10
Person in the Shadows
Nancy got out of bed immediately. She put her coat on and went outside after making sure she had the key to her room. When she opened the glass door that led to the parking lot, she saw a black car speeding past her.
Nancy immediately recognized the driver. That person was Kendall, all right, but she didn't figure out why he had been following her. "What is he up to?" she wondered.
The girl detective tried to see the license plate of the car Kendall was driving, but another car came into the parking lot just as the black car turned around the corner, obscuring her sight.
"No!" Nancy shouted in distress. She had missed the only chance she had to see the license plate! Immediately, she went back inside and banged on the hotel room where Frank Hardy stayed.
"Nancy?" Frank asked as he saw the unexpected visitor. "What are you doing here? What happened?"
"I'll tell you later. But first, I want to go after the car I just saw."
"But why…?"
"Hurry!"
Frank asked no more question. He took his jacket and ran outside with Nancy. The car the Hardys rented was parked just outside the hotel room. They went after the black car right away.
The road was filled with people and cars. There were cars of all colors and brands. Nancy searched frantically through the crowd, but there were too many black cars in sight!
Nancy sighed. "I guess he got away…"
"Now will you tell me what had happened?" Frank asked, making a smooth U-turn back to the hotel.
Nancy nodded. She told Frank what had happened last night and what had happened just a few minutes ago. After listening to the whole thing, Frank shook his head in distress.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" he asked.
"Well, I didn't know this was important. I didn't even think this was important! Besides, I never met him before."
"How do you know? After all, you were solving more than three hundred mysteries ever since when you were in tenth grade," Frank said, grinning.
"Ha-ha, Frank," Nancy said sarcastically. "I'm sure you have a better memory than I do. You and Joe solved as many mysteries as, if not more than, I did. Besides, I'm more concerned about who framed Bailey, who injured my dad, and who kidnapped my two best friends. After all, they might be four separate culprits!"
Frank nodded. "I guess this is the most difficult mystery you ever faced. New York is a city filled with criminals. It's hardly like peaceful little River Heights. In fact, the most violent crime Joe and I solved involved…"
"Enough, Frank!" Nancy interrupted. "I just want to find out who Kendall was. I'm sure…"
Suddenly, something came across Nancy's thought.
"Frank! What did the coded message say?"
"The what? Oh, that…I think it said 'Sun: noon at a gas station across bay. Ken.'"
Nancy slapped her forehead. "I should have known! That 'Ken' in the message must be Kendall! He must be meeting someone at a gas station across bay at noon tomorrow!"
"But which one?" Frank asked. "There are more than a hundred gas station that are located across the bay."
Nancy bit her lower lip. "I guess we should go to each gas station and see if Kendall is there with whomever he is meeting."
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Nancy opened her eyes. Her head was not aching anymore. Her throat was not as sore as it had been yesterday. And, the best of all, the fog that was in her head just eleven hours ago was completely gone.
Yawning, the young detective got out of her bed. It was already eight o'clock. She had been asleep ever since nine o'clock last night. After eleven hours of peaceful sleep, she felt much better and was in a good mood.
Someone was knocking on the door as Nancy got out of bed. When she answered it, she found the Hardys standing in front of the door, grinning.
"Good morning, Nancy. Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, much better. You have no idea how hard my head was banging last night before I went to bed. It's so nice to get plenty of rest."
Frank changed the subject. "Anyway, I know this great restaurant that serves the best breakfast ever. Would you care to join us?"
Nancy smiled. "I'd love to!"
The three detectives got on the car and drove to the restaurant Frank mentioned. The name of the restaurant was Chez Cuisine. There were only a few people in the restaurant, so the three teenagers got their seats within minutes.
As Nancy ordered the breakfast course Frank and Joe also ordered, she saw a familiar person entering the restaurant. A tall woman with bushy auburn hair entered the premise. She sat down at the table next to the window.
That's Clarissa Pevely, Nancy noted in her mind. I'd better ask her about her alibi for yesterday before she goes away.
Nancy stood up and walked toward the table where the university student was sitting at.
"Hello, Clarissa," she said cheerfully.
The auburn-haired woman seemed startled for a minute, as if somebody had pointed a gun in her face without warning. But that look quickly disappeared as she made a forced smile and looked at Nancy. "Well, what a surprise! Did you solve the case yet?"
"I would say that I have a good idea who the culprit is." Nancy was boasting, of course. She looked at Clarissa's expression. The woman seemed unsurprised. "By the way, where were you yesterday at—?"
"Look," Clarissa interrupted. "I was at the university all day yesterday. I was doing my research paper and was in the library in the university for quite a while, if not all afternoon. Then, my friends and I had a small party at my place and stayed there until eleven. When they left at eleven at night, I went straight to my bed. And I'm supposed to meet my boyfriend in twenty minutes at the library and I still didn't finish my breakfast."
Nancy got the cue. It meant that she wanted to be left alone. She quickly smiled back. "Okay, Clarissa. Bye."
Frank and Joe were listening to the entire conversation. Frank asked Nancy when she came back, "So, how was it? What was her alibi, if she did have any?"
Nancy sat down on the chair. "I'm afraid she must be telling the truth. But mostly, her alibis were based on her university lifestyle. I'm kind of suspicious about it, though. It seems like she is always in the campus and nowhere else. I have a feeling she created her alibi on purpose."
After the breakfast, the detectives started driving to the gas stations the coded message mentioned. As they took out a map, they looked at all the gas stations that could be by the bay.
"Okay, so the closest is this one at the…" Frank started.
"But isn't there hundreds of gas stations around this area?" Joe asked. "There is Upper New York Bay, Lower New York Bay, Jamaica Bay, Oyster Bay, or…"
"…or Bayport," Nancy muttered.
"Here it is!" Joe said as he stopped the car. The three detectives were facing a large sign on the road that said: Welcome to Bayport, the City with the Warmest Welcome!
Nancy checked the map. "I think we should just go along this road and find Kendall. I have a feeling that the 'Ken' mentioned in the letter was Kendall."
"And we've got to find out who he is," Frank said. "I'm not sure what he wants with you, but I'm sure he's up to no good."
The threesome came to the first gas station they could find. It was an old gas station, with four pumps in all and a small snack shop. They couldn't find Kendall, so Nancy checked her watch. "It's noon. Kendall must be somewhere else."
The second one they saw was a newer one, with eight pumps in all and a fairly large snack shop and a coin-operated vacuum cleaner so people could use it to clean the inside of their cars. There was also a car-washing chamber, where four cars were waiting in line to be washed.
Nancy remembered that the man who she saw outside the hotel room went into a black car, probably made in recent years. However, she could not see the car anywhere near the gas station. She also did not see Kendall.
"Not here," she said, sighing.
Joe started the car again and went along the broad avenue that was going along the bay. After they drove a mile or two, they saw another gas station. This one was as small as the first one, but it was as new as the second one they saw that day. It also had a car-washing chamber.
Nancy squinted her eyes. There was a black Subaru parked near the gas station, but it certainly wasn't the one she was looking for. She also saw a black Porsche, but it wasn't the one she saw yesterday, either.
She looked at Joe and nodded. Without another word, Joe started the car again and drove forward.
By the time they reached the fourth one, it was already fifteen minutes after noon. Nancy suddenly gasped as she saw the man who was coming out of the black car that seemed strangely familiar to her. From inside, a man with brown hair and a pair of sunglasses came out and looked around as if he was looking for somebody.
"That's it!" Nancy shouted. "That's him!"
Frank and Joe nodded. They stopped the car just a few yards away from Kendall and quietly opened the doors. They got out and hid behind the bushes. Nancy joined them.
Suddenly, the cell phone Kendall had in his pocket rang. Reaching into his pocket, the brown-haired man took it out and flipped it open.
"Hello, Melvin," he said cheerily. "How is it?"
A few seconds of silence followed as the caller talked.
"I found her yesterday in the hotel downtown. Name was Colonial Hotel."
"That's the hotel we're staying in!" Nancy said to Frank and Joe in a whisper. They nodded in agreement. The three detectives kept eavesdropping on the conversation.
"…Yeah, of course! We are ready now. And don't forget to tell Lou…"
Vroom!
A huge truck drove by, making the detectives miss the next three seconds of the conversation.
"…Since he's the boss, go with the plan he has. I'm sure he has it all planned out… I will keep watching that girl and make sure she causes no more trouble. And if I'm right, we'll get her in less than…"
Another three seconds had passed.
"I know I said that we'd get her, but come on, it's been pretty hard for me… It's okay if you can't come. After I pump in gas, I will meet you there. Tonight? Okay… seven o'clock tonight? Great. Same old GW?"
He took a notepad from his pocket and wrote in something. After he had done so, he put it away.
"Got it. Okay, see you there."
As he snapped the phone shut, the three detectives jumped out of the bushes. Kendall immediately turned around, surprised by the sudden movement.
Joe dashed for Kendall, but he was faster. With one movement, he got into his car, closed the door, and hit the gas pedal. In a flash the car went to the avenue that was filled with cars and vanished from sight.
Frank ran after the car, but when he knew it was too late, he bit his lower lip and went back inside the car.
"So… did you see the license plate?" Joe asked Nancy.
Nancy shook her head. "The license plate was too dirty. I only got the first two numbers, but I couldn't make out the rest. And there must be thousands of cars that have those two numbers. And I couldn't see where the car was from. It could be in Washington, California, Kansas, or Florida!"
Frank was the only one grinning in the car. Joe turned to Frank. "Well, got any good news?"
"I know where they are going to meet tonight," he said. "GW. They can only mean one thing: Grande Wallace Theatre!"
