"I think so," said Frank. "Thanks to you."
Mr. Rogers smiled. "Don't thank me, thank your friend Jed. He heard the music from way out on Archer Street!"
"But how—I thought — " Frank stuttered.
"I know, you can't understand why I'm here with Jed after the treatment I gave you at my apartment last week!"
"I thought you wanted to kill me! You did shoot at me, after all."
"I may have been suspicious of you, but I didn't want to kill you. My gun went off by accident—and I forgot that I had told Oscar to load it! I was as shocked as you when it fired.
"You see, when I saw you snooping around my papers that night, I thought you were the one who stole the money from the bank: I tried to tail you several times on campus, as you know. But then I saw Sedgwick Trilby's son this evening, and he told me all about you. I decided then that I wanted to work with you."
"Then how did you find me here?" Frank asked. He looked at Jed. "And how did you two end up together?"
"I saw you guys acting strange at the party," Jed said. "So I watched you after you left. All of a sudden there was this gunfire. I saw it from my room. Everything got quiet for a while, but then I saw your van tear out. So I ran out to my car to follow."
"And when I saw your van go, I thought I'd catch up with you to make friends," said Rogers. "But I lost track of the van. Then I noticed Jed was behind me. I recognized his old jalopy as the one from which I took an Electrojam the other night by the boathouse. So I stopped him. He explained Electrojam; I explained the bank thefts; and we joined forces."
Just then Joe began to stir. As he struggled to open his eyes, he came face-to-face with Mr. Rogers.
Joe shuddered. "Is that the masked dude?" he asked.
Frank sprang to his feet. "Wait a minute," he said, looking at Mr. Rogers. "You're obviously not the masked man!"
"Only at a Halloween ball, my friend," Rogers said.
"Then who is that?" Frank pointed to the man who still lay where Joe's shovel had knocked him out. "Who is the man that tried to kill us?"
Frank, Joe, and Mr. Rogers ran over to the mysterious man. Joe straggled behind, holding his aching head. The man was beginning to stir and groan.
When the four of them were gathered around, Frank pulled off the man's ski cap. He and Joe both gasped.
It was Jim Castigan.
"I can't believe it!" Frank said almost to himself.
Mr. Rogers shook his head. "I hate to say it, but I can.'-'
"You know Mr. Castigan?" asked Joe.
"I employed him," said Rogers. "Years ago, this man couldn't get a job. Brilliant chemist and computer programmer, but it seemed he had sticky fingers. He stole money and chemicals from several of the companies he worked for. Trying to finance some weird research into pheromones."
"I think he finally succeeded," said Joe, wincing with pain.
Mr. Rogers continued, "He worked in the research and development department of a computer company I used to run. He shaped up, and helped develop all sorts of new programs for us."
"Including the one that Bayport Bank and Trust bought!" Joe said.
Rogers paused thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, that's very possible," he said. "At any rate, Castigan left the company to pursue his teaching career, and I understand he had a spotless record."
"Until now," said Frank.
"Too bad his greed had to suck in Lloyd and Ty and Stu," said Joe.
Frank hung his head. "And Sarah," he said softly.
For a moment, no one knew what to say. But the tense silence was broken by the sound of footsteps coming over the hill.
"Okay, don't panic! We've got you covered."
They looked up to see two policemen jogging toward them with guns drawn. Behind them was Fenton Hardy. Frank and Joe looked at each other and exploded into laughter.
"Just in time, Dad," said Frank.
Fenton and the policemen handcuffed Castigan, and they all walked back out to the road.
Back at the campus, as the police rounded up Pierce, Goldman, and Farnsworth, Frank paid a visit to Van Cott Hall. He sneaked in through an open window, walked to the second floor, and knocked on room 21.
"Stu?" Sarah asked softly through the door.
"No," Frank replied.
"Jim!" she said excitedly, and pulled the door open. Her smile gave way to a shocked expression when she saw Frank. "Gin — Ginny! I thought you were my friend Ginny!" she said, trying to cover up.
"It's no use, Sarah. It's all over, the whole thing. The police have Castigan, and they're about to come up to take you in for questioning."
Sarah frowned and started to close the door. "You know it's awfully late, Frank. How did you get in here, anyway?"
Frank stuck his foot in the door. "Please just tell me one thing," he said. "Why did you do it? How could someone as smart as you get mixed up with a criminal like Jim Castigan?"
Sarah's hair fell in front of her face as she looked down. A tear rolled off her cheek. She let the door open.
"He was so smart," she said. "And so attractive. Even you have to admit what a magnetic teacher he is. And he promised us everything. He was going to take care of us all—if we helped him out.
"He convinced us that you only get what you want by outwitting everybody else and only taking from those who can afford the loss.
"See, Lloyd and Stu and Ty—and me—we're all scholarship students. Do you know what it's like to be with all these rich kids, year after year, when you have nothing? Jim understood that."
Sarah sighed. "He called himself a modern Robin Hood. That's why he took only from a wealthy bank."
"And you believed that?"
Sarah nodded sadly. "We all did. And he rewarded us. He gave us all A's in chemistry. Then he promised us enough money to set us up for life, and he guaranteed no one could ever trace it."
The sound of policemen's footsteps echoed in the stairwell behind them. "Well," said Frank with a sigh, "he was wrong."
As the policemen came to take Sarah to the station house, Frank walked slowly away.
Frank and Joe watched as Jim Castigan, Lloyd Pierce, Stu Goldman, Ty Farnsworth, and Sarah Waterbury were escorted into squad cars and driven away.
Fenton walked up to them. "Amazing story," he said. "The guy had dreams of his own little world, a high-tech paradise with no financial problems. His lifeline to the real world would be a paid group of young geniuses who served his every wish.
"It almost worked," said Fenton as he walked to his car. "But he didn't know who he was up against." He winked. "See you at home, boys."
Frank turned to Joe as their father drove off. "You want to know the truth? I am not going to miss being a student at Chartwell."
"You mean you're not going to finish out the semester at least?" Joe said in mock horror.
Frank chuckled. "No way. And I think I'll destroy every reminder of this place." He reached into his side pocket and pulled out an Electrojam. "Including this."
As Frank walked toward the Dumpster, the squeal of tires cut through the still night air. An old sedan spun around the administration building, barreling right toward Frank and Joe.
"Look out!" yelled Frank. He and Joe hurled themselves behind the Dumpster.
The sedan screeched to a halt. Music blasted from its huge speakers.
"OH, BABY, BABY, PLEASE LET ME BE! OH, YEAH! OH, NO!"
"I know who that is," grumbled Frank.
"Hey, Frank! Is that you?" Arnie called from his open window. "I stuck out. I can't get to sleep, either! Want to go for a ride? Where are you?"
Joe gave Frank a sidelong glance. "Now?" he whispered.
"Now," his brother answered, handing Joe the Electrojam.
Dzzzzit!
Once again, the night was silent. "Hey, what happened to my new CD player?" Bewildered, Arnie turned his full attention to his dashboard.
"If we split now," Frank said, "we'll get to Bayport in time to sleep part of the night in our own
beds."
"We're out of here!" said Joe. "You lead the way!"
With smiles of triumph on their faces, Frank and Joe slipped into the night.
The End.
The Genius Thieves Page 10
