacs on a prep-school campus."

"Right! That's why I think we should go in and get the van!"

"No," said Frank evenly. "Better to let the van come to us."

Joe gave Frank a quizzical look. "What? Maybe you are cracking under the stress!"

"Don't forget—there's still someone on campus who's on our side."

"Sarah! Of course!"

"You catch on fast!" said Frank. "We'll call and ask her to drive the van here! Now all we have to do is find a phone."

They ran five blocks into the outskirts of downtown Kirkland. An old, abandoned gas station stood by the edge of a side street. The windows were boarded up and the pumps had rusted from lack of use—but the pay phone still worked.

Frank inserted a quarter and dialed. "Sarah, this is Frank — yes, I'm all right. I'm at the corner of Archer and Elliot in Kirkland, at an old gas station.

"Listen, can you drive our van over here? ... There's a spare set of keys in a secret compartment near the steering wheel. It looks like a cigarette lighter, but just push it in three times and turn it twice to the right, and the keys will pop out ... As soon as you can! Don't waste a second. And don't let anybody see you!"

As they waited for the van, Joe paced back and forth. "This is a dumb idea, Frank! It'll take her forever to get here. We might as well walk — "

"Trust me," pleaded Frank.

Sure enough, within five minutes the van was speeding down Archer Street toward them at full throttle.

Frank and Joe ran into the street, waving their arms at the van. As the van raced closer, they motioned for it to pull into the gas station. But it didn't slow down.

Frank gestured broadly with his arms. "What is she doing?" he asked. The van veered into the left side Of the road and headed straight for them.

"Look out!" screamed Frank. He and Joe jumped into the hedges by the road and the van missed them by inches. It swerved away from the gas pumps and screeched to a stop thirty yards down the road.

Frank and Joe sprang up from the ground as the van door opened.