The Karate Clue Read online

  Tanya asked the first question. “What country is Jimmy from?”

  “What country?” Frank repeated. “That is easy. China.”

  “China is right!” Tanya cried.

  The kids clapped their hands.

  Joe grinned and leaned on the window-sill. He coolly looked out.

  “Hey, you guys!” Joe called to the kids. “You’ll never guess who’s down the street. It’s Jimmy Han!”

  “What?” Tanya shrieked.

  “He must be in town, visiting the Ludlows,” Joe said to Tanya.

  “Jimmy!” Tanya gasped. She clutched her throat as she moved over to look out the window. “It’s Jimmy!”

  Tanya turned and dashed out of the room. The rest of the fan club jumped up and followed her.

  “It worked,” Frank said.

  “Yeah,” Joe said. “But what will they do to us when they find out that Jimmy is really a cardboard fake?”

  Frank shrugged. There was no time to worry, though. They had to look through Tanya’s room for the black belt.

  “I’ll search her desk,” Frank said.

  “I’ll go through the treasure chest,” Joe said, running over to the box. He lifted the hasp and opened the lid. The box was packed with so much stuff he couldn’t tell what was in it.

  Joe reached in and pulled out a Jimmy Han action figure. “I want one just like this. Hai-yaaaa!” he said, stretching the arms and legs.

  “Quit playing around. We’ve got work to do,” Frank ordered.

  Joe dropped the action figure. He dug out some Jimmy Han trading cards that still smelled like bubble gum.

  “Check these out,” Frank called to Joe. He flipped through a stack of pink papers on Tanya’s desk. “They’re letters to Jimmy written by Tanya.”

  Joe joined Frank at the desk. He pretended to gag. “I bet they’re love letters—yechh!”

  “We don’t have to read them,” Frank said. “We’ll just check out her handwriting—for the B’s.”

  Joe practically pressed his nose against the paper. “The loops are even.”

  Frank nodded. “They’re not at all like the B’s on the sidewalk.”

  “Does that mean that Tanya isn’t the karate thief?” Joe asked.

  “It looks that way,” Frank said.

  Just then Joe heard footsteps.

  “Frank,” Joe whispered. “They’re coming back. We’ve got to shut the treasure chest.”

  The boys raced to the box. Frank grabbed the lid. Just as he was about to close it, he spotted something stuck to the inside. He peeled it off and stared at it.

  “What is it?” Joe asked.

  “A sheet of shiny green dragon stickers!” Frank said.

  4

  Hide and Peek

  Dragon stickers?” Joe gave a long whistle. “Do they match the one we found in Brian’s cubby?”

  Frank pulled the evidence from his pocket. “They sure do,” he said.

  Frank and Joe eyed the stickers for a minute.

  “Maybe Tanya is the thief after all,” Joe said.

  “What are you doing?” an angry voice demanded.

  Frank and Joe looked up. It was Tanya. She was standing at the door, holding the Jimmy Han cardboard cutout.

  “You’re looking through my treasure chest,” Tanya snapped.

  The other kids came into the room one by one.

  Frank waved the stickers in front of Tanya’s face.

  “We found a sticker just like this in Brian’s cubby,” Frank said.

  “Right after Jimmy Han’s black belt was stolen,” Joe added.

  “Was it yours?” Frank asked.

  Tanya studied the single green dragon sticker in Frank’s palm. She nodded. “It looks like mine. I tried wearing one on my hand the day of karate class.”

  “Ah-ha,” Joe whispered to Frank. “Caught dragon-handed.”

  “How did your sticker end up inside Brian’s cubby?” Frank asked Tanya.

  “I can explain,” Tanya said. “My nose was running during class. So I went back to the cubby room—”

  “We know that,” Frank interrupted. “You were spotted—at the scene of the crime.”

  “I saw Brian’s things in the cubby next to mine,” Tanya went on. “So I reached in for Jimmy’s belt.”

  “To steal it?” Frank asked.

  “No, to look at it,” Tanya corrected. “I would never, ever steal anything.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Joe asked. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

  “I always tell the truth because I believe what the greatest karate masters teach: self-esteem, control, and most of all, honesty,” Tanya explained.

  The other club members nodded in agreement.

  “In fact,” Tanya continued, “in one of his movies, Jimmy has a saying: Honesty is more valuable than gold.”

  Joe wrinkled his nose. “I read that one in a fortune cookie.”

  “By the way,” Tanya said, “the belt wasn’t in Brian’s cubby when I looked in. Somebody must have stolen it already.”

  Frank studied Tanya. She seemed to be telling the truth.

  “Okay. We’re sorry we called you a thief,” Frank said. He pointed to the cardboard cutout. “Now can we have the fake Jimmy back? It belongs to Chet.”

  Tanya shook her head.

  “I have my own saying,” she said. “Finders keepers, losers weepers.”

  The boys watched Tanya clunk down the fake Jimmy in the middle of her room.

  “So,” Tanya asked Frank and Joe, “do you still want to join my club?”

  Frank quickly shook his head. “Maybe some other time.”

  • • •

  That afternoon Frank and Joe had lunch with their dad in his office on Bay Street. After lunch the brothers promised to come back in an hour. They were supposed to meet Chet and Brian to do some more investigating.

  They went outside and waited in front of Sammy’s Sandwich Shop. Within minutes Chet and Brian appeared.

  “Guess what?” Chet asked. “I just karate-chopped a meatball hero in half.”

  Brian’s crisp white polo shirt was dotted with red stains. “And I have proof,” he said, pointing to one of the stains.

  The boys walked down busy Bay Street. Frank and Joe filled their friends in on Tanya and the green dragon stickers.

  “I can’t believe she kept the cardboard cutout,” Chet complained.

  “Me neither,” Joe said.

  “Forget about that for now,” Frank said. “There’s something I want you all to see.”

  Frank led the boys down the block. They stopped in front of a big glass building. People dressed in fancy clothes chatted as they entered through the main door.

  “I know this place. It’s Weatherby’s Auction House,” Brian said. “They sell valuable stuff here. Once they sold a baseball glove that was almost a hundred years old!”

  Chet wrinkled his nose. “I’m glad I have a new one.”

  “Wait a minute,” Joe said. His eyes lit up. “This is where Bobby Lee said he’d sell the black belt.”

  “Exactly.” Frank pointed to a sign resting on an easel near the door. “And read that.”

  The sign read: Action Movie Treasure to Be Auctioned Today!

  “Something from an action movie?” Brian asked. “What could it be?”

  “The black belt?” Joe said. “If Bobby stole the belt, he could have brought it to Weatherby’s to sell.”

  “Right. We have to go inside and check it out,” Frank said. He pointed to the main door. “Follow me.”

  They walked into a shiny marble lobby. A man in a dark suit held out his hand to stop them.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “No children allowed in the auction room.”

  A pin on the man’s jacket told the boys his name was Thomas.

  “But we want to see the action movie treasure,” Joe said.

  Thomas chuckled. “Doesn’t everybody?”

  Brian stepped forward. He pointed to a glass display case. Ins
ide the case was a brown hat with a wide brim. “Isn’t that Indiana Jones’s hat?” he asked Thomas.

  Thomas pushed up his glasses and glanced over at the glass case. “Yes, it is.”

  “Well, it can’t be the real hat he wore in the movies,” Brian said. “Indy’s head was a lot bigger than that.”

  “It most certainly is the real hat, young man,” Thomas insisted. “Come over here and I’ll show you.”

  Brian followed the man. He waved his hand behind his back.

  “Now’s our chance,” Frank whispered to Joe and Chet.

  The boys scurried past Thomas and into the room marked Auction Party.

  “Wow,” Joe said when they were in the room. “Look at all the people.”

  “Forget that,” Chet said. He pointed to a table. “Look at all the food!”

  A long table was covered with a crisp white tablecloth that reached almost to the floor. Plates of tiny sandwiches were lined up on top of the table. There was also a mountain of chopped liver shaped like a horse’s head. Frank and Joe thought that was pretty weird.

  The boys moved along the wall. Joe spotted a pedestal in the middle of the room. Something was on the pedestal, but it was covered with a black velvet cloth.

  “If the karate belt is here, it’s probably under that cloth,” Joe said.

  Frank saw a guard standing nearby. “Yeah, but if that guard sees us, it’s all over. We have to hide somewhere.”

  “The table,” Joe suggested.

  The boys ducked under the table one by one. The cloth covered them like a thick tent. Very carefully, they peeked out from underneath.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” a woman standing next to the pedestal announced. “Today Weatherby’s Auction House says . . . Hooray for Hollywood!”

  Suddenly Frank and Joe heard a loud, rumbling noise.

  GRRRRRRRUMMMMMP!

  “What was that?” Joe whispered.

  “It’s my stomach,” Chet answered. “I can smell the food on the table.”

  “Well, shut it up,” Frank said.

  “There’s only one way I can do that,” Chet said. He reached out from under the white tablecloth. “I think the little hot dogs are right up around here.”

  “So it is with great pleasure,” the woman went on, “that we proudly present . . .”

  “Chet!” Frank whispered. “No! Don’t go for the food.”

  But it was too late.

  Chet had grabbed the tablecloth by mistake. Almost afraid to look, Frank peeked out from under the table. Everything was crashing to the floor: the sandwiches, the hot dogs—even the chopped liver horse head!

  5

  Bobby’s Secret

  Now you’ve done it!” Frank muttered angrily to Chet.

  The guests gasped with surprise as the boys crawled out from under the table.

  Joe slid on some hot dogs. Frank stepped right into a lump of chopped liver.

  “My beautiful horse head,” the woman near the pedestal sobbed. “It’s ruined!”

  “How did you kids get in here?” the guard roared.

  “What are we going to tell them?” Joe whispered to Frank.

  “Run now! Explain later!” Frank said.

  Chet picked up a handful of sandwiches. “Wait. There’s salami on rye.”

  “Are you crazy?” Joe wailed. He took his cap off and gave Chet a swat. “Let’s go!”

  Chet stuffed a few more sandwiches in his shirt. Then the boys dashed through the crowd and into the marble lobby. Brian was still chatting with Thomas.

  “Brian,” Joe called. “Red alert!”

  Soon the four boys were out the door. Thomas came after them, but he couldn’t keep up. The boys dashed down Bay Street and skidded around a corner.

  They were still running when Frank spotted Iola Morton. She was rolling toward them on a pair of in-line skates.

  “Get out of my way,” Iola screamed. “I can’t stop!”

  Frank, Joe, and Brian jumped out of the way just in time. But not Chet. She crashed into her brother, and they both fell to the ground.

  “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” Chet wailed. The sandwiches inside his shirt were oozing out of his collar.

  “Look what you did to my new knee pads!” Iola cried. She scraped off a gob of mustard. “Ugh—gross.”

  Brian watched a hot dog roll into the street. He sighed and shook his head. “And the black belt wasn’t even at Weatherby’s.”

  The boys stared at Brian.

  “How do you know?” Joe asked.

  “Thomas told me,” Brian said. “The movie treasure was a feed bucket. It belonged to the famous movie horse Sir Ted.”

  “Ah-ha!” Joe snapped his fingers. “The chopped liver horse head—that explains it.”

  “Speaking of the black belt,” Iola said, “I just saw Zack in Pizza Paradise. He was telling everyone that he was going to the Jimmy Han movie tomorrow.”

  “Dun!” Chet groaned. “A lot of kids are going to the Jimmy Han movie tomorrow.”

  Iola went on. “Zack also said he was going to dress up just like Jimmy Han—with a black belt.”

  Frank, Joe, and Brian stared at one another. Could it be the missing belt?

  “I think we should all go to the movie tomorrow,” Frank said. “To investigate.”

  Iola gave Frank the thumbs-up sign. “Sounds good to me.”

  Chet glared at Iola. “Hey. These are my friends—not yours.”

  Frank turned to Chet. “Iola gave us two good clues so far. That makes her one of us.”

  Chet slapped his forehead with his palm. “Give me a break!”

  “The movie starts tomorrow at one o’clock,” Frank said. “We’ll meet at the Bayport Cinema at twelve-thirty. That will give us time to go buy our tickets and check out Zack.”

  After saying goodbye to their friends, Frank and Joe went back to their dad’s office. Mr. Hardy was still busy so he gave the boys permission to walk home without him.

  “I wish I had my skateboard,” Joe said on their way through town.

  Frank and Joe neared the Bayport Karate School. They peeked through the window. The studio was empty.

  Frank walked over to the door. He pulled the knob, and the door opened.

  “What are you doing?” Joe asked.

  “Now’s the perfect time to search the studio for more clues,” Frank said.

  Frank and Joe walked into the empty studio. Neither Sensei nor Bobby Lee seemed to be around.

  There was no time to waste. Frank paced the floor looking for clues. Joe searched under the mats.

  Suddenly Frank and Joe heard a noise. It seemed to come from the office in the front.

  “Someone’s coming,” Frank whispered.

  Frank and Joe slipped into a nearby supply closet filled with helmets and sparring gloves. They left the door open a crack so they could see who was coming.

  “Look,” Frank murmured. “It’s Bobby Lee.”

  Joe peeked out. Bobby was dressed in a white gi—and a black belt!

  “That has to be the stolen belt,” Joe whispered.

  The brothers held their breaths, hoping that Bobby didn’t come over to the supply closet.

  “Check it out,” Frank said. He pointed through the crack of the door. Bobby was jumping through the air and performing some awesome snap kicks.

  “Pow! Pow! Pow!” Joe whispered. “He’s almost as good as Jimmy—”

  Just then Bobby aimed at the closet door with his foot. With a powerful back kick, he slammed the door shut.

  “—Han.” Joe gulped. He pushed at the door handle.

  “Holy smoke,” Joe groaned.

  “What is it?” Frank whispered.

  Joe turned to Frank in the dark. “We’re stuck!”

  6

  To B or Not to B

  Let’s not panic,” Frank said quietly. “We’ll just figure out what Jimmy Han would do in a mess like this.”

  The boys thought for a moment.

  “I k
now what I would do,” Joe said softly.

  “What?” Frank asked.

  “Help! Get us out of here! Help!” Joe shouted through the door.

  With one yank, Bobby opened the door.

  “So that’s why the closet door was open,” he growled. “What are you two doing in there?”

  Frank and Joe were sure that Bobby would attack. Joe jumped into a defensive stance. Frank quickly did the same.

  “Hai-yaaaaaa!” Frank shouted.

  “Ya! Ya! Ya!” Joe yelled.

  Bobby stepped back and laughed. “Don’t worry. I don’t spar with white belts.”

  Frank and Joe slowly came out of the supply closet.

  “We were looking for the Jimmy Han black belt that was stolen the other day,” Frank said.

  Bobby tugged at the belt around his waist. “You mean like this one?”

  Frank and Joe nodded.

  “Well, you boys are out of luck,” Bobby said. “Because this happens to be my belt.” He flipped it over. “See?”

  Frank and Joe examined the back of the belt. There was no Jimmy Han autograph.

  “If that’s your belt,” Frank said suspiciously, “that means you’re a karate champ.”

  “I suppose you could call me that.”

  Joe’s eyes opened wide. “Cool!”

  “Why don’t you come into my office?” Bobby said. “I have some stuff you might like to see.”

  Frank and Joe couldn’t resist the offer.

  The shelves in Bobby’s office were filled with dozens of shiny trophies and medals.

  “I won these in karate tournaments all over the country,” Bobby explained. “A long time ago.”

  Joe inspected the action-packed photographs on the walls. They were all of Bobby as a younger man.

  “Didn’t you ever want to be in the movies?” Joe asked. “Like Jimmy Han?”

  Bobby suddenly looked very sad. “It was once a dream of mine. But it never came true.”

  “How come?” Frank asked.

  “I injured my arm in a tournament one year,” Bobby explained. “After that my chops and punches were never the same.”

  “You may not be able to chop,” Joe said, “but your kicks are pretty awesome.”

  Bobby looked at Joe curiously.