The Jungle Pyramid (17 page)

Frank described how they had seen the hypnotized man with the beard and decided to follow him.

“Good thinking,” Mr. Hardy said. “Anyway, I went to a pay phone and called Chief Erikson, and he came on the run with his men to help me make this arrest.”

“Glad to round them up, Fenton,” Erikson replied. “I know how often you've been right about criminals.”

Mr. Hardy turned to Armstrong. “We saw you come out of the mint. You didn't know it, but you had a police escort every step of the way through the woods to the barn.”

“We collared the man with the rifle at the gate,” the chief took up the story. “Then we came up the road and watched the action in the barn for a while.”

“You took a chance, Erikson,” Armstrong declared. “As Hardy just said, the hypnotism theory was just a hunch. If you had made a mistake, I could have had your badge.”

Erikson shook his head. “Not really. You see, I come from Chicago, and I remember a stage hypnotist who called himself the Great Gordino. His pitch was to call for volunteers from the audience. He'd put them in a trance and make them perform odd antics, like playing leapfrog onstage, and so on. The Great Gordino got into trouble. He bet on the horses, lost heavily, and disappeared from the windy city one jump ahead of the sheriff.”

“What was his real name?” Joe asked.

“John Armstrong! I never connected Gordino with the Wakefield Armstrong until your father told me he suspected this man of being a hypnotist. Then I was sure. I felt we should go all out after this suspect.”

Armstrong caved in. “Sure, I was Gordino in Chicago before I arrived in Wakefield and got a job at the mint. And I had debts. Then I became greedy and wanted some of this gold.”

“So you figured out a way to rob the mint?” Frank prodded him.

“I took a vacation in the Caribbean last winter. When I met Hank Corda, I made a deal with him. He put me in touch with Jake, who, with his men, cut the airstrip in the woods.”

Jake glared at Armstrong, but did not deny the charges.

“Then you hypnotized the mint guards, told them to turn off the alarm system and the cameras, and to let Jake in,” Frank deduced.

Armstrong nodded. “It worked like a charm. I'm still a pretty good hypnotist.”

“You're a pretty good actor, too,” Fenton Hardy said. “You fooled me completely when you engaged me to handle the case. And here you were simply using me to divert suspicion from yourself.”

“Of course. If anyone asked me what I was doing about the gold heist, I could say I hired the famous private investigator from Bayport to run down the clues. But you ran down too many, Hardy!”

“Why did you have our father kidnapped?” Joe asked.

“Because he brought you into the act. That spoiled my plans because with that many people working on the case, it became too dangerous. So we wanted to get him out of the way before he could tell you anything he might have found out.”

“But when he escaped,” Frank said, “you left the note instructing your men to deep six F.H. in the glove compartment of the car used to transport the gold to the barn. You were giving Jake his orders.”

Armstrong nodded. “Jake didn't like this, so I tried to keep you all away until the gold was safely out of this country.”

Joe turned to his father. “He sent us to Zurich and had the rumor spread about the Wakefield gold being sold there,” he said. “When that didn't keep us there long enough, he dreamed up the clue about the plane with ‘Mexico City' on it.”

Mr. Hardy chuckled. “It must have been a surprise for you, John, when we actually found such a plane.”

“It fit right into his plans,” Frank put in.

“So you hypnotized Carlos Calderón in Palango to have another suspect who would take up our time,” Mr. Hardy said to Armstrong. “And when we came back to Wakefield earlier than it suited you, you gassed us in the motel. It was all part of your plot!”

Armstrong became angry. “Nothing would have happened to you if you had listened to me! Why wouldn't you stay in Mexico? When you refused, I had no alternative!”

Frank chuckled. “You probably figured you had everything under control when you came out to the barn tonight. You must have been surprised to see Joe and me trussed up like a couple of chickens ready for the spit!”

“Armstrong, your pilot will get a surprise, too,” Fenton Hardy said. “The police will have a welcoming committee waiting for him when he lands at the airstrip.”

“The getaway plane is due very soon,” Frank reported. “We heard Armstrong say at about midnight.”

“Put a stakeout at the airstrip at once,” Erikson directed his lieutenant. “Impound the plane, bring in the pilot, and have these prisoners taken away.”

“Would you also call the Zurich police and have them arrest a man named Rudolf Kling,” Frank added. “He was Armstrong's accomplice, who hired Pfeiffer to spread the rumor about the gold being sold in Switzerland.”

Armstrong, Jake, and their two henchmen were led out in handcuffs. Mr. Hardy and Erikson walked over to the corner where the gold was stacked. The boys joined them. The bright shimmer of the bars dazzled them, and the hammer and sickle imprint was clearly visible.

“I've always wanted to know what a million in gold looked like,” the police chief confided. “Now I do.”

“If Armstrong's plan had succeeded, it would have been one of the century's most notorious crimes,” Fenton Hardy observed.

“But it failed, thanks to you Hardys,” Erikson pointed out. “By the way, Director Wadsworth of the mint returned from his vacation today. He's upset about the whole thing and will be relieved to hear that you've solved the case.”

“I'll bet he won't be pleased to hear who the culprit is,” Frank said.

“True. On the other hand, the three guards who were arrested are vindicated now and will be back at their jobs soon.”

The gold bars were loaded into the pickup, and two officers guarded them while a third took the wheel. Chief Erikson gave the Hardys a lift to their motel.

The following morning Mr. Hardy spoke to Director Wadsworth on the telephone. He confirmed that the pilot had been arrested and thanked Mr. Hardy profusely for his help.

“I would never have suspected John Armstrong,” the director said with a sigh. “I trusted him completely. Well, I'm glad he hired you to recover the gold.”

The Hardys packed their bags and were soon on their way to Bayport. Frank felt a little disappointed, as he usually did when they wound up a case and the excitement was over. He did not anticipate their next thrilling adventure,
Mystery of the Firebird Rocket.

When they arrived home, they were greeted anxiously by Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude.

“I'm so glad to see you,” Mr. Hardy said. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything is great!” Joe replied with a grin.

“I'm sure it was dangerous,” Aunt Gertrude put in.

“Oh no, Aunty, it was no trouble at all. By the way, we brought you a souvenir.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“You have a choice. Either a jaguar god or a feathered serpent!”