One False Step by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online

“Was it?”
    Officer Garcia looked embarrassed. “Not yet,” she replied. She looked at Frank and Joe and shook her head in amazement.
    â€œI 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.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Officer Garcia asked.
    â€œMaybe 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.”
    â€œWell, 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.”
    â€œSomehow 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.”
    â€œWell, 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.”
    â€œI’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.
    â€œWell, 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.”
    â€œI’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.”
    â€œOnce we can eliminate some of the theories we’ve come up with, things will be clearer, I think,” Joe added.
    â€œDefinitely,” 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.”
    â€œYou mean like fingerprints?” Frank said.
    Mario nodded. “I really don’t expect there to beany 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.”
    â€œWell, 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.”
    â€œThat’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.

6 Case Closed?
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    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.
    â€œWell, life