"Dad wrote this?" Frank asked, having now caught his breath and took the note from Joe. Frank examined the note. "It's Dad's handwriting, all right! But who delivered it? That certainly wasn't Dad who knocked me over. He was a fairly tall guy, taller than Dad."
"He must've had somebody relay the message to us!" Joe concluded. "But how did Dad know where we were?"
"That's really strange," Chet said. "Was your Dad keeping tabs on us this whole time?"
"I doubt that," Joe said. "He wasn't even at the scene when we went back there. O'Rourke said Dad went off to go investigate something, remember?"
"I wish we knew what it was," Frank wondered. "So who are we not to trust? And why is everything not what it seems? What does he mean by that?"
"Maybe the group planning to do something in Times Square isn't the LPR?" Chet asked. "Maybe that's what your dad meant when he said 'everything is not what it seems'?"
Frank frowned. "Maybe. It's really weird that Dad would give us something so cryptic. Maybe he was very limited on time and wrote what he could. Maybe he's following somebody."
"Or someone's following him!" Chet exclaimed.
Joe shook his head. "No, that doesn't make any sense, Chet. If Dad was being followed, then they would've followed the guy who knocked Frank over with the message. Furthermore, they would've followed us. I'm more inclined to think that he discovered something that aroused his suspicions and he's telling nobody, including Captain O'Rourke."
"At this rate, we may as well head back to the crime scene and just keep quiet on what we've found so far," Frank concluded. "Based on Dad's cryptic warning, we don't know who to trust at this point. I hope he's able to tell us more eventually."
The boys kept walking and about a half hour later, they were back at the crime scene. The crime scene technicians were removing the yellow caution tape, and the boys could see Captain O'Rourke standing by his car, watching the crime scene dismantling in progress.
Frank quietly handed the tracker to Chet. "Put this and the note in the van while we talk to Captain O'Rourke. Take a good look at this tracker and see what you find out about it."
Chet nodded, discreetly took the tracker and note, and proceeded to the back of the van, out of view from Captain O'Rourke.
When Captain O'Rourke saw Frank and Joe, he smiled. "Any luck with evidence finding?"
Frank shook his head. "No, we re-traced everything from our chase with him, and nothing popped up. I feel like we're back at square one. What happened to Harry Young?'
"He took the gun from me, stomped back to his car and drove off like a maniac," O'Rourke chuckled. "I'm just glad I'm not in his shoes. As stressed out as he was, he looks like a heart attack waiting to happen."
"Do you think the CIA will fire him for that gun falling into the wrong hands?" Frank asked. "Maybe that's what has him all worked up."
"That gun's the least of his worries," O'Rourke said. "It's the fact that there was a mole under his nose."
"Yikes," Joe said, gritting his teeth. "By the way, did Dad ever come back from what he was investigating?"
O'Rourke shook his head. "No. He examined the gun, then went to that phone booth over there across the street, made a phone call, and then told me he was going to investigating an angle that he may have uncovered. But I haven't heard a peep from him since."
"That's unlike him," Joe said. "He's never done this without at least letting us know what he's up to. If you hear from him, can you call us on the van phone and let us know? Likewise, we'll call you if we hear from Dad."
"Sounds good to me, guys," Captain O'Rourke said. "Let's meet up in the morning and I'll let you know if we've uncovered new info from this crime scene."
"Sounds good, sir," Frank said as he and Joe shook hands with O'Rourke. The Hardys headed back to their van.
"What was that made up story all about?" Frank asked Joe. "Dad almost always follows leads without telling us what he's up to. Why did you say that?"
"Dad's note said not to trust anybody," Joe said. "I'll take that to include O'Rourke. I wanted to see if mentioning that would've tipped his hand a bit. Unfortunately, it didn't have that effect."
Climbing into the van, Frank said, "I guess we'll see what he tells us in the morning, if anything."
Chet, sitting behind Frank and Joe, clapped both of them on their shoulders and said, "Hey guys, how about getting that pizza we talked about?"
"Sure thing, buddy. Hey, what did you find out about this tracker?" Frank asked.
"It's still active," Chet said. "But, check this out, I was able to readjust the radar frequency with this bug. So we can monitor this bug if we decide to ditch it somewhere."
Frank's eyes widened. "Nice work, Chet!" he exclaimed. "But, yes, we've got to ditch this thing. The last thing we need is anybody tracking us."
Just then, their van phone rang. Frank and Joe looked at each other. Was it their dad, they wondered?
"Hello?" Joe answered the phone.
"I have information on Fenton Hardy. If you want to ever see him again, you'll meet me at Central Park on a park bench outside of the zoo," a disguised voice said on the other end.
"What bench?" Joe demanded.
"You'll see a bench outside the main entrance of the zoo. There are 6 benches in the area. Look for the one that has a statue standing at the right side of the bench. It's the only one with a statue, so you can't miss it. Meet me there in a half hour," the voice said before hanging up.
"What was that all about?" asked Frank.
"Someone with information about Dad," Joe said. "Whoever it was disguised their voice. We have to meet them in a half hour at a bench in Central Park by the zoo if we ever want to see Dad again."
Frank chuckled. "It sounds like Dad is trying to meet us anonymously," he said. "He's done this on more cases than I can count."
"But let's not assume it's Dad," Joe said. "The last thing we need to do is let our guard down. Besides, Dad warned us that things aren't what they seem."
"Fair enough," Frank said. "But let's ditch that bug. Chet, hand me that thing, will you?"
Chet put them bug in Frank's hand. He set it on the console and started up the van. They drove off, and a couple of blocks past the crime scene, Frank chucked the bug out the window.
"You have that frequency memorized, don't you, Chet?" Frank asked.
Chet chuckled. "I sure do. But you would've kicked yourself if I hadn't memorized it before you disposed of it."
"Good!" Frank exclaimed. "Because if we encounter more bugs, I would bet that they use the same frequency as the one our friend with the gun dropped."
Soon, they arrived at Central Park. Frank started to get lost, but Joe had remembered that there was a zoo in the southeast corner of Central Park. Frank followed signs that directed them to the zoo, and they parked in the designated parking late for the zoo. The zoo was closed for the evening, and they were able to park very close to the entrance.
Frank turned off the van, and glanced around. Other than the street lights in the parking lot, and the lights near the zoo entrance, the rest of the area was dark.
"I sure hope we didn't walk into a trap," Frank muttered.
"You don't think Dad called us here?" asked Joe.
Frank shrugged. "I don't know at this point. I guess all we can do is wait and find out. We're here a bit early anyways. We may as well sit and wait."
Frank and Joe watched what areas they were able to watch given the limited lighting, but didn't see anyone walking by the benches.
"Well, we can't see the bench with the statue by it. It must be out of our visual range. We should get out of the van and go take a look," Joe suggested.
"If you do see your dad, ask him why he's keeping me from getting a pizza," Chet said in mock desperation.
"And what makes you think that you're staying behind?" Frank teased.
"Hey, if something happens to you guys, I can at least call for reinforcements," Chet pointed out, smugly pointing at the van phone. "Or at the very least, I can call and have a pizza delivered here!"
Frank laughed. "Ok, Chet, your point is well taken. Give us our earpieces, Chet, just in case we have any trouble. Plus, you'll know if we get into any trouble and can call right away."
After donning their earpieces and trackers, Frank and Joe left the van. After a satisfactory comms check with Chet, Frank and Joe walked towards the park entrance.
"The caller didn't say if the bench was to the left or to the right of the zoo entrance, so we may as well split up and see which bench has a statue next to it," Joe suggested.
Frank shook his head. "We need to stay together in case it's a trap," he said. "Chet can make phone calls right away if something happens to us. It might turn into a mess if we split up."
"Let's head to the left of the entrance and check out those benches, and if the statue isn't there, we'll head back to the entrance and check out the benches on the right side," Joe suggested.
"Sounds good to me. You read us, Chemo?" Frank asked.
"Loud and clear!" Chet answered back.
"Ok, then we're heading to the first set of benches to the left," Joe announced.
The left hand side of the zoo entrance was fairly well-lit, but the trees and other vegetation had obscured the benches to where they were not visible from the van. Frank and Joe had followed a winding sidewalk through the woods.
"How ironic that woods like these are in Manhattan," Joe said, taking a second to take in the scenery.
Frank wasn't paying much attention to Joe's comment since he was intently searching the area and looking at the benches.
"Nothing here with a statue," Frank observed. "Let's head back to the entrance and check the other side."
They headed back down the winding sidewalk towards the zoo entrance.
On a hunch, Frank asked, "Chemo, have you seen anybody walking around there?"
"Negative," Chet responded. "It's still really quiet around here."
"Just checking," Frank said back. "I wasn't sure if we were being followed or not."
"Not that I'm able to tell," Chet said. "Do you want me to set the frequency to that tracker and see if I pick up anything?"
"Good call," Joe said. "Report back ASAP and let us know if you find anything."
About a minute later, Chet chuckled, "The tracker is still where we ditched it. Otherwise, you're clear."
"Roger that," Frank said.
Frank and Joe continued walking down the winding sidewalk, passing by the zoo entrance and following the winding sidewalk uphill toward some benches. They noticed that this side was darker than the left side of the entrance.
"Of course our caller would pick this side for our meeting," Frank grumbled. "Chemo, anything on the radar?"
"That is still a negative, Far," Chet replied. "Just you two."
"So that means our caller isn't wearing a tracker," Frank said.
"Let's just be careful," Joe suggested. "The last thing we need is to walk right into a trap."
Frank agreed. "Maybe it's a good thing we kept Chemo on the headset."
"Told ya!" Chet replied smugly.
"Let's keep radio silence. No talking unless absolutely necessary," Frank said sharply.
Frank noticed in the moonlight that a bench was further up the hill with a shadow on the right hand side. He had hoped that this was the bench with the statue to the right of it. Frank looked at Joe and motioned towards the bench. They continued slowly up the hill, taking time to look around to ensure that they weren't being followed. As far as they were able to tell, nobody was following them.
When they arrived at the bench, they both decided to sit down at the bench, hoping that this was the signal their caller was looking for.
"We're here," Frank said so that Chet knew they were at the bench.
They spent the next couple of minutes keeping an eye on their surroundings. Other than some squirrels running around, the park was quiet.
Suddenly, Joe caught something out of the corner of his eye. He nudged Frank, and Frank looked at the area where Joe was pointing. There was a shadow near a bush about 50 feet away from the bench. Frank signaled to Joe to keep calm and stay seated.
They waited for what seemed like an eternity. A breeze has started blowing in an easterly direction, making the late December night already colder than it was. The shadow, Frank and Joe noticed, has shifted from one bush to another, and was now behind a tree.
"Chemo," Joe said in a low voice. "Be ready to make a phone call if something happens. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"Roger," Chet said.
A couple of minutes later, the shadow was heading towards the bench. Frank and Joe tensed up in anticipation. Joe had his fists clenched, ready to strike if needed. But Joe's fears were short-lived, however, when they recognized the shadow.
"Hey, boys," a familiar voice said to them. It was Fenton Hardy!
"Dad," Frank said, "what in the world is going on? And what did you mean in that note you left us?"
Fenton sat by them, with a grim face. "This case isn't what it seems at all. I found out some very interesting things. I don't know who's behind all of this, but this—"
Suddenly, Fenton slumped to the ground. Before Frank and Joe could respond, they felt the sharp thud of a blunt instrument against their skulls. They saw stars, and blacked out!