Eye on Crime (2 page)

“Now, as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, let's see what sort of dark secrets you may be hiding.”

“Okay, Callie and Iola,” Monty Andrews continued. “We know what sort of animals you like to be, but what about humans? What people out there would you really want to be like for a short while?”

As soon as Monty asked the question, the studio fell silent. Callie and Iola both stared straight into the audience. Then, in unison, they pointed to where their boyfriends were sitting.

“The people we'd want to be like are Frank and Joe Hardy,” the girls said, as if they spoke with one voice.

Frank and Joe stared in amazement at their girlfriends for a second, then looked at each other in shock. The audience burst out with laughter.

“Well, it seems like a lot of people in our studio
know who Frank and Joe Hardy are!” Monty said. “Nice to be popular, huh, boys?”

Then Monty turned to Callie and Iola. “So, you want to be just like your pals up there. That has to be the best answer of the year!”

The audience laughed and applauded. When the noise simmered down a bit, Monty continued his questioning.

“Why do you want to be like Frank and Joe Hardy?”

“Because,” Iola said staring straight ahead, still under the effects of hypnosis, “they're detectives.”

“Detectives?”

“Yes,” Callie responded, “detectives.”

“Must be an echo in here,” Monty said. “What's so cool about teenage boy detectives?”

“They get to do exciting, sometimes dangerous things,” Iola replied.

“They're always wrapped up in some interesting case,” Callie said.

“I wonder if they're really hypnotized,” Joe murmured to his brother.

“Yeah,” Frank whispered. “Maybe they aren't hypnotized. They could be trying to embarrass us.”

“Dangerous cases?” Monty asked. His expression was very animated with his obvious interest.

“Sometimes it's dangerous,” Iola said.

“What sort of dangerous cases?”

“Robbery, kidnapping,” Iola said.

“Daring rescues, sleuthing,” Callie added.

Monty turned to look offstage. “Phil,” he called, “could we get some sort of props out here for our guests? Something with a robbery motif.”

“So, girls,” Monty said turning back to his guests, “after our commercial break, I want you to show us how you would do things if you were your idols, the detective brothers named Frank and Joe Hardy.”

The red light atop each camera went off, signaling that taping had ceased for the moment. The audience murmured quietly as stagehands began wheeling out props for the next part of the show. Frank and Joe looked at their girlfriends, who stood like blank-faced statues on the stage.

“Wow, that's a mindblower,” Joe said to his brother.

“I'll say. Who would have thought Iola would make such a convincing horse?” Frank slapped his brother gently on the leg.

“You know what I mean,” Joe replied.

“Yeah, well, let's make a pact never to hold this against them. Iola and Callie would never forgive us if we reminded them that they pretended to be us.”

“Can't we rub it in just a little?”

“Not if you don't want to look for a new girlfriend,” Frank answered.

Onstage, the crew set up a stanchion from which hung a door. They also wheeled out a long counter with several glass-top cases, the kind that would be found in any retail store. A second counter with a cash register was also wheeled onto the stage. Another set of stanchions was set up, this one with a window unit in it. Finally one of the stagehands handed Iola a flashlight and a screwdriver and gave Callie some rope, a roll of electrician's tape, and a flashlight.

After everything was in position, Monty got the ready sign from Josh Symkins. The red taping lights on the cameras popped back on, and Monty continued his act.

“Callie and Iola, let me set the scene,” Monty said. “It's late at night, long after the rest of the world has gone to sleep, except for the Hardy Girls. Instead of being snuggled up warm in your beds, you're out working on a case. The local video store has been selling illegal copies of the latest blockbuster movie—starring me, of course. So you go to the store to look for some clues. Show us how you'd operate.”

Iola and Callie immediately dropped to the floor. Staying very low to the ground, the two girls crawled over to where the fake door was placed. Very silently, they stood up next to the door as if they were trying to blend into the shadows. Iola took the screwdriver and jimmied the lock on the door.

“We would have used lock picks,” Joe murmured.

“And we never crawl,” Frank added.

Meanwhile, onstage, Callie and Iola crept silently into the video store. Both girls flicked on their flashlights and scanned a narrow beam around the room. Iola pointed to a spot on what could have been the store's wall. Callie nodded. She slunk across the room, stopped at the spot that Iola had indicated, and ripped a piece of electrician's tape off her roll. Callie stood on her toes and reached above her head. She took the piece of tape and spread it across something that only she and Iola could see in their hypnotized state.

“Security camera,” Frank said.

“She must have remembered that from the newspaper report on Rojas and Wingfoot,” Joe offered. Frank nodded.

Satisfied that they had foiled the security camera, Callie and Iola tiptoed over to the glass-top counter. Iola made a circle with her hands on top of the glass. Then she reached through the “hole” she had just cut in the countertop and pulled her hand back out. She smiled triumphantly at whatever she believed she had just retrieved. Meanwhile, Callie went over to the cash register. She popped behind the counter, looking for something.

“Okay,” Monty said, “they're in and they've
found something. Now let's see how they handle trouble.”

Monty looked at Callie and Iola. “Hardy Girls,” he said, “you're doing great. But suddenly, you hear the sound of police sirens outside. You forgot to check for a silent alarm.”

Both Callie and Iola got shocked expressions on their faces. But like any good detectives, they quickly regained their composure. Iola pointed to the window. Callie nodded. Iola used her screwdriver to jimmy open the window. Then Callie hung the rope outside the window. The two girls climbed through the window, holding the rope as if they needed it to lower themselves. When safely on the “street” they began to run.

“Okay, ladies, that's enough,” Monty said. Callie and Iola stopped in their tracks. “Come back over to me.” The girls walked over to Monty.

“Weren't they wonderful detectives?” he asked the audience. Everybody applauded. “How'd they do, Frank and Joe?”

“Oh, they were wonderful!” Joe said with mock enthusiasm.

“Yeah,” Frank added, “but we never would have missed the alarm.” The audience burst out laughing.

“Well, I guess it's time to snap these good-natured ladies out of their trances,” Monty said. He turned to face Callie and Iola. “Okay, Hardy
Girls, when I count to three, you will no longer be hypnotized. And just to make sure you carry some of the embarrassment home with you, you'll remember everything that you did up here. One, two, three!”

Callie clasped her hands to her mouth. She laughed with embarrassment. Iola smirked up at Frank and Joe. The whole audience laughed.

“Now, if you'll just go backstage, our assistant producer will have some lovely parting gifts to give you for being such good sports. Let's give our Hardy Girls a great big round of applause!”

The audience sent Callie and Iola backstage with the sounds of hoots and clapping ringing in their ears.

Frank and Joe watched their girlfriends walk behind the curtain.

“That was great!” Joe laughed.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “Except it makes the two of us a little more famous than detectives should be.”

“Aww, people will forget us soon enough,” Joe replied. “Then we can be good old anonymous sleuths again.”

The two brothers sat together, watching the end of the show. After Monty wrapped up, Frank and Joe got up to leave. The large crowd moved sluggishly through the studio toward the exit. Frank and Joe had to wait several minutes before they could get on an elevator to take them to the
ground floor. When they got to the parking lot the space next to theirs was empty.

“Didn't Callie say she parked right next to us?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, she did,” Frank answered. “From what the guy said before the show, we figured they wouldn't leave until after everybody from the audience was gone.”

“Hmm,” Joe said. He unlocked the driver's door and got into the van. Then he leaned across the seat to unlock the passenger door for Frank. Frank climbed in and buckled his seat belt.

“Maybe they went out some backstage entrance. We did have to wait awhile for the elevator.”

“That must be it,” Frank replied. “They're probably already at the pizza place with Chet and Tony.”

Joe turned the key in the ignition. “So let's jet.”

Twenty minutes later as the hour alarm on Joe's watch chimed seven the brothers pulled up in front of their favorite pizza place, which also happened to be where Tony Prito worked as a waiter.

“I don't see Callie's car anywhere,” Frank said.

The brothers got out of the van and went into the pizza place. Joe inhaled the hearty aroma of garlic and cheese.

“I love the smell of pizza when I'm hungry,” he said.

“Well, I always love that smell,” shouted a voice from across the room.

“Yeah, because you're always hungry, Chet,” said a second voice.

Frank and Joe walked over to the table where their friends Tony Prito and Chet Morton sat. On the table between them was a pitcher of soda.

“Hi, guys,” Joe said. Tony got up as the brothers sat down.

“I'll go get some more glasses and pop the pizza in the oven,” Tony said.

“Shouldn't we wait until Callie and Iola get here?” Frank asked.

“Wait for food? Never,” Chet replied. “But where is my sister anyway?”

Tony walked into the restaurant's kitchen.

“We're not sure,” Frank said. “We thought she and Callie would be here already.”

“Maybe they're too embarrassed to show up,” Joe said.

“What do you mean?” Tony asked as he returned to the table. He put two more glasses on the table and filled them with soda as Frank began to tell them about Callie and Iola's television debut.

“You have got to be kidding!” Chet howled as Joe finished what Frank had begun.

“A horse!” Tony laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

“Not just that,” Chet said. “The whole we-want-to-be-the-Hardy-Girls
thing! It's great. I'm never going to let my sister live it down.”

“Hey, wanting to be us isn't such a bad idea,” Joe said.

“Well, I can't wait to see it on television next week,” Tony said.

Just then Tony's boss came out of the kitchen, carrying a pan of piping-hot pizza.

“Oh, I would have gotten that,” Tony said, jumping up to help with the tray.

“It's no problem,” Tony's boss said. She smiled at the boys. “Just go get some plates.” Tony headed for the kitchen.

“And please turn up the television,” Frank said. He pointed to the television that hung on a wall bracket a few feet from where they were sitting.
“News Update
should be on in a minute.”

“You and the news,” the pizza shop's owner said as she put the pizza pan down on the table. “You sure do like to watch the news.”

“Yeah,” Chet said. “Isn't there a sitcom on or something?”

“It's good to stay informed,” Frank said. “Besides, I want to catch the baseball spring-training report.”

Tony returned with four plates, and the boys served themselves.

“Spring training, huh?” Chet asked. “Is it time for baseball season already?”

“Sure is,” Joe replied. “And I am raring to get back out on the diamond again.”

“Of course you are,” Frank said. “You have a shot to break Bayport's all-time home-run record.”

“And if you pitch as well as you can,” Joe said to his brother, “we're sure to rack up lots of wins.”

“Bayport High has a shot at the championship this year?” Tony asked.

“We sure do,” Joe answered.

“All we have to do is get past Shoreham High and we're a lock,” Frank said.

“Do you think you can?” Chet asked.

“If Bobby Rojas and Pepper Wingfoot end up in jail, we'll murder them.”

“What are you talking about, Joe?” Chet asked.

“You really need to watch the news more,” Frank said. “Rojas and Wingfoot were arrested today for robbing the Bayport Jewelry Exchange.”

“Whoa, that's big-time stuff,” Tony said.

“Frank, don't you mean to say ‘allegedly'?” Joe chided his brother.

“What do you mean?” Chet asked.

“Frank doesn't like to convict anybody before all of the evidence is in.”

“So does that mean you two plan to get involved?” Tony asked. “Or maybe the Hardy Girls are off investigating the case while we all eat pizza.”

“Ha-ha,” Frank said with a mock laugh. “I doubt that's where they are. And, no, we don't plan to get involved with this case. The police seem to be on top of it.”

“Speaking of the girls,” Joe said, “it's getting awfully late. I wonder where they could be.”

“I think I'll call home to see if Iola is there,” Chet said. He got up and went behind the counter to the phone.

“Good idea,” Tony said.

A minute later Chet sat back down at the table. “No dice,” he said.

“I'll call Callie's house,” Frank said. He went to the phone. When he came back, he just shook his head.