The Spy That Never Lies Read online

  “You’re not gonna rat us out to the police, are you?” Bettis asked.

  Joe shook his head. “If we wanted to call the cops, we would have done it before we came through that door. Hide the computers if you’re worried. Come to think of it, that might be a good idea, anyway.”

  Joe and Frank stepped outside. “What do you think?” Joe asked.

  “It seems pretty clear that the Kings didn’t know anything about this,” Frank said.

  “That’s what I think, too. But can we trust them to help us out?”

  “If it’ll get them off the hook,” Frank said, “I think we can.”

  “I hate to say it,” Joe said, “but Jake and Vanessa still look like our best suspects. Cindy has to be working with someone, and either Jake or Vanessa has the computer expertise to pull this off, even if Cindy doesn’t.”

  “Maybe we should check on how good Cindy is with a computer,” Frank said.

  “How?” Joe asked.

  “We could check her school records,” Frank said.

  “Just walk in and ask for her transcripts?”

  “I’m willing to bet that the Kings would hack into the BIT computer to look up her grades if we asked them,” Frank said. “It might not be strictly legal, but . . .”

  Joe finished the thought for him. “It’s a lot better than being caught in the trap Cindy set for them. If she’s pulled up her grades, maybe she’s the brains after all.”

  Frank nodded. “Right. You go see if they can do it, I’ll use the cell phone in the van to check with Jamal. Maybe he can give us some more information on Vanessa.”

  “He’s been hanging with her enough,” Joe said. “He’s probably memorized her fingerprints by now.”

  “I’ll be happy if he just knows more about her background than we do,” Frank said.

  “What about Jake?” Joe asked.

  “He’d have to be awfully dumb to plan this caper and then fall asleep on his couch after pulling it off. I don’t know that we can rule it out, though.”

  “You talk to Jamal,” Joe said. “I’ll talk to the Kings about the grades.”

  “Check,” Frank said. He headed to the van while Joe went back into the garage.

  A few minutes later Frank joined his brother and the Kings. “I’ve got some news about Vanessa,” he said. “She’s out of the picture.”

  “How so?” Joe asked. The Kings had hooked up another computer on their workbench and were busy working on it.

  “Remember when we left her at work yesterday?”

  Joe nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Well, she got a lift home from Jamal,” Frank said. “But instead of going home, they decided to take in a movie. She was with him the whole time the robbery was going on. I called her, and she said she’d do whatever she could to help us track down the real culprits.”

  “It’s good to have her on our side,” Joe said. “I’m afraid the news from here isn’t so good. Show him, Stoney.”

  Jay Stone slid away from the computer so Frank could see the screen.

  “Cindy’s barely passing any of her courses,” Stone said, “except for the computer class. At mid-term, it’s the only class she’s got an A in.”

  “Looks like that proves she could be the brains behind this,” Joe said. “She does have the computer know-how. And her access to Jake might have given her the info she needed to break into Securitech.”

  “They could be in it together,” Stone said. “I never did like that Martins dweeb!”

  Frank rubbed his chin. “It could mean something else, too,” he said.

  “What?” Joe asked.

  “Just a hunch,” Frank said. “I think we should go ahead with our plan to trap Cindy, anyway. I’ll fill you in while we set up.”

  “Great,” Joe said. “Morelli’s got some videotape equipment upstairs. All we need to do is lure her here.”

  “I’ll do that,” Missy said. “I owe her one. A big one. She borrowed my jacket yesterday. Looks like she was trying to frame me, too.”

  “What if we can’t get her to confess?” Bettis said.

  “I’ve got an idea about that, too,” Frank said. “Let me get Vanessa back on the phone. Maybe, with a little luck, we can get those Securitech cameras to work for us rather than against us.”

  “But there aren’t any cameras in this part of town,” Joe said.

  “That’s true, but there are plenty near where her accomplice hangs out,” Frank said. “If we plan this right, she’ll lead us straight to him.”

  • • •

  An hour later all the pieces of the Hardys’ plan were in place. Missy had gotten Cindy to agree to come to the Kings’ garage. The brothers had set up the Kings’ video tape equipment in an old station wagon that Morelli had up on blocks for repair. Frank and Joe had briefed the Kings, and everyone was ready to do his or her part.

  After Frank and Joe hid in the back room, all that remained was the waiting. They didn’t have to wait long.

  Cindy blew into the garage as if she owned it. “What’s up?” she asked. “Missy made it sound pretty important on the phone.”

  The Kings were lounging around near the back workbench. They turned when Cindy came in.

  “It’s pretty important, all right,” Morelli said menacingly.

  “Yeah,” Bettis agreed, “if you think your future is important.”

  Cindy looked surprised. “My future? What are you talking about?”

  “We know you stole those computers you sold us, Cindy,” Stone said.

  “Yeah,” Missy said. “And unless you pay us to keep quiet, we’re going to tell the cops all about it.”

  15 Caught On Camera

  “You guys are crazy,” Cindy said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to sound tough, but beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

  Morelli picked up a pair of pliers and threw it across the garage. “You think we don’t read the papers, Cindy?” he asked. “You think we couldn’t figure out where these computers came from? These are Securitech’s computers. They’re front page news. You made us pay you for them, but instead, you’re going to have to pay us.”

  “Otherwise,” Bettis said, “we’re going to the cops and telling them everything we know.”

  Cindy looked around but found no sympathetic faces in the room. “What if you do tell the police? I’m Councilwoman Hamilton’s daughter, and you’re all just a bunch of thugs. Who are the cops going to believe, me or you?”

  “Your prints are on those computers, you know,” Missy said.

  “Your prints are on those computers, too,” Cindy said, brushing a damp lock of hair off her forehead. “All of you.”

  “Yeah,” Stone said, “but what the police will want to know is how your prints got there if you didn’t sell those computers to us.”

  “I could say that you made me put my hands on them when you lured me here today,” Cindy said, still defiant.

  The Kings laughed. Morelli pointed to the camera in the car. “They won’t buy that because we’ve been taping you since the moment you walked through that door.”

  “Why you—” Cindy said. She made a lunge for the station wagon, but Missy and Bettis cut her off.

  “You want that tape,” Missy said, “you’re going to have to pay for it.”

  “In cash,” Bettis said.

  “Fifteen thousand,” Stone put in. “Plus the fifteen hundred we gave you for the computers last night.”

  Cindy’s jaw dropped. “I—I don’t have that kind of money,” she said.

  “Maybe you don’t,” Morelli said, “but your old lady does.”

  “But I can’t get it from her,” Cindy said. “I’ve already run up enough bills at college that . . .” She stopped.

  “Well,” Stone said, “you’d better get it from somewhere, because at seven o’clock sharp that tape is going to the cops.”

  “But that’s only six hours away!” Cindy said, her voice almost pleading now.

 
; Morelli put a toothpick in his mouth and bit it in half. He spit half onto the floor. “You’re wasting time then, aren’t you?”

  Cindy looked at the gang, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Then she rushed out of the garage, hopped into her SUV, and sped down the street.

  Morelli and the Kings looked toward the back room where Frank and Joe were still hiding.

  “What now?” Morelli asked.

  Frank and Joe stepped into the garage. “Now,” Joe said, “we spring the trap.”

  Frank had the cell phone to his ear and was talking into it. “Yeah. She just left. Great. I know you can’t see her now, but if you keep an eye on the campus area, I’m sure she’ll show up soon. Right. We’ll keep the line open.”

  “What are you guys going to do?” Stone asked.

  “We’re going to follow her to her accomplice,” Joe said.

  “I’ve got a friend of ours on the line,” Frank said. “She got her boss at Securitech to agree to lend us a hand. We’ll take it from here.”

  “What about us?” Missy asked.

  “You call the police and give them that tape,” Joe said.

  “It doesn’t seem right, somehow,” Bettis said, “turning the tape in to the cops. Maybe we could still make some dough with it.”

  “And maybe you could end up in jail as an accomplice after the fact or a blackmailer,” Joe said.

  “Don’t forget to turn in the computers, too,” Frank added.

  “Hey!” Morelli said. “We paid good money for those computers.”

  “You’ll probably get some kind of reward,” Joe said. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll get the money back from Cindy, one way or another.”

  “And think of how it’ll make Councilwoman Hamilton squirm,” Frank said.

  That brought a smile to the Kings’ faces. “Hey,” Stone said, “this could be good. We’d almost be, like, heroes.”

  Frank and Joe smiled. “Not a bad payoff, in the end.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Morelli said. “Good luck catching Cindy’s pal—whoever he may be.”

  “I think we’ve got a pretty good idea,” Frank said. He and Joe headed for their van.

  As Joe got behind the wheel, he asked, “Is Vanessa still on the line?”

  Frank nodded. “Yeah. And she’s hooked into the Securitech system. Clark Kubrick was only too happy to help out once she explained our theory to him.”

  “Let’s just hope your theory pans out,” Joe said. “If it doesn’t, Jake is in deep trouble.”

  “Either way,” Frank said, “it should lead us to the real culprit. I’d be sad if the criminal turned out to be Jake, but we’ve got to catch whoever is behind all this.”

  Joe nodded and headed for the campus area.

  “You still there, Vanessa?” Frank asked into the phone. “I’m going to put you on the speaker so Joe can hear, too.”

  “I’m here,” Vanessa said. “And it looks like you guys were right. The cameras picked up Cindy a couple of minutes ago, and it looks like she’s heading straight for the campus. She’ll be lucky if she’s not stopped by the police, the way she’s driving.”

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Joe said. “That would ruin everything. Are the cops there with you?”

  “Con Riley is,” Vanessa said. “He says they’ve got another car out on the street, too, tailing her.”

  “Well, ask him if he can call off the other prowl cars,” Frank said, “to make sure she doesn’t get stopped for speeding before she gets where she’s going.”

  Vanessa said something unintelligible to Con, then, to the Hardys, she said, “I told him. He said he’d see what he could do.”

  “How far behind her are we?” Joe asked.

  “About five minutes,” Vanessa said. “She just got caught in some lights downtown. You can save a few minutes by cutting up Keel Street and avoiding the jam.”

  “Thanks,” Joe said. “You’re better than an onboard computer.”

  “I try,” Vanessa said. The speaker fell silent for a few moments. Then Vanessa added, “She’s on Smith now, moving toward the campus.”

  “I’m just turning on to Smith,” Joe said.

  “We see you,” Vanessa said. “She’s only a couple of minutes ahead of you now.”

  “We’re coming up on the moment of truth,” Frank said.

  Joe nodded. They waited for a few minutes in tense silence. Joe gripped the wheel tightly.

  Finally, Vanessa said, “She’s turned off! She’s on Oberlin Avenue now!”

  Frank and Joe let out a long sigh of relief. “Looks like that puts Jake in the clear,” Frank said.

  “Thank goodness!” Vanessa said over the speaker.

  “I bet Kubrick’s disappointed,” Joe said.

  Vanessa laughed. “Not really. But he is surprised. I think I just heard his jaw hit the floor.”

  “This has to be the strangest car chase I’ve ever been in,” Joe said.

  “She’s stopped,” Vanessa said. “You should be able to see her across the quadrangle.”

  Frank looked out the window. “Got her!” he said. “Come on, Joe, we can’t lose her now.”

  “We don’t want her to see us, though,” Joe said. He pulled the car around the block and parked out of sight of Cindy’s car.

  “She’s walking up to the house,” Vanessa said.

  “We’re coming at the house from her blind side,” Frank said. “Tell Con to have his men come a-running. And tell them to bring that search warrant.” He flipped the phone shut and stuck it in his pocket.

  The house was large and built in the Victorian style. The property had been well kept up—the bushes were trimmed and the lawn carefully mowed. Frank and Joe moved quietly down the sidewalk, taking care not to be seen.

  As they approached the corner of the house, they could hear voices from the front steps. One of the voices was Cindy’s. She sounded frantic.

  “You don’t understand!” she said. “We’re caught!”

  “You mean you’re caught,” a man’s voice corrected her. “And you wouldn’t have been if you had done as I instructed. You should have dumped those computers, not sold them!”

  “I needed the money,” Cindy said.

  “Money, money. That’s all you students ever think about,” the man said. “If you weren’t so greedy, you wouldn’t be in trouble. Raise the money if you like. You won’t get it from me. Neither you, nor the police, can connect me to this crime.”

  Joe and Frank stepped around the corner.

  Joe looked at Cindy and the man standing on the doorstep in front of her. He smiled and said, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Professor Firestein.”

  16 Smile!

  “What are you doing here?” Firestein demanded, his face crimson.

  “We knew Cindy had an accomplice in the Securitech robbery,” Joe said, “but at first we couldn’t figure out who it was.”

  “Then we discovered that she was almost flunking out of college,” Frank said. “In fact, the only class she was passing with flying colors was yours, professor.”

  “That means nothing,” Firestein said. “Cindy is a fine student. And I don’t know what you’re talking about. What Securitech robbery?”

  “The one you engineered,” Joe said. “Cindy was with us when it happened. So she couldn’t have pulled it off by herself. She had to be working with someone.”

  “Odds were, whoever she was working with was the brains behind the operation,” Frank said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, either,” Cindy said. “When my mother finds out you two are harassing me again . . .”

  Joe tapped his temple with two fingers. “See,” he said, “not too bright. She hasn’t figured out that she’s been caught, even though the Kings videotaped her confessing her part in the crime not half an hour ago.”

  At the word “videotaped” the professor’s jaw dropped. He looked at a nearby light pole and spotted the Securitech camera mounted there. Panic sprea
d across his face.

  “Smile,” Frank said. “You’re on Securitech camera.”

  The brothers grinned, and looked up the street toward the arriving police car.

  • • •

  Two hours later the Hardys were relaxing at the police station with Officer Con Riley.

  “Well,” Con said as he settled into the seat behind his desk, “you were right. We turned up a CDR copy of the Securitech master disc in the professor’s house, along with some papers that led us to believe that he was moonlighting for a rival high-tech security firm. He was going to sell the code on that disc for a lot of money. How did you guys figure it out?”

  “It was the only thing that made sense,” Frank said. “Obviously, the computers had been stolen for the control disc. That’s why the disc turned up in Jake’s storage area and the computers in a different place entirely.”

  “Firestein was smart enough to figure out that Securitech would tumble to the real object of the theft quickly,” Joe said. “The computers were just a smoke screen, as was the rest of the vandalism, for that matter. What Firestein didn’t know was that his accomplice would get greedy and try to sell the computers rather than dump them. If Cindy had done as he instructed, I don’t know that we’d ever have caught either of them.”

  Con nodded. “It was a clever plan. Tell me, though, how did Firestein close down the Securitech system? I could understand how it might be possible after he stole the disc—but he did it before the break-in. He couldn’t have gotten past their internal security or the cameras otherwise.”

  “That was one of the trickiest parts of this setup,” Joe said. “He was using his students—a number of whom also worked for Securitech, like Jake and, earlier, Vanessa—and picking their brains.”

  Frank nodded. “He knew a bit about how the Securitech system was supposed to work, so he gave assignments to his class that would give him enough information to work out the rest. It took longer than he’d hoped because Vanessa dropped out rather than violate her confidentiality agreement with Securitech.”

  “She caught on a lot faster than Jake did,” Joe said. “Though, of course, she didn’t suspect Firestein’s real motive. After she dropped out, he really turned up the heat on Jake.”