"Dixon, Franklin W - Hardy Boys 111 - Three-Ring Terror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dixon Franklin W)

Frank watched the trapeze student leave and then turned to his brother. "This is even more serious than we thought," he said, rubbing his finger over the diamond. "Jewel thieves as well as sabotage."
"And we still don't even know why the sabotage is taking place or how it's connected to the diamond," Joe added, as he began to take off his clown suit.
Frank started to remove his costume, too. "Why would Rosen have dropped the message two days ago, and then the diamond today?" he asked, as he slipped off the oversize clown shoes. "And how did Nash know to meet Rosen, or send Justine, when the first message never got to him?"
"Ah, that's much better," Joe said, flexing his arms. "I'm really glad to be out of that costume."
"So, how did Nash know to meet Rosen?" Frank repeated.
Joe thought for a moment. "Maybe Nash had another meeting with Rosen yesterday. Maybe that's when they arranged this meeting."
"That could be why we saw Rosen around here yesterday," Frank agreed. "But here's another question: Why would Rosen be giving Nash instructions about other drops in the first place— assuming that's what the message means?"
"Especially since, as Justine says, she and Nash aren't continuing with the tour," Joe put in. "Nash couldn't help Rosen out then."
"True," Frank said. Then something occurred to him. "Hey," he said, snapping his fingers. "What if Nash is only one part of this whole thing?"
"Huh?" Joe asked, the confusion evident on his face. "You're not making sense. Who else would be involved?"
"Nash was meant to get the message instead of Chet, right?" Frank said, testing his theory. "But who sent Nash to work the table that night?"
"The same person who sent Chet," Joe replied. "Bo Costello."
"Right!" Frank exclaimed. He pocketed the ball and grabbed Joe's arm. "I think we've found the missing link."
Moments later, Frank and Joe were standing outside Bo Costello's office. The admissions director wasn't in, and the door was locked tight.
"This is our first real break," Joe said, trying the knob.
"We'd better make this search a quick one," Frank said. "We don't know when Costello will be back." He found a large safety pin lying on the floor. He picked it up and bent it straight. "This will do just fine." Frank stuck the pin in the lock and twisted it back and forth. In a few seconds he heard the lock click open. "Be careful," he warned. "Keep your ears and eyes open. We don't want to get caught here."
Joe nodded and followed his brother inside Costello's office. He locked the door shut behind them and braced a chair against it, figuring that the barrier would buy them some time if Costello showed up. "What are we looking for, anyway?"
"Some kind of proof that Costello knows Rosen better than he says he does," Frank told him. "If Nash had been working alone with Costello, Rosen wouldn't have needed to pass him instructions or information in that message. He would have dropped the ball with the diamond on it and that would have been that."
Frank remembered the conversation they'd overheard the day before between Costello and one of his former students. The director of admissions had told the person on the other end of the line to "be careful." He reminded Joe about what they had heard. "Maybe he was talking to Rosen."
Joe wandered over to the bulletin board on Costello's wall. "That's a good guess. Hey," Joe added, "check this out." He stood by the bulletin board and pointed at one of the sheets Costello had tacked onto it.
Frank went over to the bulletin board and looked at the photographs. He was hoping there would be one of Costello together with Rosen, something that showed they were partners in crime. It was stretching it, he knew, but there had to be some kind of proof to his theory somewhere in Costello's office.
"Look at these marks. Right here, next to these dates," Joe said. "I mean, why these dates in particular? What's so important about them?"
Frank saw a small smile on Joe's face as he leaned over to look where his brother was pointing. "December twentieth. January third. February fourteenth. This is the Montero schedule," Joe said. "Bo Costello's made little marks next to all three of these dates. He's even got initials next to them—his own little code, I guess."
Frank copied the dates down once again, along with the list of towns where the Montero was going to be on those dates. "Bayport we know," he said. "On January third, the Montero's going to be in Indianapolis, Indiana."
"And on the fourteenth of February, it'll stop in Fort Worth, Texas," Joe read from the list. "But the initials next to the dates aren't the same ones we've got on our list," he added, frustrated.
Frank sat down at Costello's desk and started playing with the numbers and the towns. He abbreviated the cities and came up with BP, IN and FW. "Look," he said, showing the list to Joe. "What if we make this into a code all its own."
Joe scratched his head and looked over Frank's shoulder. "You mean, put the dates with the abbreviations you've got there?"
"Exactly," Frank said. "And next to that, we'll put the initials from Rosen's original list."
"Okay," Joe said. "For twelve-twenty, we've got BP—that's short for Bayport—and CN from Rosen's list."
"And for one-oh-three, there's IN—Indianapolis—and JL," Frank went on. "That leaves two-fourteen, FW and GU."
"Hey," Joe said slowly. "I think I see something."
"You do?" Frank asked.
Joe pointed at the letters. "Look. If you go down the alphabet one letter from B, you get C. And then if you go back up through the alphabet two letters from P, you get N."
Frank looked at the rest of the list and realized Joe was right. "Check it out!" he cried. "Take IN. Add a letter to the I and you get J. Subtract two letters from the N and you get L. JL becomes IN."
"And we thought Justine was the next victim of sabotage, or the next person to get passed one of Rosen's balls," Joe said. "What the list really means is that the next drop is going to take place in Indianapolis. The people's initials were just used to make the code."
"And GU—which we thought meant Georgianne Unger," Frank concluded, "really means Fort Worth."
"Rosen really was passing information to Costello," Joe said, shaking his head in wonder. "And the list doesn't seem to have a thing to do with the sabotage.",
"Or does it?" Frank wondered aloud. He tapped the desk firmly with his fist. "Bo Costello's got a lot of explaining to do. Come on."
"Where are we going?" Joe asked.
"We're going to find him and ask him point-blank if he's working a smuggling ring with Ralph Rosen," Frank said with determination.
Joe glanced at the door and saw the chair he'd braced against it start to move. The doorknob was turning. "Uh, Frank," he said, "I don't think that's going to be necessary."
"What?" Frank shot Joe a quizzical look. "Why not?"
"Because my guess is he's on his way in here," Joe said in a harsh whisper.
Frank looked at the door and saw the knob turn. His eyes moved around the room for an escape, but there was no window and nowhere to hide.
"What are we going to do?" he asked Joe, his eyes fixed on the door.
"There's nothing we can do," Joe shot back.
With that, the door burst open. Standing there, with Carl Nash by his side, was Bo Costello. And he did not look at all happy to see the Hardys.
Chapter 15
Fireworks!
"Well, well," Costello said, smiling broadly at the Hardys. "Looks like we got our hands on a couple of clowns. Without the costumes, but still in full makeup."