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

Frank spotted the stilts lying on the ground next to Chet. The sight of one of them, split clean in half, made him wonder. What if Chet's accident was another example of the sabotage at the circus?
Frank went over to the broken stilt and picked it up. A quick glance at it confirmed his suspicion. The stilt had obviously been sawn halfway through.
"Hey, Joe," he called out to his brother. "Check this out."
Joe came over, Chet at his side. When Joe took one look at the stilt, he let out a low whistle. "This was no accident," he said. "That stilt's been sawn partially through."
Chet's eyes widened with fear. He swallowed hard as he stared at the stilt. "You mean someone wanted that stilt to snap in half?" he asked in a shaky voice.
"That's right, Chet," Frank said grimly, examining the saw mark.
"Is something wrong, boys?" Dean Turner asked, appearing at Frank's side.
Frank nodded. "I'm afraid there is," he said, showing the stilt to Turner and pointing out the saw mark. Frank saw a flash of alarm pass over the dean's face, but Turner recovered quickly and turned to the class.
"We've almost reached the end of our class time," he said, checking his watch. "I'm going to dismiss you early so you can have a short break before your next class."
As the class filed out, Turner faced Frank. "This was no accident," he concluded. "But who could have done this?" he added in a desperate tone. "And why?"
"Don't worry, Dean Turner," Chet said. "Frank and Joe will find out."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Joe muttered.
"Who had access to these stilts?" Frank asked, pointing to them.
"I collected them myself from the prop room this morning," Turner told him. "Before my speech. I didn't notice anything wrong with them then," he added weakly.
"So they were in here the whole time you were making your speech?" Joe asked.
"I assume so," Turner said. "But I really can't be sure."
"And could anyone have come into the classroom during that time?" Frank asked.
"That's right," Turner said softly. He looked at the broken stilt and shook his head. "Oh, this is terrible. I just don't know what to do."
"Maybe you could help us come up with a solid lead," Joe said firmly. "Like the name of someone who might have a reason to cause these accidents."
Turner sighed. "I can't think of anyone offhand. Look, I have to go back to my office now. I'm expecting a very important phone call. Why don't you boys come by in a few minutes? We can sit down and talk at length about these incidents."
"Good idea," Frank said. "I know my brother and I have a lot of questions to ask."
"Like what?" Chet asked.
"Well, Dean Turner still hasn't told us how the other accidents happened," Frank said. "We need to know all the facts before we can start to narrow in on a list of suspects."
"Oh, I really don't like that word," Turner said, shaking his head sadly. " 'Suspects' sounds so— so criminal. I just cannot believe there's some kind of criminal running around here trying to sabotage the circus. In fact, I refuse to believe it."
"But you've just seen evidence that points to sabotage," Frank said, trying not to sound impatient. The dean was a nice man, Frank thought, but he didn't seem to have a clue about what was going on right under his nose.
"Your assistant said no one had gotten hurt," Joe said. "But the next victim might not be so lucky. He or she might get more than a lungful of smoke or a bruised elbow."
The dean looked at them for a moment. Then he nodded abruptly and said; "All right. Come to my office and we'll talk." He turned and headed out of the classroom.
"Well," Chet said, watching the dean walk away, "I hate to leave you guys in the lurch like this, but I have to take off, too. I'm going to be late for my clown makeup class."
"You sure you're okay?" Frank asked him.
Chet rubbed his elbow and laughed a little. "I'm fine, really. You want to have lunch when my class is over?" he asked.
"Sure," Frank said, knowing how much his friend liked to eat. In fact, he was amazed that Chet had gone this long without stopping to grab a bite. "We'll meet you in the arena after your class. What time?"
"About an hour and a half," Chet said, turning toward the door. "And good luck."
"We're going to need it," Frank said. "Especially at the rate we're going."
"Yeah," Joe agreed. "First the juggler disappears, then it turns out our list of suspects for the person who cut that stilt in half includes everyone appearing in the Montero Brothers Circus, plus the students at Circus U."
"The only people we can rule out are the Bayport High students," Frank said. "Because the incidents started before the circus arrived in Bayport." He headed for the door. "Let's go talk to Turner. He's got to have some idea of who might be out to get him, or the circus."
"I hope so," Joe agreed, starting off down the hall.
"You know where we're going?" Frank asked.
"Sure," Joe said, as he turned right at the elevators. "Remember this morning Chet said this is where the Circus U. offices were?"
Frank nodded as he followed Joe. They passed by a door marked with Georgianne Unger's name. Next to it was Bo Costello's office. A little farther down the hall, Joe found a door with Dean Turner's name on it.
The dean had just hung up the phone when Frank and Joe reached the doorway. Turner looked up and motioned to the Hardys to come in.
"Sit down," Turner said, indicating two chairs that faced the desk. "I was just on the phone with one of our Circus U. donors. He wanted to have his name put on a bleacher in our big top in Florida." Turner laughed and raised his eyebrows. "I suggested he might want to contribute more money and have a whole classroom with his name on it."
Frank smiled. "Let's talk about possible suspects, Dean Turner," he said, getting right to the point. "Can you think of anyone who might want to ruin your reputation? After all, you're not only dean of Circus U., but you're also managing the Montero Brothers Circus tour this year."
Turner paused for a moment. Then he said, "I hate to suggest this, but Georgianne is a good possibility."
"Georgianne Unger?", Joe asked, remembering the name on the door they'd passed. "You mean your assistant?"
Turner nodded and went on. "She's not only my assistant. She's also a former circus performer and teaches makeup classes at Circus U.," Turner explained.
"Why do you think she might be responsible?" Frank asked.
"Well, for one thing, the first incident took place in her class," Turner replied.
"Tell us about it," Joe said, leaning forward in his chair.
"It happened about six months ago in Florida. Apparently the clown face makeup the students in Georgianne's class were using made them break out in a terrible rash. It didn't seem significant at the time, until some other things started happening."
"Like the tiger getting loose and the prop room catching on fire," Frank offered, remembering the conversation he'd overheard between Turner and his assistant.