Crime in the Cards (10 page)

“We'll cut him off with the car!” Chet called after
the brothers. The Hardys heard Chet's car engine roar to life atop the bluff.

The fog obscured the brothers' vision, making their quarry difficult to follow. “Isn't Magus Hills down in this direction?” Joe called.

“I think so,” Frank replied. “It's hard to tell in this fog. Whoever he is, this guy knows the terrain better than we do.”

“Yeah,” Joe said. “We'd have caught him by now otherwise.”

The figure ahead of them darted to the right across the top of a ridge, hardly breaking stride even though the slope dropped away precipitously.

Joe and Frank sprinted to the top of the cliff after him, starting to close the gap slightly.

As they crested the ridge, though, the sandy ground crumbled beneath Frank's feet. He started a slide toward the edge of the cliff.

Their feet flew out from under them, spraying small stones and sand into the air. Clawing with their fingers, they caught the edge of the slope, and both slammed hard into the sandy cliffside.

“Oof!” Joe gasped. “You okay, Frank?”

“I've been better,” Frank replied. “I don't have a very good grip.”

“Neither do I,” Joe said. “The sand on the cliff face keeps slipping out from under my feet.”

Frank nodded. “Me, too. I've climbed ice walls that were easier to get purchase on.”

The ledge under Joe's fingers crumbled and he slipped a few feet more before he could get a better
grip and stop his descent. “I could use a rope right about now,” he said grimly.

“Here! Catch my coat!” a voice called down from above.

A heavy maroon jacket dangled in front of the younger Hardy, and Joe grabbed it just as the surface gave way beneath him. The person holding the other end of the coat grunted as Joe's weight fell on him. Joe looked up and saw Pete Kaufmann grimacing with exertion.

“I—I don't know if I can pull you both up,” Pete said.

“Help Joe,” Frank replied. “I've got a better grip now.”

Pete pulled, and Joe tried to help by scrambling with his feet—to no avail.

Chet Morton, sweating and panting, suddenly appeared beside Pete on top of the ridge. “Let me give you a hand,” Chet said.

Together, they hauled Joe up first, and then got Frank.

“Boy, am I ever glad to see you!” Joe said to Chet.

“Yeah, thanks, Chet,” Frank said. “You, too, Pete.” Pete sat down to catch his breath.

“Good thing I decided to follow on foot while the girls took the car,” Chet said.

Frank pulled his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Chet. “Call Callie's phone and tell the girls that we're all right,” he said. “Joe and I want to chat with Pete.”

Chet nodded grimly. “So, you're the Black Knight,” he said to Pete.

“What? Me?” Pete sputtered. “I'm not the Black Knight.”

“If you're not,” Joe said, “what were you doing at the seven-mile marker on Old Bluff Road?”

“I always meet the Knight there,” Pete said. “He suggested the spot the first time I contacted him. I got a note from him earlier tonight that said he had a good card for me and that I should show up at half-past midnight.”

“What's he look like?” Joe asked.

“I've never seen his face,” Pete replied. “He wears a motorcycle helmet and jacket. He's pretty tall, maybe about Joe's size.”

Frank frowned. “A very convenient story.”

“It's the truth!” Pete snapped. “When I saw Chet at the rendezvous point, I knew something was wrong. The Knight
never
meets two clients at once. When you guys appeared, I figured it was some kind of setup. I thought that maybe you'd tapped into the Knight's E-mail and sent me a decoy note to throw off my game plan for Tuesday's tournament.”

“Why'd you run?” Joe asked.

Pete shrugged. “There were five of you and one of me,” he said. “How did I know what you were up to? I figured I'd lose you along the ridge. But I didn't think you'd fall off.” He took a deep breath, stood, and dusted himself off. “I didn't
have
to come back for you, you know.”

“We're glad you did,” Frank said. “Thanks.”

“Can I go now?” Pete asked.

Joe nodded. “Sure, take off,” he said. “We might want to talk to you again, though.”

“I'm in the phone book,” Pete answered. He walked down the ridge and disappeared into the fog.

“I told the girls to meet us at the bottom of the hill,” Chet said, handing the cell phone back to Frank. I figured it'd be easier than climbing back up.”

“Good thinking,” Joe said.

After returning to Chet's car, the Hardys told the others what they'd learned.

“The way I see it, there are two possibilities,” Frank said. “One, that Pete really
is
the Black Knight, and what he told us was just a good cover story. Two, that the Knight spotted our stakeout and took off before Pete arrived.”

“That doesn't explain Pete's presence, though,” Joe said. “There's a third possibility, that the whole trip was a set-up—both for us and for Pete.”

“But, why?” Iola asked.

Joe shook his head. “I don't know. Maybe the Knight is one of the other regular Creature Card players.”

“
He
might even be
Daphne,”
Frank said. “She could have faked that reply from the Knight when we were at her house. None of us was really watching her.”

“This is making my head hurt,” Chet said. “All I wanted to do was win a card game.”

“I'm sure we'll have a better take on it in the morning,” Frank said.

They all went home, but the Hardys didn't sleep well. The puzzling facts of the case kept running through their heads.

The brothers arrived at Iola and Chet's house just after two on Sunday afternoon. Callie was there, too, as were Tim and Daphne. The girls, Chet, and Tim were deep into a game of Creature Cards.

“I thought you didn't know how to play,” Joe said to Iola.

“It's easy to learn,” Iola replied. “Chet and Tim taught us both this morning.”

“Tim and I scraped together enough cards so they could play,” Chet said. “And since we're only using basic decks, the odds are pretty even. It was a good chance to get in some group play before the tournament.”

Tim smiled at Joe and Frank. “Your girlfriends are pretty good for beginners,” he said.

“You guys gonna talk, or play?” Daphne asked, half-jokingly.

“Okay,” Callie said, “I guess my Centaur Chief will attack Daphne's Goblin Militia.”

“Then my White Knight will have to come to the Goblins' rescue,” Daphne said, laying her defensive card down.

“Can you use a Knight to help the Goblins?” Iola asked.

Chet gasped. “That's my card!” he said, reaching across the table.

Joe grabbed his arm. “Slow down, Chet,” he said. “You've overreacted to duplicate cards twice before.”

This time, though, Chet maintained his calm. “No, really, that's the White Knight from my deck. See the ketchup stain in the corner?” he said, pointing to the upper right edge of the card. Sure enough, a faint red blotch discolored the corner.

“Where'd you get this card, Daphne?” Frank asked.

Both Tim and Daphne squirmed in their seats. “I won it from somebody,” Daphne finally said.

“Someone at the game in the mall the other night?” Joe asked.

“Well . . . yeah,” she said. “I was at that game. I won the card fair and square. Things were going well for me until that gorilla guy broke things up.”

“Chet was that gorilla,” Frank said. “Which mask were you wearing? The skull?”

“I'd rather not say,” Daphne said. “Professional secret.” She took the card off the table. “Look, Chet, if this is part of your stolen deck, you can have it back. It's just a common card anyway.” She handed it to him.

“Thanks, Daphne,” Chet said, taking the White Knight and smiling at her.

“You couldn't have rebuilt your deck just at that game, Daphne,” Joe said. “How
did
you do it?”

Daphne stood up. “Look,” she said, “I came here to play a friendly game, not to reveal my strategy and tactics.”

“Well, would you take a look at the list of Chet's
stolen cards, and tell us if any of the others are in your deck?” Frank asked.

Daphne turned on her heel. “That's it!” she said angrily. “I'm out of here.” She stormed out the door.

Tim, looking uncomfortable, got up as well. “I think maybe I'd better leave, too,” he said, following Daphne out.

After Tim left, Iola said, “Wow. You'd think that you guys asked to read Daphne's diary or something.”

“I know where she's coming from,” Chet said. “She's really worried about that tournament, I think.”

“I understand,” Joe said, “but I'm not very sympathetic. We're trying to solve a series of crimes here.”

“Maybe
she
stole Chet's cards,” Callie suggested.

“It'd be pretty foolish to steal Chet's cards and then flaunt them in front of him,” Frank said.

“Well, all the knight cards look alike,” Iola said. “And Daphne said that she hadn't noticed the ketchup stain.”

“Without the stain, who could tell that card was Chet's?” Callie asked excitedly. “Maybe Daphne's rebuilt her own deck by stealing Chet's and that's why she's in such good shape.”

“Or, she could have bought new cards from Mr. Felix,” offered Joe. “That's just as likely, I think.”

Callie leaned her chin on her hands and sighed. “There are too many suspects in this case,” she said. “Daphne . . . Pete . . . Gerry . . . even Tim. It could be any of them.”

Chet got up and headed for the door. “Where are you going, Chet?” Frank asked.

“Well, first I'm stopping by the police station to report my cards stolen,” Chet said. “The cops may not take me seriously, but at least my complaint will be on the record. Then I'm going to hit the Dungeon Guild. I've tried the other ways I can think of. Getting the cards I need from Ron Felix seems like my best option at this point—even if it costs me big bucks.”

“Want us to go with you?” Joe asked.

“No,” Chet said. “I need to do this alone.”

When he'd gone, Frank turned to the others and said, “I know we're doing our best, but I can't help feeling we've let him down.”

“Maybe you guys should take the rest of the day off,” suggested Callie. “After two late-night chases, you're too burned out to think straight. Let's go to a movie or something.”

Frank and Joe nodded wearily. “Yeah,” Joe said. “Maybe relaxing for a bit will help.”

Unfortunately, going to the movies didn't take the Hardys' minds off their troubles. When they got home, they tried to reach Gerry, but only got his family's answering machine. Frank and Joe spent the evening going over the case, but none of the pieces fell into place.

The brothers met Chet, Iola, and Callie in the school parking lot Monday morning, and all five of them walked toward the school together.