Ship of Secrets

  CONTENTS

  1 SHIP AHOY!

  2 WATCH OUT!

  3 THE CASE BEGINS . . .

  4 THE SIX WS

  5 THE MYSTERY MAN

  6 A SECRET PRANK

  7 A BREAK IN THE CASE

  8 RED SCARF SIGHTING

  9 STRAIGHT FROM THE DINO’S MOUTH

  10 THE CONFESSION

  HARDY BOYS COMIC STRIP

  1

  Ship Ahoy!

  There it is! I can see it!” Joe yelled. He climbed over his older brother, Frank, who was sitting next to him in the taxi cab. He pointed out the window. Now that they’d turned into the harbor area, they could see the twelve-story cruise ship in the dock ahead of them.

  “Ship of Wonders, here we come!” Frank cried.

  Mr. Hardy, the boys’ father, turned back from the passenger seat. “Your first cruise! You boys are going to love it.”

  Mrs. Hardy held up a pamphlet that had a picture of the ship on the front. “There’s a huge game room, a petting zoo, a trampoline, and magic shows and concerts at night. There are even seven pools—one for each wonder of the world.”

  “What are the wonders again?” Joe asked. They had gone over this three times before the trip, but he kept forgetting.

  “Well, they’re different depending on who you talk to,” their mother said. The wind whipped through the windows of the tiny cab, blowing her thick brown hair into her face. “There are the ancient wonders of the world and the modern wonders. It looks like the ship has the modern wonders, which are different statues and monuments throughout the world.”

  “The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and the Roman Colosseum are a few of them,” Mr. Hardy explained.

  Mrs. Hardy leaned over, pointing out a few pictures from the cruise pamphlet. There was a circular building that had windows all around it. In the center was a huge pool. There were a few statues of men in armor standing near the entrance.

  “The gladiators!” Frank exclaimed. As the cab pulled up at the curb, he drew an invisible sword, pretending to fight his brother. He swung once, then twice. Joe pulled out his own “sword,” and the two jumped out of the cab, making clashing and clanking sounds as they fought.

  “Careful!” Mrs. Hardy called out as she and their dad pulled the suitcases out of the trunk. They paid the taxi driver and followed behind the boys toward the huge ship.

  Mr. Hardy rolled the suitcase behind him, letting out a big sigh. “One whole week of vacation. I’ve been waiting for this day forever.”

  Mrs. Hardy patted him on the back and smiled. Joe and Frank’s dad was a private detective in Bayport, their hometown. He worked long hours solving cases, sometimes robberies, other times more serious crimes. It seemed like he always had a file he was looking over or a lead he was “chasing down.” (That was his detective way of saying “following a clue.”) Frank and Joe didn’t mind how much their dad worked, because he’d taught them how to solve cases. Together they helped neighbors and friends find missing pets or property. Once they had to figure out who stole their science fair project, Mr. Roboto.

  As they ran toward the ship, Frank and Joe still swung their invisible swords. Anyone looking at them wouldn’t know they were brothers. Frank had dark brown hair and brown eyes, while Joe had moppy blond hair and blue eyes. Frank was an inch and a half taller than Joe. (But he was also a year older, Joe reminded people.) Joe raised his arm high in the air and was about to strike again, when he noticed a crowd at the end of the dock.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, pointing over Frank’s shoulder. There were three news vans on the side of the road. Several reporters huddled around an older couple and their teenage children. The man wore a red scarf even though it was nearly ninety degrees. His puff of bright white hair made it look like a rabbit was sitting on his head.

  “That man looks so familiar . . . ,” Mrs. Hardy said. “I think I’ve seen him on the news.”

  “This has been in my family for more than a hundred and fifty years,” the man said in a British accent. He held up a shiny gold pocket watch as he spoke, moving it right in front of the news cameras. “It belonged to Duke Albert Heartpence III, my great-grandfather, who lived in England. And Monday morning, when this ship docks in Miami’s harbor, it will be the center of Bartleby’s Auction House’s biggest auction yet.”

  The news reporters swarmed, some taking photos, others asking the man questions. One reporter asked how much it was worth, while others asked why he’d decided to auction it now.

  “The time felt right,” he said. He wrapped his arm around his wife as he spoke. Beside them the two teenagers looked uncomfortable in front of all the cameras. The girl looked to be several years older than Frank and Joe, with long brown hair braided down her back. The boy looked older, maybe seventeen, and kept checking his cell phone when his parents weren’t looking.

  “Who is that?” Frank asked, turning to his father.

  Mr. Hardy was staring at the scene at the end of the dock. “I read about this in the papers,” he said. “I just forgot. That’s Sir Reginald Heartpence II, some businessman from London. He’s bringing that antique pocket watch to Miami to sell it in an auction.”

  “I hope those cameras aren’t following him onto the boat,” Mrs. Hardy said. They pushed past with their suitcases, walking toward the ramp that led to the ship’s entrance.

  But Joe and Frank were caught up in the excitement. They’d never seen so many news vans in one place. Cameras flashed, and people shouted out questions. Even as Sir Reginald and his family walked off toward the ship, the reporters followed.

  “Is he a duke? Or a knight?” Frank asked his parents.

  “Maybe he’s a king!” Joe yelled.

  “Definitely not a king,” Mr. Hardy said, laughing.

  “Though he does act like one,” Mrs. Hardy added, passing the suitcases off to a steward, who promised to bring them to their room.

  “Can we go explore?” Frank asked as they stepped into the ship’s glass elevator. Next to some of the top buttons were little signs. One said POOL LEVEL, another GAME ROOM, and another AQUARIUM.

  “The pools!” Joe yelled. “We have to see those first!”

  Joe and Frank hadn’t been so excited since the first day of summer vacation. Their parents had been talking about this cruise for weeks, telling them about all the fun things there’d be to do on the ship. But when the elevator doors finally opened on the main deck, it was better than anything they could have imagined.

  “The Great Wall of China!” Joe yelled, racing to a giant pool in front of them. There were slides that looked like an old wall that went down into the water. There were already twenty or so people in the pool, splashing about.

  “Look! There’s the pyramid!” Frank cried out. There was a twenty-foot-high pyramid with a lazy river underneath it. A few boys went through a tunnel in bright blue inner tubes.

  Joe ran around the deck, past some of the other pools they’d seen in the brochure. Real-life gladiators walked around the ship’s deck, taking pictures with people. Frank drew his invisible sword again, but this time he pointed it at one of the men in costume. “This is going to be the best vacation ever!” he cried.

  Joe followed his brother’s lead, pretending to pull out his sword again. He couldn’t stop laughing as they charged forward, toward the pool.

  2

  Watch Out!

  The Tyrannosaurus rex opened its mouth and roared. Frank and Joe pulled more basketballs from the gutter and threw them into the hoop beside the dinosaur’s head. “We are halfway there!” Frank yelled. “Keep going.”

  They grabbed another ball, then another, and tossed them into the hoop. Each one was painted white and purple, which was suppo
sed to make them look like dinosaur eggs. The basketball hoop was shaped like a nest. The boys had discovered the game this afternoon, and they’d spent the last few hours inside the arcade, shooting hoop after hoop. Dino Ball (which is what it was called) had earned them more than fifty tickets. If they won fifty more, they could have their choice of prizes from the arcade.

  “There you are!” Mrs. Hardy yelled across the crowded arcade. “We’ve been looking all over for you. This place is packed.”

  “Just . . . one . . . more!” Joe said. The timer ticked down. He tossed the last egg into the nest. It went through, and the machine spit out ten more tickets.

  “We’re only forty tickets away from the grand prize, Mom,” Frank said. He pointed to the wall across the arcade. There were stuffed toys of all shapes and sizes—bears, parrots, and even a giant banana. But Frank and Joe had their eye on the prizes on the very top shelf. There, above everything else, was a Soaker Shooter. It was one of the biggest water guns they’d ever seen.

  “Seems like a scary game!” Mr. Hardy patted the giant dinosaur on the head. The T. rex was nearly as tall as he was, with scaly skin that looked real. The dinosaur showed them his shiny, plastic teeth.

  “It’s time for dinner, boys,” Mrs. Hardy said. “You can win the rest of your tickets later. Promise.” She waved them past a row of pinball machines, a photo booth, and a game where you hit gophers on the head with a hammer.

  “Look what else we got.” Joe held up a drawing of him and Frank together. It was drawn with thick black marker. They had huge heads and tiny bodies. They were each holding a magnifying glass, just like Sherlock Holmes would.

  “Well, look at that!” Mr. Hardy laughed. “That’s a nice picture of you two.”

  “He even drew a case file for us,” Frank added, pointing to a folder he was holding in the picture. “Just like the kind you carry.” They’d found the man on the main deck that day drawing pictures for anyone who wanted one. People would sit in a chair for a few minutes, and he’d look at them, then ask what they liked to do for fun. Sometimes he drew kids riding bicycles or playing soccer. Frank and Joe had told him how much they liked solving mysteries, so he’d drawn them like Sherlock Holmes. He called the pictures caricatures.

  As they walked toward the main ballroom, they could hear the music starting. Inside there were hundreds of tables, all in front of a big stage. Most people were wearing nice dresses or button-down shirts. Some stood in line for food, while others ate dinner as they watched the show. Onstage a few dancers in red sequined gowns spun around in circles. A band played a loud song. The trumpets blasted out a few notes.

  “What was your favorite part of today?” Mrs. Hardy asked as they sat down at their table. The plates were heaped with salad and breadsticks. Across from them was another family, with red-haired triplets who were about five. One of the girls was throwing crackers at her sister.

  “The pyramid pool,” Frank said. “No, no—I liked the game room the best. That dinosaur game is my favorite.”

  “What about the magic show? I loved how the magician made all those cards disappear. I still don’t know where they went!” Joe couldn’t stop thinking about it. One minute there was a whole deck of cards, and the next minute they were gone.

  Frank was going to mention the flamingo park on the top deck, or the clown who walked around the restaurant on stilts, but then the lights in the ballroom went down. A man in a tuxedo walked onto the stage just as the band finished their song. He had thick black hair and a mustache that curled up at the ends. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ship of Wonders!” He waited until the crowd stopped clapping. “I’m Ricardo Ramboni, and I’ll be your host for the next week, introducing some of the best musical acts you’ve ever seen. Tonight our first performers will be—”

  There was a shriek somewhere in the crowd. Ricardo stopped talking. Every head in the room turned toward one of the front tables. “I don’t believe this! No!” the woman cried. She pushed her chair back and lifted up the tablecloth.

  “What’s going on?” Frank whispered. “Who is that?”

  Ricardo was still standing on the stage, frozen. He waved his hands, and someone turned on the ballroom lights. “Isn’t that the woman from this morning?” Joe asked. “Sir Reginald’s wife?”

  The Hardy family watched as Sir Reginald Heartpence climbed out from under the table. His white hair stuck up in every direction. His cheeks were bright red, and his suit jacket was messed up. He held a small leather briefcase in his hand. “It’s not here! It’s not anywhere!” he yelled.

  Ricardo stepped down from the stage, and a few waiters rushed in, trying to help the couple. Their teenage kids stood up, looking a little embarrassed. Every person in the ballroom was staring at them.

  Before Mr. or Mrs. Hardy could tell them not to, Frank and Joe sprung from their seats, trying to get a closer look. They pushed through some of the crowd until they were only ten feet away from Sir Reginald and his wife. Sir Reginald set the briefcase down on the table, pointing inside to the spot where the pocket watch used to be. “It was here just four hours ago. And now it’s gone!”

  His wife put her head in her hands. Her eyes were so red, it looked like she was going to cry. “I don’t know what happened,” she said quietly.

  A few waiters tried to calm Sir Reginald, but he shook them off, instead looking at the crowd that had formed around him. He stared at each person, his brows furrowed together, as if everyone were a suspect. “I know exactly what happened,” he said. “Someone stole it!”

  3

  The Case Begins . . .

  Now, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Ricardo said, looking around. “Did you misplace it? Could it still be in your cabin?”

  “Nonsense!” Sir Reginald yelled. “It was right here. Which one of you stole it? There’s a thief among us!” He eyed the tables next to him. There were two four-year-olds coloring on the floor beside them. Sir Reginald glared at them, as if they might’ve crawled under the table and taken the pocket watch themselves.

  “Something tells me they’re not suspects,” Frank said, and laughed. The two kids could barely color in the lines. Opening a leather briefcase and stealing a watch would’ve been a pretty big challenge.

  “You have to lock the doors,” Mrs. Heartpence said, pointing at the ballroom doors on the other side of the room. Some of the crowd had finished their dinner and were now walking out, annoyed by the commotion. “The thief might be getting away!”

  Mr. Hardy and Mrs. Hardy joined the small crowd. Mr. Hardy and the boys were already studying the scene like any good detectives would. They looked at the table and the tables around it, then kept an eye out for any suspicious people who seemed out of place. There were no signs that anything was off. Onstage the band started a new song, trying to entertain the guests who were still eating.

  A man in a black suit came over with two security guards from the ship. “Sir, I am so sorry to hear about what happened, but let’s discuss this somewhere else,” the man said. Frank recognized him from earlier in the day. He was one of the cruise directors. He wandered around the ship, making sure everyone was having a good time. “We wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s dinner, would we?”

  “You cannot dock in Miami on Monday,” Mrs. Heartpence said, ignoring him. “We can’t. As soon as this ship is in the harbor, the thieves will smuggle the pocket watch off. They’ll sell it as soon as they can. Then it will really be gone forever.”

  “I’m afraid we can’t stop the ship’s course,” the director said. “Even for a valuable antique. Our security officers here will be on the case. Why don’t you come to the employee’s main office tomorrow morning and we will try to sort this out?”

  “Tomorrow?” Sir Reginald huffed. “You cannot be serious. Every minute counts. Why can’t you see that?” His wife was practically in tears.

  Frank and Joe looked at their dad. Mr. Hardy already had his notebook out and was scribbling notes. “Look, Dad,” Joe said, poi
nting to the briefcase. “There’s no lock on it. Did you write that down?”

  “Fenton, you’re supposed to be on vacation,” Mrs. Hardy whispered. “No work, remember?” Mr. Hardy just smiled and shrugged.

  The cruise director and the security guards left, and Ricardo went back onstage and told a few jokes to make the audience laugh. Within minutes it seemed everyone had forgotten about the watch. Everyone except Sir Reginald and Mrs. Heartpence.

  “What are we going to do?” Mrs. Heartpence asked. “That watch has been in the family for years. And if we don’t auction it—”

  “Shhh,” Sir Reginald said, holding up his hand. Whatever she’d been about to say, he didn’t want her to mention it in front of everyone.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” their son said. Their daughter had pulled her hair in front of her face. She looked embarrassed that her parents were still yelling about the pocket watch.

  Mr. Hardy and the boys stepped forward. “Did you see anyone suspicious?” Joe asked, looking around at the nearby tables.

  Sir Reginald shook his head. “No one that I can remember.”

  “I’m sure they’ll be able to help you tomorrow,” Mrs. Hardy said, looking at the couple. “Whoever took it couldn’t have gone far.” She shot Mr. Hardy a look that said, Let’s leave this up to someone else.

  But just then Mrs. Heartpence’s eyes filled with tears. “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m sorry, Reg. We need to find that watch. If we don’t—” Her bottom lip trembled. She started to cry.

  “What is it?” Mrs. Hardy asked. She held the woman’s hand. Frank and Joe could tell their mother felt bad for her. Mrs. Heartpence seemed like she really did need their help.

  “That watch belonged to Reg’s great-grandfather, then his grandfather, then his father, and now us. And we need to auction it to help pay for our house . . . and Melinda’s and Andrew’s education. If we don’t get it back, we’ll be in serious trouble.” At that, a few more tears fell down her cheeks.