Authors: Franklin W. Dixon

The Short-Wave Mystery (17 page)

BOOK: The Short-Wave Mystery

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“Mind if we look through this trash?”

“Go ahead. You won't find anything.”

Joe was already extricating “D. Carson's” stuffed, speckled king snake from the pile.

Seeing its speckles, Jimmy blurted excitedly, “So that's what Uncle Elly meant by looking âin the right spots.' ”

“Maybe,” Frank said. He fingered the body of the snake tensely. Then, using a length of wire he had brought, the young detective fished down through the snake's gaping mouth.

There were gasps as Frank pulled back the wire. Dangling from its hooked end was a necklace of glittering pear-shaped diamonds!

“The Crescent necklace!” Joe said. “Pretty tricky of Batter to use fake nameplates to throw everyone off the scent!”

“Give me that!” Mrs. Batter cried.

“No, you don't!” Jimmy snapped. “This belongs to a store and it's going back there!”

“Good for you, son,” said Fenton Hardy. “I wonder what's on that paper.”

A paper strip was tightly rolled around part of the necklace. Frank removed and opened it.

“It's some sort of typed confession!”

The closely spaced typing gave a complete account of the Aardvark gang's industrial espionage activities, including names, description, and hide-outs of all members. Batter's statement told of his own work on the bugged animals and said he was putting the information about his pals down on paper as an “insurance policy” to keep the gang from double-crossing him or harming him.

At Bayport Police Headquarters, Fenton Hardy made a long call to Toronto, where Afron and his two cohorts had been taken to await extradition to the United States. When he hung up, the investigator smiled with grim satisfaction.

“Baldy has just talked. Seems he's still sore over the way his partner left him stranded at the Lektrex plant. He's willing to waive extradition and testify as a government witness.”

The gangster, Mr. Hardy reported, said that Batter had demanded more and more money from the gang for his work. When Afron balked at paying it and threatened him, Batter had warned that a written confession about the gang was hidden in a safe place in Bayport and would be turned over to the police if anything happened to him.

“Something Batter said convinced Afron the confession was hidden in one of the stuffed animals,” Mr. Hardy went on. “That's why they tried so hard to round up all samples of Batter's work in Bayport. Finally they even took the stuffed fox from Lektrex and looked in
it.”
The animals had later been dumped in the bay.

Afron had alerted his men in Bayport when Mr. Hardy returned from Europe. The two thugs had trailed the Hardys' car from the airport to the restaurant, hoping to steal and examine his case report. But Baldy had had time only to snatch back their antenna before being seen.

“Well, we nabbed Zetter yesterday,” said Collig, “so I'd say the case is about closed.”

The police chief turned to Jimmy. “It's a good thing your uncle found the necklace too hot to dispose of, young fellow. There's a five-thousand-dollar reward still standing for its recovery.”

“Five
thousand?”
Jimmy whistled in awe and looked at the Hardys. “Will I get part of it?”

Frank and Joe grinned, though they were sorry their sleuthing activities were over for the time being. Very soon, however, they were to start solving the case of
The Secret Panel.

“Jimmy, the money is yours,” said Frank. “You gave us the first clue.”

“Oh, boy!” Jimmy yelled excitedly. “Wait'll Ma hears this! And say, she was going to bake a big chocolate cake for you fellows. I hope it's the kind you like!”

“Are you kidding?” Chet licked his lips. “Let's go sample it right now and I'll give you an expert opinion!”