'Are you sure you don't want me to fix you something hot to eat?' Mrs. Hardy asked.
'Thanks, Mother, but we'll have enough.' Frank smiled.
Chet called his family to let them know where he was, then the three boys sat down in the
kitchen and halfheartedly munched the sandwiches. Aunt Gertrude bustled in and served them
generous portions of deep-dish apple pie.
'This is more super than usual,' Chet declared, trying hard to be cheerful.
The boys finished their pie, but without appetite. When they refused second helpings, however, Aunt Gertrude demanded suspiciously, 'Are you ill-or what?'
'Oh, no, Aunty,' Joe replied hastily. 'Just-er-too much detecting.'
'I can believe that!' Miss Hardy said tartly.
The evening dragged on, tension mounting every minute. The boys tried to read or talk, but
their concern for the detective's safety made it impossible to concentrate on anything else.
Eleven o'clock! Where was their father? Frank and Joe wondered.
'Aren't you boys going to bed soon?' Mrs. Hardy asked, as she and Aunt Gertrude started upstairs.
'Pretty soon,' Frank answered.
The three boys sat glumly around the living room for a few minutes until the women were out
of earshot.
'Fellows,' said Chet, 'I caught on that you're sure your dad is working on an important case for Elekton, and it's a top-secret one-that's why you couldn't say anything about it.'
'You're right,' Frank told him.
Chet went on to mention that his father had heard of various problems at Elekton-production
stoppages caused by power breaks, and, before the buildings were completed, there were
reports of tools and equipment being missing.
'This ties in with our hunch about the secrecy of Dad's case,' Frank said. 'The company must have suspected that major sabotage was being planned, and retained Dad to try and stop it.'
Talking over their speculations helped to relieve some of the tension the boys felt and made
the time pass a little faster as they waited for news of Fenton Hardy.
'I wonder how the saboteurs got into the plant?' Joe said, thinking aloud. 'Both the gates are locked and well guarded. It seems almost impossible for anyone to have sneaked in the
necessary amount of explosives-without inside help.'
A sudden thought flashed into Frank's mind. He leaped to his feet. 'The green truck!' he exclaimed. 'It was unmarked, remember? It could have been carrying dynamite-camouflaged
under ordinary supplies!'
'That could be, Frank!' Joe jumped up. 'If so, no wonder it was in such a rush! I'll phone the chief right now and give him the truck's license number.'
Frank went with Joe to the hall telephone. As they approached the phone, it rang. The bell,
shattering the tense atmosphere, seemed louder than usual.
'It must be Dad!' exclaimed the brothers together, and Chet hurried into the hall.
Frank eagerly lifted the receiver. 'Hello!' he said expectantly.
The next moment Frank looked dejected. He replaced the receiver and said glumly, 'Wrong
number.'
The Hardys exchanged bleak looks. What had happened to their father?
CHAPTER XIV
Prisoners!
THE HARDYS' disappointment in discovering that the telephone call was not from their father
was intense. Nevertheless, Joe picked up the receiver and dialed police headquarters to report the truck's license number.
'Line's busy,' he said.
Joe tried several more times without success. Suddenly he burst out, 'I can't stand it another minute to think of Dad perhaps lying out there hurt. Let's go back to Elekton and see if we can learn something.'
'All right,' Frank agreed, also eager for action, and the three rushed to the front door.
Just as they opened it, the boys saw the headlights of a car turning into the driveway.
'It's Dad!' Joe barely refrained from shouting so as not to awaken Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude.
The detective's sedan headed for the garage at the back of the house. Heaving sighs of thankful relief, the boys quietly hurried through the house into the kitchen to meet him.
'Are we glad to see you, Dad!' Frank exclaimed as he came into the house.
His father looked pale and disheveled. There was a large purple bruise on his left temple. He
slumped wearily into a chair.
'I guess I'm lucky to be here.' Mr. Hardy managed a rueful smile. 'Well, I owe you boys an explanation, and now is the time,'
'Dad,' Joe spoke up, 'you are working on the sabotage case for Elekton, aren't you?'
'And you were in the lab building during the explosions?' Frank put in.
'You're both right,' the detective replied. 'Of course I know I can depend on all of you to keep the matter strictly confidential. The case is far from solved.'
Mr. Hardy was relieved that Frank and Joe had kept their fears for his safety from his wife and sister. He now revealed to the boys that for the past several hours he had been closeted with
Elekton's officials.
Suspecting that the saboteurs had inside help, the detective had screened the records of all
employees.
He and the officials had found nothing suspicious.
'I'll submit a full report to the FBI tomorrow morning, and continue a search on my own.'
When Joe asked if the eight-and-one pattern referred to the saboteurs' schedule, his father
nodded. 'In the other plants, the sabotage took place eight weeks plus one day apart.
'In each of those plants,' the detective went on, 'the damage occurred right after closing time.
Figuring the schedule would be exactly right for an attempt on Elekton in a couple of days, I
started a systematic check of the various buildings. I planned to check daily, until the saboteurs had been caught here or elsewhere. At my request, one company security guard was assigned
to assist me. I felt that the fewer people who knew what I was doing, the better. That's how I ruined the saboteurs' plan in Detroit.
'Nothing suspicious occurred here until today when I took up a post in the section of the building where the experimental work is being conducted. After all the employees had left, and the dim night-lights were on, I went toward the east lab wing to investigate.'
Mr. Hardy paused, took a deep breath, and continued, 'Just as I reached the lab, I happened to glance back into the hall. Things started to happen-fast.'
'What did you see, Dad?' asked Joe, and all the boys leaned forward expectantly.
The detective went on, 'Hurrying down the hall from the west lab were two men in work
clothes, one
carrying a leather bag. I knew there weren't supposed to be any workmen in the building. I
stepped out to question them, but the pair broke into a run and dashed past me down the
stairs.'
'Did you see what either of them looked like?' Frank asked.
'I did catch a glimpse of one before they broke away. He had heavy features and thick
eyebrows. But just as I was about to take off after them, I smelled something burning in the
east lab and went to investigate. The first thing I saw was a long fuse sputtering toward a box of dynamite, set against the wall.
'I didn't know if it was the kind of fuse that would burn internally or not, so I took my penknife and cut it close to the dynamite. Professional saboteurs don't usually rely on just one explosive, so I started for the west wing to
