CHAPTER 3

"Frank, quick! I think it came from that jewelry store," Joe urged and climbed out of the van before Frank could stop him.

Frank killed off the engine instantly. Muttering under his breath, he vowed to himself to give Joe a hard knock on his head for acting before thinking as soon as they were out of this ordeal.

He stepped onto the sidewalk. By this time, people were already screaming and running for their lives. Even the vehicles that were stuck in the traffic started to blare their horns in panic. Frank found himself running against the flow of the crowd. He thought he caught sight of his brother's blond head a few feet ahead of him.

Two men in black clothes and ski masks jumped out of the store before Frank could reach his brother. They were holding large weapons in their hands. Frank couldn't make out the type of the weapon from where he was standing, but whatever it was, they were deadly.

Joe just arrived in front of the store when two men jumped out of it. The alarm bell was still ringing. As he looked through the smashed glass door, he saw a few people were still inside the store, huddled close together nervously on the floor. Joe eyed the weapons on the robbers' hands uneasily. It looked like they had AK-47 in their hands.

"Stay back!" one of the robbers ordered when he noticed Joe coming closer. He pointed his weapon at Joe.

Joe instinctively raised his hand slowly and froze. The wailing of police siren was coming closer. Pedestrians nearby were clearing away from the scene in panic. Some of them froze in fear. Joe caught sight of Frank approaching nearby from the corner of his eyes.

The two robbers were slightly distracted by the police siren. Joe took the opportunity to tackle the one who was pointing the weapon at him.

"Ummph!" the first robber grunted in surprise when Joe caught him by the waist and tackled him to the ground.

The second robber whipped around to look at the disturbance. He was about to point his assault rifle at Joe when Frank gave a swift karate kick toward his arm. His weapon dropped to the ground. He lunged at Frank and pushed him hard. Frank almost lost his balance, but instead of attacking Frank, the robber took the advantage to grab his friend, who was still struggling against Joe's deadlock grip.

"Let's beat it!" the robber yelled to his friend. He kicked Joe hard at his side before he rescued his friend.

Joe rolled over and clutched his bruised side when Frank came over him.

"Are you all right?" his brother asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Joe assured him. "Let's go and get them!" he urged, getting up from the ground as he continued rubbing his sore side.

Without wasting time, the Hardys were in hot pursuit of the two robbers. Frank knew it would be hard to spot the two robbers in the crowd, who was also running away from the scene. But then, those robbers were wearing masks – that might be quite helpful - unless of course they took off their masks.

"Do you see them?" Joe asked, dodging through the crowd.

Frank gave a quick glance in front of him. "No, but that doesn't mean they have escaped. They must have been hiding somewhere. I don't think they could make a getaway with a car – not with this kind of traffic."

"That's a hopeful thought," Joe said.

But after running a couple of blocks, there were still no sign of those robbers. They even had to stop and asked the passers-by.

"Did you see two robbers in dark clothes and ski masks running here?" Joe had asked a middle-aged woman, who was walking briskly in her high-heeled shoes.

"They were here?" the woman asked fearfully. "Where?" she asked, glancing around nervously.

Joe sighed. "Forget it, I think they are long gone," he said, gritting his teeth in frustration. He turned to his brother when Frank came to him. "Find anything?"

Frank shook his head. "Someone pointed out he saw two men in black clothes entering one of the alleys. There's nobody there when I checked. Almost everyone is too panic about the shooting," he replied. "Come on, let's go back to that store. The police should already be there by now."

By the time the boys arrived in front of the jewelry store, the police were already on the scene, picking up the rifles the robbers had left behind. Frank caught sight of Con Riley.

"You again," Con said in surprise when he saw the brothers. "I have a feeling you were the one who tackled those robbers – judging from the description the witnesses have given me."

"We just happened to be here, Con," Joe told him.

"I want a statement from you two," Con said firmly. "Do you realize that some risks aren't necessary to be taken?"

"Don't blame me, I was trying to save my brother from losing his head," Frank quipped.

Joe just glared at his brother. "So, what have you found out, Con? Those robbers sure have big weapons for just a small robbery," he changed the subject.

Con picked up a weapon at his feet that was already wrapped in a clear plastic bag. "I know, there has been a series of robberies these past few weeks lately – all of them were using these kind of weapons, according to the witnesses' reports. But this time we finally got hold of the evidence."

Joe took a closer look at the weapon. "It looks like an AK-47," he reported with a puzzled frown.

Frank leaned over and looked closer. "No, it's AK-74," he corrected his brother. "It's almost the same as AK-47 except for this," he pointed to the angled cutout shapes on the sides of the rifle. "The difference is from this muzzle break," he explained. "And this rifle fires smaller rounds."

"OK, enough of this weaponry lesson," Joe said, waving off impatiently. "The question is where did they get them? It's not a common type over here."

"That's what we're trying to find out. Someone must have supplied them illegally," Con told them. "We've already questioned some of the licensed suppliers here, but none of them have this weapon in their stock."

"Nobody's going to feel safe if these robberies keep going on like this," Frank commented thoughtfully.

"And we already have our hands full with the McGuire's murder," Con sighed. "Maybe I might need your help after all."

Joe suppressed his grin. "We'll do all we can to help," he told Con.

"Only when I ask for it," Con smarted back. "Now, let's get your statements."

***

The next morning, Frank and Joe went to Datatronics, hoping to meet Duncan there. They were disappointed when Duncan's boss, Mr. Ben Bradley, told them that Duncan didn't come to work.

"Did you call him at his home?" Frank inquired. He and his brother were standing in front of the reception area of Datatronics.

"I have his home number and his cell phone number," Mr. Bradley told them. "And yes, I did call him a few times, but it seems no one's answering."

"This is going to be a tough one," Frank said.

"Are you two his friends?" Mr. Bradley asked, looking at the two brothers with his curious green eyes.

"Yes," Joe replied. "I'm Joe Hardy, and this is my brother, Frank," he introduced themselves to Mr. Bradley.

"What's your business about seeing him?" he continued asking. "I've already heard about McGuire's murder. The police even questioned me this morning before you came."

"We're detectives and we just wanted to talk to Duncan, and maybe help him out," Joe explained.

"It'd be a great loss to us if Duncan turns out to be a murderer – he's a good programmer, that's why we offered him a scholarship in the first place," Mr. Bradley said grimly.

"Do you really think Duncan would do that kind of thing?" Frank asked the middle-aged man.

Mr. Bradley looked thoughtful. "I still don't believe he would do such a thing. I know he and McGuire were rivals, but it was a healthy competition, nothing more than that. I sometimes caught Duncan playing computer games online against McGuire," he told them.

"They played games together?" Frank asked in surprise. "That doesn't sound like they were having serious grudge against one another."

"Oh, they were," Mr. Bradley corrected. "They even like challenging one another in playing games – to see who's the best one. I don't think Duncan will gain anything by killing McGuire."

Frank didn't agree with Mr. Bradley's last statement. If McGuire were out of the picture, Duncan would gain a recognition that he needed.

"Do you have his home address?" Joe spoke up. "Maybe we could see him at his home and check out on him for you."

"Would you? That would be great," Mr. Bradley looked relieved. "I'm still waiting for the program that he has written. His deadline is today," he explained.

"No problem, Mr. Bradley," Joe told him. "If you also have heard from him, why don't you give us a call," he said giving the man their phone numbers.

"All right. Please wait while I get his address for you," he said before heading toward his office.

After thanking Mr. Bradley for the address, the boys headed back to their van.

"So, what do you think about Duncan's rivalry with McGuire?" Joe asked as soon as they climbed into the van.

"I don't know, Joe. It's very hard to tell," Frank admitted, "but I'm still not ruling Duncan out of the suspect list."

"You still believe he did it?" Joe asked in disbelief. "After what you just heard?"

"What I heard wasn't a concrete proof that Duncan didn't do it," Frank told him. "I know you wanted to help Duncan, but I don't know him as well as you do. I need something more than that to convince me."

"To convince you that he did it?" Joe prompted sarcastically.

Frank sighed heavily. "No, to convince me that he didn't do it," he told his brother. "We need to be objective in this case, Joe. There's no use investigating if you base on your gut feeling. And Duncan isn't acting like an innocent guy if he keeps moving out of sight."

"Hey, my gut feeling is usually right," Joe said defensively. "This time my gut feeling is absolutely sure that Duncan isn't a murderer."

Shaking his head, Frank just jammed his keys into the ignition.

"Let's get something to eat first," Joe said as he glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "My guts need some exercise."

***

By the time the Hardys had finished their lunch at Mr. Pizza, they decided to pay a visit to Duncan. Joe waited in the van while Frank went to pay the bills.

He had just started the van when Frank suddenly jumped in and slammed the door shut.

"What's your problem?" Joe asked in surprise.

"Let's go to the station right away," Frank urged.

"What is it? Aren't you going to tell me?" Joe started to look worried.

"I just saw something in the TV back there," Frank quickly explained. "The police have found the murder weapon in Duncan's house – and they have already put a warrant of arrest on him!"