Sanford Secrets: Treasure at Dolphin Bay

by Aurora Mandeville

Robby Hoenig, his parents, and his best friend Harry Smith are in Hawaii for summer vacation as well as visiting Robby's grandfather and his dolphin research center. But while there, two mysteries surface, a dolphin was found injured & one of the scientists has gone missing. For those who have read the Treasure at Dolphin bay, which is a Hardy boys book, it gets different quick.

4. And Now Mermaids?

"What? Mermaids?" asked Harry. "Are you pulling our legs? Dr. Von Hoffer believes in mermaids?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I didn't say I believed in them, there's been no scientific proof that they exist or ever existed." He wagged his finger. "But if they do exist, they've hid themselves rather well from the rest of us."

"Don't ever let Mr. Hoenig hear you talk like that," mumbled Harry.

Jacob scoffed. "I plan not to, unless I have the proof to show him."

But Robby's mind was going a mile a minute. It made sense, though, weren't there stories all around the world about half human, half fish people? Sure, his parents, his father in particular, speculated that it was nothing more than dolphins or another cetacean because of how smart they were. James had already scolded him for believing in the kraken, but there were more stories about mermaids than the kraken. How could all these people be wrong? There had to be some truth to these tales! Robby closed his eyes and pushed the wild thoughts out of his head. And if they were true, the mermaids had kept themselves a secret since then. Why should they take that away from them? But then, if mermaids were real . . .

"Would vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, fairies, elves, and all the rest be real too?" blurted Robby. Harry and Jacob glanced at him. "If mermaids were real, that is," he quickly added. "And it would be possible, but, if they've stayed hidden all this time, why destroy their peace?"

Jacob smiled warmly at his grandson. "I can see James and Miriam have raised you well indeed." He clapped Robby on the back. "You are absolutely right. If they want to communicate with us, they will. Otherwise, we should let things be. We can't exactly learn about each other if one party is unwilling to talk with us."

"So, no more talk about mermaids?" asked Harry.

Jacob put up his hands. "No more talk about mermaids, except to swap a regular old fairy tale. And now that you mention it, Robby, that might in fact have been the reason why Irene told you Devil's Hat was haunted. Like you said, Harry, it made more sense for an island to be called Devil's Hat if there are spirits involved. Plus, there have been a few tourists who would go out there, not just for surfing or fishing, but to see if they could catch a glimpse of a mermaid. If they are real, she was probably doing them a service to keep even more curious minds away from the island." He let out a huff. "That being said, considering the generous helping of poi mochi and liliko'i bars, Uncle Billy seems impressed with you two."

"Until our stomachs started rumbling when he brought out the food," quipped Harry.

Jacob laughed. "Oh, he knows how you teenage boys are. But I'll be sure to let him know that the food was delivered safely and eaten by everyone, not just you two."

"Oh thanks," muttered Harry.

"Well that's swell of you, Grandpa," quipped Robby.

Jacob laughed. "It's the least I could do for free delivery."

"Yeah, sure," said Robby, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

Dr. Cho poked her head into the room. "Oh good, you're still here. I just got off the phone with the police. They want to talk to you and Irene about what you found out at Jack's house. I mean, they'll probably find out the exact same things, but since you've already looked, they can use some of what you've found."

Robby and Harry glanced at each other before looking at Dr. Cho. "Did you talk to my parents?" asked Robby.

Dr. Cho nodded. "I did, they said they can wait a little longer until you've talked to the police. Now I must go catch Irene. Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" the boys shouted after her. They turned to Jacob.

"Well," said Harry with a huff, "guess we're going to be here a little longer. And I wanted to hit the waves before dinner."

Robby patted his back. "Don't worry, we still might be able to once we've finished talking to the police."

"While we wait, why don't you tell me how your family's doing, Harry?" asked Jacob.

Harry shrugged. "Not much to tell. Everyone's in good health, Mary can't wait to move out, she's gotten a job doing retail during the summer, Julie's looking forward to going to Rockledge, Jordan is happy Dylan's finally hit the age where he doesn't need to follow him around, and Dylan is quickly proving to be quite the popular kid at school."

"How old is everyone now?"

"Well, I'm eighteen, Mary's sixteen, Julie's fourteen, Jordan's twelve, and Dylan's ten."

Jacob huffed. "And you just keep on growing."

"Oh yeah," said Harry with a nod of his head.

"Better enjoy it now while you can. Before you know it, they'll be all grown up and you'll wish you had spent more time with them." Jacob chuckled. "Though I know it can't be helped considering that you are going to Sanford. Any idea what you're going to major in?"

Harry shook his head. "Not yet, this first year is the first level stuff anyway. I won't have to make my final decision until next year."

Jacob nodded. "Fair enough. But you have a few ideas, I hope?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "Yeah, thinking of park ranger or ocean cartographer."

Jacob nodded. "Those are good ones, and a perfect fit for you." He turned to Robby. "You're still planning on following mine and your parents' footsteps, huh?"

Robby chuckled. "That's the plan."

"Well, I think you both have good ones. I certainly hope I have the pleasure of getting to work with the two of you for a while."

Both boys beamed. "We do too!" they chorused. The three chatted some more about the boys' plans for college until Dr. Cho arrived with a police officer. She introduced them to Mike Lam, the chief of the Nai'a Bay police. Despite his friendly smile and laughing brown eyes, the Hawaiian was big and still seemed intimidating to the boys. But Jacob approached him with an easy air.

"The chief had to come out, huh?" asked Jacob as the two shook hands.

Mike shrugged. "Had to, ICS is one of our top tourist spots in the area. Can't exactly lose that, now can we?" He grinned and winked.

Dr. Cho huffed. "OK, can we get serious now? One of our top scientists is missing!"

"Yes, and you sent three teenagers out to his house before calling us?" Dr. Cho opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and glared at him.

She eventually spoke. "I did, just in case something had happened to him at home and we didn't send you out on a wild goose chase."

Mike huffed. "Fair point, but then you did ask them to look around. That is our job."

Dr. Cho sighed. "I know, I know."

"And arguing about it isn't going to help anything, least of all Jack," piped up Jacob. "What's done is done, we can only go on from here."

Mike huffed. "Alright, alright, I get the message, Jake. And you're right, this is ridiculous." He turned to Dr. Cho. "I apologise, you did what you thought was best."

Dr. Cho nodded. "I accept . . . and I apologise as well. We were getting into police jurisdiction."

"Well, now let's find out what these teens know." Mike talked to both boys, writing down the information on a notepad he had brought. The boys gave him all the information they could give. Nothing about the bungalow really seemed like he had been taken from his house, and nothing in the bungalow seemed to give any indication to his movements that night. At least, none that the boys noticed, nothing that stuck out at them.

Mike nodded his head when he flipped the notepad closed. "Well, we'll take a good look at the bungalow ourselves, but it sounds like you two were pretty thorough."

"Thanks!" the boys beamed at the praise, feeling a little less intimidated by him.

He turned to Dr. Cho. "You said there was a girl who talked to the neighbors?"

Dr. Cho nodded. "Yes, I can take you to her. She's been with the dolphins."

Mike nodded. "Lead on, Doctor." Dr. Sho did, and the boys let out a sigh of relief when they left the room.

Jacob chuckled. "He's kinda intimidating, isn't he?"

"Kinda?" queried Harry. "I was barely able to keep myself from shaking! The guy's huge!"

Jacob chuckled as he nodded. "Yes, yes he is, but Hawaiians, and Polynesians as well, tend to be bigger." he patted each of their backs. "But I think you did fine. And he was impressed with your thoroughness. Mike's not easily impressed, so consider yourselves the first people he has ever met, that I know, who have impressed him so quickly."

"Oh, I guess that's good to know," mumbled Robby.

"Still would have preferred not to have felt so intimidated," muttered Harry as he crossed his arms.

"And you're going to feel intimidated for a while until you've gotten to know him." Jacob let out a huff. "Trust me, I know." He glanced at the clock. "Well, if you two hurry it up, you might be able to catch those waves before dinner."

The boys glanced at the clock before Harry's hand tapped Robby's stomach. "Yeah, come on!"

"Alright, alright!" The two dashed off in search of Robby's parents.

"Hold on!" They paused and looked at Jacob. "It might be best if I showed you around the place at the same time so you don't get lost."

They grinned. "Thanks Grandpa!" said Robby.

"That would be swell!"

"Good, follow me." They followed Jacob and he showed them the different labs and offices. They eventually found James and Miriam at work on some papers in a lab.

"What are you looking into?" asked Jacob when they entered the room.

James glanced up. "Oh, you're finished talking to the police?"

The boys nodded. "Yeah, but I've never felt so intimidated in my life," said Harry.

"And we've swam with pods of blue whales, you'd think we would have been alright with it," quipped Robby.

James shrugged. "Well, swimming with whales is one thing, dealing with humans is a whole nother matter."

"But Mike did say he was impressed at how thorough they were," reported Jacob, "so I have a feeling they'll get over that feeling of intimidation real quick. Mike's rarely impressed by tourists."

Miriam chuckled. "Good to know they've gotten good marks for a first impression. That's rather rare."

Both boys gasped. "Hey!"

Jacob laughed. "Good point." He tried to read over their shoulder. "But really, what are you looking into?"

James gave him a piece of paper. "We were looking into the size and shape of Poipu's wound."

Miriam handed Jacob another piece of paper. "Based on the measurements we took, it looks like someone tried to harpoon him."

Jacob and the boys gasped. "That's, why that's horrible!" blurted Robby, feeling slightly sick.

"Why would anyone do that in this harbor?" blurted Jacob, his face turning slightly red with rage.

"That's what we're hoping to find out," remarked James. He glanced at the clock. "And I don't know if we'll have much time today to look into it."

"We can come back tomorrow and look into it," said Miriam. "And with such a good grade by the chief of police, maybe we should get the boys to help."

Robby and Harry bobbed their heads. "I want to find out who did this."

"You can count me in too."

"Good," said Miriam with a nod of her head. She turned to Jacob. "Dad, would you like to join us for dinner and we'll talk about specifics?"

Jacob thought a moment. "I think that's a good idea. I need to let Helen know I'm leaving first."

James nodded. "Right, we'll meet you in the car."

"I want to go with you, Dr. Von Hoffer," said Harry, "I want to say goodbye to Irene."

Robby nodded. "Right, I'll come too."

"Alright, but make it quick," said Miriam.

"I'll make sure they do," said Jacob. "Come on." The boys followed Jacob from the lab portion of the building to the museum. Dr. Cho was just saying goodbye to Mike Lam at the front door. While Jacob went to talk to them, the boys went off in search of Irene. They found her with Stan and the other Hawaiian girl their age in the lagoon with Kalea.

"Hey Irene, Stan!" Robby called out. The trio glanced up.

"What's up?" asked Stan.

Harry shrugged. "We just came to say goodbye. We'll be back in the morning, though."

"Oh really?' asked the Hawaiian girl before shooting a teasing glance at Irene.

Irene rolled her eyes. "Ismene, be quiet. We'll be back in the morning too. We're going to help them find out what happened to Poipu."

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Hoenig just found out that it was a harpoon that wounded Poipu," said Harry. The three gasped.

"So it was a human!" blurted Ismene. Robby and Harry blinked, the way she said 'human' didn't sound right, but Irene's voice broke them out of their stupor.

"Well of course it would be, silly," said Irene with a soft, nervous chuckle, "only a human would have a harpoon gun. We're going to have to figure out who had the harpoon gun."

Stan nodded. "Which is what we'll be back in the morning to do."

"So will we," said Robby. "The faster we can find out, the faster we can bring the person to justice."

Stan nodded. "And the more people looking, the better."

"The more people looking for what?" Everyone jumped at the voice before turning to look for the owner. They found him, stepping off a boat onto the arena. He had black, curly hair and gave them a kind smile.

Stan waved. "Oh, Hi Dr. Finski! We're going to be looking for whoever hurt Poipu." He pointed to Robby. "Kalea took this guy out and found Poipu at the reef."

Dr. Finski's eyes widened. "Really? That's horrible! Well I wish you best of luck in your search. There's a lot of fishermen here, and several of them will lie to you." He scoffed. "As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to be the MacAllisters. They've been trying to harm our research whenever they can."

Stan rubbed his chin. "Yeah, you may be right. We'll look into them for sure." He frowned. "But this is low, to be honest, even for them."

Finski nodded. "That is true. Well, I'm sure Dr. Cho can fill me in. Is she in her office?"

"Oh, she might be at the front door, talking to my grandpa," replied Robby.

Finski blinked. "Your grandpa?" Harry and Robby quickly introduced themselves and explained Robby's family ties to Jacob Von Hoffer. Finski's eyes widened again before shaking hands with Robby. "Oh, a real pleasure to meet you, my boy! Dr. Von Hoffer has spoken highly of you and your parents!"

Robby smiled. "Well thank you."

"Well, since we need to be heading that way ourselves, should we head over there together?" asked Harry. Finski nodded. "I would like that." The three turned and said goodbye to Stan, Irene, and Ismene.

"Bye!" the other three chorused. Though, while they were entering the building, the boys thought they heard Ismene mutter just loudly enough, "I think you two would be cute together."

"Ismene, sh!"

Robby chuckled as the door closed behind them and nudged Harry, whispering, "I think her younger sister likes you."

"She could have been talking about you for all we know," Harry whispered back.

Robby opened his mouth to answer, but Finski beat him to it. "So, you live on a science station, huh?"

Robby smiled at him. "Yes sir."

"What's it like?"

"Well, you get to see a lot of water life going on, that's for sure," said Robby. He grinned. "It is fun to see the lives of the fish as they travel around. I almost feel like I'm in an aquarium and the fish get to swim by and observe us."

Finski laughed. "That's one way of putting it. I hope it helps your relationship with the fish."

Robby tilted his head for a moment before nodding slowly. "I guess so, if they swim by often enough they should recognize me."

"And I've heard your parents just have a way with animals. Did any of that pass on to you?"

Robby thought for a moment. "Hmm, I think so? I certainly hope so."

Harry scoffed. "Oh, it did, I can guarantee that." Finski just smiled, they had arrived at the front door.

"Ah, Jerry, you're here. And I assume they've been getting you up to date?" said Dr. Cho when they saw them. Mike Lam was gone now and it had just been her and Jacob chatting away.

"We just told him about Poipu," said Robby.

"And then came the information that Robby's related to Dr. Von Hoffer," chimed in Harry with a grin.

Dr. Cho huffed. "Right. Come on Jerry, I'll fill you in in my office." She turned to Jacob and the boys. "And I'll see you tomorrow."

Jacob and the boys waved before walking out the door. "Right, see you!"

"Bye!" the boys chorused as they walked out.

"Well, now you've met everyone except for Maizie and Jack," said Jacob as they walked towards the car. "And I hope the police can find Jack soon so you can." The boys nodded before they got into the Jeep. They hoped so too, but right now, they were wanting to catch some waves before dinner and find out who wanted to harm a dolphin. Was it the MacAllisters or another fisherman? They hoped to find out soon.

(Author's Note: Well, now we're getting into a few hints that the fantasy folk might in fact be real. Hmm, but are they? The only problem with uploading four chapters at a time is that you say everything in the first chapter you posted and you end up with nothing left to say for the next four, lol. So, I might just leave the next two without author's notes. Thanks for reading! God bless!)