The Ice-cold Case (12 page)

“Great. We'll give Ray a call and have him meet you here,” Joe said.

With their backup forces arranged, Frank and Joe went to the lake.

Frank parked the van in the dirt lot next to Tuttle's Bait Shop. He saw Stu and Neil looking at them from the shop window as he and Joe walked down the sloping embankment to the lake. Their first stop was Ernie's shanty.

“Ernie? You in there?” Joe called out. “It's Frank and Joe Hardy.”

“What do you want?” Ernie said.

Frank opened the door and saw Ernie hunched over one of the tiny trapdoors in the floor, watching his fishing line intently.

“Close the door, will you?” Ernie barked.

Joe followed his brother into the cramped space and closed the door behind him.

“Is this a social call?” Ernie said.

Frank and Joe looked around at the piles of junk. There were benches built into either side of the cabin. Joe noticed that the seats were hinged and had storage space underneath—making a good hiding place, he thought.

“We came to fix the door of Rizzo's shanty,” Frank said.

“What's that got to do with me?” Ernie said without looking up from his fishing line.

“We wanted to ask you a favor,” Joe began.

“Two favors, really,” Frank added.

“You'd better ask quickly before you make it three,” Ernie said.

“The truth is we don't know much about these ice shanties,” Frank said.

“Look around, boys. There isn't much to them,” Ernie said.

But Frank knew that Ernie wouldn't pass up the chance to give some orders.

“The thing is, we really want to do it right and avoid any trouble with Mr. Rizzo. If you wouldn't mind, we'd really appreciate it if you'd come over and just talk us through it,” Frank said.

Ernie took the bait. “I could teach you boys a thing or two. What's the second favor?”

“We were hoping you'd let us plug in our tools at the shop,” Joe said.

“Sure. Stu and Neil can help you,” Ernie said as he reeled in his line. “The fish aren't biting anyway. Help me up,” Ernie commanded.

Frank helped Ernie to his feet, and he and Joe followed him out across the ice to Rizzo's shanty.

“What did you do in there, anyway?” Ernie asked when they reached Rizzo's.

“Someone locked us in,” Frank said, hoping to get some reaction from Ernie.

“You boys shouldn't be playing around in other people's stuff,” Ernie said, giving no hint that he knew anything about the incident.

“We tried to patch it, but as you said the other day, maybe it's better to replace the whole door,” Frank said.

“I'm going to take a look around and see what other people do about the hinges,” Joe said as he walked away.

Ernie inspected the door to Rizzo's shanty. “I never cared for what Rizzo did here with the door frame. If it was me, I'd make the door bigger,” he said.

“We weren't planning to change anything but the door,” Frank said as he watched Joe over Ernie's shoulder.

Seeing that Frank was well on his way to learning how to build a shanty from scratch, Joe walked back to Ernie's shanty. He looked up the hill and saw that Hank and Ray were ready. Joe waved to them, and they entered the bait shop to distract Stu and Neil.

Joe slipped into Ernie's shanty. He quickly went to one of the benches and lifted the hinged seat. There was a tarp inside. Joe lifted the tarp, expecting to find stolen loot. He was disappointed to find only buckets filled with tools, a torn net, some hooks, and something that looked as if it might have been half a sandwich from the year before. But there was nothing the least bit suspicious.

Joe opened the second bench. Inside was a steel ice bar, a long gaff hook, some broken fishing rods, and spare reels. There was even a metal detector, the kind people used to find coins and things on the beach. But there was no sign of stolen loot.

Joe looked through one of the shanty windows and saw that Frank was still getting an earful from Ernie. He then checked out the other cubbyholes and shelves around the shanty but found nothing. He went to the door, made sure that no one was watching, and went outside.

Before rejoining Frank and Ernie, he walked around Ernie's shanty. In back, there was an odd-looking thing, like a huge suitcase, with two plastic halves. Heavy canvas poked out where the two pieces came together. It was a portable ice shelter. When opened, the two plastic halves formed the floor and the canvas hung over a collapsible frame. Joe saw that one of the two plastic sections was hinged so that the floor could open up for fishing.

Joe wandered back over to Rizzo's cabin, where Ernie was still explaining the art of shanty construction to Frank.

“Now, I think you can build it flush instead
of just slapping it on the outside,” Ernie explained.

With Joe back, Frank could get on with the work at hand.

“All right, I think I see what we've got to do here,” Frank said, hoping to bring Ernie's lecture to an end.

“Maybe I'll just stick around and make sure you boys don't mess it up,” Ernie said.

“Let me get these measurements and we can go cut the wood,” Frank said as he pulled a tape measure from his pocket.

While Frank and Joe were measuring the door, Hank and Ray came by with their fishing gear.

“Hey, there, Hank. I heard your truck went swimming,” Ernie said as they walked by.

“Where'd you hear that?” Hank asked.

Frank and Joe were also curious, since they had told only Hank and the police about the incident on the lake and the keys in the fish.

“The police told me when they found it a little while ago,” Ernie said. “Now, why on earth would you be driving on the ice down by Brown's Brook?”

“I wasn't. Someone stole it,” Hank said.

“Well, that's what happens when you hang around with hoodlums,” Ernie said as he looked at Ray.

Joe could see that Ray wasn't about to take that comment without a reaction. He ran over and took Ray by the arm.

“Hey, Ray, good luck fishing,” Joe said.

“You'd better nail him,” Ray grumbled to Joe.

“We can't if you blow it,” Joe said, “so keep your cool.”

Ray nodded and kept walking without causing an incident.

Frank and Joe went back up the hill to get the sheet of plywood out of the van. They placed it on a pair of sawhorses that Ernie kept for repairing the canoes he rented in the summer.

“What are you guys doing?” Neil called out from the shop.

“We need to fix the door on Rizzo's shanty,” Frank said. If hearing this had any effect on Neil, he didn't let it show.

“We're going to need to plug in our saw,” Joe called over to him.

“No problem,” Neil said pleasantly.

“Those guys are something,” Joe said quietly to Frank. “Pretty cool, considering they nearly killed us last night.”

“They're slimy, no doubt about it,” Frank said.

After Frank and Joe cut the wood to size, they each took an end of the door and walked back down the hill to the lake. With the door between them, it was difficult to walk very quickly. Frank slipped on the icy snow and fell to his knees. Joe grabbed the door.

Frank looked up the hill as he tried to get back on his feet. “Oh, no, not again!” he cried. “Get out of the way!” he shouted to Joe.

But Frank didn't think Joe was moving fast
enough. He shoved the door they were carrying between them as hard as he could toward Joe, which sent them both sprawling to the ground. Unfortunately, they hadn't cleared the runway. They both looked up to see their own van rolling and sliding down the slope. Its aim was perfect: two Hardys for the price of one.

“Look out!” Joe yelled to the fishermen. Joe could still yell because he hadn't been hit by the runaway van after all. Just a few seconds before reaching Frank and Joe, the van had hit a patch of sheer ice. Its wheels had spun helplessly as it skidded wide of its mark and onto the frozen lake.

Frank saw the horrified looks of the few people on the lake as the van rolled right down the open lane between the rows of shanties. It finally came to a stop out on the ice.

Frank got up and brushed the snow off his clothes. “How'd that happen?”

“Someone must have released the parking brake, and I think I know who,” Joe said. He began climbing up the hill to go after Stu and Neil.

“Calm down,” Frank said, grabbing Joe's arm.
“Getting into a fight isn't going to prove anything. Let's get the van, finish Rizzo's door, and get some evidence.”

Joe knew Frank was right, but the knowledge did little to calm his anger.

When they walked out onto the lake, some of the fishermen came out to scold them. “You boys have to be more careful. You could've killed someone.”

Hearing this only made Joe angrier. Frank wasn't happy about it either, but he knew that objecting might make the situation worse.

“I'll drive,” Joe insisted.

“Fine, but first roll down the windows and open the doors,” Frank said. “Then if the van breaks through the ice, the doors may catch solid ice long enough for you to jump out.”

“And the open windows are so I can swim out?” Joe asked.

“You seemed to enjoy the cold water so much last time,” Frank said with a smile.

Joe started the van and drove slowly across the lake. The ice made some deep groaning sounds, but soon the van was on dry land. Joe didn't think they should leave the van at Ernie's, so they parked it in the Kwans' driveway, where they hoped no one would touch it.

They walked across the lake to get the wood they had left on the hillside, then went to fix Rizzo's shanty door. When they were done, they walked down to where Ray and Hank were fishing.

“How'd it go?” Ray asked.

“We didn't find anything incriminating,” Joe said with disappointment in his voice.

“So, you catch anything?” Frank asked Ray.

“No offense, but I think this is about the most boring thing I've ever done,” Ray said. He was sitting on an upturned bucket and had a short fishing pole in his hands.

“Well, look at what you're doing,” Hank said. “The hole is freezing over with your line in it. You've got to keep it clear.”

Hank handed Ray a large skimmer so he could scoop the newly forming ice out of the hole.

“Hank,” Joe said, “what do you use a metal detector for?”

“To find metal,” Hank said.

“No, I mean when you're ice fishing,” Joe said.

“What are you talking about?” Hank asked.

“There was a metal detector in Ernie's shanty.”

Hank was surprised. “A metal detector?”

“You know, like people use at the beach, with the long handle,” Joe said.

“I've never heard of anyone using one for ice fishing,” Hank said, trying to figure out how it could help find fish.

“And there was a collapsible shanty with a hinged floor,” Joe said.

“You mean the trapdoor for fishing,” Hank corrected him.

“No, the whole floor could be opened up,” Joe insisted.

Hank looked perplexed.

“Is that weird?” Frank asked.

“Sure is,” Hank said. “It would make the shanty too cold and you'd run the risk of the thing freezing into the ice.”

“I think I'm getting it,” Frank said as he began to see how all the pieces fit.

“You've got something?” Joe asked.

“Maybe. When we checked out those locations, what did we see?” Frank asked.

“Nothing,” Joe said.

“No, we saw tinfoil,” Frank said.

Joe began to see where Frank was headed.

“With the coordinates from your list and a metal detector, you could pinpoint those tinfoil balls exactly,” Frank said.

“And with a big trapdoor, you could cut larger holes in the ice,” Joe said.

“Large enough to stash a bag of stolen loot under the ice,” Frank said.

Hank and Ray looked at Frank in disbelief.

“You think Ernie and those kids are stealing the stuff, hiding it in the lake, and marking the spots with tinfoil?” Hank asked.

“I'm not sure about Ernie,” Frank admitted hesitantly.

“Works for me,” Joe said. “Let's check it out.”

“All right, we need some gear,” Frank said.

“Does that mean we're done fishing?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Joe said. “But we may need you later if you're not busy.”

“I'm all yours,” Ray said.

“Me, too,” said Hank.

“All right, we'll call you,” Frank said.

•   •   •

Frank and Joe's first call was to Phil Cohen. “Phil, we're going to need a metal detector, your map, and the GPS.”

Then Frank called Officer Riley and asked him to stop by the lake later because they might have some evidence for him. Then he called Hank and Ray and arranged to meet them at the Kwans' house.

By the time Frank and Joe pulled into Phil's driveway, it was already getting dark.

“I think I've got everything,” Phil said. He climbed into the back of the van with his GPS, a metal detector, an ax, and an ice pick.

“Phil, you don't need to come along. This could be dangerous,” Frank said.

“I wouldn't miss it for the world,” Phil replied.

Hank and Ray were already at the Kwans' house when the Hardys arrived with Phil.

“Do you need more help?” Mr. Kwan asked.

“I think we've got everything covered,” Frank said. “Besides, just letting us use your place is help enough.”

“So what's the plan?” Ray asked.

“Joe and Ray, you'll keep an eye on Ernie's. If it looks like they're onto us, give us a signal,” Frank said.

“Two short whistles and a long one,” Joe said.

“We'll give you ten minutes to get into position,” Frank said.

Joe and Ray took off for Ernie's. They ran through the woods so they'd be hidden. When they reached Tuttle's, they could see lights on inside, but they didn't dare get too close and risk being seen. Joe's big concern was that the Tuttles might hear Frank and the others chipping at the ice. They decided to split up to watch both entrances to the shop.