Hardy Boys Mysteries - 009 The Great Airport Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER XIV held fob trial

chief colljg accompanied Fenton Hardy and the two boys out to the airport, taking them there in his own car. The road entering the grounds was under guard, and the big hangars were closely watched, the authorities evidently taking no chances on a repetition of the robbery. However, Chief Collig was readily admitted and the party proceeded to a hangar where a newspaper photographer was busy taking pictures.

“I’d like to see those footprints, Chief, if you don’t mind,” said Mr. Hardy.

“They haven’t been touched,” said Chief Collig. “I gave strict orders they weren’t to be disturbed.”

Close by the hangar wall a few boards covered the ground. The chief raised them, and in the ground beneath they could see the clear imprint of a foot. The marks of the rubber1

sole were identical with those made by Joe’s shoes.

“Let’s see how your foot fits that,” suggested the chief, turning to Joe.

Without hesitation, Joe stepped forward. He placed his right foot in the print. It fitted exactly. When he removed his foot there had been not the slightest change in the original print in the ground.

“Yet you said you were never here before!” exclaimed the chief.

“I still say it,” Joe insisted.

“Then how do you account for that footprint? Same size, same marks, same everything.”

“Somebody must have had a shoe just like mine. That’s all I can say.”

The chief sniffed dubiously. Then Fenton Hardy, who had been examining the footprint, made a suggestion.

“Joe,” he said, “I want you to stand in the earth right beside that other footprint. Just valk across there, stand for a moment, and iiove away.”

Wondering, Joe obeyed. When he had done as his father asked, there were several new footprints in the soft earth. Mr. Hardy looked at them closely.

“What do you think of that, Chief?” he asked.

Chief Collig looked down at the footprints.

Held for Trial 117

“Not much difference, so far as I can see,” he grunted.

“Not much. But there is a difference, isn’t there?”

“The footprints Joe just made don’t seem as heavy as the other one,” admitted the chief.

“They certainly aren’t. You can see how light the impressions are in the earth. That first footprint is pressed down quite heavily. You couldn’t help but see it, and I think it was meant to be seen. Joe’s natural footprints, on the other hand, are scarcely visible.”

“What of it?” demanded the chief.

“I mean,” said Fenton Hardy, “that the footprint you found here is not Joe’s natural footprint at all. It’s all very well to say that the size and the sole markings are identical, but there is more to a footprint than that. The first footprint was made by a very heavy person, as you can see by comparing it with the footprints Joe made just now.” He turned to his son.

“How much do you weigh, Joe?”

“One hundred and twenty-five pounds,” Joe answered promptly.

“That’s not very heavy. But that first footprint was certainly made by a person weighing considerably more than that. The earth here is no

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