Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Matoka watched Sheriff Leroy Longtooth and his deputies cart Stan Lomayaktewa and company off to jail. He knew the procedure. The protesting Indians would be arrested and charged with ‘disorderly conduct’ or ‘disturbing the peace’, but they would all be out in a few hours on bail.

“Yes Sheriff,” Matoka whispered to himself, “arrest those bad Indians!” The old man smiled.

* * *

Catherine followed the Hardy brothers through the narrowly carved hallway in Balcony House. As soon as the coppery stench hit her nostrils, Catherine immediately assumed that Joe and Biff had discovered an animal carcass. Yet she knew, while not unheard of, rarely did any large animals climb up into the cliff dwellings.

As they neared the end of the corridor, the strong odor was almost over-powering. ‘Too strong to be a coyote or large bird,’ Catherine pondered, a frown creasing her brow. ‘A wolf, maybe; surely not a bear.’

Joe stepped into the room first, but then moved aside. Frank sucked in a deep breath, but wished he hadn’t when his nose and mouth filled with the sickening smell of old blood. He forced himself not to gag.

Nothing could have prepared Catherine for the sight that greeted her as she entered the pueblo room. The body was sprawled face down. His head was turned, so he was facing the corridor from which the Hardys and Catherine had just emerged. His eyes stared unseeing, as if he were waiting for them to come.

Catherine felt her knees give and as she crumbled to the floor, Frank reached over to break her fall. He eased the young woman back against a wall.

“Catherine?” Frank spoke as he knelt beside her and gently rubbed her wrists.

Joe, meanwhile, having gotten over the immediate shock of the discovery when he’d first come upon the dead man, now made a wide circle around the deceased, looking for any clue as to how the ranger had died.

“I need air,” Joe heard Catherine tell Frank. He heard his brother leading her back out the corridor.

A few seconds later, Frank returned and Phil followed him. They found Joe kneeling near the dead man’s right hand. He looked up at his brother. Frank moved to Joe’s side and stared unbelievingly at what he saw. “This is not good,” Frank murmured.

Below the man’s dirt crusted finger were three letters drawn in the sand:

C – A – T.

* * *

Chris sighed as he watched Stan and David being hauled off to jail along with the others.

“They’re not your personal responsibility, my friend,” Byron stated, reading the younger man’s thoughts.

“I know,” Chris agreed with a shake of his head. “I just wish…”

The telephone on Byron’s desk rang, interrupting Chris.

“Bull, here,” the big man greeted.

Chris frowned as he noticed the shocked expression on Bull’s face.

“Who?” Byron asked the caller.

“Are you alright, Catherine?” Bull asked and Chris became instantly alarmed.

“What’s wrong?” Chris demanded. Had something happened to Cath? Maybe one of the boys was hurt!

Bull hung up the phone and looked into Chris’s gray eyes, “There’s a dead body in Balcony House.”

“Catherine?” Chris managed to say his fiancé’s name.

“She’s okay,” Bull assured his young friend. “A couple of those boys here visiting with you found the body.”

“Who is it?”

“Catherine’s partner,” Bull Byron answered, “Mark Campton.”

* * *

“Maybe he was warning her,” Phil Cohen suggested, as he looked at the three letters etched in the soil.

“What matters is what the local sheriff thinks,” Frank responded.

“I realize we don’t know Catherine very well, but there is no way she’s a murderer,” Joe stated with a shake of his blond head.

“First,” Frank said, peering at his brother, “you’re assuming he was murdered. We don’t know that yet.”

“Come on, Frank!” Joe countered. “Look at the guy! He didn’t get that way by himself!”

“Brilliant, Joe,” Frank glared at him. “But we don’t know if he was murdered or if he had an accident.”

“We could turn him…” Phil started to suggest.

“No!” Frank and Joe answered in unison. They had worked on enough cases to know when it was okay and when it was not okay to disturb a crime scene.

“The local law is going to be upset enough with us for just being in here,” Frank continued.

“I called for help.”

The three teenagers looked up as Catherine came into the room and spoke. Her face was pale and her eyes were red from crying.

“Do you know him?” Joe asked.

Catherine nodded and fresh tears began to cascade down her cheeks. “He’s my partner, Mark Campton.”

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Disclaimer

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.