The Dangerous Transmission by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page A

yards of red stripes were ushering out the tourists. Jax gave his name to the guard posted at the gate, as he’d been instructed to do. The guardchecked a small notepad, then let Jax and Joe through the gate into the fortress.
    They arrived at the guardhouse at six o’clock. Inside, in a medium-size office, two men were waiting for them.
    Joe recognized one as a fireman, even though he wasn’t wearing his uniform. He was the same man who had walked through the Medieval Palace with Jax and Joe after the fire. The other man introduced himself as a Tower guard.
    The two officials walked behind a large desk and sat down side by side. The guard gestured toward two chairs on the oppposite side of the desk. As Joe and Jax took their seats, the guard asked Joe the first question.
    â€œAnd you are a friend of Mr. Brighton’s?” he asked.
    â€œI am,” Joe answered. “I was here the night of the fire.”
    â€œMr. Hardy was the one who found the knife,” the fireman added.
    â€œAh, yes, the knife,” the guard said, turning to Jax. “Did you bring it with you?” he asked.
    â€œHere it is,” Jax said, handing it over to the guard. He had wrapped the knife in a piece of canvas cloth.
    â€œYou said on the phone that this is not your knife,” the guard said. “Is that correct?”
    â€œYes, it was my father’s,” Jax replied.
    â€œI see,” the guard mumbled. “And your father is—”
    â€œHe passed away two years ago,” Jax said abruptly. “Why are you so interested in this knife?” he asked. “Is it because it was in the Palace? I believe Nick Rooney explained that I have been doing some work for the Tower. I created all the teeth—”
    â€œYes, yes, he told us all of that,” the guard said, waving his hand in the air as if it didn’t matter. “And you use the boning knife to cut the teeth somehow?”
    Joe didn’t like the way the guard asked the questions. He could tell that the man seemed suspicious of Jax. He looked at his old friend. Jax looked nervous. He was blinking his eyes and fiddling with the cloth that he’d wrapped around the knife.
    â€œNo, I don’t use the boning knife on the teeth,” Jax said. “I am also a taxidermist. I stuffed the two ravens in the Palace throne room, for example.”
    â€œHe did a good job on those,” the fireman said to the guard. “I noticed them right away.”
    â€œI’m sure he did,” the guard said, never looking away from Jax. “But I’m simply trying to understand why he had this knife last night. As I understand it from Mr. Rooney, you were installing the finished heads on the wax bodies. Is that correct?”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œAnd how did the boning knife fit into that task?” the guard asked, picking up the knife.
    â€œIt didn’t, but—”
    â€œSo you were not using the knife for the heads,” the guard interrupted. “And how about the ravens? Were you stuffing them last night? In the Palace?”
    â€œNo, of course not,” Jax said. “They had already been done. The knife—”
    â€œSo you had no real reason to have the knife there that night?” the guard asked, putting the knife back down on his desk. He glared at Jax, frowning. It was very still in the room as the two men stared at each other. Jax made no move to speak, and the tension between the two seemed to thicken the air.
    â€œExcuse me,” Joe finally said to the guard. “If you’ll just let Mr. Brighton answer your questions, I’m sure he’ll be able to clear up any confusion,” he said.
    The guard leaned back in his chair. “I will be addressing you in a moment,” he said. “Very well, Mr. Brighton. Enlighten me.”
    Jax took a deep breath. “The knife is just one of many implements that I use for my craft,” he said. “I have