The Vanishing Thieves by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page B

promised.
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    At the warehouse, meanwhile, Chet was getting tired of peering through the small clean spot in the dirt-encrusted window. He was also getting hungry, thinking about hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza.
    Just then, he saw a small Chinese boy about four years old meander by, clutching a dollar bill in his hand. A few minutes later the child came back, working a yo-yo with his right hand and licking an ice-cream bar on a stick in his left. Chet could not stand it any longer. He ran out the door and after the boy.
    â€œHey, kid,” he called out.
    The child stopped to regard him with large eyes.
    Chet took out a dollar bill. “Do me a favor and I’ll give you a quarter. Go back to where you got the ice cream and get me one, too.”
    â€œEh?” the child said.
    When Chet repeated himself, the little boy answered in a stream of Cantonese.
    â€œDon’t speak English, huh?” Chet said. He pointed at the bar, then down the alley in the direction of a delicatessen he’d seen earlier.
    Smiling, the child held his ice cream up toward Chet’s mouth.
    â€œNo, I don’t want a lick,” Chet said. “I want a whole one.” Again gesturing in the direction of the delicatessen, he held out the dollar bill.
    The little boy suddenly looked as though he understood. Smiling broadly and nodding his head, he accepted the bill.
    He turned around and retraced his way toward the store while Chet slipped into the shed again and put his eye back to the peephole.
    When he spotted the little boy on his way back, he hurried out into the alley. With a big smile, the child handed him a yo-yo and a quarter in change, spouted a friendly stream of Cantonese, and walked away. Chet stared after him darkly, his stomach rumbling.
    Out in front, Frank was getting just as tired of sitting in the refrigerator carton. His interest perked up when the warehouse door opened and Red Sluice came out with Anton Jivaro. The red sports car was parked only a few feet from Frank’s box, and he could hear their conversation clearly as they walked toward it.
    â€œYou should have told me right away the Hardy boys were on that plane, instead of waiting until now,” Red complained to his cousin.
    â€œHow’d I know that Fenton Hardy was investigating you too?” Jivaro asked. “Anyway, didn’t your girlfriend just tell you over the phone that their being here has nothing to do with the car operation?”
    The two climbed into the sports car.
    â€œYeah, she did,” Red admitted. “When I called to bawl her out for not mentioning they were on the plane, she told me they’re in town to check on some missing coin that one of their friends inherited. We’ll get the details when we meet her at her apartment. ”
    â€œWill she be able to get away from the bank?”
    â€œShe says she can make it on her lunch hour. The key’s under a flowerpot, so we can get in.”
    Red started the engine, but did not immediately drive off because Jivaro said, “Wait a minute. You think I ought to go with you?”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œShe was on the plane. She’s going to recognize me as the hijacker.”
    â€œShe’s not going to squeal on any friend of mine,” Red told him. “Don’t worry about it.” With that, they took off in a cloud of dust.
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    At the apartment, Joe and Vern had searched everywhere except in the bedroom without finding anything of interest. Now, while going through a dresser drawer, Joe saw a bankbook under a pile of stockings. Opening it, he let out a whistle.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” Vern asked.
    â€œThis is a savings account in Cylvia Nash’s name, opened ten years ago. It shows regular deposits of twenty dollars every month, up to last month—except for one!”
    Vern shrugged. “So she’s a frugal woman. You can’t blame her for missing one deposit in ten years. ”
    â€œI