Hide-and-Sneak by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

“Do you have the film you shot the first day handy? I’ve got to see it now.”

13 A Clue from the Camera
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    Sprock Kerwin looked a little surprised at Frank’s insistence.
    â€œIt’s important,” Frank told him.
    Sprock turned to Melody Litovsky. “Mel?”
    She cleared the papers off the large silvery box they’d been using
     as a desk. It looked more like a metal-wall oversize suitcase.
    Sprock set the case on its side and opened it. Most of the space within
     was taken up by sponge padding, which held the three cameras and the laptop computer
     Sprock had used. The rest of the box held cassettes of digital film.
    Kerwin ran through these cassettes, checking labels. “Here’s
     my first one,” he said, putting a cassette in one of the cameras.
    He handed the computer to Melody and took a cable out
     of the case. Then he shut the top again and retrieved the computer from his friend.
     Sprock rested the laptop on the silvery surface, connected it with the cable to the
     camera, and booted up. “Was there any scene in particular that you wanted to
     see?” he asked.
    â€œRight at the beginning, when you were shooting Chet on the
     dock.”
    Sprock fiddled with the camera, typed in a couple of commands on the
     keyboard, and soon Chet’s picture swam into view on the computer screen.
     Chet’s voice sounded a little tinny coming out of the small laptop speakers, but
     that wasn’t important.
    â€œOkay, that woman Chet’s talking to. Do you have a close-up of
     her?”
    â€œYeah, I tried, hoping for a reaction shot. Problem was, she
     wasn’t giving me very much of a reaction.”
    Sprock fast-forwarded the camera. The image of the woman on the boat grew.
     Then the camera panned, moving from a full-face view to a profile.
    â€œHold it there.” Frank leaned in, looking carefully.
     “So,” he said, “I wasn’t crazy.”
    â€œIf you say so.” Zack gave him a
     snotty look.
    â€œWhat did you see?” Melody asked.
    â€œThat woman has a torn left earlobe,” Frankreplied. “Exactly like the reporter who was just talking to my
     brother.”
    Frank rushed back to the gate. Now Joe was standing with Trisha Eads,
     trading jokes. Frank scanned the crowd. “Joe,” he said, grabbing him by the
     arm, “where’s the woman who just interviewed you?”
    Most of the camera crews were clustered around the vans. There was no
     trace of the boys’ reporter.
    Joe looked around and shrugged. “Dunno.” He looked in
     puzzlement at his brother. Frank turned around and walked over to Chet.
    â€œWhat’s with him?” Trisha asked, her eyes hinting
     suspicion.
    I guess he’ll tell us when he’s good and ready,” Joe
     replied. “One thing I know about Frank. When he gets that look, there’s
     usually a surprise revelation on the way.”
    Joe went after Frank, to find him talking with Chet about jewelry, of all
     things.
    â€œHey, look,” Joe said. “Trisha brought her own car.
     We’re going to grab some lunch and hang out for a while. She’s pretty
     decent, despite her choice of snobby friends.”
    Joe half expected a lecture about giving away secrets to the enemy.
     Instead Frank just gave him a nod. “Sure. Okay. I’ve got some work to do
     anyway.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    Frank looked up from the computer monitor when Joe popped his head in the
     room.
    â€œJust got in. Dinner’s in five minutes.” The younger
     Hardy gave his brother a curious look. “Mom said you wanted to eat
     early.”
    Frank didn’t give any clues to why he wanted dinner early. Instead
     he asked, “How was lunch?”
    Joe grinned. “Fun. I like Trisha. She’s feisty. She
     doesn’t put up with much, even from Princess Willow.”
    He gave Frank a knowing look. “Hey, we