“That spotlight bothers me. If we use the gate someone might see us,” he said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time developing our track and field skills; why not just vault over this fence instead? It’s darker back here.”
“Good thinking,” Frank said.
Joe went first, taking a running jump at the fence. As he jumped up, he grabbed the top of the fence, and vaulted over.
Colin took one look at what Joe had done and said to Frank, “I think maybe you’d better give me a handhold. I think I can take care of myself after that.”
Frank clasped his hands together for a hold for Colin’s left foot and gave a heave, allowing Colin to catch the top of the fence and vault over.
Frank took a running jump and in one bounce was up and over the fence, landing soundlessly right in front of Joe and Colin.
“You should rethink throwing the javelin,” Joe whispered. “You’ve got a brighter future in the hurdles.”
Frank grinned at him. “Well, I’d hate to take away all of the glory from you,” he said.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Joe said, and grinned back. “You’d probably only get second place.”
Frank gave him a brotherly shove. “Yeah, right! In your dreams!”
“It sure is quiet,” Colin said.
Frank and Joe looked around, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness of the Johnsons’ backyard.
“Maybe too quiet,” Joe said. He looked at Frank. “What do you think?”
Frank shrugged. “I think we should be prepared for anything.”
From where they were standing, they could see only one light on inside the house. It was in an upstairs room.
“That’s probably Melanie’s,” Frank observed.
“I have an idea,” Joe said. He took out his cell phone, punched in a number, and put the receiver to his ear. After a couple of seconds he said, “Melanie? This is Joe Hardy. Colin wanted us to come with him tonight. Okay? Uh, huh. Uh, huh. Uh, huh. That sounds good. Well, we should be there in about five minutes. See you.” Joe pushed “end” on the phone and said, “She told me to just ring the front doorbell when we got here.”
“How did she sound?” Colin asked.
“Tired,” Joe said. “And she didn’t sound like she had a bunch of people in her room waiting to play a trick on us, either.”
“Well, let’s wait a couple of minutes, just to see if more lights go on in the house and people start coming out of the woodwork,” Frank said.
After five minutes, when nothing in the house seemed to have changed, the three of them headed toward the side gate that would take them to the front of the Johnsons’ house.
Colin rang the doorbell. In a couple of seconds, an interior downstairs light came on, and right after that the front door opened.
The Hardys were still prepared for anything that might happen, but there was nobody standing behind Melanie—and from their vantage point, they couldn’t see anyone else in the interior of the house.
“I’m glad you came,” Melanie said. She stood aside so they could enter.
When the boys were inside, Melanie closed and locked the door. “We can go into the library,” she said.
Melanie turned and led them toward the back part of the enormous house.
When they got there, Melanie shut the door and told them to have a seat. “I thought you might like some soft drinks,” she said. “Just help yourself.”
Joe couldn’t believe how dry his mouth was, so he chose his favorite soda.
Frank and Colin didn’t want anything.
“Why did you ask me here?” Colin asked. “I hope you’re not planning to sic your boyfriend on me again.”
“No, Colin. And I’m so sorry that I lied to you,” Melanie said. “You’d be perfectly within your rights if you never believed me again.”
“Why did you do it, Melanie?” Joe asked.
“I was scared. It just got out of hand, and I didn’t know what to do about it after it happened.”
Frank was eyeing her carefully, trying to see if she was faking, but so far she seemed very sincere.
“I wanted to tell you something I’ve never told anybody before,” Melanie said. She took a deep breath. “Sometimes I see those same things that you see about my childhood.”
Colin stared at her. “You’re psychic?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Melanie assured him. “It’s just that sometimes I remember . . . things.”
“What kinds of things?” Colin asked.
“The kinds of things you said happened to me,” Melanie said. Her eyes were filling with tears. “I remember somebody taking me from my mother. I know this is silly, because my mother and my father live with me in this house, but . . . it just seems so real at times.”
For an instant, the three of them could only stare at Melanie in disbelief.
“Why are you telling Colin this now, Melanie?” Joe said. “Why did you let all of these terrible things happen to him and his family?”
“Well, why do you think, Joe?” Melanie demanded angrily. “I told you I was scared. I just thought it was some crazy dream I was remembering, and then he . . . Colin comes along and tells me the same thing.”
Frank was trying to let go of some of the anger he felt toward Melanie. “Well, I guess if we’d been in your situation, we’d have felt the same way,” he said.
“Still . . . ,” Joe said. He was having a harder time letting it all go. He couldn’t get the image of Colin’s battered face out of his mind.
“I knew you were telling the truth, Colin. I just knew you were,” Melanie said. “But I didn’t know what to do, so I told my boyfriend about it, and he said he’d take care of it for me. I thought he was just going to talk to you. I didn’t know he would . . .”
“Well, he did,” Joe said. “He really—”
Colin raised his hand, signaling Joe not to continue. “Will you tell me everything?” he said to Melanie. “Don’t leave anything out.”
What Melanie told Colin was basically what Colin had already told the Hardy boys. Late one night, when Melanie was two years old, she remembered a man coming into her room, picking her up, and starting to leave the house. She was sure she knew the man, but in her dreams, she had never seen his face. Melanie remembered that she had started to cry, because she didn’t have her little stuffed lamb with her. She always slept with the lamb. She told the man that she wanted to take the lamb with her. He promised to go back and get it for her if she would stop crying. She did.
“That’s where it all goes blank,” Melanie said.
“Do you still have the lamb?” Colin asked.
Melanie nodded, a little embarrassed, Frank could tell. “I still sleep with it,” she said.
Joe looked at Frank and rolled his eyes.
“I need it,” Colin said. “I think I might be able to find out more about what happened to you through psychometry.”
“What’s that?” Melanie asked.
Colin explained how sometimes the stress a person is feeling is transferred to an object, such as the stuffed lamb, and that psychics can often pick up the stress and see what was happening at the time of the crime.
That’s exactly what Dad told us, Joe thought.
“It’s in my room. I’ll get it for you,” Melanie said, walking out.
“I wonder what made her change her mind,” Joe said.
Frank shrugged. “I have no idea.” He turned to Colin. “Do you?”
“I think—,” Colin started to say.
But outside the library, they suddenly heard voices. The three of them looked at each other.
“That sounds like Mr. Johnson!” Joe whispered. “It’s a trap after all.”
The three of them ran to the library door, flattening themselves against the wall, ready to sprint out if Mr. Johnson came inside.
The voices were getting more distinct.
“I thought you said that Smedley wouldn’t be there!” Mr. Johnson was yelling at someone. “The
re’s no way I’m going to sit and listen to him for an hour.”
“What’s come over you, Robert?” It was Mrs. Johnson’s voice. “These last few weeks, you’ve turned into somebody I don’t recognize.”
“You know what’s come over me, Margaret,” Mr. Johnson said. “Don’t pretend that you don’t.”
The Hardy boys and Colin looked at each other. What were the Johnsons talking about?” they wondered.
“Daddy!”
“What are you doing with that lamb, Melanie?” Mr. Johnson demanded.
“Oops—I didn’t realize I still had it in my hand,” Melanie said. “I was upstairs reading. I came down to get something to eat. I—”
“You’re lying! What’s the light doing on in the library?” Mr. Johnson demanded. “I was in there before we left for the banquet, and I remember turning it off.”
“I’m not lying, Daddy! Why are you being so mean to me lately?” Melanie said. “I went to the library to get something to read.”
Frank could hear feet running toward the library. He was sure it was Mr. Johnson. The man was acting totally paranoid.
The Hardy boys looked around. There was no other way out. If Mr. Johnson found the three of them there, there’s no telling what he’d do to them.
Just then, Mr. Johnson burst into the library. He had a gun in his hands.
13 Disappearance
* * *
Without thinking, Colin rushed at Mr. Johnson, head down, and rammed him in the mid-section, causing Melanie’s father to double over with an oompf sound as the air went out of him. He dropped the gun right before he hit the floor, causing it to discharge into the room—barely missing Joe.
Mrs. Johnson, who had been walking behind her husband, screamed and rushed into the library.
The Hardy boys and Colin ran out of the library and headed for the front door, but Melanie, who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs, whispered, “No! No! This way!”
The boys changed direction and followed Melanie up the stairs.
“George drove my parents to the banquet. He’s still parked in front of the house,” Melanie whispered. “I’ll show you how to get out through the backyard.”
Frank wondered why George hadn’t rushed into the house when the gun discharged.
As if in answer to his unspoken question, Melanie said, “He listens to loud music when he’s in the car by himself. He wouldn’t have heard the gun.”
“Why are you dating this guy, Melanie?” Joe asked.
“It was my father’s idea, and I’ve always done what he told me to do,” Melanie said. “But that’s over. So is my relationship with George.”
When they reached the second floor, they followed Melanie to a second floor sitting room that overlooked the backyard.
“There are fire stairs off this room,” Melanie whispered. “Just follow the white flagstone path. It twists and turns, but it’ll lead you to a gate in the alley.”
“Thanks, Melanie,” Colin said. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Don’t worry about me! You have to hurry,” Melanie said. “I’ll call you, Colin. Now more than ever, we need to talk.”
With that, the Hardy boys and Colin hurried down the back steps and into the moonlight of the backyard. Just as Melanie had said, the flagstone path twisted and turned but eventually led them to the alley. The gate obviously wasn’t used very much, because it required both Joe and Frank to pry it open.
“That’s good,” Colin observed. “Maybe no one will think it’s how we got out.”
“This way!” Frank said as he started down the alley toward the street where they had parked the van.
Just before they left the alley, they stopped to make sure that George wasn’t waiting for them. He wasn’t.
They hopped into the van and within minutes, Frank had them out of the neighborhood and on a street that would take them to the Hardys’ house.
“I’m worried about Melanie,” Colin said. “I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
Frank and Joe agreed.
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow at school and make sure she’s all right,” Colin said. “Maybe we’ll even have time to continue what we started talking about tonight.”
When the Hardy boys and Colin arrived at school the next morning, Callie and Iola met them at the front door with the news that Melanie Johnson had withdrawn from school.
“Are you serious?” Joe said.
Callie nodded. “We were in the office this morning and overheard Mr. Brooks talking to Mrs. Johnson,” she said.
“But he’s not to let anyone know about it,” Iola added. “He’s just supposed to tell her teachers that she’s sick.”
“That’s strange,” Frank said. “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand Mr. Brooks?”
Callie shook her head. “I’m positive,” she insisted.
All morning, the Hardy boys and Colin questioned people about why Melanie wasn’t in school. The only answer they got was that she was sick but would probably be back in a few days.
Finally, at lunch, Callie said, “I can call the Johnsons’ house, say that I know Melanie is sick, but that I’m putting together a committee to decide the theme of the next school dance, and that I want Melanie to be on it, but that I have to have her answer today.”
Everyone thought that was a great idea.
Joe lent Callie his cell phone. They all crowded around, so they could hear every word of whatever conversation transpired.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to hear.
Mrs. Johnson answered the telephone and, when Callie asked her about the committee, snapped that Melanie wouldn’t be interested, because she might be in the hospital for a long time.
“Maybe she really is sick,” Iola said. “Maybe we did misunderstand Mr. Brooks.”
“Melanie was perfectly healthy last night,” Colin said. “I don’t think she’s sick at all.”
“After school, we’ll call all of the hospitals in the Bayport area,” Frank said. “When we find out which one she’s in, we’ll go visit her.”
When the Hardy boys and Colin got home that afternoon, the first thing they did was get out the Bayport telephone directory and make a list of all of the hospitals in the area—public and private.
Joe started calling. “She’s not in one of the public hospitals,” he announced when he hung up from the last call.
“We should have known that would be a waste of time,” Frank said. “Mr. Johnson wouldn’t use one of the public hospitals.”
But Joe didn’t have any more luck with the private hospitals.
“If she’s not in a Bayport hospital, then she could be anywhere,” Frank said. “We can’t start calling all of the hospitals on the East Coast.”
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Colin said. “Let me see the telephone directory.”
Joe handed it to him. “I don’t think I missed any of the hospitals, Colin,” he said. “Bayport’s not so big that there’s a really long list.”
Colin had opened the yellow pages to the “P’s” and was using his finger to scan the entries. “The problem is that we’ve been calling ‘normal’ hospitals,” he said, “but if I know Mr. Johnson, that’s not what he had in mind. Here’s what I was looking for. Bayport Reflections—a private psychiatric hospital.”
“You think he had her committed!” Frank exclaimed.
“It wouldn’t be the first time a parent did that to a child who wasn’t behaving the way the parent wanted the child to behave,” Colin said. “I say we call and find out.”
“Those places won’t give out any information over the phone,” Joe said.
“Watch this,” Colin said. He picked up the telephone, looked at the number in the directory, and dialed. Within a few seconds, he was using a feminine voice, punctuated with sobs, to tell the person on the other end that she had lain down for a nap before dinner, had dozed off, and had had a horrible nightmare about her darling daughter, Melanie Johnson, and that she
was just calling to make sure Melanie was all right. Could this person please just check on her, so her mother could rest in peace for the rest of the evening?
Frank and Joe looked at each other and shook their heads. It was a performance worthy of an Oscar.
Colin was silent for several minutes, then, using the same voice—but this time a little less hysterical—thanked the person profusely and said he would make sure that the manager of the hospital heard about how kind she had been.
When Colin hung up the phone, he said, “She’s there. In fact, I even know what room she’s in, because when the nurse got back, she apologized for how long it took, because, she said, Melanie was in the Newman wing, Room 342.”
“I think we just acquired a partner, Frank,” Joe said.
Colin raised an eyebrow. “A partner?”
“Well, we’ve talked for years about starting a detective agency when we get out of school,” Frank said. “I’m sure we’ll need another partner.”
“Right now, that doesn’t sound half bad,” Colin said. “Maybe by the time we’re out of school, psychic detectives won’t be thought of as freaks.”
“Okay. We need to plan,” Frank said. “What do we do with this news?”
“Well, we definitely don’t sit on it,” Colin said. “They may be giving Melanie medicine that will affect her ability to remember the details of the kidnapping.”
“Of course!” Joe said. “Mr. Johnson definitely doesn’t want Melanie thinking about this.”
“If he really cared for her, he’d want to know why she, too, thinks she was kidnapped when she was about two,” Colin said.
The Hardy boys and Colin knew they’d have to wait until dark before they could pursue any plan to talk to Melanie at Bayport Reflections. They killed some time catching up on their homework, but it was hard for them to concentrate.
Mr. Hardy was back in New York on another case and Aunt Gertrude had a headache, so Mrs. Hardy said it was all right if the boys wanted to watch television in the den while they ate their dinner. They decided it might be fun to watch a rerun of a show that had been popular a few years back. It made them laugh and helped pass the time until they decided that it was time to go to Bayport Reflections to talk to Melanie.
The Case of the Psychic's Vision Page 9
