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  I saw Liz’s face fall. She’d probably been hoping to work with Chet. “We have to be partners,” I told Joe. “We need to talk.”

  He nodded.

  “My student teacher, Marty, will be overseeing the room,” Huang went on. “And I’ll check in from time to time. Let’s get going!”

  Marty came in and bowed. We all bowed back, and I took a good look at the guy. He was gigantic! I could hardly believe his arms even fit into his gi. But he didn’t appear to be much older than me. I wondered how he’d gotten to be the student teacher. Huang obviously trusted him—the sensei had already left the dojo.

  “Pair off and start working,” Marty called. “I’ll be around to help individually. Call me if you have any questions.”

  I turned to Joe and bowed. He bowed back. “I’ll go first,” he said. “You block.” He did the shiko tsuki—slowly, so he could focus on the technique.

  “I saw Chet go into Huang’s office, but I couldn’t get a good look at what he did in there,” I said quietly.

  “He handed off that package from the restaurant,” Joe told me. “He’s obviously working as a courier for Huang. This is the second time he’s done it.”

  “Maybe that’s why Huang favors him,” I commented, blocking Joe’s third shiko tsuki move. “Because he does Huang’s dirty work.”

  “Hang on,” Joe cried. “This is Chet we’re talking about. He doesn’t do anyone’s dirty work.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Marty turn toward us. I quickly did the shiko tsuki, accompanied by a “Hy-yah!”

  Joe, surprised, blocked it. “What did you do that for?” he whispered. “I thought it was my turn.”

  “Your voice was getting loud,” I said. “Marty noticed.”

  Joe grimaced. “Sorry. I don’t want that guy on our case. Dude’s huge.” I did the punch again and Joe blocked it. “I’m just saying that I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. Chet would never get involved with a lowlife like Paul Huang,” he said.

  “We don’t know for sure what Huang’s up to,” I pointed out. “And we have no idea what was in that package Chet brought him. For all we know, it was Huang’s dinner!”

  “You two, separate,” Marty growled, coming up to us. “ You’re doing more talking than sparring.”

  Uh-oh. “Sorry,” I told him, trying to sound meek.

  He nodded, sizing me up. “You, work with me,” he said. “ You,” he nodded toward Joe, “go over and work with Liz.”

  Joe didn’t even try to hide his grin. Sure, he gets to work with a girl from the beginners’ group while I get stuck with the Incredible Hulk. I sighed, bowed, and did the shiko tsuki. Marty blocked it the same way Joe had, but with Marty, it felt like my arm had hit a brick wall. He didn’t even bend a little bit.

  Marty stood up, bowed, and then did the shiko tsuki himself. I shot my arm up to block him, but he plowed right through it, his fist coming within half an inch of my face. I gasped and wobbled backward.

  “You have to keep your stance strong,” Marty coached me. “Feet planted solidly. Weight distributed evenly. Otherwise, my blow can knock you off balance.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” I said wryly.

  He cracked a smile. “Let’s try again.” He did the shiko tsuki, I focused on my balance and held my arm up to block. He hit me pretty hard, but my block held.

  “Better,” Marty said.

  “Thanks.” I rubbed my arm. It was unbelievable how strong this guy was. “You obviously know what you’re doing. How long have you been studying with Sensei Huang?” I asked.

  “Ten months,” Marty said. “And when I started, I was as scrawny as Billy Lee over there. This place has completely changed my life.”

  I glanced at Billy, who was working with Chet. Billy was a pretty small guy. How could someone like that turn into someone like Marty so quickly? “That’s quite a growth spurt,” I said.

  Marty chuckled. “That’s what my mother says. But Sensei Huang got me on a strict workout regimen, and I take classes here every day.”

  “Cool,” I said.

  “You rested enough?” Marty asked. “Let’s try again.”

  I bowed to him, resigned. I had a feeling this would be a long, hard class.

  “One of us should ask Huang for help. You know, to distract him,” Joe suggested at the end of class. “And then the other one slips into his office to find out what’s in the package Chet brought.”

  I stretched my arm across my chest and winced. Marty had totally beaten up on me—I could tell I’d be sore tomorrow. “I nominate you for the ‘asking Huang for help’ part,” I told Joe. “I don’t think I can take any more help on these karate moves.”

  Joe nodded. “There’s Huang. Let’s do it now.” He moved over into the group of students surrounding the sensei. I waited until Joe had Huang involved in demonstrating the proper outside block move to counter the shiko tsuki punch, and then I ducked into the office.

  The place was a mess—papers strewn all over the desk, drawers opened. I hesitated. Had somebody else been looking around in here? Or was this just Huang’s usual way of working? It didn’t look like the office of someone who was supposed to be as calm and controlled as Huang.

  I glanced around, looking for the bulky package I’d seen Chet receive at the diner near the train station. There wasn’t much time.

  No sign of it on Huang’s desk or on the chair. I pulled open a drawer and flipped through the office supplies inside. Nothing.

  My foot hit something solid under the desk. I bent to look—pay dirt! There was the package, still taped shut.

  Well, that’s a problem.

  I used my fingernail to peel up one end of the tape. I gripped the end of it and pulled. Slowly. Slowly. I couldn’t risk ripping the tape. Finally I’d pulled it all the way to one side. The package gaped open. And it wasn’t full of Huang’s dinner. Inside were a bunch of brown envelopes—which looked a lot like the one Huang had given Billy Lee.

  I pulled one out and opened it. A small, unmarked pill bottle lay inside. The pills were just small white tablets with no markings. I frowned. If this was medicine, why wasn’t it labeled? Where was the prescription information?

  I grabbed another envelope. Maybe the pills in there would be labeled.

  “Hang on for a minute,” Finn said. His voice sounded loud. I glanced up and saw him through the window into the hall. He stood right outside the door.

  I ducked down, stuffed the envelopes back into the package, and pulled the tape back over the top, pressing down hard so it would stick.

  Finn was probably just on his way to his own office, but it didn’t hurt to be safe. I put the package back under Huang’s desk.

  “Let me just grab the class schedule,” Finn added. He was still right outside.

  And the doorknob began to turn. . . .

  I was trapped!

  Hide under the desk? That wouldn’t work. What if Finn was really coming for the package? He’d know it was under the desk, and he’d see me.

  I glanced around the office. There was nowhere else to hide. Finn’s body was in front of the door, so he couldn’t see me through the interior window.

  I had no choice. I ran for the window. Quickly I yanked up the shades and pushed on the window-pane. It opened outward.

  The door creaked open.

  I didn’t look back. I leaped up onto the windowsill, swung my feet over the edge, and dropped through the open window. I had to duck so my head didn’t hit the glass.

  As I fell, I heard Finn step into the office.

  Did he see me?

  I landed on my feet and took off, running along the side of the building until I reached a thick bush that grew about fifteen feet away. I dove under it.

  Finn stuck his head out the window, looking around suspiciously. I held my breath. Finally he shrugged, shook his head, and pulled the window closed.

  Made it!

  I stood up and headed around the building toward the front door. But befo
re I got to the end of the building, Liz Campbell stepped out in front of me.

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  Busted!

  “Uh . . . what?” I asked lamely.

  “You just jumped out the window and hid in a bush,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I saw you.”

  “It’s stupid.” I shook my head, trying to look sheepish. “I was snooping around in the sensei’s office. You know, looking for lesson plans or something from the advanced class.”

  “Why?” Liz sounded dubious.

  “I just wanted to start working on more advanced moves. You know, so I could show off to Joe,” I told her. “We can get pretty competitive. He bet me that he’d make it out of the beginners’ class before I do.”

  “Huh.” Liz thought about that for a moment. “So did you find anything?”

  “No,” I said. “I guess Sensei Huang doesn’t like to write things down.”

  “He prefers to wing it,” Liz said with a shrug. “See you later.” She wandered off.

  But I was worried. What did she mean, that Huang liked to wing it?

  And more importantly, was she going to tell her father that I’d been snooping around in the office?

  9

  Suspect Behavior

  “So the pills weren’t labeled, and the bottles weren’t labeled,” I said that night. I tossed my mini-basketball through the hoop on my bedroom door. “Basically, we know nothing, and it’s already Thursday.”

  “Not true,” Frank replied. “We know that Chet has been picking up packages filled with pills from the California Diner at the train station, and we know that he’s been carrying them back to Huang.”

  “And I guess we know that Huang has been giving those pills to Billy Lee and making him pay for them,” I said.

  “If he’s been giving them to Billy, chances are he’s been giving them to other students, too,” Frank said grimly.

  I shot the b-ball again. “What do you think they are?” I asked.

  Frank shrugged. “If it was all legal, I doubt Huang would be sending Chet to pick them up for him. Why not just do it himself?”

  “Maybe he’s too busy,” I suggested. “There’s no way Chet would be involved in anything illegal.”

  But Frank shook his head. “A karate teacher taking money from students for unlabeled pills, and having another student pick them up from some random guy at a diner? It’s pretty weird.”

  “Add that to students ending up in the hospital, and Finn obviously bullying Billy Lee, and it looks bad,” I agreed. I hated to think my friend Chet would be willing to help out a lowlife like Huang. But it seemed obvious that he was. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we have to consider Chet a suspect.”

  “You sure this is a good idea?” Frank asked me as we walked up to Billy Lee’s house after school the next day. I’d tracked down his address online.

  “Sure,” I said. “First of all, we have to find out what Finn and Huang have been saying to him to get him so upset lately. And we know for a fact that Billy has a bottle of those pills. Maybe he can tell us what they are.”

  “Let’s just hope he’s willing to talk,” Frank said.

  “He was the first one to talk to us at the Rising Phoenix,” I pointed out. “He’s a nice guy. He’ll talk.” I rang the bell.

  A pretty middle-aged woman answered.

  “Hi. Mrs. Lee?” Frank asked. “We’re friends of Billy’s.”

  She looked surprised. “From school?” she asked.

  “Uh, no, from the Rising Phoenix,” I said. “The martial arts center.”

  “Oh, of course.” Mrs. Lee held the door open for us to come in. “Billy’s favorite place in the world. He never stops talking about his karate classes.”

  “Yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” I agreed. “My brother and I just started last week, but we love it so far.”

  “Billy made us feel really welcome,” Frank put in. “He seems to have gotten a lot from his classes there.”

  “Oh, yes,” Mrs. Lee replied. “He loves Sensei Huang. What a wonderful man—he’s taken such an interest in Billy, giving him private lessons and all.”

  While she talked, I looked around the house. It was filled with antiques that looked pretty expensive. It didn’t seem like Billy’s parents would have any problem paying his tuition at the Rising Phoenix. I had a feeling that whatever money Billy and Finn had been fighting about was money that Billy’s mother knew nothing about. Was Billy buying pills from Huang without telling his mom?

  SUSPECT PROFILE

  Name: Chet Morton

  Hometown: Bayport

  Physical description: Age 16, 5’5”, 170 lbs. Pale skin, round blue eyes, and chubby cheeks.

  Occupation: High school student

  Background: Grew up with Frank and Joe Hardy; has been one of their best friends since second grade. Occasionally he helps out on an ATAC mission—not that he ever knows about ATAC. He just wants to be a detective like his best buds.

  Suspicious behavior: Works as a courier for Paul Huang.

  Suspected of: Being involved in transporting mystery pills that Huang gives to students. Is Chet working for the dark side?

  Possible motives: Wants to get in good with the sensei; likes to feel he’s in the center of the action—because he almost never is.

  “Why don’t you boys go on upstairs?” Mrs. Lee said. “Billy’s in his room doing homework.” She craned her neck and looked at the top of the stairs. “Billy! You have guests!”

  “Thanks,” Frank said. He led the way up the steps. We found Billy at his desk. But he wasn’t doing work. He was just sitting there, staring off into space.

  “Hi, Billy,” I said. “Hope you don’t mind us just dropping by.”

  He jumped, his eyes going wide. “How did you know where I live?” he demanded. He looked pretty freaked out.

  “We, uh, looked you up,” Frank admitted. “We wanted to talk to you.”

  “Away from the Rising Phoenix,” I added.

  “Why?” Billy jumped up and closed his bedroom door. I guess he didn’t want his mother to hear us.

  “We noticed you arguing with Finn Campbell last week,” Frank said.

  “Did Finn send you?” Billy cried. His breathing was fast and he looked like he wanted to run.

  “No,” I said quickly. “You seemed pretty upset. We just wanted to make sure everything is okay.”

  “Oh.” Billy frowned. “Does Finn know you’re here?”

  “No. Why?” Frank asked. “Would he be mad?”

  “I don’t know.” Billy picked up his pencil and began to fidget with it.

  “Billy, what’s going on?” I asked. “Are you in some kind of trouble with Finn? Or with Sensei Huang?”

  He shook his head, not looking at us.

  “You really loved karate lessons when we first started,” Frank said. “You don’t seem too happy now, though.”

  “I’m fine,” Billy said. “Look, I have a lot of homework, so . . .”

  He wanted us to leave. But he still hadn’t told us a single useful thing! It was time to try another tactic. “Billy, you said the sensei gave you some Chinese herbs, right?”

  Billy swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he muttered.

  “What are they like?” Frank asked. “Like oregano or wheat germ or something that you sprinkle on your food? Or are they in pill form?”

  “Yeah, they’re pills,” Billy said. He pulled a bottle out of his desk drawer—an unmarked bottle filled with unmarked white pills. “I take two a day.”

  “Sounds pretty easy,” Frank said. “Do they work?”

  “Yeah.” But Billy didn’t sound too happy about it.

  “Cool. Do you think I could try one?” I asked.

  Billy shoved the bottle back into his desk. “No,” he said. “I mean . . . I don’t think Sensei Huang would like that.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “I guess I can just ask him for some myself.”

  Billy opened his mou
th as if he wanted to protest. Then he closed it again. He shrugged. “I should do my homework,” he said.

  “Right. Thanks, Billy. See you at the next class.” Frank opened the door and went out into the hall.

  I took one last look at Billy. The kid seemed miserable. “You sure you’re okay?” I asked.

  He nodded without turning around.

  As soon as we got outside, I turned to my brother. “Whatever Huang is up to, it’s making a good guy like Billy turn into a total sad sack.”

  “I know,” Frank said. “And in order to figure this out, we have to get our hands on one of those pills!”

  10

  The Source

  After leaving Billy’s, we rode over to the bike parking area in front of the Rising Phoenix. Joe was right behind me. We didn’t have class that day, but we didn’t want to wait until the day after to ask Huang about the pills.

  “Billy said Huang offered the herbs to him,” Joe murmured as we headed for the front door. “Maybe we should try doing what he did—say there’s somebody picking on us. You know, get Huang to want to help us out one-on-one, then hint that we heard about his Chinese herbs.”

  I shook my head. “He won’t buy it. I think he’s suspicious of us already just because we’re not as insecure as a lot of the other students. Besides, that would take too much time.”

  “Okay. I want to get to the bottom of this as fast as you do,” Joe said. “I want to clear Chet’s name.”

  “I hope we can,” I said. The last thing I wanted was to find out Chet was deep into something illegal. But so far it seemed to be the case.

  SUSPECT PROFILE

  Name: Charles “Duke” Ducatowski