Diplomatic Deceit Read online

  While that little drama was being played out, the sound of sirens cut the air as police cruisers converged on the nearby graveyard. A fast car hidden behind a mausoleum threw up a shower of gravel as it tried to make an escape, but the road out of the cemetery was blocked.

  Lieutenant Grant was smiling by the time Joe was back indoors again. "We caught three guys in the graveyard, yelling in French to one another," he said to Frank. "That's in addition to the two you left locked up in the warehouse - and the one you just tackled," he added, turning to Joe.

  "Lieutenant," one of the plainclothes detectives called, coming up to make a report. "We've got the other two accomplices downstairs in the ballroom."

  Police officers brought up a furious Sylvie, spitting French as she struggled against her handcuffs.

  "What's she saying?" Joe asked Callie.

  "I can guess," she told him with a smile, "but I wouldn't know the idioms."

  The police also brought up a scared-looking Nadine.

  "Something a little more serious than shoplifting this time," Lieutenant Grant told her grimly. "And this time there's no phony diplomatic immunity." He shook his head. "It's like I always say - petty infractions lead to worse crimes."

  "Uh, Lieutenant," Joe said, stepping over to the police officer. "Don't be hard on her. Without her help, we'd never have been able to save the Berots."

  Nadine's face was white, but her voice was calm as she spoke to Lieutenant Grant. "Sir, I will tell you everything I know about this plot."

  Lieutenant Grant smiled at the girl and nodded. "In view of her cooperation, perhaps she could get off lightly," he said. "She just might."

  "Well, it looks like we've tied everything up," Joe said to Callie and Frank. "The Lafayette sword is safe, Paul the thief is captured, his strong-arm man is in jail - "

  "And the girl who got me in trouble with the cops is facing a lot worse than I ever got," Callie chimed in, grinning. "Even if you turned out to be soft on her."

  "Me? Soft?" Joe protested. "She did help us, after all."

  "Right. All we had to do was back her into a corner and threaten to punch her head in," Callie shot back.

  Frank sighed. "The situation must be normal. You two are fighting like cats and dogs again."

  He nudged Callie, nodding down the hallway. "Do you think you can knock it off for a couple of minutes, though? Your French friends are coming this way."

  The real Berot family came up to Frank, Joe, and Callie, looking a little embarrassed. "We didn't have a chance to thank you properly for rescuing us," Mr. Berot said. Even in a torn suit and with unshaven stubble on his face, he was every inch the distinguished diplomat. "You saved our lives, and you saved the Lafayette sword. My family and I will always be in your debt."

  He smiled and said, "If what I heard from the police is a sample, the impostors did not show you much hospitality. We, at least, hope to make up for that by showing you a good time for the rest of your visit."

  "Yes, indeed," Madeleine said, stepping up to take Frank's arm. "Callie often wrote to me about the adventures of her friends the Hardys. But I never expected to see you in action. My hero," she said, flashing him a smile even brighter than Nadine's best efforts. "So brave - and so handsome. You never told me that, Callie."

  "Well, Maddy," said Callie, taking Frank's other arm, "some things are best not shared."

  They marched off with a very nervous-looking Frank between them.

  Joe followed them, shaking his head. "Oh, boy," he muttered. "This is going to be some vacation."

  The End.

  Frank and Joe's next case:

  A tornado has hit Bayport, but the deadliest storm is still brewing - in the Hardy home. Years ago, Fenton Hardy sent a criminal named Leonard Mock to prison. Now Mock's son has returned to Bayport to seek revenge. He has vowed to put Frank and Joe's father away for good!

  But Leonard Mock lost his son to adoption when the boy was five. His name was changed, and the only clue to his identity is that he has since befriended the Hardy boys! Then the brothers uncover a shocking and horrifying piece of evidence. The person out to murder their father may very well be none other than Chet Morton - their best and most trusted friend ... in Flesh and Blood, Case #39 in The Hardy Boys Casefiles®.