It was Friday night. For the Hardy family, that meant dinner at Chuck Wagon Chili in Bayport. While they waited for their order, Joe studied the clue book.
“We’ve got to put together a suspect list, Frank,” he said.
“Let’s start with the five Ws,” Frank suggested.
“Good call.” Joe flipped to a new page and wrote them out:
“We already know the where and the when,” said Frank.
“Yup. In the lunchroom, this afternoon,” Joe said as he wrote both answers down.
“Just need to know what happened to Crusty, who took him, and why.” Frank scratched his head as he thought.
“Who do you think made Crusty disappear from the time machine?” Joe asked him.
“We did see Adam running out of the lunchroom,” Frank pointed out. “Maybe he was running away with Crusty?”
“I thought Adam wanted Phil’s project to fail,” replied Joe. “Why would he want to make it look like Crusty had gone back in time?”
Frank was about to answer when their dad, Fenton Hardy, piped up. “Come on, guys. You know the deal. No electronics or clue book at the dinner table.”
The brothers looked up from their clue book. Their dad was a private investigator and often helped them with their cases. As long as it was not at the dinner table!
“But dinner isn’t ready yet, Dad,” Joe said. “They have to call our number first. Then Frank and I go to the counter to pick up our chili.”
“It’s not a number, Joe,” Frank said. “You know that every table here is named after a famous cowboy or cowgirl.”
“Wyatt Earp!” a voice shouted over the loudspeaker. “Come rustle up yer grub!”
“Yee-haw, that’s us!” Joe said, closing the clue book. “Let’s get it, Frank.”
The owner of the chili place, Chuck, stood behind the counter. As the brothers approached, they saw someone else.
“Trent Greengrass is picking up food,” Joe said. “Let’s say hi.”
Frank put his hand on his brother’s arm. “Wait!” he whispered. “Didn’t Trent want to borrow Crusty—to enter some of those hamster races?”
“He did!” Joe whispered back.
Frank and Joe stood a few feet behind Trent while he grabbed his take-out bag. They could hear every word . . . .
“Here you go, cowboy!” Chuck said. “Don’t tell me you’re fixin’ to down all those smoked ribs by yourself?”
Trent nodded and said, “I need a lot of energy tomorrow, Chuck.”
“Are you playing soccer?” asked Chuck.
“Better than soccer,” Trent said. “It’s the Hamster Ball Relay Race tomorrow!”
“Well, good luck, cowboy!” Chuck said with a smile.
Trent was too busy counting his change to notice Frank and Joe as he left the chili place.
“Frank,” Joe said slowly, “did you just hear what I just heard?”
Chapter 4
On a Roll
“So Trent is going to a hamster race tomorrow,” Frank said softly.
“And what does a guy need for a hamster race?” Joe asked. “A hamster like Crusty.”
“We know Trent wanted to borrow Crusty,” Frank said. “But I didn’t see him near Phil’s time machine this afternoon.”
“With all that misty stuff, we could hardly see anyone!” Joe said. “I say Trent Greengrass is a suspect!”
“And I say pick up your chili before it gets cold, Wyatt Earp!” called Chuck.
“Oh, right,” Joe said, hurrying over to the counter. “Sorry about that, Chuck.”
He and Frank picked up two trays filled with chili bowls, corn bread, and iced teas. They stopped at a counter for straws, spoons, and napkins on their way to the table.
“Should we find out where Trent lives?” Joe asked, grabbing a handful of straws. “So we can look for Crusty tomorrow?”
Frank was looking up at a bulletin board above the counter. “I know where to find Trent tomorrow,” he said.
“Where?” Joe asked.
“There!” said Frank as he pointed at a flyer. In big letters it read: HAMSTER BALL RELAY! BAYPORT PARK! SATURDAY AT 11:00!
“That’s got to be the race Trent told Chuck about,” Joe said, “where hamsters run inside little balls.”
“If that’s where Trent will be tomorrow,” Frank said, “then that’s where we’ll be!”
The next morning, before they headed out, Frank and Joe wrote a suspect list consisting of Trent and Adam. They told Aunt Trudy where they were going and left the Hardy house with a plan: they would find Trent at the Hamster Ball Relay. Then they would demand to see Crusty.
“It’s a good thing you saw that flyer last night, Frank,” Joe said as they walked out their front door.
“Speaking of flyers,” Frank said, pointing to a nearby tree, “there’s another one in our yard.”
“That’s a weird place for it,” said Joe with a frown. “Not many people would see a flyer in our yard, would they?”
The brothers stepped up to the tree. There was a piece of paper taped to the trunk, but it wasn’t a flyer.
“It’s a picture of a hamster,” Joe said as he pulled the picture off the tree. He and Frank studied it closely.
“How weird is that?” Frank said. “The hamster in the picture is wearing a leopard-print robe—and he’s holding a club just like a caveman.”
“And look at all those dinosaurs behind him, Frank,” Joe said. “I have a feeling Crusty isn’t rolling in the hamster race today.”
“Then where is he?” Frank asked.
“He’s back in the prehistoric age,” Joe exclaimed, “rolling with dinosaurs!”
“No way, Joe,” said Frank. “Whoever took Crusty is just trying to be funny.”
“Funny?” Joe asked as he folded the picture and slipped it into his pocket. “Nothing funny about being chased by dinosaurs!”
At the park, Frank and Joe saw no signs of a Hamster Ball Relay. There were no hamster balls or even hamsters!
“Where do you think the race is?” Frank asked.
Joe spotted a crowd in the near distance. They all seemed to be watching something. Some were holding up their phones to take pictures.
“They must be watching the race,” Joe said with a smile. “Let’s see if we can find Trent.”
Frank and Joe squeezed through the crowd until an open field came into view. Rolling across the lawn were giant clear balls. Inside the balls, making them roll, were kids. Human kids!
“It is going to be a hamster ball race,” Frank groaned. “A human hamster ball race!”
The brothers watched people warm up for the race. Up ahead, a long ribbon was hung across the field. Clearly that was the starting line. They could see Trent in one of the balls lined up behind it.
“Why would Trent need Crusty for a race like this?” Joe asked.
“He wouldn’t,” Frank sighed. “Come on, Joe. Let’s go home.”
“Wait!” said Joe. “Just because Trent is in a human hamster ball race today doesn’t mean he won’t race a real live hamster tomorrow!”
Before his brother could stop him, Joe sped across the field to Trent’s human hamster ball.
“Trent, listen up!” he shouted through the thick plastic. “Did you take Chet’s hamster out of Phil’s time machine?”
Trent pointed to both ears. “I can’t hear you,” he mouthed.
“Great,” Joe muttered.
He was about to turn away, when he spotted something. On the side of the hamster ball was a large flap. Joe lifted the flap and found a hole—big enough for a kid to squeeze through.
“What are you doing?” Trent cried as Joe squeezed through the hole into the giant ball.
“Trying to find out what happened to Crusty,” Joe replied. He stood up but stumbled as Trent began rolling.
“Joe, get out now!” Trent said.
“Why?” Joe asked, trying to run in place. “Because you don’t want to tell me where Crusty is?”
“Huh?” Joe cried. The next words he heard were: “On your mark . . . get set . . . roll!”
Chapter 5
Sir Hamsterlot
“Whooooaaaa!” Joe cried.
Trent was rolling the giant hamster ball—and them—down a long inflatable racing track.
“Go, Trent and Joe!” Frank cheered from the crowd.
Joe got into it as he shouted, “We got this, Greengrass! We got this!”
Trent and Joe gave their hamster ball one last shove toward the finish line. The crowd went wild as their hamster ball rolled into first place!
Joe crawled out through the hole, followed by Trent. When they were both on their feet, they high-fived.
“First place, dude!” Trent cheered.
“Break it down,” Joe shouted. “Break it—”
“Excuse me, boys,” a voice interrupted.
The boys turned to see a man. He wore a serious expression on his face and a plastic ID around his neck: HARVEY VICKERS, HAMSTER BALL RELAY JUDGE.
“I’m afraid you’re not the winners,” Mr. Vickers said.
“Why not?” Trent asked.
“Only one person to a hamster ball,” Mr. Vickers explained. “Those are the rules.”
Joe felt awful. Trent had been disqualified because of him. But before he could apologize—
“And the winner of the human Hamster Ball Relay is,” the announcer boomed, “Daisy Zamora!”
“Woo-hooooo!” Daisy shouted, jumping up and down next to her hamster ball. “Free garlic knots for everybody at my parents’ pizza place!”
Frank came over just as Trent began walking away.
“Sorry, Trent,” Joe called. “I only wanted to find out about Crusty.”
“I never took that hamster!” Trent insisted.
“Then where were you yesterday,” asked Frank, “when Phil’s time machine oozed all that misty stuff?”
Trent stopped walking and turned around. “You mean this?” he asked.
He pulled a phone from his pocket and held it up to show the brothers a video. It was of Phil’s time machine covered with mist!
“It was so awesome that I had to get a video,” Trent explained. “Maybe I’ll put it on YouTube.”
Frank and Joe watched the video. Phil’s time machine seemed to be at least ten feet away from Trent.
“So you were all the way on the other side of the lunchroom when Phil’s time machine started?” Joe asked.
“Just about,” said Trent.
“If you were recording it from over there,” Frank said, “you couldn’t have taken Crusty out of the time machine.”
“I told you,” Trent sighed, “I didn’t take the hamster!”
Joe believed Trent. He also believed that Trent’s video could be a great clue!
“Play the video to the end, Trent,” Joe said. “Maybe we’ll see who really took Crusty.”
“That’s all I have,” Trent said after the video stopped. “Ms. Klinger made me quit filming. No phones in the lunchroom. Ever.”
Frank looked at Joe. He was pretty sure his brother was thinking the same thing he was. Trent may have wanted a hamster—but not bad enough to take one from Chet.
“Sorry for thinking you took Crusty, Trent,” Frank said.
“It’s okay,” said Trent. “You guys were only being detectives.”
“And I was being a jerk, crawling into your hamster ball,” Joe admitted. “You lost the race because of me.”
“That’s okay too,” Trent said. “I signed up for two more hamster ball races today.”
“Two more?” Joe exclaimed.
“Sure,” Trent said with a grin. “I guess you can say I’m on a roll!”
Trent left to return to his human hamster ball. Frank and Joe crunched over dry leaves as they walked out of the park.
“These leaves remind me,” Frank said. “We promised Mom and Dad we’d rake the yard today.”
“I’d rather work on the case,” said Joe. He took out the clue book and crossed Trent’s name off the suspect list.
Frank looked over Joe’s shoulder at the page. “The only suspect left is Adam,” he said. “We’ll have to talk to him about Crusty.”
“Talk to Adam Ackerman?” Joe groaned. “Come to think of it, I’d rather rake leaves.”
Frank and Joe had fun kicking and tossing leaves all the way home. After eating grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, they got to work raking the front yard.
“Hey, Frank,” Joe said, adding leaves to his pile. “What if Crusty really did go back in time?”
“Give me a break,” Frank sighed as he raked. “Do you really still believe that?”
“Why not?” Joe said. “Phil is an awesome inventor, so why couldn’t he invent a time machine that worked?”
Frank stopped raking. “Shh,” he said in a low voice. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” asked Joe.
“I heard some rustling,” Frank said, “over by the hedges.”
Joe looked over at the hedges separating the yard from the sidewalk. “It’s probably just a squirrel,” he said.
“Joe, look!” said Frank. He pointed to the garage. Projected onto the door was a picture of a hamster dressed in knight armor. Behind the hamster were human knights riding on horseback!
“Whoa!” Joe gasped.
The brothers dropped their rakes to approach the picture. It just about covered the whole garage door.
“What’s a hamster doing dressed like a knight?” Frank asked.
“That’s not just any hamster. It’s Crusty!” Joe said. “And now he’s in the Middle Ages, about five hundred years ago!”
The picture suddenly disappeared. Almost right away Frank and Joe heard more rustling noises.
“Whoever projected that picture must be hiding,” Frank said. He waved his hand in the direction of the hedges. “Come on, Joe!”
The brothers raced across the yard to the hedges. But when they looked over them . . .
“No one’s there,” said Joe.
They looked up and down the sidewalk. No one was running away, either.
“Maybe it was a squirrel,” Frank said.
“A squirrel in the bushes,” Joe said, “and a hamster back in King Arthur’s court!”
“Joe, I told you,” Frank groaned. “Whoever took Crusty is just messing with us.”
“I know how we can find out if that hamster was Crusty,” Joe said. “Did he have a white spot on his belly?”
“I couldn’t see,” said Frank. “He was holding a shield in front of his stomach.”
Then he shook his head and said, “How does a hamster hold a shield with such little paws, anyway?”
Paws! Joe’s eyes flashed as he remembered the paw sticking out of Phil’s pocket. How had he not thought of that before?
“Forget about questioning Adam, Frank,” Joe said. “I just thought of another suspect.”
“Who?” Frank asked.
“You’re not going to like it,” said Joe with a frown, “but the suspect is Phil.”
Chapter 6
Pocket Science
“Phil? Our friend Phil?” Frank exclaimed. “Why would he take Crusty?”
“I thought I saw something sticking out of his pocket,” Joe said. “It looked just like a hamster paw that could have been Crusty’s!”
“What was the paw doing?” Frank teased. “Waving bye-bye?”
Joe rolled his eyes. “I know we don’t like accusing friends,” he said, “but maybe Phil wanted to make it look like his time machine worked. To get Adam to stop messing with him.”
“Why wouldn’t Phil tell us he had Crusty?” Frank asked. “Adam had already run out of the lunchroom.”
“I don’t know,” Joe admitted. “I just know that I want to ask Phil about that paw.”
“And have Phil think we don’t trust him?” Frank asked. “Not cool.”
He wen
t back to raking leaves. Joe was about to scrap the idea, when another popped into his head . . . .
“Frank, remember when we tried out my lie detector helmet on Chet?” Joe asked. “Why don’t we ask Phil to try it next?”
“I guess we could do that,” said Frank. “We can ask some hamster questions and see if the bells ring or not.”
“Awesome,” Joe said with a smile. “Aren’t you glad I remembered that paw in Phil’s pocket?”
“Sure,” Frank said. “Now if you could remember something else . . .”
“What?” asked Joe.
“Your chore,” Frank said. “Pick up your rake and get to work!”
Joe quickly pulled out the suspect list and added Phil before getting back to work. The brothers finished raking the front yard and headed straight to the Cohen house. Joe carried his lie detector helmet.
“Phil has a Junior Inventors Club meeting every Saturday afternoon,” Frank said on the way. “Maybe we can talk to him before it starts.”
“It’s a good thing I brought this home for the weekend, Frank,” Joe said, tapping his lie detector helmet. “I wanted to polish the bells before the science fair on Monday.”
“Polish the bells?” Frank asked with a grin. “Since when are you so neat?”
When they arrived at the Cohen house, Frank used the brass knocker to rap on the door. After a few seconds, Phil opened the door with a smile.
“What’s that?” he asked, nodding at the helmet.
“It’s a lie detector helmet,” Joe answered.
“And Joe’s project for the science fair,” Frank added.
Phil raised an eyebrow. “So . . . why did you bring a lie detector here?”
“I want to try it out before Monday,” Joe replied. “And who better to ask than the best inventor at school?”
Phil beamed at the compliment. “Okay, but make it speedy,” he said. “My Junior Inventors Club will be here any minute.”
Frank and Joe stepped into the entrance hall. Phil pulled the lie detector helmet onto his head and said, “What next?”
“Next I ask you some yes-or-no questions,” Joe explained. “I promise the first question will be easy.”
Joe waited until the bells on the helmet were still. He then asked, “Phil . . . do you have a hamster in your room?”
The Time Warp Wonder Page 2
