082-The Blackwing Puzzle by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:12:15+00:00

Chapter 12

Cafe Clue

The Hardys digested this latest clue.

"I'm not sure how much this helps us," Frank murmured, "but at least it proves one thing: Whoever lost that necklace in the tree must be the joker who's flying the Blackwing Ghost."

Joe nodded thoughtfully, remembering the previous night's carefully baited trap, which had come so close to snaring the culprit. "No wonder our friend was so anxious to get the necklace back," he said.

"Guess we didn't waste our time here after all." Frank idly flipped through the pages of the magazine before returning it to the reference librarian. "Hey, get a load of this, Joe!" he suddenly added.

"What's that?"

"An article on the old slave ship captains."

Joe's eyes lit up. "Does it mention Captain Blackwing?"

"Dunno — the article's pretty long. Looks interesting, though, whether it mentions him or not. I think I'll take it home."

Frank checked out the magazine at the library counter. Then the two boys headed back to their car. They had already decided to check the security of their boathouse, in light of the deadly booby trap Frank had discovered following the midnight rendezvous with their father on Bar-met Bay. On their way to the waterfront, they stopped at a locksmith's shop to buy a new and more burglarproof door lock, which Frank had read about in one of Fenton Hardy's professional police journals.

On reaching the harbor, they parked near their boathouse. Before installing the new lock, they carefully inspected the old one. Frank pointed to several tiny scratch marks near the keyhole. Though faint, they were clearly visible in broad daylight. "It's been jimmied, all right," he commented. "That's how the creep who planted the Molotov cocktail got in."

"How do we know he hasn't been back since then?" Joe asked.

"Don't worry." With his fingernails Frank plucked a long paintbrush bristle out of the door crack. "I stuck that in place as a telltale after I disarmed the firebomb. If he'd come back, the bristle would have fallen out when he opened the door."

Joe grinned. "Smart thinking, Frank! That's why I always like to have you along when I tackle a mystery case."

The Hardy boys quickly installed the new lock, then started back to their car. On the boardwalk Joe noticed two men standing in front of a nearby cafe. They had been talking earnestly, but as the Hardys went past, they suddenly hurried inside.

"Whoa! Hold it a sec," Joe muttered to Frank.

"How come?"

"Did you see those two guys who just ducked into the cafe?"

"No. What about them?"

"One was Matt Creech, that blowhard I had a run-in with at the airfield. For some reason he seemed awfully anxious not to be seen!"

Frank's eyes narrowed. "Just like in the hangar, huh?"

"Right! Let's find out what he's up to!"

The two boys rushed back to the cafe. But when they peered in through the window, Creech and his companion were nowhere in sight!

Joe angrily socked his fist into his open palm. "Must've ducked out the back way! I'd say that proves something fishy's going on!"

Frank shrugged philosophically.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.