hardy boys fan fiction

MANSION MYSTERY
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
CQB
Chapter 2
hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

“Dad said the latest robbery included a diamond bracelet, a gold watch and a pair of silver candlesticks,” Frank Hardy explained to his friends the next day, which happened to be Saturday.  

Chet Morton, a chubby boy with blondish-red hair and freckles, sat beside Biff Hooper, a tall, blond boy that was in the same class in school as Joe.  Both listened intently to Frank’s story.  

“Whoa,” Biff exclaimed.  “That’s a big haul! Must be worth a couple zillion dollars!”  

“I’ll say,” Chet agreed.  “Wonder what they do with the stuff they steal?”  

“Dad says they try to sell it eventually,” Joe answered, “but for now, they’ll hide it ‘til the police stop looking for it.”  

“Seems like a lot of trouble if you’re just going to hide the stuff,” Biff commented.  

Frank shrugged.  “I guess crooks aren’t real smart.  Maybe that’s one reason why Dad has no trouble catching them.”  

“And the fact that Dad’s the best detective in the whole world,” Joe added with a smile.   

* * *

At supper that night, Mr. Hardy informed his family of the latest developments.  

“The Coldwells were robbed last night. Like all the other robberies, it occurred when the residents weren’t home,” the detective stated gravely.  “All have happened within ten miles of downtown Bayport.”  

“That suggests someone local; someone familiar with the bay area,” Mrs. Hardy interjected.  

“Better make sure our alarm system’s in good working order, Dad,” Frank said, feeling a bit nervous about thieves running around loose in Bayport.  “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to Mom,” he quietly added.  

“You and Joe can help me test it right after supper,” Mr. Hardy agreed, giving his son a wink, “Better to be safe than sorry.”  

Mrs. Hardy kissed the top of Frank’s dark hair.  “Thank you for looking out for my well-being, Sweetie.”  

Frank blushed and glanced at his brother to see if Joe was laughing at him, but Joe was staring at his half-eaten spaghetti with a frown on his face.  

Frank suddenly realized that Joe had hardly spoken during supper and that was very unusual.  His younger brother loved to chatter away at meal time and often had to be reminded to stop and eat between stories and jokes.  

“Joe,” Frank said, gently touching the younger boy’s shoulder, “you okay?”  

Joe looked up, rather startled.  “Oh, yeah; I’m fine. Just thinking, that’s all.”  

He looked at his father and asked, “Did the police find anything at the Hoffman House, Dad?”  ‘So that’s what he’s been thinking about,’ Frank mused.  

“Actually, yes and no,” Fenton smiled at his son.  “They found some evidence that someone may have tried to break in through the basement door, but when they got inside, there didn’t appear to be anything unusual.  

“Of course,” he went on, “the place is very dangerous, so the officers didn’t explore too deeply inside.”  

“Oh,” Joe replied, feeling disappointed.  He’d really hoped the police would find something or someone inside the old house. Now everyone would think he made up the story about the tapping noise.  Of course, if it really was a ghost, the police couldn’t find anything, he reasoned.  

After supper, Joe and Frank helped their father test the security alarm Mr. Hardy had installed several years ago when he decided to become a detective.  After fixing the window tape in a few places, it was in perfect working order.  

Frank was worried about his brother.  All the while they were working, Joe was still too quiet and Frank knew something was bothering him.  When Joe went right to his room after helping their dad, Frank followed him.  

Frank knocked on Joe’s bedroom door and then poked his head inside. “May I come in?”

Joe looked up from the notebook he was writing in and smiled.  “Sure.”  

“What’s wrong?” Frank bluntly asked.  “And don’t tell me ‘nothing’.  You’ve been too quiet all night.”  

Joe bit his lower lip.  Would Frank make fun of him?  Would he be setting himself up to be teased again?  

Sighing, Joe handed his notebook to Frank.  Frank frowned, but then started to read what the younger boy had written in his childish scrawl.  Despite Joe’s bad spelling, Frank understood  what was written and his eyes grew wide.  

1.      Coldwel robery on maple avinu.

2.    Crooks need place to keep stuf.

3.    Hofman house near elm and maple.

4.    Herd nowes in hofman house on night of robery.

5.    No such thing as ghosts???????  

“Wow! You really have been doing a lot of thinking,” Frank said, handing the notebook back.  

“You don’t think I’m being stupid?” Joe asked.  

Frank shook his head.  “Thinking is never stupid, Joe. But it doesn’t matter.  The police checked the mansion and didn’t find anything, even though it was good guessing on your part.”  

“But if it was a ghost, a real ghost, they couldn’t see it!” Joe protested.  

“Joe,” Frank shook his head slowly, “there are no real ghosts.  Ghosts are part of pretending, that’s all.  I think your idea about the robbers is possible, though. Maybe the robbers tried to get in.  That might have been the noise you heard.”  

Joe sighed and set the notebook aside.  He looked up at his brother.  

“So it probably wasn’t a ghost, but the police didn’t go inside very far,” Joe said softly.  “What if the robbers found a way into the center of the house?”  

“Could be,” Frank agreed, “but you’ll never convince Dad or the police to check it out just because you heard that tapping.”  

“Maybe we should check it out,” Joe suggested in a whisper.  

“No way!” Frank objected.  “It’s way too dangerous.  You heard Dad!”  

Joe silently pulled his legs up and hugged his knees.  “I’ve got to know, Frank.  I’m going to check it out tomorrow night, whether you’re with me or not.”  

There was no way Frank would let Joe explore that old house by himself.  He reluctantly agreed to go along.  

* * *

After church the next morning, Frank and Joe had dinner with their parents, but then met with some of their friends down by Willow River .  By the time the Hardy brothers got there, Chet, Biff and another friend, Tony Prito, were already sitting on the river bank discussing what they were dressing up as for Halloween, just a few days away.  

“No doubt in my mind,” Biff boasted, “I’ll be the best space warrior in all of Bayport.”  

“Yeah, well, my sister wants to go as a princess again,” Chet complained, referring to his younger sister, Iola.  “That means Mom will make me dress up as a stupid prince!”  

“Maybe you could dress up like a fat frog,” Biff suggested in a teasing voice.  Chet stuck out his tongue at Biff, but then laughed with him.  

“I’m gonna be a pirate, with a fake hook and everything,” Tony chimed in, slashing a crooked finger through the air like a pirate’s hook.  

“Hey guys,” Frank called out as the Hardys reached their friends.  

“So what are you guys gonna be for Halloween?” Tony asked.  

“Bet Joe’s going as a ghost that goes tap-tap in the night,” Biff teased.  

Joe shot an angry glance at his brother.  Did Frank tell everyone about the tapping sound he heard?  Before he could say anything, Frank interrupted his thoughts.  

“Cut it out, Hooper,” Frank said firmly.  

“How’d you know?” Joe asked Biff in a subdued tone.  

“Marybeth told me about it.  She lives next door to us, you know,” Biff replied with a shrug.  “Sorry for teasing you Joe.”  

“What we’re going to be for Halloween isn’t important,” the dark haired Hardy boy declared, quickly changing the subject.  “Joe and I have a mystery to solve.”  

“A real one?” Chet asked nervously.  

“Yeah,” Joe grinned.  

“Joe came up with a great idea about the recent robberies that have been in the news,” Frank explained.  “We’ve got some work to do so we can’t play, but we’ll check with you guys later tonight.”  

“So, where are you going?” Tony called to the brothers as they started to move away.  

Joe glanced back and cocked an eyebrow.  “We’re going to catch a tapping ghost.”  

* * *

“I think we’ll need to sneak around back,” Joe said as he and his brother walked down the sidewalk in front of the Hoffman House.  “Even in the dark, it’ll be too easy to spot us.”  

Frank nodded and peered through the iron rail fence at the old house.   “I think you’re right. Let’s go get some stuff we’ll need.  Then we’ll come back and go in the woods behind the house when its real dark.”  

The boys started running up Elm Street toward their house and almost crashed into a man coming the other way.  

“Easy there, boys,” the man said with a chuckle.  The Hardy boys recognized Mr. Schmidley, a worker at the hardware store in town. They quickly apologized to the man.  

“Saw you looking at the old Hoffman place,” Mr. Schmidley frowned as he glanced at the structure.  “It looks to me like Miss Hoffman’s going to finally do something with the place.”  

He looked down at the two boys.  “You boys keep clear of that old place.  It’s haunted, you know.”  

“You think Miss Hoffman’s selling the Hoffman House?” Frank questioned, purposefully ignoring the ‘haunted’ comment.  

He glanced at Joe and realized his wide-eyed younger brother probably believed the man.  

“Or tearing it down,” Schmidley answered Frank’s question.  “Why else would Jon Parker be hauling furniture out of the house to the garage these past few weeks?”

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home   Library   Authors   Rogue's Gallery   Vehicles   Chums   Message Board  Rap Sheet  Links  Contact

Disclaimer