The Disappearing Dog Read online

  DOG TRICKS

  “There’s Mrs. Briar!” Joe said. He pointed to the neighbor who lived across from them. She was standing the middle of her front yard. Joe thought she looked lost. “Hi, Mrs. Briar!” he shouted. “Is anything wrong?”

  Mrs. Briar turned at the sound of Joe’s voice. “Yes, there is, boys,” she called to them. “Charlie has disappeared!”

  CATCH UP ON ALL THE HARDY BOYS® SECRET FILES

  #1 Trouble at the Arcade

  #2 The Missing Mitt

  #3 Mystery Map

  #4 Hopping Mad

  #5 A Monster of a Mystery

  #6 The Bicycle Thief

  #7 The Disappearing Dog

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin paperback edition October 2011

  Text copyright © 2011 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Scott Burroughs

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark

  of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  THE HARDY BOYS is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  Designed by Lisa Vega

  The text of this book was set in Garamond.

  Manufactured in the United States of America 0911 OFF

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Control Number 2011930733

  ISBN 978-1-4424-2314-5

  ISBN 978-1-4424-2315-2 (eBook)

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: CLASS MAGICIAN

  Chapter 2: HOW DID CHARLIE DISAPPEAR?

  Chapter 3: MAGIC SECRETS

  Chapter 4: WHAT’S THE WHY?

  Chapter 5: SNACK SOLUTION

  Chapter 6: THE HORRIBLE SMELL

  Chapter 7: CHASED!

  Chapter 8: SUSPECT NUMBER ONE—AGAIN!

  Chapter 9: THE BIG MAGIC SHOW

  Chapter 10: SECRET FILE #7: MAGICALLY SOLVED

  1

  Class Magician

  Nine-year-old Frank Hardy’s substitute teacher for the week, Ms. Yung, came into the room, a big smile on her face, and said, “I’ve just come from the principal’s office, students. You’re getting a new classmate! He used to go to the school where I taught last year, so I already know all about him.”

  Frank leaned over to his friend Callie Shaw and whispered, “Whoever it is must be really something.”

  Just then a boy appeared at the classroom door. He was dressed in a knit shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He was holding a green backpack in his left hand. Frank wondered what was so special about this average-looking kid.

  “This is Max O’Malley, class,” Ms. Yung announced. “And he has a very special talent.”

  Max smiled at the class.

  “Our principal said I could let Max show you what it is,” Ms. Yung continued. “Would you like that?”

  “Yeah,” a few kids said sleepily.

  Ms. Yung nodded at Max, and he ran out of the room. Frank gave Callie a puzzled look. Before he could say anything, though, Max was back. But now he had a black top hat on his head, a black cape around his shoulders, and a long black wand in his left hand.

  “Class,” Ms. Yung announced, “I give you Max O’Malley, Magician!”

  When nothing happened, Max said, “This is where I usually get loud applause!”

  Frank looked at Callie and rolled his eyes.

  “Knock, knock! Hello!” Max said. “I’m waiting!”

  Several kids at the front began to applaud weakly. Then the applause increased to the point that it was at least polite.

  “Thanks!” Max said. With a swirl of his cape he swept into the room and stood to the side of Ms. Yung’s desk. “I can make anything disappear!” he said. “Anything!” He slowly narrowed his eyes to slits. “So you all need to be careful!”

  “Oh, brother,” someone in the class mumbled.

  Suddenly Max took off his top hat and waved his wand over it, and a puff of smoke whooshed from inside.

  “You’re not supposed to light anything on fire on school grounds!” Emily Franklin shouted.

  Ms. Yung stood up. “Emily, there is no fire here,” she said. “It’s part of Max’s magic act.” She looked around the room. “Wasn’t that just fantastic, class? Let’s give Max a big hand!”

  This time the class clapped louder than before. And Frank had to admit that he hadn’t expected smoke to come out of Max’s hat. But he wanted to see some more tricks before he was really impressed with the class’s new member.

  Ms. Yung said, “Now we’ll have an intermission and take the geography quiz I scheduled for today.” She turned to Max. “You don’t have to take it now if you don’t want to, since you didn’t know about it.”

  “Oh, that’s no problem, Ms. Yung. I love geography,” Max said. He hung his cape and hat on a coat hook. “In fact, in between my shows I relax by reading geography.”

  Callie leaned over and said to Frank, “I can’t decide if I like this kid or not.”

  “I know. He’s making it hard. I want to like him,” Frank replied.

  The geography quiz was mostly about China, Ms. Yung’s parents’ home country before they moved to the United States. Frank thought he knew all the answers.

  After the quiz Ms. Yung made another announcement. “Well, class, I thought I’d let Max treat you to the rest of his magic show before we go out for recess. Would you like that?”

  Everyone applauded enthusiastically!

  Max headed to the front of the room. He took his cape off the hook and put it around his shoulders. When he set the top hat on his head, though, there was a sound: Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! A silly grin appeared on Max’s face. He took the top hat off, stuck his hand inside it, and pulled out a baby chick. “Well, what do you know?” he said. He showed the chick to the class.

  There were several oohs and aahs, and then everyone applauded again.

  For the next several minutes Max walked around the room, pulling a quarter out from behind Ms. Yung’s ear, a dime out from behind Callie’s ear, and a penny out from behind Frank’s ear.

  “My ear is worth more than a penny!” Frank complained.

  Max shrugged. “What can I say?” he told the class. “I don’t decide how valuable your ears are. I just pull out whatever coin I find there.”

  Frank looked over at Callie. “For some reason I don’t think Max likes me,” he whispered.

  Just then the recess bell rang. Everyone started filing out of the classroom.

  “Why don’t you put on a magic show for some of the other kids?” Frank asked Max as they started out the door. “I know my brother, Joe, and his friends would really enjoy it!”

  “Sure! Why not?” Max said. “I’m always looking for new fans!”

  Max followed Frank and Callie outside.

  Frank spotted Joe and some of his classmates dribbling basketballs on the outside court.

  “Joe! Put away the basketballs!” Frank shouted to his brother. “We have a surprise for you.”

  Joe and his friends turned and looked at Max dressed in his magician’s outfit.

  Max stood under one of the baskets. Joe and his basketball buddies formed a row in front of him. They were soon joined by kids from some of the other classes.

  “I’ll introduce you, Max,” Frank whispered. He turned to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the one, the only, Max O’Malley, Magician!” He and Callie began applauding, and they were joined by the rest of the audience.

  Then Frank turned to Max and nodded. “The stage is all yours!” he said.

  Max went through his usual routine and was an immediate hit. Frank was a little miffed that Max pulled a quarter from Joe’s ear. He was sure Max did it on purpose.

  Finally, just as Max was bringing his show to a close, someone called out, “Can you make people disappear?”

  Max got a funny look on his face, grinned, then suddenly turned toward Frank. “I can make anyone disappear.”

  2

  How Did Charlie Disappear?

  On the way home from school all Joe wanted to talk about was Max O’Malley.

  “He’s really cool, Frank,” Joe kept saying.

  “He’s all right, I guess,” Frank said.

  Joe stopped and looked at his brother. “Okay. Spill it,” he said. “Are you just jealous, or is there more to the story?”

  Frank explained the feeling he had about Max. “It’s really strange,” he concluded. “I’ve never met him before, but he makes me feel as if he knows all about me and that he doesn’t like any of it.”

  “It’s show business, Frank!” Joe said.

  Frank shrugged. “Yeah, I guess,” he admitted.

  “Do you know what I’m thinking about?” Joe said as they continu
ed walking toward home.

  “What?” Frank asked.

  “Who I would like to see Max make disappear,” Joe said with a grin.

  Frank grinned back. “Adam Ackerman!”

  Adam Ackerman was the biggest bully in Bayport, and he was always making trouble for Frank and Joe.

  Frank let out a sigh. “That’s too much to hope for,” he said, “but if Max really can make people disappear, Adam Ackerman is the first person I’d volunteer!”

  Just then Frank and Joe turned onto their street.

  “There’s Mrs. Briar!” Joe said. He pointed to the neighbor who lived across from them. She was standing the middle of her front yard. Joe thought she looked lost. “Hi, Mrs. Briar!” he shouted. “Is anything wrong?”

  Mrs. Briar turned at the sound of Joe’s voice. “Yes, there is, boys,” she called to them. “Charlie has disappeared!”

  Charlie was Mrs. Briar’s prizewinning Chihuahua. “Did you say he’s disappeared?” Frank asked her when they got closer.

  Mrs. Briar nodded. “I can’t imagine where he went,” she said. “I put him out in the backyard, as I do every afternoon in good weather, so he can get his exercise. But when I went to call him for supper, he wasn’t there anymore.”

  Frank looked at Joe. “You don’t think it’s possible that . . . ,” he began.

  Joe finished with, “Max made Charlie disappear?” He thought for a minute. “Why would he do that for no reason at all?”

  Frank shrugged. “It’s just a feeling,” he said. He turned back to Mrs. Briar. “Well, your backyard is awfully big, Mrs. Briar. Why don’t you let Joe and me take another look for you?”

  “Oh, that is so kind of you boys,” Mrs. Briar said. She gave them a big smile. “I know the Hardy boys are famous in Bayport for solving all kinds of mysteries, and this is certainly a mystery.” She let out a big sigh. “I just hope Charlie isn’t unhappy about anything,” she added. “There’s an important dog show coming up in a couple of weeks.” She looked at Frank and Joe. “You don’t think he’s run away, do you? Because he doesn’t want to compete?”

  Frank shook his head. “I don’t think so, Mrs. Briar,” he said. “Joe and I have seen Charlie at some of the shows.”

  “Yeah!” Joe said. “He’s a real competitor!”

  With Mrs. Briar in the lead, the Hardy boys headed for her backyard.

  Mrs. Briar’s love for her backyard was third only to her love for Charlie and dog shows. The yard was huge. Frank and Joe remembered how they used to play there when they were younger and would often get lost themselves. It was surrounded by shrubs, and rosebushes that always seemed to have huge blossoms. There was a sunken patio that the Briars used to use for entertaining the neighbors. Thick shrubbery lined the tall wooden fence all the way around the yard.

  “I don’t see how Charlie could have gotten out of this yard, Mrs. Briar,” Frank finally said. “I’ve seen pictures of prisons that would be easier to escape from!”

  “Oh my goodness, Frank,” Mrs. Briar said. “Do you think Charlie considers my backyard a prison?” She turned and surveyed the grounds. “I always thought it was more like a beautiful park.”

  “Frank didn’t mean he thought your backyard was a prison,” Joe said hurriedly. “He just meant we can’t see any way that Charlie could have escaped.”

  “But he did, Joe,” Mrs. Briar said sadly. “He just disappeared.”

  There’s that word again: “disappeared”! Joe conveyed his thought to Frank with just a look.

  “It’s a mystery, all right, Mrs. Briar,” Frank said.

  “And you can be sure that Frank and I will try to solve it,” Joe offered.

  “Oh, boys, thank you so much,” Mrs. Briar said.

  “We’ll start by looking around the neighborhood,” Frank said.

  3

  Magic Secrets

  Frank and Joe crossed the street and went inside their house.

  They found their mother in the kitchen, a book in one hand, a mixing spoon in the other. Mrs. Hardy was a librarian. No matter what else she was doing, she was always holding a book.

  “Hello, boys,” Mrs. Hardy said. She looked at the clock over the stove. “I was beginning to wonder why you weren’t home yet.”

  “We were across the street talking to Mrs. Briar,” Joe said. “Charlie has disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” Mrs. Hardy said. “How in the world did he get out of that backyard?”

  “That’s what we were wondering too, Mom,” Frank said.

  “But we helped Mrs. Briar search every inch of it,” Joe added, “and Charlie was nowhere to be found.”

  “That’s terrible,” Mrs. Hardy said. “Mrs. Briar lives for the dog shows, and Charlie always wins.”

  “We told her we’d help her solve the mystery,” Frank said. “Do we have time to do some sleuthing before Dad gets home for dinner?”

  “You’re in luck. Your father just called and said he’d be late. He’s meeting with some Bayport police detectives about a case,” Mrs. Hardy said. Although Mr. Hardy was a private investigator with his own cases, he often used his expertise to help the local police solve theirs. “It’ll probably be at least another hour before he gets home.”

  “That should be enough time for us to question the neighbors,” Frank said. He turned to Joe. “Right?”

  “That sounds like a plan,” Joe said.

  Chet and Iola Morton now lived one block over from the Hardys. They had moved in from the country the year before. Frank knew that Mrs. Morton loved dogs. She would have noticed one wandering around in her front yard.

  Iola answered the door. “Hey, Frank! Hey, Joe! I can’t do your homework now, but if you’ll come back . . .”

  “Funny, Iola,” Frank said. “Really funny!”

  “I’m glad you thought so,” Iola said. “I had just started mapping out my comedy tour when the doorbell rang.”

  “Cool, Iola,” Joe said. “Do you need a manager?”

  Iola grinned. “What are you guys up to?” she asked. “Chet’s not here, if he’s the one you wanted to talk to. He’s helping Dad.”

  “We’re looking for Charlie, Mrs. Briar’s dog,”

  Frank said. “He’s disappeared. We thought maybe your mom might have seen him wandering around your yard earlier.”

  “Charlie! That dog’s worth a lot of money,” Iola said. “Are you sure he wasn’t stolen?”

  “Well, Charlie is gone, so ‘disappeared’ could mean stolen,” Joe said, “or it could mean something else, which we’re not ready to discuss yet.”

  “You two can be so secretive at times,” Iola complained.

  “That’s the life of a detective for you, Iola,” Frank said. “What can I say?”

  “Whatever!” Iola said. “Mom!” she shouted.

  Mrs. Morton hurried into the room. “What’s the matter, Iola? . . . Oh, hi, boys! Chet isn’t—”

  “They’re looking for Charlie, not Chet, Mom,” Iola said. “He’s disappeared.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible!” Mrs. Morton said. “His family must really be upset!”

  “Charlie is a dog, Mom,” Iola said.

  “Oh,” Mrs. Morton replied. “Well, it’s still terrible.”

  “Did you see or hear a Chihuahua in your yard earlier today, Mrs. Morton?” Joe asked.

  Mrs. Morton shook her head. “No, I’m sure there was no Chihuahua around,” she said. “They’re not exactly quiet dogs, so I would have noticed.”

  Frank looked at his watch. “We should be going,” he said. “We promised Mrs. Briar we’d ask all around the neighborhood for her.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Morton,” Joe said. He turned to Iola. “Just let me know when your tour bus is leaving, and I’ll be here,” he added.

  Iola grinned. “You got it,” she said.

  Mrs. Morton gave them both puzzled looks.

  During the next thirty minutes they stopped at the houses of some of their other neighborhood friends to ask about Charlie.

  Belinda Conrad’s mother said she’d been shopping most of the day.

  Biff Hooper’s father had stayed home from the office because of a terrible migraine and had slept most of the day.

  Tony Prito said both of his parents were still at work, so no one would have been around to see a wandering Chihuahua.