The Vanishing Thieves (5 page)

Another workman stepped into the room, and came to a halt when he saw the baldheaded man holding the boys at bay with his wrench.

“What's going on? he inquired.

“I caught these two nosing around. They claim they're looking for jobs and wandered in here because they thought it was the hiring office.”

“Wandered in how? Both the front and back doors are locked!”

“The back door was open,” Joe said, his heart pounding.

“What do you think?” the baldheaded man asked his companion.

“We better take them over to the office and let Big Harry handle it.”

“Okay, you two,” the man with the wrench ordered, gesturing toward the door. “March!”

Frank and Joe had no choice but to obey. They were herded across the big garage to the office on its opposite side. On the way, they saw Red Sluice and Anton Jivaro standing toward the front of the building with their backs turned, talking to one of the mechanics.

In the office, the burly man behind the desk looked up in surprise as the boys were shoved in by the two workmen.

“What's this, Slim?” he asked the baldheaded man.

“I found these two in the machine shop. They claim they were looking for work and thought that was the hiring office.”

Frowning at the boys, Big Harry asked, “How'd you get in here?”

“The back door was open,” Joe said.

“Who left it unlocked?” Harry demanded in an accusing voice.

“Not me,” Slim said. “I wasn't the last one in. Anyway, I think they're lying. ”

“Bruce, go check the door,” Big Harry ordered the other workman.

Frank said, “It fell shut behind us. It might have locked itself.”

Bruce paused in the doorway, looking at his employer inquiringly.

“Never mind,” Big Harry said impatiently. He stared at the two boys. “What's your names?”

“I'm Joe Bayport,” Joe said. “He's my brother Frank.”

Just then Red Sluice walked into the office, took one look at the boys and exclaimed, “What are you two doing here?”

“You know them?” Big Harry asked.

“I sure do!

“Slim and Bruce found them lurking around the machine shop. Who are they?”

“I don't know their names, but they were hanging around my house last night also. They were peeking in a window, getting ready to break in I think,” Red explained.

“You sure they're the same ones?” Big Harry asked.

“Positive. Anton and I were having coffee in the kitchen when the cat meowed to get in. I opened the door and saw them because the light from the kitchen window was shining right in their faces.”

“To make sure, go get your old friend,” Big Harry suggested.

With sinking hearts, Frank and Joe realized that once Jivaro saw them, he would recognize them as the Hardy boys. As long as the crooks thought they were just thieves, they had a good chance of being let go with just a lecture. But if it was discovered they they were the sons of the private detective investigating the car-theft ring, they were in big trouble!

But Red Sluice gave them a brief respite. “My friend didn't see them,” he admitted. They got away before he came out. I chased them until they jumped into a car and drove off.“

“Okay, boys,” Big Harry said to Frank and Joe. “Get out your I.D.s.”

The boys winced inwardly. This was just as bad as being identified by Jivaro. Desperately, Joe stalled by saying, “I'm not carrying any.”

“Neither am I,” Frank added.

“Search them for wallets,” Big Harry ordered.

Joe had kept an eye on the man with the wrench. When Slim let it hang at his side, feeling the boys would not try a break, the young detective suddenly reached out and grabbed it from his hand.

Tossing it into a wastebasket across the room, he yelled, “Come on, Frank!” and headed for the door.

Slim stepped in front of him, though, and delivered a roundhouse right. Joe ducked under it, drove a fist into the man's belly, then delivered an uppercut that sent his opponent reeling backwards.

Red Sluice swung at Frank, who ducked the blow. An instant later, Bruce knocked Frank down with a hard right to the jaw. But as he bore in to finish the boy off, Joe stuck out a foot to trip him. A moment later, Bruce was flat on his face.

As Frank recovered, Red Sluice rushed at him. Frank pushed him back into Big Harry, who had just come around the desk to join in the fray.

As the two workmen again moved in for the attack, Joe shoved Slim, Frank hit Bruce, and the two men crashed together, going down with a loud thud.

“Let's get out of here!” Joe yelled, leading the way through the door.

They were almost to the restroom when the four hoods recovered sufficiently to run after them. The boys darted inside and Frank slammed and bolted the door. They climbed out the window just as a heavy shoulder hit the door from the other side.

Chet started the engine and Vern leaned over to let the Hardys into the rear of the car. When Chet pulled away, the back door of the warehouse opened and the four hoods rushed out.

“After them!” Big Harry yelled.

Looking through the rear window, the boys saw the thieves jump into a green sedan parked behind the warehouse. Big Harry took the wheel, swung around, and raced after them.

Chet sped down an alley and turned right at the cross street before the other car came in sight behind them. Then he swung left into another alley. He continued this winding course for some blocks until he was sure they had shaken their pursuers.

“Now what?” he asked. “Back to the hotel?”

“May as well,” Frank said.

Chet continued on for a few minutes, then pulled over to the curb. “Which way is it?”

“Are you lost? Vern inquired.

“No, but I think the car is!” he joked, relieving the tension.

The four boys laughed and then looked carefully in all directions. Chet's winding course had confused everyone.

“I think it's that way,” Joe said, pointing.

Chet started up again, but after a few minutes, they realized they were driving deeper and deeper into Old Chinatown. The streets became narrow and buildings on both sides pushed right up to the sidewalks.

Glancing into the rearview mirror, Chet suddenly said. “Uh-oh.”

The others turned around to look. A block behind them, the hoods had just turned a corner. Apparently, they had been randomly cruising side streets in search of the boys and had finally sighted them.

Chet turned right, then swung left into an alley, attempting the same zigzag maneuver as before. But the other car was too close behind this time. It followed wherever the boys went.

As they sped along one of the narrow streets, Chet sighed. “Hey, here's a whole block of Chinese restaurants. ”

“Want to stop for a snack?” Vern inquired sarcastically. Chet did not reply.

They went past a sign reading ROAD CONSTRUC TION AHEAD, and the pavement suddenly became slick with mud spewed up from a drainage ditch being dug to their right. On their left, a flimsy wooden guard rail edged a sheer twenty-foot drop into a rocky ditch.

The pursuing car put on a burst of speed and began to come up alongside the boys.

“They're going to run you into the ditch, Chet!” Frank cautioned. “Give them a driving lesson.”

Chet nodded and suddenly slammed on his brakes. He let the green sedan shoot past, then swung left, and gently prodded their opponents' bumper. Accelerating, he nudged the hoods' car forward and sideways so that they, instead of the boys, nosed over toward the ditch.

Finally, the green sedan came to a halt with its radiator buried in the mudbank. Chet swung back to the right in order to straighten his wheel. Just then he hit a patch of mud, skidded, and headed directly for the guard rail with the twenty-foot vertical drop beyond!

Chet turned the front wheels into the direction of the skid. The car veered sidewise, but straightened out just as the left rear fender scraped the guard rail. Gritting his teeth, Chet fought for control, and was finally able to drive onto the right side of the road.

“Whew!” Vern muttered. “Was everybody as scared as I was?”

“I wasn't scared at all,” Chet said, his voice shaking. “I've got nerves of steel.” Then, exhausted, he slumped behind the wheel, resting his head against the window. Frank twisted in his seat to see what happened to the green sedan. Big Harry and Red Sluice were angrily trying to push the car out of the ditch, but the harder they struggled the more embedded the vehicle became.

All four boys chuckled smugly, but not wanting to push their luck, they drove quickly back to the hotel, where they decided to phone Fenton Hardy in Bayport.

Frank dialed and Gertrude Hardy answered.

“Are you all right?” she asked anxiously. “We heard on TV about that terrible hijacking.”

“We're all fine, Aunt Gertrude. Is Dad there?”

“No, he's gone away. He said it was a secret mission. You're to leave word where you can be reached, and he'll get in touch with you. ”

Frank gave her the telephone number of the hotel and their room numbers.

“Have you found Vern's nickel?” Aunt Gertrude asked.

“We haven't had time to look yet,” Frank said. “Maybe we'll get to it this afternoon.”

“All right. I'm glad that this time it's just a simple mystery, and you're not involved with criminals.”

“Yes, Aunt Gertrude. Say hello to Mom.”

When Frank hung up, Joe raised his eyebrows. “Dad isn't there?”

“No. He's on some kind of secret mission. I wish we'd been able to talk to him, so we could discuss our next move. ”

“That's simple,” Chet said. “We call the police and tell them about that warehouse.”

“That may not be a good idea just yet. If they raid the place, all they'll get is the small fry. We want the kingpin of the operation!”

“Maybe it's Big Harry,” Chet said.

“I doubt it.”

“So how do we get the chief?” Vern asked.

“We could stake the place out and photograph everyone who goes in or out with our pocket cameras,” Joe suggested.

“Good idea,” Frank agreed. “The big boss is bound to show up eventually and when he does, we'll have some real evidence to turn over to the police. ”

All four agreed that this was the best plan. They decided to watch the warehouse in shifts. Frank and Chet were to take the first one, while Joe and Vern would check up on the Liberty Head nickel. They all drove to the warehouse and parked a block away. Getting out of the car, the boys scouted the area.

No one was in sight as they approached the front of the building. A number of empty wooden crates and cardboard boxes were piled near the entrance. While the others kept watch, Frank picked out a large shipping carton that had contained a refrigerator. He used his pocketknife to make a door in the back of it, cutting only the top, bottom, and left side, and then bent the right side so that the door could be opened and closed. He set a small wooden crate into the carton to serve as a seat, then put a hole at eye level.

“This'll make a great ‘guard house' for me in front,” he declared, turning to his friends. “Now let's find a place for Chet to hide in back of the building. ”

They began walking toward the alley to pick a safe spot when suddenly Frank, who was in the lead, motioned for everyone to move out of sight. Big Harry was parking behind the warehouse. The sedan's radiator was caked with dried mud, but none of the occupants seemed to have been injured in the accident. They all got out and went into the building.

Frank watched them, gingerly peeking around the corner.

“What's going on?” Joe whispered.

“Nothing now,” Frank said. He moved forward and motioned for the others to follow him. “The hoods who chased us just got back and went inside. None of them seemed to be hurt.”

As they neared the sedan, Vern said, “Those guys must have had a tow truck rescue them. They couldn't have backed out on their own. They were nose-first in that mud bank.”

There was a small shed right across from the rear door of the warehouse on the other side of the alley. They found it unlocked and went in. It was empty. A dirt-encrusted window faced the building. When Chet scraped clean a spot about the size of a silver dollar, he had a perfect view of the door.

Handing him his pocket camera, Joe said, “Snap pictures of everyone going in or out. Okay?”

“When are you guys coming to relieve us?” Chet asked.

“Soon as Vern and I finish our business,” Joe told him. “Shouldn't be later than one o‘clock.”

“You mean we have to wait until then for lunch?”

“It's not going to hurt you,” Vern chided him.

Chet grimaced. “You skinny guys can talk, but it takes sustenance to maintain a muscular body like mine!”

“Oh sure, real muscular!” Vern teased his cousin, as he and the Hardys started back to the street. Frank quickly took up his station in the refrigerator carton, while Joe and Vern went back to the car.

Slipping behind the wheel, Joe asked, “Where to?”

“First, we ought to see the lawyer in charge of Uncle Gregg's estate,” Vern suggested. “He's in the Nichols Building downtown. His name is Charles Avery. ”

The attorney had a plush office on the seventeenth floor. He was a plump, middle-aged, cheerful-looking man. Greeting the boys courteously, he asked them to sit down in comfortable chairs.

“As you know, your uncle had severe financial reverses shortly before he died,” the lawyer told Vern. “Even his extensive coin collection had to be sold to satisfy claims against the estate. All, that is, but the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, which he left to you. Unfortunately, that has disappeared.”