The Crisscross Crime Read Online Free Page A

Joe?”
    â€œEleven,” Joe answered, his jaw clenched in pain.
    â€œThat’s terrific, Joe.” Mrs. Hardy got up and led the way to the kitchen. “Did you have dinner? Do you want a snack?”
    â€œNo, you sit down and relax,” Frank said. He pulled out a chair for his mother.
    Joe was already looking around in the refrigerator. He pulled out sandwich fixings with one hand and placed them on the kitchen table with the other.
    Frank poured himself a glass of milk and sat down next to his mother. “Where’s Aunt Gertrude?” Gertrude Hardy was their father’s sister. She lived with the family, and both brothers loved her even though she tended to worry about them more than they liked.
    â€œShe’s at her book club meeting,” Mrs. Hardy replied. “Why?”
    â€œOh, no reason. Just wondering.” Frankwanted to tell his mother about her car without his aunt in the room. He could count on his mother to be calm, but Aunt Gertrude was another story.
    â€œYour father’s going to call tonight,” Mrs. Hardy said. “I’m sure he’ll want to hear all about the game.”
    â€œHow’s his case going?” Frank knew only that his father had gotten a call from the U.S. Treasury Department a couple of days ago. He’d immediately taken off for Switzerland.
    â€œIt’s something about an international counterfeit ring,” Mrs. Hardy said. “He’s helping the Secret Service with the investigation.”
    â€œCool,” Joe said, sitting down. “Maybe he needs some help.”
    â€œYou’d rather go to Switzerland than play baseball?” Mrs. Hardy asked.
    â€œNo. I want to do both. Do they have baseball in Switzerland?”
    â€œYeah, they play on skis,” Frank joked. He watched his brother stack layers of turkey and cheese on a slice of bread.
    Laura Hardy got up to get a glass of water at the sink. “So,” she said. “How’s my car running?”
    Frank almost choked on his milk. This was the question he’d been fearing. “Well . . .” he started.
    The sound of the kitchen phone ringing saved him.
    Joe jumped up and grabbed the receiver. “Hardy residence.”
    â€œJoe, hi, it’s Dad. How’s everything?”
    Joe briefly recounted the baseball victory for his father, and then went on to describe the attempted bank robbery he’d witnessed, carefully leaving out the part about the auto compactor.
    He heard his mother gasp in the background. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked Frank.
    â€œSounds like you’ve got plenty of excitement there in Bayport,” Fenton Hardy said to Joe.
    â€œYeah,” Joe replied. “Frank and I want to track down a couple of leads we’ve got.”
    â€œBe careful, Joe. If you find anything concrete, give Chief Collig a call, okay?”
    â€œWill do,” Joe replied. “When will you be home, Dad?”
    â€œIn a couple of days. I’m in the middle of something pretty serious. Special printing plates for fifty- and hundred-dollar bills were stolen last month on the way to the mint.”
    â€œSo, why are you in Switzerland?”
    â€œThe green ink used to print American bills is made here,” Mr. Hardy replied. “Two days ago a shipment was hijacked, and the Secret Service suspects a man named Larry Gainy.”
    â€œLarry Gainy? What kind of name is that for an international counterfeiter?”
    Mr. Hardy chuckled. “Well, Herve DuBois is his real name, Joe. Larry Gainy is just one of his favorite aliases.”
    Mr. Hardy reminded Joe to be careful, then asked to speak to his wife.
    While Mrs. Hardy talked, Frank and Joe went back to the living room and flopped down on the couch.
    â€œDid you tell her?” Joe asked.
    Frank rolled his eyes. “Not yet.” He grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. The evening news had just