Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

Joe sat in stunned silence for a moment. He slammed his fist against the dash. “This time we finish them for good,” he vowed through clenched teeth. “What are we waiting for?” he asked his brother. “Let’s get to Bayport. We need to find out what Dad has to say about his cases.”

“Okay,” Frank said as he let out the breath that he had been holding. He put the car in gear and pushed down on the accelerator. The car shot forward.

A short time later, Frank stopped the car at a small municipal airport near the hospital. “I called ahead and reserved us a plane,” he told his brother and sister. Both of the Hardy brothers had obtained their private, as well as commercial, pilot’s licenses and often rented planes to help in their cases.

The three young people hurried into the hangar where Frank had arranged to rent a plane. He signed the appropriate papers and a short time later, the three Hardys were seated in a small four-seat Cessna 182. Frank completed his preflight checklist and started the engine on the small plane. The engine throbbed to life. After receiving clearance from the tower, Frank taxied onto the runway. He pushed the throttle all of the way in while holding the brakes. The plane shuddered as the propeller tried to pull them down the runway. Frank released the brakes and the plane shot forward. After a few moments of racing down the runway, Frank pulled back on the yoke and the plane rose smoothly into the air.

A short time later, as they approached Bayport, Frank radioed for clearance from the tower. After receiving clearance to land, Frank landed on the runway with a small bump. They taxied to the hangar where the plane was to be parked and Frank turned off the engine. Frank and Joe tied down the plane and chocked the wheels so the plane would not get moved. The three siblings entered the terminal and Frank rented a car at the rental counter. They walked out to the parking lot and Frank found their rental car. The three climbed into the small sport utility vehicle and a short time later, they drove out onto the highway. Within minutes, Frank pulled the SUV into the driveway of the Hardy home.

“Look,” Joe said, “there’s Dad’s car. Looks like he’s home.”

The three climbed out of the rental car and walked up to the front door. Frank unlocked it with his key and the three entered the house.

“Dad!” Joe called. “Are you here?”

“I’m in the office!” Fenton Hardy called back.

The Hardy siblings quickly made their way to Fenton’s office. “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?” he asked as his three children entered the room. He saw the look on their faces and he said, “I’m guessing this trip is business related and not pleasure.”

“You guessed right,” Frank replied wryly. “Tell us about the cases you were working on when Brandi disappeared,” he asked. He continued and told Fenton everything that had taken place the day before. He ended by telling him what the Gray Man had said about his cases. “Were the Assassins involved in any of your cases?” he asked.

“You might say that,” Fenton replied after a moment of thought, “but they didn’t call themselves the Assassins back then. They were known as the Liberators. They considered what they were trying to do ‘liberating’ the American people from tyranny. When they changed their name to the Assassins, they were finally embracing what they really are, which is killers and crooks.”

“So how do the Liberators fit into the case you were working on?” Joe prompted.

“I’m getting to that,” Fenton replied. He continued, “I was working on a homicide case. At that time there was a huge trial going on. Several of the leaders of the Liberators had been caught and were on trial. The key witness against them was one Earl Hansher. Hansher was a low-level flunky in the Liberators. The New York Police Department was in charge of protecting him from Liberator assassins. We had it worked out perfectly. He was kept in a special apartment we had made especially for these occasions. There were no windows. The walls were reinforced with steel plates to make them bulletproof. The door was six inches of solid steel rigged with an intercom and camera system so that the occupants could be completely sure of who was at the door before they opened it. The rest of the building was completely covered with cameras and alarms as well. It was literally impossible to get into the apartment unauthorized.”

“So what happened?” Frank urged.

“Hansher was killed,” Fenton replied. “He was in the apartment and he was shot.”

“How did he get shot?” Brandi asked. “Who did it?”

“Well, if you believe the surveillance tapes,” the detective told them, “I did.”

“What?” his children asked incredulously.

“According to the tapes recovered from the apartment, I was let in the front door. As soon as I was inside, I pulled out a silenced automatic and shot the two policemen and Hansher.”

“Did someone doctor the tape?” Frank asked.

“No,” Fenton replied, “they didn’t need to. The Liberators had made a copy of me, just as the Assassins are so adept at doing. The impostor was able to convince the policemen that he was me and they let him in.”

“Did the police think you did it?” Brandi asked.

“For about five seconds,” Fenton replied. “But I had the best alibi in the world. At that exact moment I was on the witness stand at the trial.”

“That’s lucky,” Frank said. “So how does Brandi fit into all of this?”

“I was put in charge of the investigation into the murders. I know I was getting close to catching those responsible for the killings when Brandi disappeared. After her disappearance, I threw myself into the investigation to keep my mind off of her. I was right on the verge of solving the murders when the chief pulled me off the case. As far as I know, the case was never pursued after that. At almost the same time, the case against the Liberators was dismissed. Shortly thereafter, I quit the police force and moved here to Bayport to become a private investigator. I thought I had put all of this behind me, until this week.”

“Didn’t it strike you as odd,” Frank asked, “that the chief pulled you off of the murder investigation when you were so close to solving it? And that the trial was dismissed at the same time?”

“Yes,” Fenton replied. “I asked him why at the time. He told me that it was taking too long and I wasn’t doing very good work because my mind was elsewhere. He told me to take a vacation and try to deal with Brandi’s disappearance. I had to admit my mind was elsewhere, so I didn’t pursue it at the time. Supposedly the trial was dismissed for lack of evidence after the key witness’s murder.”

“Was there a lack of evidence?” Joe wanted to know.

“I don’t think so,” Fenton replied. “In my opinion, there was plenty of evidence to convict them.”

“So the first order of business,” Frank stated, “is to find out why the chief pulled you off of the case.”

“Right,” Joe agreed. “What’s his name?”

“His name is Dan Fenzel,” Mr. Hardy promptly replied.

“Do you have his address?”

“Yes, right here,” Mr. Hardy replied as he opened a file. He pulled out a card and handed it to Frank who promptly copied the address into the small notebook where he had been taking notes.

Frank examined the address and then closed the notebook and tucked it into his pocket. “Let’s go,” he said. “We’ve got a flight to make.”

The three siblings stood up and bid their father goodbye. Within a short time they were back at the Bayport airport. Frank turned in the rental car and before long, the Hardys were once again airborne.

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.