One False Step (5 page)

“I'm glad you guys wanted to go with me,” Mario said. “I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends, but I've been very impressed over the years with how you two have been able to get to the heart of some of the mysteries that have baffled other detectives.”

“Well, we've had a great teacher,” Frank said.
“Ever since we were little, Dad has always talked to us about the cases he's been on.”

Joe nodded. “Once he tried to read us some Mother Goose stories or something like that, but we told him they were boring,” he said, “so he went back to telling about the mysteries he was trying to solve.”

The elevator doors opened, and the three of them stepped inside. Mario flashed his badge to the operator, who punched in a code for the Winstons' floor.

When the doors opened again, they were in the foyer of the Winstons' apartment. Everywhere Frank looked, he saw money. The Winstons' apartment was something straight out of a Hollywood movie. Well, maybe a Hollywood
detective
movie, he decided, since there were uniformed police officers everywhere.

“Over here, Detective Zettarella!”

Joe looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a female officer motioning for them.

When they reached her, Mario said, “Frank, Joe, this is Officer Juana Garcia. If anyone in Philadelphia can solve this crime, she can. Juana, Frank and Joe are the sons of an acquaintance of mine, Fen-ton Hardy of Bayport. I've told you about America's first family of crime detection.” He smiled at the boys.

“Oh, yes,” Officer Garcia said. She stuck out her
hand for Frank and Joe to shake. “This is a real pleasure.”

“It's nice to meet you, too,” Frank said.

“Yes, it is,” Joe added.

Officer Garcia turned to Mario. “The Winstons were at the Aérocirque performance. Mr. Winston got ill, so they left in the middle of the show,” she said. “We think they just missed coming in during the middle of the robbery.”

Mario shook his head. “Well, I guess we and the Winstons should consider ourselves fortunate,” he said. “We could have had a robbery-homicide instead of just a robbery.”

Officer Garcia nodded grimly.

“Did you find any scratch marks on the railings of the balcony?” Frank asked.

Officer Garcia blinked. “As a matter of fact, we did, but how did you know about that?” she said. “That information hasn't been released yet.” She looked at Mario. “Oh, of course. You probably have been talking about this case with Frank and Joe.” She turned back to the Hardy boys. “Frankly, we're stumped.”

“Well, the main reason Frank and I are interested in the marks is because there was a similar robbery in New York last Saturday night, and there were marks on those railings too.”

Officer Garcia raised an eyebrow. “Do you think there might be a connection?” she asked.

“The New York City police seemed convinced they had something to do with how the apartment was robbed,” Frank said.

“Instead of just talking about these scratch marks, let's take a look at them,” Officer Garcia said. “That's actually why I was motioning to Mario.”

They followed Officer Garcia through the Winstons' massive apartment to the French doors which led to the balcony.

“Mrs. Winston said that these doors are never locked,” Officer Garcia said. “But really, who expects thieves on the fifty-second floor?”

“What about window washers?” Joe asked.

“There are none,” Officer Garcia replied. “Every window in this building can be washed from inside the apartments. Each family's staff takes care of that chore.”

Frank turned to Mario. “What about the building that was robbed last night?” he asked.

“It does have window washers, but we've checked that all out,” Mario replied. “They were washing the other side of the building, and there was no way any of the workers could have committed the crime.”

“It was the same story in New York,” Joe offered. “I immediately suspected window washers, but unless there's a window washing gang that's figured out a way to fool the police, that solution won't hold water.”

“The scratch marks are over here,” Officer Garcia said.

Frank saw the marks from several feet away. “They're bigger than I thought they'd be,” he said.

“Me too,” Joe said.

“They look exactly like the marks on the balcony at the Fulsome apartment,” Officer Garcia said. “The one that was robbed last night,” she added.

When they got to the end of the balcony, Mario ran his fingers across the marks. “They're about the same depth as the ones on the Fulsome apartment too,” he said. “There's no doubt in my mind now that this was done by the same thieves.”

“I'd say the marks were made by a grappling hook of some kind,” Frank said. He looked around the balcony, then up toward the top of the apartment building. “A helicopter could have landed on the roof, and the thieves climbed down onto the balcony.” He turned to Mario and Officer Garcia. “Has that been checked out?”

“Well, no, actually, it hasn't been,” Mario said, “but I'm not sure I'm following you. How does a grappling hook come into the picture?”

“They could have used it to escape,” Joe said.

“It would have to be a mighty long rope to reach the ground,” Mario said. “I don't know.”

“Maybe it didn't have to reach the ground,” Frank said. “Maybe it only had to reach the balcony of one of the apartments below this one.”

Mario thought for a minute. “Are you suggesting that another resident of the building might be in on this?” he said. “I don't guess that was even a part of the equation for us yet.” He looked at Officer Garcia. “Was it?”

Officer Garcia looked embarrassed. “Not yet,” she replied. She looked at Frank and Joe and shook her head in amazement.

“I just thought of something else,” Joe said. He leaned over the balcony. “It might be a good idea to check for grappling marks on some of the balconies below this one. Let's say no one else in this apartment building is involved. The thieves could simply have stair-stepped down the building.”

“What do you mean?” Officer Garcia asked.

“Maybe the rope was just long enough to reach a couple of balconies below,” Joe explained. “The thieves could have hooked it to the Winston's balcony, climbed down to the end of the rope, released the hook somehow, then attached it to the balcony they were on and finished climbing down the building that way. People normally don't go around checking their balcony railings for scratch marks, so they may not have noticed them yet.”

“Well, maybe they didn't use a helicopter to land on the roof,” Mario said. “Maybe that's how they reached the apartment in the first place—by climbing from balcony to balcony.”

“Somehow I don't think so, Mario,” Frank said.
“Too risky—they'd be seen for sure. I'm surprised they weren't seen earlier. This is all just speculation, anyway, but if they did climb down this way, I think it was only a backup plan. The Winstons arrived home earlier than they were supposed to.”

“Well, we've got a lot of theories here, so I think we should start checking them out,” Mario said. “Let's start with Air Traffic Control to find out what helicopters were in the downtown area tonight about the time of the robbery.”

“I'll get right on it,” Officer Garcia said. She headed back through the French doors, leaving Mario alone on the balcony with Frank and Joe.

“Well, guys, I think we've got our work cut out for us,” Mario said. “These thieves are really clever, and I have a feeling we've not seen the last of them.”

“I've got all these different pieces of the puzzle going around in my head,” Frank said, “and I'm trying to put them all together.”

“Once we can eliminate some of the theories we've come up with, things will be clearer, I think,” Joe added.

“Definitely,” Mario said. He looked at his watch. “Well, I need to meet up with the rest of my officers to see what else they've found in the apartment.”

“You mean like fingerprints?” Frank said.

Mario nodded. “I really don't expect there to be
any evidence, though,” he said. “There was nothing at the other apartment except for the marks on the balcony.” He looked at his watch. “Why don't you guys go on up to the von Battenberg's apartment and enjoy yourselves for a while—at least until I finish here? You shouldn't spend all of your time in Philadelphia trying to solve our crimes.”

“Well, actually, I can't think of anything I enjoy more than solving mysteries,” Joe said, “but if we don't at least show up at the party, we'll never hear the end of it from Matt, Chet, or Tony.”

“That's the truth,” Frank said.

As they headed toward the elevator that would take them to the von Battenberg's penthouse, Frank decided that one of the first things he wanted to find out was how much Elisabeth knew about the acrobats in Aérocirque.

When the elevator doors opened at the foyer of Baron von Battenberg's penthouse apartment, Frank and Joe were greeted by a huge crowd of young people lit by strobe lights. They were all dancing to loud music. The contrast between the scene in the Winston's apartment and what was now in front of them was shocking.

“Well, life goes on, doesn't it?” Frank said.

“Guess so!” Joe said. “This party was planned before the Winston's robbery, so I guess that Elisabeth didn't see any reason to cancel it.”

“I wonder where Chet, Tony, and Matt are,” Frank said.

“If we find the food, we'll find Chet,” Joe said,
“and if Tony and Matt aren't with him, he can probably tell us where they are.”

“We may have to dance our way there, Joe,” Frank said as he surveyed the barrier of people in front of them.

“Hey! There's nothing wrong with that,” Joe said. “Let's do it!”

Frank and Joe plunged into the crowd. By the time they finally reached a long buffet table, they had each danced with several girls and had been invited to a month's worth of parties all around the Philadelphia area.

“Whew!” Frank said. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. “That was more exhausting than a 5K.”

“Yeah,” Joe said. He surveyed the array of food. “I think I worked up a hearty appetite.”

“Me too,” Frank said. He picked up a plate. “You know, I'm surprised Chet isn't standing here.”

“I'm not,” Joe said. “This place is huge, so there are probably many more tables of food strategically placed.”

“You're right,” Frank agreed. He helped himself to some chips and a delicious-looking artichoke and spinach dip. “Mmm! This is really good. I think I'm . . .” He stopped in mid-sentence. “Look, Joe. There's Elisabeth von Battenberg, and that guy she's with looks familiar.”

Joe looked. “Isn't he one of the acrobats from High-Wire Troupe B?” he said.

“It's hard to tell with the strobe lights,” Frank said.

“Well, I think he is,” Joe said, “and it looks like he and Elisabeth are arguing about something.”

“I say we go check it out, Joe,” Frank said. “If it is one of those acrobats from High-Wire Troupe B, I'd like to hear his excuse about why they didn't perform tonight.”

The Hardy boys handed their plates to a server and once again plunged into the crowd.

Several times they were stopped by girls wanting to dance with them, but Frank and Joe both managed to make sure that while they were dancing, they were still heading toward Elisabeth and the Aérocirque acrobat. But when they finally reached Elisabeth, the acrobat had disappeared.

Elisabeth gave them a big smile. “Oh, you made it! I'm delighted.”

“Yes! It's some party!” Frank said.

“I was afraid you might find the Winston's apartment more interesting,” Elisabeth said. She gave them a playful pout. “I would have been really disappointed if one of my parties had come in second to a robbery.”

Joe looked around. “Frank and I thought we saw some of the Aérocirque acrobats here talking to you,” he said.

Elisabeth looked puzzled. “Oh, really? No, but Daddy may have let them know they were welcome to come to the party, so some of them could be here,” she said, once again giving them a wide smile. “I haven't seen any of them.” She grabbed Frank's arm. “Come on. I want to introduce the famous Hardy boys around,” she said. “Almost every girl here is from a family worth millions of dollars. It'll be worth your while!” Elisabeth stopped. “See that girl with the really red hair?”

Frank and Joe looked.

“Now, that's
red
hair,” Frank said.

“It's her natural color, too,” Elisabeth said. “That's Julia Baker. She's the heiress to the Baker fortune. They're in oil. She's worth almost a billion dollars.”

“Wow!” Joe said.

“That blonde with her is Gretchen Wall. Her family is almost as wealthy as Julia's,” Elisabeth said. “They're best friends. They go everywhere together.”

The girls suddenly disappeared from their view.

“Oh, Julia is so hard to keep up with,” Elisabeth said. “I'll just have to introduce you to—”

“Wait—we probably need to report to our friends from Bayport first, so they won't be wondering where we are,” Joe said, interrupting her.

“Have you seen them?” Frank asked.

“No, but that doesn't mean anything,” Elisabeth said. “When we got back from the stadium I had a
headache, so I lay down for a few minutes, and I only just got up. They're probably with Alice and Heather.”

Frank felt that Joe wanted to talk to him alone, so he said, “We'll see if we can find them, then we'll catch up with you later.”

“Okay,” Elisabeth said.

When Frank and Joe were several feet away, Joe said, “I guess our eyes were playing tricks on us. But I was positive that guy was one of the acrobats from Troupe B.”