Darkness Falls Read online

  “What was that?” Joe said in the darkness.

  “Sounded like an explosion,” Frank said.

  At that moment the door to the darkroom flew open, and something was tossed inside. Something that exploded into blinding blue-white light!

  “A magnesium flare!” Frank shouted, covering his eyes.

  “Yeow!” Joe yelled, reacting to the sharp pain in his eyes from the sudden exposure to light. He was seized by a sudden coughing fit. Frank, too, was coughing from the fumes.

  Joe went out the door into the hallway. The blinding light had burned itself out and the smoke was thinning a little, although the acrid smell of magnesium oxide still filled the air.

  As Joe stood in the hallway, catching his breath, Frank came barreling out of the room.

  “It was lucky I hadn’t opened the film canister when that flare was thrown in,” Joe told his brother.

  “Not as lucky as you think, Joe,” Frank said. “The canister is gone. Somebody stole our last roll of film!”

  Chapter 10

  JOE FELT the blood drain from his face. “No!” he shouted. “Come on, Frank, we’ve got to get it back!” Without waiting to see if Frank was following him, Joe ran down the smoky hallway to the exit. Pushing it open, he found himself staring at the back of someone.

  “What was that explosion?” Joe asked him as Frank joined them. “Did someone set off a bomb?”

  The man turned around, and Joe’s eyes widened when he saw who it was.

  “Tim Wheeler!” Joe cried. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m working on my documentary, remember?” Wheeler told them. “I can’t drop my work just because the police think I’ a murderer. Anyway, come with me, I want to show you something.”

  Motioning to the Hardys to follow, Wheeler led them to the front of the observatory, where he pointed to the parking lot. A vehicle that looked as if it must once have been a van was burning furiously. What little paint remained indicated that the van had been blue.

  “Frank,” Joe said breathlessly, “that could be Everett MacLaughlin’s van!”

  “I was just thinking that,” Frank replied, biting his lip.

  Surrounding the burning car at a safe distance was a crowd of people, watching in horrified fascination. Joe and Frank silently turned to Wheeler.

  “I know what you’re going to ask, and you’re not going to like the answer. I was in the men’s room when this happened. So I was all alone. Sorry, but it happens to be the truth.”

  “Did you see anyone running from the scene or out of the building?” Joe asked. “Because we just had a canister of film stolen from us—from right under our noses.”

  Wheeler shook his head. “Nope.”

  “I hate to think about the possibility of MacLaughlin being in that van,” Frank said, looking worried.

  “I know,” Tim said somberly. “And I know this looks bad for me, too. The police will probably arrest me again when they find out I was up here. But what should I do? Make up an alibi?”

  From the direction of the access road, they heard sirens screaming. Wheeler listened for a moment, then picked up the briefcase that was on the ground next to him and said, “I think it’s time for me to leave.”

  Giving them a nod and a tense smile, he opened the driver side door of a nearby car. Then he climbed in and drove away, passing the first fire engine on its way up.

  “You know what?” Frank said to Joe. “I really don’t think that guy is guilty.”

  “You don’t?” Joe asked, surprised.

  “Nope. I think someone’s trying to make him look that way. Come on, Joe. Let’s see what we can find out.”

  The Hardys ran over toward the burning vehicle. A group of assistants had been valiantly battling the blaze, without success. Now they were giving way to the professional fire fighters. Joe tapped the shoulder of one young man who was catching his breath. “Do you know if anyone was in the van?” he asked.

  The young man shook his head. “It’s impossible to tell.”

  “What exactly happened?” Frank asked.

  “I was in the lecture room when I heard a tremendous explosion,” the young man explained. “We all ran out of the building to see what had happened.”

  Joe nodded to Frank, who must have been thinking what he was. The explosion could have been one of two things—either a bomb intended to kill the driver of the van, or a diversion to get everyone out of the building. That would have cleared the way for the bomber to toss the magnesium flare to steal their film.

  The fire engines had all arrived by this time, and right behind them came the police, first among them Captain Kanekahana. He was steaming.

  “What in the world happened here?” he demanded. Walking right up to one of the young assistants, he shouted, “Raymond, I thought you were assigned to stay close to Wheeler. What do you think you’re doing? And where is Wheeler?”

  This particular assistant had obviously been an undercover officer, Joe realized.

  “I was trying to help put out this fire, Chief,” Raymond began. “The explosion was huge.”

  “I know it was huge,” Kanekahana said, his teeth gritted. “We heard it all the way over in Kailua! What I’m asking you is, what about Wheeler? Where is he?”

  Raymond acted very guilty. “Well, Chief, he was in the lecture room with us, along with his film crew. They were shooting part of Dr. Rickhower’s lecture on variations in sunspot activity. But then Wheeler left the room, and I tried to follow him, but I lost him. Then the explosion happened, and I came outside to help.”

  “Let me make sure I heard you right. You ‘came outside to help’?” Kanekahana repeated derisively. When the young officer nodded, the captain stormed away, shaking his head in disgust.

  “Do you think there were explosives involved?” Joe asked the young man, wanting to be sure. “Maybe the van just caught fire on its own.”

  “There had to be explosives,” Raymond said with certainty. “The fireball was still going when I got out here, and that was twenty seconds after the blast. No way that happened accidentally.”

  “Wow,” Frank said, giving a low whistle.

  Joe moved closer to the wreck, with Frank following close behind. Even though the fire was out, Joe could feel intense heat as it continued to smolder. A fire fighter was poking around in the mess and came up with what looked like a charred circuit board in his gloved hand.

  “This didn’t come from the van’s circuitry,” he said to a colleague nearby. “No way.”

  “Excuse me,” Frank asked them. “Was anyone in the van?”

  One of the men answered simply, “We’re not sure yet.”

  “Anybody who was in that thing when it blew would be in a million charred pieces,” the other man said solemnly.

  Joe heaved a deep breath and turned to his brother. “I hope MacLaughlin wasn’t in there. But if he wasn’t, where is he now?”

  “We have a murder suspect under our nose and we lose him!” Captain Kanekahana’s voice bellowed across the parking lot as he stood talking to an officer. “I ought to fire that kid, Raymond!”

  “Do you think we ought to tell him what we know about Wheeler?” Frank asked Joe.

  “I guess we have to,” Joe said. “We probably should have told him about seeing him in our room the other night.”

  “Captain,” Frank said, walking up to him with Joe beside him, “Wheeler drove down the mountain just as you were coming up.”

  “He did?” Kanekahana’s eyes widened, and he pressed a button on his hand-held walkie-talkie immediately. “Car twenty, car twenty, this is Kanekahana, do you read me?” There was a static-filled response, after which the captain said, “Suspect coming down from observatory. Seal both ends of Saddle Road, over.”

  After receiving the ten-four indicating that car twenty had understood, Kanekahana turned to face the Hardys again. “I suppose you’re going to tell me you were here doing research.”

  “That’s right,” Frank said. �
��We found one roll of our film that hadn’t been stolen, so we brought it here to develop. When we were inside the darkroom, someone threw a magnesium flare in, and by the time we recovered from the light and smoke, that film was gone, too.”

  “We suspect the firebomb might have been just a diversion,” Joe added.

  “Is that so?” Kanekahana said skeptically, then turned to a nearby fire fighter. “Any sign of a body in the wreckage?”

  “Not yet, sir,” he said. “It’s going to be a while.”

  Kanekahana got on his radio again. “Calling in, car forty-six. What is suspect’s status?”

  “She’s still at the beach house,” came the response. “Everything’s under control, over.”

  Kanekahana nodded, satisfied, and signed off. “Somebody, at least, is on the ball,” he muttered. “And we won’t let Wheeler get off so easy this time.”

  “Honestly, Captain, I don’t think Wheeler’s your man,” Frank piped up.

  “What?” Kanekahana said, startled by Frank’s boldness. “You just said he took off down the mountain right after the explosion!”

  “I would have done the same thing if I’d been him,” Frank ventured. “After all, he’s in a lot of trouble already.”

  “You can say that again,” the captain agreed. “And he’s going to be in a lot more.”

  “If you’d just give us a chance,” Joe volunteered, “I’m sure Frank and I can clear Wheeler’s name.”

  “You want to clear Wheeler’s name?” Kanekahana said, his face getting red. “Isn’t that sweet of you.”

  The captain turned to his men, pointing at Frank and Joe. “I’ve had enough of these two,” he said with a scowl “They’re in the way of our investigation. Besides which, if they don’t leave Hawaii in one piece, I’m going to hear about it all the way from the mainland. I’ve decided to take them into protective custody. Put cuffs on them and take them to a nice, comfortable cell downtown—and keep them there!”

  Chapter 11

  “WAIT A MINUTE! You can’t arrest us!” Joe shouted, his anger rising. “We haven’t done anything!”

  “I’m not arresting you,” Kanekahana said with an annoying smile. “I’m just placing you in protective custody. You did say there have been attempts on your lives lately, didn’t you?”

  “We can take care of ourselves,” Joe insisted. “We haven’t asked for protection, and we don’t want any.”

  “That may be true,” Kanekahana said patiently. “But as far as I’m concerned, you two have caused me all the trouble you’re going to. I want you both out of harm’s way and out of my hair. I can’t think of a better way to do that than to put you away for a day or two, behind bars, where you’ll be safe and sound. Take them away, men,” he said, smiling.

  Before Frank or Joe could say anything more, they were herded into the backseat of a waiting patrol car.

  For the next hour or so, the boys waited in the steaming hot sedan, drenched in their own sweat, as Kanekahana questioned those who had witnessed the post-explosion fire. The captain seemed in no hurry to do anything with the Hardys. In fact, on the few occasions when Frank or Joe complained to one of the officers, they were told to sit tight. The officer then went to check with someone higher up. In each case, nothing was done for the brothers.

  Finally, when Kanekahana was finished, he slid into the front passenger seat. Ignoring the Hardys, the captain turned to the driver and said, “Hey, it’s sweltering in here. Turn on the air conditioner.”

  Soon the air conditioner was blowing cool air over the Hardys, but Joe’s and Frank’s tempers were flaring hotter than ever.

  As the driver guided the patrol car slowly down the mountain road, Frank addressed the back of Kanekahana’s head, trying his best to be polite. “Captain, one person in this case is already dead,” he said. “Maybe two—if MacLaughlin was in that van when it went up. Someone’s tried to kill us, and maybe Michele Ebersol, too. Don’t you think we’d all better work together to solve this case? It won’t do any good to lock us up.”

  “This case is no mystery to me,” Kanekahana answered coolly over his shoulder. “Tim Wheeler had the means, opportunity, and motive to murder Dr. Ebersol. He should have been kept in jail after Ebersol’s murder, but unfortunately, I had to go along with the court and let him out on bail. Now he may have committed a second murder. So this time, when we catch him, he’s going to stay caught no matter what. And when this is all over, I’m going to call for a review of our local judge—I’d like to see her head handed to her on a platter!”

  “But, Captain,” Joe said, making an effort to sound calm, “Wheeler couldn’t have been behind the attempts on our lives. And as for our stolen film—”

  “Save your breath. We’ve already gone over all this,” Kanekahana snapped.

  “But don’t you see?” Frank broke in. “The car bomb was probably a diversion! It was a way to get everyone out of the building while the perpetrator threw the magnesium flare to ruin our film!”

  Kanekahana’s derisive laugh sent a chill up Frank’s spine. “I’ve got to hand it to you boys,” he said. “You sure do have active imaginations. What makes you think you’re so important or that your film is at the center of this case? You were just photographing the eclipse, after all.”

  “I don’t know,” Frank said. “But if we want to get to the bottom of this, that’s what we’ve got to find out.”

  “All right, then,” Kanekahana said, facing them with a triumphant smile. “When we bring Wheeler in, you can talk to him about it yourselves—with an officer present, of course.”

  A short time later, after the squad car had passed the police roadblock on Saddle Road and reached Kailua, the driver pulled up in front of police headquarters. The Hardys were escorted to a small holding cell, where their cuffs were not removed. The cell door was slammed on them, and the Hardys were alone in the cell. “Do you believe this?” Joe said to his brother. “They’re treating us like criminals!”

  “He sure is,” Frank agreed. “I’ll tell you what I think, Joe. Kanekahana wants to nail Wheeler for Ebersol’s murder, whether he’s guilty or not. I guess he’s more interested in advancing his career than in seeing the real murderer put to justice.”

  “Well, we can’t let him get away with it,” Joe said hotly. “I agree with you now. Wheeler’s not guilty, Frank—but De La Rosa may be. I wish we could check his arrival time from the mainland. That would tell us a lot.”

  “All it would take is a phone call,” Frank said, a gleam coming into his eyes. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled something out.

  “What’s that?” Joe asked, noticing the small, pointed object.

  “My trusty lock pick,” Frank replied with a grin. “Don’t leave home without it.”

  “Are you sure we should use it in here?” Joe asked nervously.

  “You’re the one who said we’re not criminals. We haven’t even been charged with anything,” Frank pointed out. “We’re only in jail under protective custody, and I bet any judge would agree we can take care of ourselves.”

  Joe nodded slowly and held up his handcuffs for Frank to unlock. Soon they were both free. Frank then unlocked the door of their cell. In no time they were in the hallway. Before moving on, though, Frank clipped both pairs of cuffs to their cell door. “A little present for Captain Kanekahana,” he said with a tight grin.

  “Where to now?” Joe asked, glancing nervously up and down the empty corridor. Their guard could return at any moment, and Joe wasn’t eager to be caught there.

  “To a pay phone,” Frank informed him, heading toward the door at the end of the hallway. “Got some change?” Joe gave him a handful as they slipped through the door and up a flight of stairs.

  Moments later the Hardys were at a pay phone near the men’s room. Officers occasionally passed by, but none of them recognized the Hardys, and there was nothing to indicate that the brothers were escaped prisoners. Trying to act nonchalant, Frank dialed Information. Moments la
ter, he dropped a coin into the phone and dialed the number of a ticket agent.

  It took about ten minutes, and talking to several different agents, for Frank to learn that Richard De La Rosa had not arrived in Hawaii the night after the eclipse. Instead, he had come on the same flight as Tim Wheeler!

  “So it seems the Ebersol Foundation’s manager has no alibi after all,” Frank told his brother, hanging up from the last call.

  “Wait till we tell Kanekahana about this!” Joe said jubilantly. “For all we know, he doesn’t even know about De La Rosa.”

  “I’ll bet he does, Joe,” Frank told him. “He’s spoken to Michele, remember?”

  Forgetting that they were supposed to be locked up in a holding cell, the boys raced downstairs. In the lobby they ran smack into Kanekahana, whose jaw dropped when he saw them.

  Frank and Joe told the police captain what they’d found out. Instead of reacting excitedly, Kanekahana nodded grimly and said, “I already know all about that.” Glancing down at their wrists, he said, “I see you’ve been a couple of busy bees.”

  Instead of reprimanding them for escaping, Kanekahana merely sighed. “Oh, well. It doesn’t matter now. Come with me, boys. There’s something I think you ought to see. In fact, I was just coming down to fetch you.”

  Without another word, he led the Hardys to his squad car. The Hardys climbed inside, and Kanekahana drove them out of the parking lot and down the main street of Kailua.

  “Where are we going?” Joe asked from the backseat. The captain didn’t respond. In silence, he turned right down a main avenue, then left down a side street, and finally pulled into a dead-end street very much like the one where he’d cornered the Hardys earlier. At the head of the street were two squad cars, their blue and red lights flashing.

  Under a palm tree, in front of a run-down bungalow, Joe spotted a small blue car with rental plates. “Have a look inside,” Kanekahana said.

  The Hardys got out of the squad car and walked over to the sedan. There in the front seat, with the thermos containing their last roll of film on the seat beside him, was Richard De La Rosa. His mouth and eyes were open, and a look of frozen terror filled his face. A gun lay in his limp hand.