Deadfall (7 page)

"There he goes!" Frank called from behind him. Joe glimpsed a figure in camouflage clothes leaping down from the trees and running off into the forest. "Come on!" he called to the others.

"Be careful!" Callie shouted as she and Frank took off after Joe. "He might have a gun!"

Joe ran as fast as he could after the fleeing figure. He leapt over fallen trees and small boulders, hoping the low ferns and tree stumps wouldn't trip him up as he closed in on the man.

Finally, Joe could hear the heavy tread and ragged breathing of the camouflaged man about twenty yards ahead. Forcing himself through the undergrowth, he tried to run faster. Behind him, Frank and Callie crashed along the path he had beaten down.

Then, suddenly, Joe could no longer hear the footsteps and panting of his quarry. Before he could think about where the man might have gone, he heard something heavy drop to the ground behind him.

"Where'd you—" he cried out, spinning to face his enemy.

But he failed to make it all the way around. Something heavy and hard smashed down on the back of his head, and Joe tumbled headfirst onto a carpet of leaves.

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8

"Joe! Are you all right?" Frank plunged toward his brother. Joe lay half hidden behind an enormous tree trunk.

*'0h," Joe groaned, struggling to sit up as Frank knelt at his side. ''What happened? My head is killing me."

"It looks like our spy has a violent streak," Frank said, inspecting the back of Joe's head. "Fortunately, he didn't have time to do much damage. It looks like just a bump. The swelling will probably go down in a couple of hours."

"That's easy for you to say." Joe rubbed his head gingerly. "It's going to seem like a couple of months to me."

"I say we go back to Walter Ecks's place," Callie said as she joined them. "Whoever that creep was, he's long gone by now. And we need to get some ice on that bump."

THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILES

"Fine by me." Frank helped his brother up. "Did you get a look at the guy before he brained you, Joe?"

"Not his face," Joe answered. "Just a bit of his sleeve, which was a camouflage shirt. And 1 had the impression he was about average height. Not quite as tall as me."

"Do you think it could have been Vance Galen?" Calhe asked as they made their way back down the path to Ecks's cabin. "We saw him wearing camouflage."

"Plenty of guys must wear camouflage around here," Frank said. "So we can't be sure who it was. Besides, we saw the guy yesterday at the newspaper office. He didn't act like we were the enemy then."

"Yeah, but that was before he saw us talking to Buster's foreman," Callie pointed out. "Maybe he thinks we've hooked up with the bad guys."

"Maybe whoever bonked Joe doesn't think anything—maybe he was just trying to get away," Frank reasoned.

When they rejoined Walter Ecks and the older man had brought out ice to reduce the swelling on Joe's head, Walter agreed with Callie.

"There are only half a dozen cabins in this area," he said. "Galen's is the closest. Of course, that doesn't mean it had to be him, but like I say, he's as crazy as they come."

Frank accepted a glass of lemonade from Walter and passed one to Callie.

"The guy who attacked me was going off to

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the right," Joe said, thinking out loud. He gestured with his hand. "Uphill, I guess, right over that way."

^'That's the way to Galen's cabin!" Ecks said excitedly. '*Just about a mile past Horizon's equipment yard."

Suddenly Joe grinned.

"Something funny?" Frank asked.

"Not really, but that bump on the head must have shaken something loose. I just realized what it was that was missing from Buster Owens's belongings."

"What?" Callie asked, taking a sip of lemonade.

"His key ring!" Joe exclaimed. "He had the biggest key ring I've ever seen hanging from his belt at the general store. You could hardly help but notice the thing. Maybe whoever killed Buster took his keys."

"What did the keys open, Walt?" Callie asked, her expression very serious.

"Oh, just about everything," Ecks replied. "All the equipment yards, for one thing. And the buildings down at the mill. He had the keys to all the vehicles, too. He used to say he didn't trust the loggers not to lose them."

For an instant Walter Ecks's eyes teared up. Embarrassed, he wiped the tears away. "Nobody but Buster had every key," he added. "I have a few for the mill and yard, and Millie has some for their house, of course. But Buster had every single key on that ring. He liked to keep stuff to himself."

THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILE5

*'Thanks, Walt," Callie said a bit later, after they took the empty lemonade glasses inside to the kitchen. ''I think we should go talk to Vance Galen."

"On the way let's check out the equipment yard to see if anything's missing," Joe put in. "Do you have an inventory list so we can check to see if anything's gone?"

Ecks gave Joe a list and a key to the gate. He offered to call the towing company for their car and have it brought into Crosscut. The Hardys and Callie said goodbye and set off up the mountain road, this time keeping a sharp eye out for attackers.

"Getting run off the road by a bulldozer and pounced on by a stranger in the woods sure does help a guy work up an appetite," Joe muttered as they trudged on under the hot sun. It was past noon, and the heat was becoming uncomfortable even that high in the mountains.

"Don't worry," Frank said. "We'll put some fuel in that body the minute we finish with Galen."

"If he turns out to be the guy who attacked me," Joe added, "maybe I'll just have him for lunch."

The lock on the equipment yard gate showed no signs of tampering. "That means if something was taken from here, it was done by someone with a key," Frank pointed out, unlocking the gate. "Okay, fan out. The inventory says there

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should be eight bulldozers here. If there's one missing, it shouldn't be hard to spot."

"There's one bulldozer missing," CaUie called out a few minutes later. "But nothing else is gone, as far as we can see," she added as she and Joe rejoined Frank near the gate. "What are you looking for?" she asked when she saw Frank peering at the ground.

"Bootprints," he said, frowning. "But the mud's too stirred up to tell anything."

"What more evidence do we need?" Joe demanded. "Vance Galen lives near here. He could easily have come in here and snitched a 'dozer, that logging truck that unloaded on us last night, and even a few sticks of dynamite. I think we have a suspect, Frank."

"Patience, brother," Frank said. "Let's go talk to the guy first before we decide he's guilty."

"Not home," Joe announced when no one answered Frank's knock on Galen's door. "Must be out bulldozing cars again."

"Come on," said Callie dejectedly. "Let's go home."

"Hold on," Frank insisted, knocking again. "Galen!" he called. The silence that answered his call was eerie.

Frank reached out and tried the doorknob. "You're just going to walk in?" Callie demanded.

"Nope. It's locked," Frank said, disappointed.

THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILE5

"I guess it would be hard to break in and say we just wandered by."

''On the other hand, Stan's hfe is at stake here," Joe pointed out, eyeing his brother over CaUie's head. ''And it's not like we're going to take anything."

Cailie studied first one Hardy then the other. She knew better than to argue when she saw that determined look in their eyes. "Okay, but hurry." She glanced at the edges of the woods in case Galen appeared and caught them in the act. "And remember, this is quick and unofficial. Whatever we see stays right where it was."

It took only moments for Frank to work the door lock with the slender pick he kept in his wallet. He heard the final tumbler click into place. Then, motioning for Cailie and Joe to follow, he went inside.

"What a dump," Joe said the instant they were inside the small, dimly lit cabin. It definitely could use a cleaning, Frank saw. Dirty clothes, books, and newspapers covered every flat surface. The tiny kitchen had dishes stacked to the rim of the sink. The windows were tightly shut, preventing any fresh mountain air coming into the rooms.

"Look for anything that might connect Galen to the bombing at the sawmill," Frank told the others, moving through the living room toward a tiny bedroom and bathroom off a short hall.

"Especially Buster's key ring," Joe added,

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opening several cabinets in the living room. "That would clinch it for sure."

Frank entered Galen's bedroom and saw several sets of camouflage pants and shirts tossed around. If anyone in Crosscut could be associated with camouflage, Galen was certainly the one.

At the bottom of Galen's closet, though, Frank found something even more interesting: a small door that concealed a hidden compartment beneath the floor. Inside were two boxes of blasting caps, several coils of waterproof fuse, some well-thumbed military handbooks, and a demolition instruction manual.

"Joe! Callie!" Frank called. "Come here!"

"You come here!" Joe called back from the living room. "This guy has enough weapons to supply the National Guard!"

Frank hurried out of the bedroom to find Joe standing over a hole in the floor near the living room fireplace. Several floorboards lay nearby. "Let's see, there's one pump shotgun and a high-powered rifle," Joe said, peering down into the hole.

"And some boxes of ammo and several pistols," Frank added, kneeling beside Joe. "It looks like our friend Galen is getting ready to start a war."

"All he needs is the dynamite," Callie said.

"Wait till you see what's in the bedroom." Frank described to the other two what he had found.

THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILES

"Whew," Joe said. **This guy really sounds crazy."

''I guess he might be capable of committing murder—and framing Uncle Stan," Callie agreed sadly.

''Let's put everything back the way we found it," Frank said hastily. ''We don't want Galen to know he's been found out. I want to report this to the sheriff so he can bring this guy in for questioning."

"You really think he'd notice something missing in this mess?" Joe asked.

"Hey, look at your room at home!" Frank replied, only half kidding. "And still you know every time I borrow a pair of socks from your dresser."

Frank, Joe, and Callie worked quickly to restore Galen's cabin to its original state. As they worked, Frank fought down a feeling of nervousness about what they'd been up to. One thing was sure—agoing through Galen's personal belongings was not something he wanted to be caught doing.

"Okay, out!" he ordered Callie and Joe, hustling them toward the door as soon as the last dirty shirt was back in place. Frank backed out after them, careful to lock the door.

"Wait!" Joe said just as Frank felt the lock click. "I think I left the car keys on the mantel."

"You're kidding." Frank was incredulous, but Joe only shrugged sheepishly. "They're not in my pocket," he said.

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Shaking his head, Frank moved to the window and shined his flashlight through the glass. "I don't see them," he said. ''Maybe you left them in the—"

He was interrupted by the click of a rifle bolt and Callie's gasp of fright.

"Don't move," said a high-pitched voice behind and to the right of Frank. Slowly Frank raised his hands and turned to face Vance Galen.

The Green, in suspenders and a red flannel shirt, stared triumphantly into Frank's eyes. His hunting rifle was leveled at Callie's heart, and his finger was trembling on the trigger.

Chapter

*Take it easy, Vance/' Joe murmured. "We're not trying to hurt you."

"This is private property," Galen snarled. "You're trespassing!"

"Vance, if you'll just listen, I can explain," Callie said calmly, taking a step toward him.

"Careful, Callie," Frank warned.

"Shut up. Hardy!" Galen shouted, his finger tightening around the trigger.

"It's okay," Callie said soothingly. "We just want to talk." She walked closer to him. "Put down the rifle."

Callie kept walking until she was right up against the barrel of his rifle. The boys held their breath. Finally Galen lowered it.

"Let's talk inside," he muttered.

As they stepped back to let Galen unlock the

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door, Joe noted that Galen seemed more scared than anything. He just hoped Galen stayed that way.

"All right," Galen said after they had filed into the Hving room and sat down. "I want to know why you were spying on me."

"We weren't spying," Frank protested. "We needed to talk to you, but you didn't appear to be here. We were just looking inside for you."

"Don't lie to me!" Still clutching his rifle, Galen glared at Frank. "You boys have something to do with Buster Owens's murder, and I want to know what it is."

"Us!" Joe laughed. "All we're trying to do is prove that Stan Shaw didn't commit it! Do you think you could help us out with that, Vance?"

"What can I do?" Galen growled, beginning to pace. "Everyone around here thinks I'm either loony or a murderer."

"We just need some simple information," Gallic said. "Like, what happened with Stan and Buster after we left the general store?"

Galen scowled. "Buster left right after you did," he told her.

"Did Stan say anything about a meeting with Buster?" Joe asked.

"Yeah," Galen replied. "I followed Stan to his car. He said he was going to go over the application for the Forest Service contract with Buster. I told him he was making a big mistake."

"It was a mistake to talk to a logger about conserving woodland?" Frank asked, incredulous.

THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILES

*'You can't trust any mill owner!" Galen spat out. "All they care about is how much money they can make by destroying forests!"

"What happened after you talked to Stan?" Callie asked.

"He wouldn't call off the meeting," Galen said, "so I decided to follow him."

"Then you were there right before the explosion?" Joe asked. "Did you see Stan there?"

"No. I parked away from the mill, on a back road, and walked. I was afraid there might be a guard at the mill."