hardy boys fan fiction

MANSION MYSTERY
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
CQB
Chapter 7
hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Frank and Joe Hardy sat very still on the sofa in their living room.  Their father and Chief of Police Ezra Collig were talking in the hallway.  The boys knew they would be in big trouble for going into the Hoffman House; it had only been a matter of time.  

Mr. Hardy’s main concern when he realized what was happening had been immediately for the well-being of the three boys.  He’d instructed Artie Hooper to wait for the police outside the mansion and tell the officers what they suspected.  

He then went into the ell, just as the boys had done.  He unlocked the basement door and quickly made his way down the stairs.  The boys had been overjoyed.  

They quickly told Mr. Hardy about the stolen loot they’d found and the robber’s plan to pack the stuff up later that night.  Frank explained that he was certain that one of the men was Mr. Schmidley from the hardware store.  

All three were taken to the hospital and checked out.  The only serious injury was Joe’s arm, which was fractured near the elbow.  Joe’s arm was put in a cast and sling.  All three boys were released to their parents.  

Joe and Frank had fallen into an exhausted sleep as soon as they got home.  When morning came, they knew they’d have to face their dad and probably the police.  

Now, they sat tensely.  Waiting.  

“Hello, boys,” Chief Collig said as he walked into the room with Mr. Hardy right behind him.  The two men sat down; Mr. Hardy sat between the boys on the sofa and the police chief sat in the easy chair across from them.  

“First,” the chief began, “I want you to know that Butch Schmidley and a man named Burt Morgan have been arrested.  I had officers watching the Hoffman House all night.  Schmidley and Morgan showed up just after midnight to move the stolen items out of the basement.”  

“Mr. Schmidley told us to stay away from the house,” Frank offered, hoping that the more they helped with the case, the less trouble they might be in later.  

Chief Collig nodded.  

“Was Mr. Parker working with them?” Joe asked, and Collig looked confused.  

“Why would you think that, son?” Mr. Hardy asked Joe.  

Joe quickly explained about Mr. Parker and Artie.  Fenton smiled.  

“Mr. Parker came to the mansion after the arrests were made to see if anything was missing from the mansion,” Mr. Hardy began.  “He was worried about the burglaries and had been moving some of the furniture and other valuables out of the mansion and into the garage for safe-keeping.  

“When he saw Artie Hooper looking in one of the windows, he thought maybe Artie joined up with a gang of hoodlum teenagers and they were robbing the houses in Bayport.”  

“Artie’s no thief,” Joe said with a frown.  

“Right,” the detective agreed.  “Mr. Parker felt bad.  He plans to ask Artie to come back to work for him.”  

“Well,” Chief Collig stood and walked over to the boys.  “Thank you both for helping us catch those crooks.”  He shook Frank’s hand, then Joe’s.  

“Wait here,” Mr. Hardy instructed as he let the police officer out the front door.  

“Why didn’t he yell at us for being in the Hoffman House?” Joe whispered to his brother.  Frank shrugged.  He was mystified, too.  

Fenton Hardy stood in the doorway and gazed at his two boys.  While he was overwhelmingly proud of how they pieced together the mansion mystery clues, they had disobeyed his direct orders to do so and nearly gotten themselves and Biff killed or captured in the process.  

He walked in and sat where Collig had been sitting a few minutes earlier.  He looked from one set of dark brown eyes to the other set of deep blue eyes.  

“You both did a lot of thinking and came up with some good clues to the robberies and Joe’s ghost, and I’m very proud of you,” Mr. Hardy stated.  “What makes me sad though, is that you disobeyed me.”  

Both boys suddenly found their shoes very interesting.  They stared at them because they couldn’t face their father.  

Joe felt a tear roll gently down his cheek.  “It’s all my fault.”  

“No, Joey,” Frank began to protest.  

“Yes, it is,” Joe countered, looking first at Frank, and then his dad.  “It was my idea.  I knew I heard something last Friday night and I needed to know.  Frank only came ‘cause he didn’t want me to go by myself.”  

“And Biff?” Mr. Hardy asked.  

“We didn’t invite him, if that’s what you mean,” Joe answered.  “He just showed up and sorta invited himself to go along.”  

Fenton sat back and looked at the two very sad faces in front of him.  

“Since you two seem prone to wander into places you don’t belong, I think a grounding is in order,” the detective stated sternly.  

“Joe, seems like this was basically your idea.  You will be confined to the house or back yard for three weeks.”  Joe’s eyes grew wide.  Three weeks!  He wouldn’t get to go Trick-or-Treating for Halloween and his birthday was in just two weeks!  He’d be stuck at home on his birthday!  

“Y-yes, Sir,” he replied, feeling fresh tears running down his cheeks.  

“Frank, because you’re older and more mature, I expect you to be a little more responsible,” Mr. Hardy went on.  “You should have told me about Joe’s plan to explore the mansion.  Instead, you went along.  

“You’ll have two weeks of grounding,” Fenton concluded.  

“Actually,” Frank said tentatively, “if it’s just the same to you, I’ll take three weeks, just like Joe.”   

Joe looked at his brother and felt both happy and sad at the same time.  

“I feel more responsible, like you said Dad,” Frank went on, reaching over and taking Joe’s right hand in his own.  “It wouldn’t be fair for Joe to do the extra week by himself.  I should’a tried harder to talk him out of going, or gone to you with our ideas.”  

“Seems to me,” Fenton smiled, “that maybe you learned something from this experience, Frank.”  

“Yes, Sir,” Frank replied, giving his dad a small smile.  

“Joe, how about you?” Mr. Hardy asked his youngest.  

“I learned that detective work is fun, but it’s dangerous too,” Joe said.  

“Come here my boys,” Fenton held his arms wide.  The boys moved into his arms and the detective, being careful of Joe’s broken arm, hugged them both.  

“You want to know something?” Fenton asked as he held hid sons.  “I’ve learned a few things myself.”  

He let the boys go so he could see their faces.  “I’ve learned that I have two very smart sons.  While you made some mistakes in judgment, you solved a very difficult mystery.  

“I’ve also learned to not take your thoughts and ideas lightly just because you’re so young.  I promise to listen more with my heart and not always with my head.”  

He reached out and tousled both heads, messing up their hair.  “I believe Mom has some pancakes ready.  Let’s go eat.”  

* * *

A few blocks away, on a well manicured lawn, the old Hoffman House sat like a white tombstone.  

The burned timbers and support beams were barely visible through the cracks in the boards that covered the glassless windows.  

The street and sidewalk in front of the mansion were empty.  The hustle of early morning school children long past.  

But, if someone were to pass the property, they might be a bit startled.  

For deep within the burned out shell of a house, a soft tapping could be heard.  

Tap-tap-tap.  

The End  

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