The Shattered Helmet (14 page)

“All right, I give up!” Saffel said.

“Who ran over our cycles in Taos?” Frank asked.

“Kitten Cole did. He started the truck.”

“I thought so. Now, what are you doing here?”

“I don't really know. All Gerrold and Dimitri told me was to go to Greece and meet them there.”

“Where are they now?”

“They took a private plane out of Teterboro, New Jersey, and flew to Bermuda. From there they planned to go to London, and from London to Athens.”

“Were you with them when they stole the helmet from Joe?” Frank asked.

Leon nodded. “Sorry Dimitri clouted your brother.” He shrugged wearily. “Look, I'll do anything if you can get me out of this!”

“We'll try,” Frank promised. “Where are you supposed to meet them?”

“Outside the arrivals building at Athens Airport. There's a line of taxis and I'm to walk toward the end of the line. That's all they told me.”

Frank had an idea. “Listen, Chet, how about you taking Leon's place? You can put on his disguise and get away with it, at least for a little while. You two have about the same build. We'll follow you, and when you need help, give us a signal. Okay?”

“Sure. I'll try anything,” Chet agreed.

It was early the next afternoon when the huge
jet descended toward Athens International Airport. Chet had donned Leon's disguise and fixed up his face with make-up Saffel had in his bag.

“Now you know what you're going to look like in a few years,” Frank needled his chum.

The plane landed, and the next twenty minutes were taken up by passport control and customs. Finally they walked out of the arrivals building. A long row of taxis stood ready.

Chet, his movie camera over one shoulder, strode to the end of the line. Frank followed, with Leon behind him at a safe distance.

Suddenly the door of the taxi next to the last swung open, an arm reached out, grabbed Chet and dragged him inside. As Frank and Leon raced toward the vehicle, it took off with a burst of speed!

M
OMENTARILY
stunned by the turn of events, Frank stood helpless as the taxi sped away with Chet. Then he beckoned to Leon, and the two got into another waiting cab. Frank told the driver to follow the getaway car.

The man turned around and asked Frank to repeat his instructions.

“Get that guy! Hurry! Follow him!” Frank said.

But the driver only shrugged. “Which hotel, sir?”

“No, no. I want you to—”

The other taxi was out of sight by now. Frank tried to hide his frustration. Resigned, he reached in his pocket, pulled out the address that Evan had given him, and showed it to the driver. He nodded, smiled, and started the car.

Evan's family had an apartment near the center of the city. When Frank and Leon arrived there, Joe and Evan were the only ones home. They gasped in amazement when they saw Leon. “Where did you get him?” Joe blurted out.

Frank told about the capture on the plane, and Leon apologized again for what had happened in the past.

“All right, forget it,” Joe said. “I'm glad you're on our side now.”

“That's the good news,” Frank said. “Are you ready for the bad?”

“Oh, oh,” Joe said. “Let's have it!”

“It's about Chet.”

“Was he hurt at school?” Evan asked with a worried look.

“No. He was kidnapped at Athens Airport.”

“What?”

When Frank had given the details, Evan quickly telephoned the police and gave a description of Chet. He also mentioned the fact that he carried a movie camera. The police promised they would contact all taxis in the city and be on the lookout for the kidnappers.

Evan also mentioned that Gerrold was a known gangster in the United States and the officer thanked him for the information. He promised to get in touch with them immediately if he had any leads.

It was five o'clock when Evan's parents arrived,
surprised to find visitors. They had been away for the weekend and had not received Mr. Hardy's cablegram.

Mr. and Mrs. Pandropolos were gracious people and welcomed their guests warmly. They were immediately apprised of all that had happened.

“Oh, how terrible!” Mrs. Pandropolos said when she heard about Chet. “Have you called Uncle Nick yet?”

“No,” Evan replied. “We were keeping the line free in case the police should call.”

Just then the phone rang. Evan snatched it from its cradle. He listened, then spoke briefly in Greek. Finally he hung up.

“The police think they have a clue!” he said excitedly. “A cab driver found a movie camera on the floor of his taxi and turned it in. We are supposed to go over right away and see if we can identify it.”

Leon remained behind while Frank, Joe, and Evan took a taxi to headquarters. With Evan as their spokesman, they introduced themselves and a lieutenant showed them the camera.

“It's Chet's, all right,” Joe said. “See, here's the dent where the rock hit it.”

Frank said to Evan, “Ask the officer to have the film developed. Chet might have left a clue.”

The officer agreed. While the boys waited, the film was removed from the camera and quickly processed in the police laboratory. Then the
lieutenant put it in a projector and showed it on a small screen.

First appeared the faces of the airplane passengers, including Leon Saffel holding up the magazine. Next came a series of disconnected shots. Several frames showed blurred buildings. This was followed by clear footage, revealing two close-up profiles.

“Dimitri and Gerrold!” Frank cried out. “Now we know for sure they kidnapped Chet!”

The last shot focused on the ruin of an ancient arch.

“That's Hadrian's Gate,” Evan said. “One of the famous landmarks of Athens.”

“What do you make of that?” Joe asked Frank.

“It's probably where they got out of the taxi. And Chet, the fox, left his camera on the floor. The question is, where did they go from there?”

The lieutenant promised to continue the search. “We will alert police all over the country in case the kidnappers try to flee,” he declared.

The boys thanked him and left. They decided to go to Hadrian's Gate first thing in the morning to see if they could pick up the trail.

After breakfast the next day Evan's parents left for work in the government offices. Leon, who had come down with a bad cold, stayed in the apartment, while Frank, Joe, and Evan set out to Hadrian's Gate.

It stood on one side of a heavily trafficked street
not far from Evan's house. The Greek boy explained that it had been built in ancient times to separate the Greek and Roman settlements in the city.

The boys looked around. Across the street Frank spied an auto rental agency. “Hey!” he said. “Maybe they rented a car and took off into the mountains.”

They waited for the light to change, then raced across the street and into the agency. A pretty girl greeted them cordially.

“Ah, Americans,” she said. “You would like a compact car?”

“No,” Frank said, and explained what they were looking for. He pulled out Gerrold's photo. “Did this man come in here yesterday and rent a car from you?”

She scrutinized the picture. “He came in the afternoon and took a tan Fiat.”

“Was anyone with him?” Joe asked.

“Two men waited outside in a taxi.”

“We have to catch up with these men,” Evan said. “Could you give us the license number of their car?”

The girl looked it upon a voucher. “But I don't know where they went,” she said.

“Did the man ask for a map?” Frank inquired.

“Yes, he did.”

“Try to remember,” Frank urged, “if he mentioned anything about his plans.”

The girl frowned in deep thought. “He spread the map out over here. Ah, yes, I do remember. He followed the national highway with his finger. And I believe he indicated Delphi.”

“Thank you very much!” Evan said. “You've been a great help.”

The boys were elated when they left the rental agency. They took a taxi back to Evan's house and from there relayed the information to the police.

Minutes later the doorbell rang. The caller was Nicholas Pandropolos, Evan's famous uncle. He was a tall, portly man with a high forehead, rugged face, and a handshake to match. He was very much upset over Chet's disappearance.

Evan told him about the Delphi clue and asked, “Could we use your car, Uncle Nick? We want to follow Gerrold.”

“Of course,” Uncle Nick said and looked at Leon. “I think you should stay here until the criminals are caught. You might be their next target.”

Leon nodded gratefully.

“What do you suppose the mob will do with Chet?” Evan asked his uncle.

“They can't let him go; he knows too much. On the other hand, he would be a nuisance to take wherever they went.”

“That leaves only one alternative,” Joe said, “and I don't even want to think about it!”

“If we could only find out more about George
Dimitri,” Frank mused, “it might lead to a clue. His friends, connections, a former job—”

Uncle Nick's eyebrows shot up. “You know, I remember that a man named George Dimitri worked once for my competitor, Spiro Vanides. He got into some trouble and was dismissed. Perhaps this is the same Dimitri.”

“Do you think we could talk with Mr. Vanides?” Frank asked.

“Well, Vanides and I have never seen eye to eye in business matters, but I don't think he'd refuse you any information. Let me drive you to his office. You can take my car from there. And, Evan, I'll tell your parents.”

“Thanks, Uncle Nick,” Evan said.

A half hour later they met Spiro Vanides in a plush new office building. He was younger than Evan's uncle, with straight black hair combed back, a thin face, prominent jaw, and slender frame. He appeared very agitated over the kidnapping, and when he heard that Dimitri was a suspect, he shook his head.

“If it is the same man, he is no good. He worked for my company some time ago. But we dismissed him because of cargo thefts. Our security men suspected Dimitri but lacked enough proof to have him arrested.”

“Do you know any of his friends?” Frank asked.

Vanides shrugged. “Unfortunately, no. But I
will try to find out more information for you. Perhaps some of my employees will know. I will call you later.”

They thanked the shipper, then set off immediately for Delphi in Uncle Nick's Mercedes Benz. With Evan at the wheel, they raced north over the national highway, making a turnoff at the exit marked Levadia. Near the outskirts of the town, Evan pulled into a roadside haven called The Friendly Stop.

“How come this place has an English name?” Joe asked.

Evan said that tour buses and foreign travelers stopped here for refreshments. “Let's go inside and find out if Gerrold and company were here.”

“Good idea,” Frank agreed. “I'm starved, anyway.”

In his native tongue Evan asked the manager if he had seen Gerrold and Dimitri, and showed him Gerrold's photograph.

The man gesticulated and pointed out to the parking lot.

“What'd he say, Evan?” Frank asked eagerly.

“They stopped here yesterday. Gerrold came inside and bought some pastry. Meanwhile, there was quite a commotion. A boy was struggling in the back seat and a man was holding him down. Gerrold said he was suffering from a fit, and that they were taking him to Delphi.”

“Poor Chet,” Joe said as they started off again after a quick snack. “No one realized what trouble he's in.”

The road snaked through rolling hills and along the slope of a steep mountain. It was late afternoon when they arrived in Delphi. The Hardys marveled at the seat of the ancient Greek civilization, where ruins of temples stretched up the hillside to a magnificent marble amphitheater.

“The stadium is even higher up. You can't see it from here,” Evan said. “But we'd better not take time for sightseeing.”

They drove into town and questioned many people. But no one had seen their quarry. Finally they hit pay dirt at a gas station at the western end of Delphi. The attendant told them that a tan Fiat had stopped the day before and that one of the passengers had had a fit. The two men with him had mentioned that they were taking their sick companion to a doctor in Mesolongion.

Now the way led downhill, curving like a roller coaster through a gray forest of olive trees. After an hour Frank spelled Evan at the wheel. The road led upward in hairpin turns over a bare mountain, then down again into a long, narrow valley cut by a placid stream.

All at once the valley was filled with gray clouds.

“A storm's coming our way,” Evan said. “I've seen them before. Something like in Arizona, only more suddenly.”

Rain came down in a torrent. Frank turned on the wipers, but they could not keep up with the flood of water. Straining to get a glimpse of the road, he bent over the wheel, driving slowly.

From the steep hillside on the left several rocks rolled across the road, then without warning—
crash!
The back end of the car slewed around as a boulder bounced off it.

The boys got out to look at the damage and were drenched in seconds. They found that the rear wheel was crushed.

“It's hopeless!” Frank groaned. “We'll have to move the car off the road.”

The three pushed and hauled until finally the vehicle was on the shoulder.

The boys jumped back inside, soggy and shivering. They took some dry clothes from their bags and changed. Half an hour later the clouds disappeared and the setting sun broke through the dripping landscape.

“We're in a great fix,” Joe said. “Your uncle's car is wrecked, Chet's lost, and we're stranded!”

“Not a bright outlook,” Evan agreed. “And this is a pretty deserted area. We might have to wait hours for a car to come by.”