What Happened at Midnight

by Franklin W. Dixon

  The Hardys were downcast by the situation. Marr had vanished and they did not have the slightest lead on him. Furthermore, their car was a wreck. They reported the damage to the insurance company and waited for an investigator to come.

  “We’ll have to rent a car while ours is being repaired,” Frank said.

  He made the arrangements by phone and within half an hour a car stood in the driveway.

  The boys had just sat down to lunch in the dining room when the telephone rang. Aunt Gertrude went to the kitchen to take the call.

  “Yes, they’re at home,” the others heard her say. Presently she darted into the room. “It’s about Mr. Bickford!” she said quietly.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Outsmarting the Enemy

  MRs. HARDY and her sons lowered their eyes. They were sure Aunt Gertrude was about to announce that the kindly jeweler had died because of Marr’s beating.

  “Mr. Bickford is—is—?” Frank asked.

  “He wants to see you at the hospital,” his aunt replied.

  “Then he’s alive!” Joe exclaimed.

  “Of course he’s alive,” Aunt Gertrude said. “Very weak naturally, so I don’t think you boys should stay long.”

  “When are we to go?” Frank asked.

  “Mr. Bickford got permission for you to come any time. He has something urgent to tell you.”

  Curious as to why they were being summoned, Frank and Joe left immediately to see the elderly man. Mr. Bickford was partially propped up in bed. He looked ill, but he gave his visitors a warm smile.

  “I’m so glad you came,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “The doctor said a ten-minute visit so I’ll get right down to business. Sit down, please. I feel it my duty to warn you boys.”

  “Warn us?” Frank asked. “About what?”

  “That clerk who slugged me and his pals are determined to get you,” Bickford answered. “Stokeley thought he was in the shop alone, but I came in the back door quietly. He was talking on the phone and seemed to be giving orders.”

  Mr. Bickford stopped speaking and closed his eyes. He began to gasp a little. Frank jumped up and pressed a cup of ice water to the man’s lips. Mr. Bickford sipped it gratefully.

  “Perhaps we should go,” Frank suggested.

  “No, no, not yet. This won’t take long,” Mr. Bickford insisted, opening his eyes again. “I must tell you. Stokeley was saying, ‘Don’t tell me you couldn’t help your bonehead mistakes. Just don’t make any more! I want the Hardys on the whaler.’

  “Just then Stokeley caught sight of me and hung up the phone. He turned livid, and before I could defend myself, he punched me, kicked, hit me with a stool, and acted like a crazy man. I blacked out and awoke here.” He closed his eyes and shuddered a little.

  Frank and Joe stood up, sensing that Mr. Bickford was exhausted and had told all he knew.

  “Thanks a lot,” Frank said. “Joe and I are certainly sorry we were the cause of the attack on you.”

  “And we’ll profit from your warning, you can bet,” Joe added. “Now take care of yourself.”

  When Frank and Joe reached home, they at once told their mother and aunt about Mr. Bickford’s report. “So you see, Aunt Gertrude,” said Joe, “that man Chris wasn’t calling you an old whaler. He was talking about trying to get us boys on their motor whaler.”

  “Hmm!” said Aunt Gertrude. “Well, just the same he has very bad manners. Doesn’t know how to treat a lady.”

  Mrs. Hardy was extremely concerned and said so. “I believe if Joe hadn’t been rescued from that cave, those dreadful men would have put him aboard the whaler and taken him far away. Frank would have been next.”

  “Exactly,” said Aunt Gertrude, “and I’m sure your father never intended you boys to become so deeply involved in this horrible case. I believe my brother would thank you, Laura, to forbid these boys from any further detective work against such men as Taffy Marr.”

  Frank and Joe were fearful their mother might take Aunt Gertrude’s advice. After several moments of silence, Mrs. Hardy answered. “Fenton expects his sons to follow through and see justice done. He doesn’t want me to pamper them into being cowards. However,” she added, “I expect them to be cautious and alert. Frank and Joe don’t deliberately run into trouble.”

  The boys were relieved. Each kissed their mother and thanked her for her confidence. Now that the tension was over, Joe grinned and said, “Mother, we should have been born with extra eyes in the back of our heads, so we could see in all directions.”

  “You could wear those special spectacles that reflect what’s in back of you,” Aunt Gertrude suggested.

  “But they don’t work at night,” Joe replied, “and that’s when most of the sluggings take place.”

  The conversation was interrupted by the door-bell. Frank answered and was handed a special-delivery letter.

  “It’s for you, Mother. From Dad,” he called.

  Mrs. Hardy opened the envelope quickly. Presently she said, “Good! Your father’s coming home. That will solve a lot of problems.”

  She read farther. “But not right away. He and Mr. Wright have to testify against two men suspected of stealing the antique plane.”

  “Dad found it?” Joe burst out.

  “Yes. Listen to this: ‘I have good reason to believe the hijackers are part of the gang I’ve warned the boys about. I’m sure these men have pals who are watching me, tapping my phone, and intercepting radio messages, so I decided to use the mail. In an emergency you can contact me in care of Elmer Hunt, president of the Oceanic Electronic Company, San Francisco.’” The rest of the note was for her personally.

  Frank and Joe went upstairs and discussed their next move. Both agreed they should do everything possible to learn where the whaler was moored.

  “I guess it wouldn’t be too smart to use our Sleuth to hunt down the whaler,” Frank remarked. “We’d be spotted in a moment. And anyway we haven’t fixed the horn yet.”

  “I don’t think it’d be good to take Tony’s boat, either,” Joe said. He was referring to their school friend Tony Prito.

  “How about arranging with somebody who has a cabin cruiser to help us make a search?” Frank suggested.

  Joe’s eyes twinkled. “Pretty expensive. How about the tug that nearly rammed you in the fog. Was there a name on it?”

  “I’m not sure, Joe. I was pretty busy getting out of the way! But it seems to me I saw the word Annie on the side.”

  The boys decided to go to the docks on their motorcycles. These were easier to maneuver and hide than their rented car.

  Soon after they left, Frank and Joe noticed that a car with three men in it was following them. None of the passengers looked familiar.

  “We’d better do something fast and shake off those men!” Frank advised.

  “Guess we’ll have to play hare and hounds,” Joe observed. “What do you suggest?”

  “Head for Biff Hooper’s and pretend to be staying there,” Frank answered. “We can sneak out their rear door before those men have a chance to go around to the garden.”

  Joe nodded. “And take a back street to the docks. Score one for us!”

  They explained their plan to Mrs. Hooper, who let them out the kitchen door. Frank and Joe hurriedly crossed the rear lawn, which was out of sight of the street. They jumped the hedge. Twenty minutes later the Hardys were in Harbor Master Crogan’s office inquiring about a tugboat named Annie.

  The man flipped open a large ledger and ran down a list. “I guess you mean the Annie K. She comes in here once in a while.”

  “Is she docked now?” Joe asked.

  “I’ll see.” Crogan consulted a chart on the wall. “Yes, she is. Waiting for some kind of shipment that’s been delayed.”

  Frank and Joe glanced at each other. There might be a chance of chartering the tug!

  “Does the captain own the Annie K?” Frank inquired.

  “Yes, and a real nice man he is too. Name’s Captain V
olper.”

  The Hardys got directions on where to find the tugboat, thanked Crogan, and left. Captain Volper was seated cross-legged on the deck of the Annie K, reading the morning paper. He was a ruddy- complexioned, slightly plump, good-natured man.

  “Howdy, boys!” he greeted the brothers. “And what can I do for you?”

  Frank made their request.

  “So you want to take a cruise around the bay, up and down the coast, eh? Well, I guess I could do it.” He laughed. “You fellows got some money with you?”

  “Sure thing,” Frank replied. “Can we cast off now?”

  “Soon’s I can get my crew out o’ the coffee shop across the street.”

  He ambled off down the gangplank and was gone nearly fifteen minutes while the boys walked up and down impatiently. Then Volper returned with two sailors, whom he introduced as Hank and Marcy.

  A few minutes later the old tugboat pulled away from the dock. The boys decided to stay in the cabin so as not to be seen by anyone going past in other boats.

  “Captain Volper, did you ever notice a motor whaler around here?” Frank asked.

  “Yes, about two weeks ago. Then I got caught in the fog and plumb near run somebody down.” Frank and Joe glanced at each other.

  “Does the whaler have a name on it?” Joe asked.

  The captain tilted back his cap and scratched his head. “Seems to me it did. That’s harbor regulations, you know. Let me see now.” Unable to recall the name he summoned Hank and Marcy and asked them.

  “Sure I remember it,” Marcy replied. “Man alive, I wish I could own one o’ them plastic boats. They got speed. The name o’ this one I seen anchored up near the caves was Water Devil.”

  “I’ll bet it is, too,” Joe commented, but did not explain the double meaning in his remark.

  The tug went directly to the spot and the boys gazed at the sleek whaler, which was anchored in shallow water. No one seemed to be around.

  “Ship ahoy!” Volper shouted. There was no answer.

  “I’m going aboard,” Frank announced. When the captain reminded him that the law dealt harshly with snoopers, the young detective said, “Did you know smugglers are operating in this territory?”

  Volper and his crew were amazed.

  “And you think this is their boat?” the captain asked.

  “We suspect so,” Frank replied. “We’d like to go aboard and hunt for clues.”

  The captain sighed. “Boys today are too smart for me. Go ahead.”

  He pulled up close to the whaler and the Hardys jumped down onto the deck of the Water Devil. At first they made a casual surveillance. Seeing nothing suspicious, the boys began opening lockers.

  “This is the gang’s boat all right,” Joe sang out, holding up a piece of paper with red and blue stripes on it. A few figures had been scrawled on it.

  “Say, Frank, do you suppose there are any diamonds or electronic equipment hidden aboard?”

  “Let’s look!”

  Nothing came to light until they opened a dashboard compartment. A sack lay inside. Both boys reached for it at once. The next second they were hurled violently across the deck. They blacked out and toppled into the water.

  CHAPTER XIX

  Anchor Pete

  ON the deck of the Annie K, Captain Volper and his crewmen stood stunned by the sudden accident. But not for long. Instantly Hank and Marcy jumped into the water.

  “I’ll get this one,” Hank called, indicating Joe as the boy’s limp form bobbed to the surface.

  Marcy set off with fast strokes to rescue Frank. In less than a minute the two Hardys were lying on the deck of the tugboat and being given first aid. They did not respond.

  “We’d better get these boys to the hospital as soon as possible,” Captain Volper said worriedly.

  He set the ship’s engines to maximum capacity and sent a radio message for an ambulance to meet him at the dock. By the time Frank and Joe regained consciousness, they were in a Bayport Hospital room and Dr. Bates was there, as well as Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude.

  Relief spread across the watchers’ faces as the boys managed wan smiles. “I guess we gave you all a good scare,” Joe remarked. “Say, where are we?”

  When the boys were told, Frank said, “Joe and I must have been out a long time. I remember we touched a sack in that whaler and then-wham! What happened to us?”

  “You fellows got a bad electric shock,” Dr. Bates explained, “and were thrown into the water. If Captain Volper hadn’t been there, you would have drowned. Hank and Marcy rescued you.”

  “Thank goodness,” Mrs. Hardy murmured.

  “The person who rigged up that device got a shock of his own,” Aunt Gertrude said crisply, “and I’m glad he did.”

  “He was caught?” Joe asked. “Who is he?”

  “Your kidnapper—at least this is what the police think from your description of him,” Aunt Gertrude said. “When you feel well enough, you’re to go down to headquarters and identify this man you call Gross.”

  “How was he captured?” Joe asked impatiently.

  The boys sat open-mouthed in astonishment as they listened. Captain Volper had notified the Coast Guard and the Harbor Police. Both had gone out at once to the spot where the Water Devil was moored. Nothing had been disturbed and the men were sure no one would show up until the launches moved away.

  “The police decided to leave a couple of their skin divers to watch,” Dr. Bates told Frank and Joe. “Soon after the others had left, a rowboat came from shore. The man in it boarded the whaler. He looked worried at seeing the compartment open, but seemed relieved that the sack was still there. He clicked off a switch, then picked up the sack with no harm to himself. As he reboarded the rowboat with it, the man was overpowered by the two skin divers.”

  “What was in the sack?” Joe queried.

  “Exactly what you might expect,” Aunt Gertrude said. “Diamonds and valuable electronic equipment.”

  Mrs. Hardy told her sons that both the Water Devil and the rowboat had been impounded by the authorities and were being examined for further clues since the prisoner would reveal nothing.

  Joe wanted to go right down to headquarters and see the man, but Dr. Bates forbade this.

  “May I call Chief Collig?” Joe asked.

  A phone was brought to the room and plugged in. Soon Joe was talking to the chief, who was amazed and delighted that the Hardys had recovered.

  “I want to see the prisoner,” Joe told him. “Dr. Bates says I can’t come down. Could you possibly bring him here?”

  The others in the room gasped at the request, but Dr. Bates nodded his approval after the chief had said, “If the doctor thinks it’s okay.” The physician left but Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude remained.

  Twenty minutes later the prisoner arrived with two officers, one of them with a tape recorder already turned on.

  “He’s Gross all right!” Joe burst out. “My kidnapper!”

  The man was sullen. He murmured defiantly, “You can’t prove a thing.”

  “Proof?” Joe scoffed. “I heard plenty in the cave. And somebody else besides me got a look at you when you were snooping in our car.” He did not mention Iola’s name.

  When Gross made no answer, Aunt Gertrude cried out, “You ought to be horsewhipped! Jail’s too good for people like you. Kidnapper, smuggler, and goodness knows what else!”

  As she paused to take a deep breath, Frank spoke up. “Gross, you tried to starve my brother and you doped him.”

  The prisoner finally began to talk. “I—I had to do what I was told or risk being killed myself.”

  “You mean by Taffy Marr?” Frank shot at him.

  Gross winced. “Yes. I shouldn’t tell you, but it don’t matter now. I got nothing to lose. Marr takes away every diamond and electronic gadget we steal and smuggle in and threatens us besides. I’m better off in jail.”

  One of the officers remarked, “Things will go a lot better for you if you tell everything
. Where is Marr now?”

  “I don’t know. He was watching me from shore with binoculars. When I got caught I’m sure he ducked into hiding. That’s the way he does. When things get too hot, every man for himself. Then in one month we meet up again.”

  “What’s the next place?” the officer asked.

  “Portland, Maine.”

  “No plans until then?”

  Several seconds passed before Gross answered. Finally he said, “Each man was ordered to get the Hardy boys one way or another. Maybe some of ‘em will still stay around here and try it.”

  “Oh, I hope not!” Mrs. Hardy exclaimed.

  Frank asked the prisoner, “Who do you think will get after us first? And where?”

  Gross did not answer directly. “I don’t want to see you guys get hurt, but I can’t help you. Chris might decide to stick around or Anchor Pete.”

  “Anchor Pete?” Joe repeated.

  “Yeah—he’s a sailor and a smuggler. Used to pitch an anchor like you’d pitch horseshoes and bet he could throw one farther’n anybody else. He could, too. You guys had better watch out.”

  Gross, who finally said his first name was John, had no record. Marr had saved him from being beaten up by a gang, so Gross had felt indebted to him. “But I was wrong. He made a no-good out o’ me. And what do I get? Jaill”

  The bitter prisoner was led away. A nurse came in with food for the boys and announced that as soon as they had eaten they were to go to sleep.

  Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude kissed Frank and Joe good night and left. As the boys ate, they discussed the latest developments in the case and how they should tackle them when they resumed their detective work.

  “I have an idea,” Frank said. “How about asking Chet and Biff and Jerry to shadow us while we let ourselves be seen around?”

  Joe grinned. “Hoping to be attacked, you mean?”

  “Right.” Frank thought it doubtful this would occur in daylight. “We’ll reverse our schedule—sleep in the daytime and roam at night.”

  From his bed Joe shook hands with himself, indicating, “Agreed.”

  Three days went by before Dr. Bates told the boys they were “as good as new. And stay that way!” he advised with a meaningful laugh.