Eye on Crime (3 page)

For the next hour the boys all sat quietly, watching television. None of them really noticed what was on the screen. They just waited to see if Callie and Iola would show up at the restaurant.

At nearly ten o'clock, Chet broke the silence.

“I'm getting worried, guys,” he said.

“We all are,” Frank said.

“I'll go call Iola,” Joe said.

“Let's drive over there,” Chet suggested. “No reason to spook my folks if there isn't something to worry about.”

Tony got up and began to clear the table. “Why don't you guys check to see if they left any messages. I'll clean up here.”

“Do you want some help?” Joe asked.

“I got it,” Tony said. “Just give me a call at home later to let me know the girls are okay.”

Frank, Chet, and Joe left the pizza place. The three friends got in the van, each with a worried expression on his face.

“Let's drive over to Chet's house,” Frank said. He got in the driver's seat. After everyone buckled his seat belt Frank put the car in gear. The silent drive to Chet's house seemed to take forever.

It was ten-thirty when the van pulled up in front of the Morton home.

“Callie's car isn't here,” Frank said.

They walked up to the front door. Chet got out his key, but the door was unlocked.

When they entered the house, they saw that the light in the living room was lit.

“Iola?” Chet called as they headed toward the light.

“You mean she's not with you?” answered Chet's father as the boys entered the room. Mr. Morton, a large man who looked like an older version of his son, sat on a couch with his wife, a dead ringer for her daughter.

“Nope,” Chet shook his head.

A worried look crossed Mrs. Morton's face.

“Then where can she be?”

Mrs. Morton's words hung in the air. Joe Hardy looked around the room. Everywhere he turned, he stared into a worried face.

“It certainly isn't like Iola to go off without telling somebody where she's going,” Mr. Morton said.

“She was supposed to meet us at Pizza Palace after the television show,” Frank said.

“Did something happen to change those plans?” Mr. Morton asked.

“Well, Sis and Callie did end up being guests on the show,” Chet said. “Maybe they're hanging out with some of the people from
Monty Mania.”

Chet's parents both gave their son quizzical looks. Chet began to fill them in on the details,
drawing on the story that Frank and Joe had related to him earlier that evening.

Meanwhile, Frank had gone into the kitchen to use the phone. First he called his own house to see if the missing girls had left any word there. Then, after that phone call came up empty, he tried Callie's house. Nobody answered.

“Nobody's home at the Shaws',” Frank said when he returned to the living room.

Just then they heard a key in the front door. Everyone raced to the entryway.

“Iola!” Mr. Morton shouted as his daughter entered the house. “Are you all right?” Mrs. Morton gave her daughter a hug.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

Iola seemed taken aback by all of the attention.

“Oh, just around.”

“Where did you and Callie go after
Monty Mania?”
Frank asked. “Where's Callie?”

“She dropped me off and headed for home,” Iola answered.

“Why didn't you meet us at the pizza place?” Joe asked. He crowded past Chet to put a reassuring hand on Iola's shoulder.

“Uh, no reason,” Iola replied.

“Were you angry for what happened at the taping?” Joe asked.

“Or embarrassed?” Chet added.

“Not really,” Iola responded. “Well, a little embarrassed, I guess.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, Callie and I went backstage to sign the papers. Then Monty came back to talk to us. And then Callie and I just decided to go to the park.”

“The park?” Joe sounded incredulous.

“Yeah, it's the weirdest thing. Callie and I got in the car, and we just sort of realized, ‘Hey, we never spend any time together, just the two of us.' So we went to the park to talk.”

“What did you talk about?” Chet asked.

“Oh, it's probably private,” Mrs. Morton interjected. “Okay, everyone, it's late. Off to bed.”

Joe gave Iola a hug. “I hope everything is okay. Call me if you want to talk.”

“I'm fine, Joe.” Iola briefly put her arms around Joe's back and gave him a squeeze.

Frank and Joe said good night to the Mortons, went out to the van, and headed for home.

• • •

The next morning Frank and Joe met with Chet in front of Bayport High School a half-hour before classes were to start. It gave the brothers a chance to fill in Chet on whatever case they might currently be working. Chet often proved a valuable asset to an investigation, acting as a sounding board for ideas and sometimes providing a little extra muscle if it was needed.

“Where's Iola?” Joe asked after he said good morning to Chet.

“She's with Callie,” Chet responded. “Callie
picked up Iola real early, but I haven't seen them yet.”

“Strange,” Frank said. “Callie and Iola have always been friendly. They've been out with us on enough double dates to spend a lot of time together. But I wouldn't call them close. Not until the last sixteen or so hours.”

Just as Frank finished his observation, Tony Prito arrived on his bicycle.

“Hey, gang,” he said. He gave Joe a friendly pat on the shoulder. “How'd things wrap up last night?”

“Oh, man,” Joe said sheepishly, “I was supposed to call you with an update. I'm so sorry. I hope you didn't sit around worried.”

“Well, I was a little worried, but I managed to sleep.” Everybody laughed. “So what happened? When did the girls show up?”

“It was around eleven,” Chet said. “Iola and Callie just hung out with each other all evening.”

“That's it?” Tony asked. “That's the great mystery?”

Before anybody could add anything to the conversation, Frank's attention was drawn to the school parking lot.

“Hey, there are Callie and Iola now,” he said, pointing to Callie's car as it pulled into a parking space. The four boys began to walk over to the car. Tony waved to the girls and then veered off toward the bike rack to lock up his ten-speed.

“Good morning, you two,” Frank said. The group of friends stood in the parking lot in silence for a moment.

“So, are you two completely avoiding us since yesterday?” Joe asked.

Iola leaned against Joe. “Oh, don't be silly, Joe. What could possibly be wrong?”

“Well, you have been a little mysterious since the television taping yesterday,” Frank said. He gave a worried glance to Callie. “Are you guys mad at us?”

Callie reached out and took Frank's hand. “Nothing is the matter,” she said. “Iola and I just realized after our starring performance yesterday, that we really know each other only through you and Joe.”

“And me,” Chet interjected. His face was animated, trying to break a little of the tension with humor.

“And Chet,” Callie added. “Anyway, we took the opportunity to spend some time alone to see if there was more of a connection between us than just the Brothers Hardy.”

“And?” Joe asked.

“And we found out—” Iola began to say. But a loud blaring of car horns and the call of a booming voice crackling through a bullhorn drowned out her words.

“Bayport's ballplayers are bums!” shouted the disembodied voice. Joe craned his neck, scanning
the parking lot to see where the ruckus was coming from. He spotted a large red classic convertible car slowly wending its way through the rows of parked cars.

“Who are the rich kids?” Joe began to say, but again his words were drowned out by the blaring car horn.

“Shoreham is gonna show Bayport who's boss!”

The speeding car made its way into the row where the group of friends stood. They could all read a large sign that was being waved in the air by one of the car's occupants.

“Shoreham baseball rules,” Frank read aloud.

“The nerve of those guys!” Chet said. “Coming to our turf before the season's even started.”

The convertible drove closer to where everybody was standing. As it approached the group, it began to accelerate.

“Whooh! Yeah!” shouted a boy as the car sped past. He raised both arms and hurled two large, round, wobbly projectiles. The missiles careened through the air, straight at Joe and Callie. Before either of them could move, they were hit, leaving them soaking wet as the Shoreham students sped out of the parking lot.

“Why those . . .” Joe growled through gritted teeth.

“Water balloons!” Callie shouted at the same time. “I'm soaked, and so are my books!”

Frank reached into his gym bag and took out a
fresh towel and handed it to Callie. Joe just stood there dripping.

“I guess I'll have to get a towel from my locker,” he said. The group began to walk toward the front entrance of the school.

Just then a police car pulled into the parking lot. It rolled to a stop at the foot of the steps. Con Riley, a senior officer with the Bayport police force, got out of the passenger side. The driver of the car, a uniformed police officer whom nobody recognized, stayed in the vehicle.

“Con!” Frank called out to the man who had helped the Hardys break several cases. “Are you here chasing those punks from Shoreham?” he asked as everyone converged on the police car. “You just missed them.”

A quizzical look crossed the man's face. “What are you talking about?”

“Those guys from Shoreham High who just came racing through our parking lot, hurling water balloons,” Joe said. He pointed in the direction in which the red car had driven off.

“I have no idea what you're babbling about, Joe,” Con said. “But I sure wish something like that was what brought me here.”

“Why
are
you here?” Frank asked. He cocked his head toward the patrol car.

“I came as a favor to you and your brother.”

“Oh, no—has something happened to Dad?” Joe asked, a worried look crossing his wet face. The
boys' father, Fenton Hardy, had been a New York City police officer, but years ago he had gone into private practice as a detective.

“Thankfully, no,” Con answered.

“So, what's the favor?” Joe asked.

“I thought it would smooth things if I was the one to do it, seeing as we're all friends.”

“Con, you're scaring me,” Frank said. “Do what?”

Con pointed a finger.

“Iola Morton and Callie Shaw,” he said, “you are hereby placed under arrest.”

“What do you mean ‘under arrest'?” Chet shouted with shock.

The uniformed Officer got out of the patrol car.

“I'll handle this,” Con said, calling over his shoulder. Then he looked at the group of friends. “Just what I said. I have to arrest them.”

“Cuffs, sir?” the uniformed officer, apparently a rookie, asked.

“Not for these kids,” Con answered.

“But procedure?”

“Won't be necessary, Officer,” Con said through gritted teeth.

“What is happening here?” Joe asked.

Con ignored the question. Instead he turned to Callie and Iola.

“You have the right to remain silent,” he began.

“Frank,” Callie said. Confusion crossed both girls' faces.

“Just do what he says,” Frank replied.

Con began to read the girls their Miranda Rights once more. When he had finished and they had responded that they understood them, Con turned to the other cop. The officer opened the back door of the police cruiser and motioned the girls inside with a cock of his head.

“What are they being arrested for?” Joe asked.

“I can't tell you,” Con replied.

“Hey, you can't just cart off my sister without telling us why!” Chet looked as if he was going to lose complete control of his temper.

“What do you mean you can't tell us?” Frank said. “You can't arrest somebody without telling them why.”

“I'll tell them once we drive away,” Con said.

“Why are you deliberately keeping the crime from the rest of us?” Chet asked. “That's my sister you're taking to jail.”

Con looked pained. “I don't like being this way,” he said. “Especially with you guys. But I have my orders.”

Con walked around the car and opened the passenger door. “I'm sorry,” he said as he got into the car.

After the police drove off with Callie and Iola, Tony Prito came jogging up to the group of dumbstruck boys.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“I don't know,” Joe said angrily. “But I plan to find out.”

“I'd better call my parents before we head off to the police station,” Chet said.

“Going to the precinct house is a good idea,” Frank said. “But I think Joe and I should go alone.”

“No way!” Chet was steamed. “They might be your girlfriends, but Iola is my sister.”

“I don't like the way this smells,” Frank said. “Con said he's under orders not to let us in on what's going on, but Joe and I are regular visitors to the police station. We might be able to get more information if just the two of us go in there. A more personal approach might get them to loosen up a little.”

“My brother is right.” Joe put a reassuring hand on Chet's shoulder. “If we all go in there, they might clam up. Let us see what we can dig up.”

“Uh, what about school?” Tony asked sheepishly.

“You two go call Chet's folks and Callie's parents. Then cover for us in class. We'll contact you as soon as we know something.”