Hide-and-Sneak by Franklin W. Dixon

crew. As the Hardys neared the gate, they had to pass a gauntlet of microphones.
    â€œAre you working on the film? How involved was Mr. Buckmaster?”
    â€œDid any of you talk to Buckmaster before he took his life?”
    â€œHow did he seem?”
    Frank and Joe just kept their heads down and pressed on. For Chet, although he’d spent the most time on camera, facing so many cameras at once seemed to bring on a case of stage fright.
    Finally the boys got through. The three of them were happy to put the fence between them and the news vultures.
    Willow Sumner and her friends were next to arrive. The three girls looked happy to be in front of the cameras. But Willow, Trisha, and Christyreally didn’t have that much to say. They hadn’t seen Buckmaster or his yacht. All they could describe was the sound of the explosion.
    The cameras quickly turned on Andy Slack and Hal Preston when they arrived, but the boys met the reporters’ questions with silly grins.
    As soon as Zack had everyone together, he led the group away from the gate to where Melody stood. She had what looked like a new set of clue packets.
    â€œGood news, people.” The filmmaker’s face showed that he was pleased with himself. “I talked to the folks who’ll be going over Buckmaster’s assets. They said we can keep using the docks for a few more days. Sprock is already hiding the McGuffin. Melody has the clues. We’re going to go for another round of Hide-and-Sneak, this time for two days. Whoever brings the McGuffin to the secret destination wins.”
    Zack cleared his throat. “If we have a tie, like what happened around Mr. Buckmaster’s yacht, we’ll give the win to the team that holds on to the McGuffin the longest.”
    Willow nodded. “That sounds fair.”
    Sure, Frank thought. Right now your team has the best record.
    Naturally Andy Slack, who had never even got ahand on the McGuffin, disagreed. “Why not do another round?” he said. “A tiebreaker?”
    â€œWe really can’t afford it,” Zack said.
    â€œYour budget should look a lot better after selling that tape to AmericaNews,” Andy snarled. “You might think about springing for a prize—or paying us.”
    â€œI can see you have no idea about how filmmaking works,” Zack said stiffly. “The postproduction costs—”
    Luckily a rather sandy Sprock Kerwin arrived, breaking the tension. The three filmmakers went into a huddle. Andy and Hal stood off to one side, scowling. Frank had to smile when he saw the girls gravitate toward the cameras. He laughed when he saw Joe follow the girls.
    â€œTypical,” Frank said, turning to Chet.
    â€œI didn’t think Joe would be giving any interviews,” Chet said with a smirk.
    Frank turned to see what Chet was talking about, then laughed louder. One of the newspeople had managed to catch Joe.
    â€œToby Gregson,” she said, holding out a microcassette recorder. That stuck out in this high-tech crowd. So did the way she was dressed: jeans and a checked shirt. Her graying hair was long and frizzy, unlike the carefully coiffed reporters in front of the cameras.
    Must be a newspaper reporter, Frank thought,moving closer to eavesdrop. Unlike the TV folks, Gregson asked some intelligent questions—especially when she learned Joe had been watching from the clifftop.
    â€œDid you actually see Buckmaster board the Jolly Roger ?”
    â€œWell, no,” Joe said. “We weren’t looking. But he had to be on the yacht, didn’t he?”
    Toby Gregson leaned forward for her next question. Her hair shifted, revealing her ear.
    Frank couldn’t believe what he saw. He swung around and walked past Chet, straight for the filmmakers.
    Zack was annoyed at the interruption. “Can’t you see—”
    â€œNo,” Frank cut him off. “There’s something I need to see.”
    He turned to Sprock.