One False Step (3 page)

Frank nodded.

Mario got in the front seat beside the driver, and the rest of them climbed into the back. Mario quickly introduced Bill, the driver.

“Are we going to have a problem here?” Bill asked.

Joe thought he sounded really irritated. He looked at Frank and raised an eyebrow.

Frank gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
That's a strange question
, he thought.

Mario shook his head. “No,” he said. “Why?”

Without responding, Bill pulled away from the curb and headed out of the neighborhood.

When they reached Highway 263, Bill turned the van north.

“Aérocirque is performing in a brand new stadium just north of Warminster. It was built for several high schools in the area,” Mario said. “It's not very far from here.”

On the way, Mario talked about how hard it was to get tickets to see Aérocirque. “They're going for two hundred dollars apiece,” he said. “Almost everyone in the metropolitan Philadelphia area wants to see it, but unfortunately only people with lots of money can get the tickets now.”

“That doesn't seem fair,” Joe said.

“Why not?” Bill said, finally breaking his silence. “It's all about making money.”

What's this guy's problem?
Joe thought.

“It wouldn't surprise me if tickets were going for a thousand dollars a pop by the time Aérocirque reaches Los Angeles,” Mario said, looking at Bill. “That's the last city on their tour. You could never pay that kind of money on a cop's salary. It makes me bitter sometimes.”

Joe looked over at Frank. He could tell that his brother was also surprised at how much anger they were seeing from Bill, and now Mario, too. It was making him really uncomfortable.

“I wish I could think up something to make that kind of money,” Chet said.

“You and me both,” Bill said.

Frank noticed he glanced at Mario before he said it.

“Mario, I don't mean to pry, but right before we left you mentioned something about a burglary in a high-rise apartment building in downtown Philadelphia,” Frank said. “We were talking to a friend of ours at school on Friday, and she was telling us about a high-rise apartment burglary in Manhattan last week. The New York police are stumped too.”

Mario looked at him. “Really? Well, I guess the same kinds of crimes happen in big cities,” he said. “These crooks got in through the French doors on the balcony.”

“That's what happened in Manhattan, too,” Joe said. “The police found some scratches on the railing
around the balcony that they couldn't explain.”

“Now, that's strange,” Mario said. “We found some scratches we couldn't explain either.”

“Mario, I don't think it's a good idea to . . .” Bill started to say, but Mario waved him off.

“Sounds to me like some kind of gang is making its way around the country,” Matt said.

“Have you checked the police reports in other cities to see if they've had similar robberies?” Frank asked.

“No, we haven't yet, although that's something we usually do if we can't find any clues on our own. Since we're just barely at the beginning of our own investigation, nobody has gotten around to that yet,” Mario said. “It sounds to me that these two crimes are similar enough that it might be a good idea to go ahead and do it.”

“That must be the stadium up ahead,” Tony said. “I see some really bright lights.”

“It is,” Bill said. “We'll be there shortly.”

Just then Joe heard a loud whirling noise over the van, and within a few seconds two black helicopters flew into view.

“Wow! For a minute, I thought they were going to land on top of us,” Chet said. “They look like a couple of birds fighting over their territory.”

“That's one of the things they do in the show,” Matt said. “Once or twice when I was watching, I was just
sure
they were going to hit each other.”

“I think we're in for a thrilling night,” Joe said. “This is going to beat any action movie I've seen lately!”

“I agree,” Frank said.

Bill drove into the stadium parking lot and pulled the police van into a reserved spot.

“There's another practice field on the other side of the stadium. You can't see it from here, because it's hidden behind the press box, but that's where the acrobats work on last-minute details before the performances,” Mario said. “I need to make sure everything's all right. I thought you'd like a look at what goes on behind the scenes. How about it?”

Everyone agreed that was a great idea.

Several more helicopters began whirling above them as they made their way around the stadium.

“You can feel the excitement in the air, can't you?” Matt said. “I'm glad we got to come to this.”

“I'm glad you suggested it,” Joe said. When they reached the practice field, Frank saw two of the black helicopters hovering just a few feet above the ground. A wire was stretched between them, and two acrobats were walking the wire toward each other.

“What are they going to do when they meet?” Joe asked.

“Watch,” Matt told him.

As the two acrobats continued walking toward each other, the helicopters began to rise slowly.
One acrobat appeared unsteady for a minute, but he finally regained his poise and continued along the wire.

When the acrobats finally reached each other, one slowly squatted on the wire. The helicopters were now at almost the same height as the top of the press box. The acrobat who was still standing suddenly jumped over the squatting acrobat and landed smoothly on the other side. The squatting acrobat stood up and continued toward the other helicopter.

When the acrobats reached the opposite helicopters, they untied the wire, let it fall to the ground, got into the passenger seat, and the helicopters flew away.

Frank let out his breath. “Wow!” he said. “I can hardly wait to see that again!”

“Me too!” Joe said.

“That's just the beginning,” Matt said. “It gets even better!”

“Matt's right,” Mario said. “These acrobats have nerves of steel.”

With Mario in the lead and Frank and Joe right behind him, they all started toward a big tent in one corner of the practice field. It took them about ten minutes to get there.

A couple of police officers were standing at the entrance.

“Everything okay?” Mario asked them.

“Yes, sir,” one of the officers said.

Mario introduced the Hardy boys and their friends to the two men. “I'm going to give the boys a behind-the-scenes tour,” he said. He looked at his watch. “I'll check out the security in the stadium on the way to our seats.”

Both police officers nodded.

Once inside the tent, Frank saw that it had been sectioned off, with acrobats in different-colored costumes practicing their routines on trapezes hanging from scaffolding or on wires just a few feet above the ground.

“Aérocirque has different teams which perform different acts,” Mario said. “Over there, you have the trapeze artists, who fly from trapeze to trapeze under hovering helicopters.”

“I didn't get to see those in New York,” Matt said. “I hope they perform tonight.”

“On the other side of them, you have some more aerialists, like the ones you saw earlier,” Mario said, “but these guys have to be steady enough to catch other trapeze acrobats who fly through the air and land on their shoulders.”

Joe looked at Mario. “Are you serious?” he said. “It sounds like they defy gravity.”

Mario nodded. “You have to see it to believe it, Joe,” he said.

“This tent is closed to spectators! Get out!”

Frank turned at the sound of an angry and
accented voice. A man in tight-fitting green spandex was watching them, hands on hips.

“It's all right,” Mario said. He showed the man his badge. “I'm Detective Zettarella. I'm in charge of security.”

“We need water. We need lots of cold water,” the man said, ignoring Mario's badge. “You and your boys need to get us some cold water now.”

Mario gave the acrobat a hard look. “You have us mixed up with the caterers,” he said. He looked around. “Why don't you ask that young lady over there, the one in red? She can help you.”

“You go ask her!” the acrobat screamed. “I am an artist, and I don't have time to waste arguing with you.”

Frank could tell that Mario was about to explode, so he stepped in. “I'll go,” he said. “I could use a cold drink myself. Where do you want the water sent?”

Now the acrobat had a smirk on his face. “Over there!” he said. He pointed to a far corner of the tent, where other acrobats dressed the same way he was were lining up to leave the area. “Hurry!” With that, he turned and ran to rejoin his troupe.

“How arrogant!” Joe muttered. “Who does he think he is, anyway?” He turned to Frank. “Why did you agree to do that? He treated you like his personal servant.”

“Don't worry, Joe,” Frank said. “I'm not getting the water. And I have my reasons for making nice.”

“I'm disappointed,” Matt said. “Are all the acrobats like that?”

“No, some of them are more like thugs,” Mario said. “They're an interesting collection of humans.”

Joe looked at Frank. “I suppose it's normal for entertainers to have big egos,” he said. “I guess we shouldn't be surprised.”

“I guess not, but I've just about had it,” Mario said. “Our job is to make sure everyone in this stadium is safe, including the performers—but you'd think they didn't care.” He looked at his watch. “We need to head to our seats,” he added. “There are some things I have to check out on the way, and it'll take several minutes to make our way through the crowd.”

“Hey, guys! Take a look at that girl over there!” Tony said. “She's gorgeous.”

Everyone looked.

“Well, you just might get to meet her later,” Mario said. “That's Elisabeth von Battenberg, the daughter of the man who owns Aérocirque. In fact, that's the baron standing right behind her. They live here in Philadelphia, in one of the most expensive high-rise apartments downtown.” He paused, and a look of concern spread over his face. “I wonder if something's wrong. The baron seems to be arguing with a couple of the acrobats.”

“Why don't you check it out?” Chet said. “That way, you could introduce us to his daughter.”

Mario grinned. “Eh, it's probably just some artistic disagreement. I think I'll wait,” he said. “But we're sitting close to them in the stadium. I'll introduce you later.”

Frank and Joe, with Matt, Chet, and Tony behind them, followed Mario out of the tent and onto the floor of the stadium. Some of the acrobats had already assembled at the opposite end, and there were two black helicopters hovering just a few feet above the ground.

Just then the public address system crackled, and a voice said, “High-Wire Troupe B will not perform tonight because of illness.”

“Which group is High-Wire Troupe B? Joe asked.

“The group we saw practicing before we went into the tent,” Mario said. “I guess one of the acrobats got sick.”

Frank didn't think so, but he had no real proof, so he kept quiet. Given what he had seen earlier, though, he suspected there was something more sinister behind it.

Mario directed them toward the fifty-yard line on the north side of the stadium.

“We're sitting in the VIP section,” he said.

“Wow!” Matt exclaimed. “In New York, I was in the nosebleed section. This is great!”

“It sure is,” Joe agreed. “We'll be right in the middle of all the action!”

Just then four black helicopters, one coming from each direction of the compass—north, south, east, and west—flew into the stadium and met in the middle. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as the helicopters halted just inches from each other.

“I thought they were going to collide!” Tony said. “They must have this timed perfectly.”

“That's what it's all about,” Mario said.
“Timing.”

Suddenly, a trapeze was lowered from the bottom of each of the helicopters. The bars were just a few feet above the ground. Four acrobats, two at each end and two on each side, started running toward the trapezes. Four spotlights lit up their orange sequined costumes.

When the acrobats reached the trapezes, they stood on the bars in unison. Slowly, the helicopters began to rise. As they did, the four acrobats began swinging back and forth.

Joe was amazed at how the helicopters were able to stay the same distance from each other as they rose above the stadium floor.

Soon the acrobats were swinging in almost a semicircle. Then all four fell backward, catching the bar with the backs of their knees. Again, everything was done in perfect unison.

Just when Frank thought nothing else could be as spectacular, the acrobats on the north and west sides left their swings and grabbed hold of the hands of the acrobats on the south and east sides.

Again, there was a loud gasp from the audience.

“I can't believe it,” Chet managed to say. “Those guys don't have nets!”

“This really is incredible,” Joe said.

After swinging together for several minutes, each pair of acrobats flew through the air toward the empty trapezes, grabbed the bars, swung for several
more minutes, then the two helicopters with empty trapezes flew closer to the stadium floor. The two bottom acrobats dove toward the empty trapezes and grabbed the bars with their hands.

For the next several minutes, these movements were repeated in various order.

When this troupe's performance was finally over, Joe said, “You really have to know what you're doing, or it's all over. It makes me want to be up there.”

“You can have it,” Chet said. “I'd probably break the trapeze.” He looked around. “Hey, is there a concession stand nearby? All of this tension has made me hungry.”