134-Cross Country Crime by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:15:06+00:00

Chapter 9

Hot on the Trail

"So now Rubel's our main suspect?" Joe asked his brother, once Frank had finished speaking with Con. "Or do we stick with DuPuy?"

"Don't forget that Mitch still isn't in the clear," Frank said. "A lot of his story isn't stacking up very logically, if you ask me."

"Yeah. That memory loss is proving to be very convenient for Mitch," Joe observed.

"Exactly," Frank said.

While the Hardys were standing outside the trust company, Joe noticed an armored car parked in the alley next to the building. Now the car pulled out onto the street, but a steel door in the side of the bank remained slightly ajar.

"We never did get a chance to look at that vault, did we?" he asked Frank, keeping his eyes on the door.

"No. Why?" Frank wanted to know.

"Maybe we have our shot now." With that, Joe headed down the alley and pulled open the door, which was still slightly ajar. When he stepped inside, he saw why the driver of the armored car didn't mind leaving the door open.

Joe was standing in a vestibule, staring at another door that led to the vault itself. And that door was locked shut.

"You didn't really think we'd be able to just step inside the vault area, did you?" Frank asked his brother.

Joe scowled. "No. But maybe we can learn a few things anyway."

Joe checked out the lock on the door that led to the vault. Alarm wires ran from the wall of the bank to the vault. They were still cut and dangling from the breakin. To Joe's trained eye, the lock definitely looked as if someone - probably the bank robber - had broken in this way. There were scratch marks on the cylinder.

"Looks as if the bank hasn't made any repairs since the robbery," Frank said.

"They probably don't want to erase the evidence yet," Joe guessed. Next, Joe checked out the surroundings. The vestibule was a small brick room, the size of a closet. Before him was the door that led to the vault. Behind him was the door he'd come through. To his right was another door, and the alarm wires connected to this door had been severed also. Joe checked the doorknob. "Locked," he said to Frank.

"Maybe not for long," Frank said. He drew out his lock-pick tool and set to work. Within a few minutes he had the door open, and he and Joe descended some stairs into a basement.

"It seems like a real breach in security to have this basement here, wouldn't you say?" Joe observed. "Anyone could cut their way through the ceiling into the vault."

"Maybe," Frank said. "But my guess is the whole bank floor is probably alarmed."

The basement ran the length of the building. It was dimly lit with bare, overhead bulbs. There were pieces of scrap wood stacked around, and other construction debris. Joe remembered the sign for the condos that were renting in the floors above the bank.

"They must have just finished renovating this place," Joe said.

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