The Secret of the Soldier's Gold (6 page)

“What happened, Isabel?” Frank said into the receiver. “Are you all right?”

“It's about Frau Rilke's suitcase,” Isabel said.

“What about it?” Frank said.

Joe was now out of bed and sitting beside Frank, his ear as close to the receiver as possible.

“I overheard some of Father's men talking on the police radio this morning,” Isabel explained. “Evidently the word on the streets is—and I quote—you and Joe have a map that shows where some gold bars are buried here in Lisbon.”

“Great,” Frank said. “Now what?”

“I don't think that anyone except us knows that the gold is in the backyard of Senhora Bragança's house,” Isabel said. “So for right now it should be safe. But I'm worried about you two.”

“So am I,” Frank said.

Joe leaned away from the receiver and nodded. “You got that right,” he said.

“I have to be at the television studio in a few minutes, so I need to leave,” Isabel said, “but I just wanted to warn you to be careful.”

“Thanks, Isabel,” Frank said. “We'll talk to you later.”

“Something doesn't make sense here, Frank,” Joe said. “Last night Isabel seemed certain that the de Feira brothers wouldn't spread the word around Lisbon about the map. What happened?”

“They're just dumb,” Frank said.

“Do you really think they're
that
dumb, Frank?” Joe asked.

For several minutes Frank didn't say anything. Finally he looked at Joe with an expression of both
anger and disappointment. “Well, there is only one other way that it could have happened, Joe, and I don't like what it means.”

Joe nodded slowly. “Do you think Isabel is behind it?” he asked.

“A good detective would have to consider that as a possibility, Joe,” Frank said.

“But her father is a high-ranking police official,” Joe protested.

Frank shrugged. “This sort of thing has happened before,” he reminded Joe.

“It's hard to trust anyone these days,” Joe said sadly.

“I know,” Frank said. He stood up and stretched. “For now it's just speculation on my part, though, and there really could be another explanation.”

“I hope so,” Joe said. “I really like Isabel.”

“I do too,” Frank said. “We just need to do what we always do, Joe, and that's to keep an open mind.”

“I wonder now if that intruder last night was really one of the de Feira brothers,” Joe said.

“I was thinking that too,” Frank said.

“Well, we've got to do something about this,” Joe said. “Maybe we could come up with a plan to send everyone on a wild goose chase.”

They debated about different ways to do that, but none of their ideas seemed feasible.

Finally Joe said, “I know! A fake map!”

Frank looked at him. “What do you mean, a fake map?”

“Well, Isabel is the only one who knows that the real map is of Senhora Bragança's backyard—but she doesn't know
exactly
where the suitcase is buried,” Joe explained.

“Right,” Frank said. “That would keep her—and whomever else she might have told—from getting the suitcase because they couldn't just go in and dig up the entire backyard.”

Joe nodded. “If they knew the exact spot, then they'd have no problem finding the gold if it's still there.”

“So this new map would put the suitcase in an area as far away from the real location as possible?” Frank said.

For a minute Joe didn't say anything. Then he jumped off the bed and started pacing around the room. Finally he shouted, “Wait—we need
two
maps!”

“Two maps?” Frank said. “Why?”

Joe returned to his bed and sat down. “Well, we'll make a new map of Senhora Bragança's backyard as a safety—just in case Isabel isn't really our friend—and we'll hope in the meantime that she is,” Joe said. “The other map will place the gold in an entirely different location, and this will be for the de Feiras and anybody else who Isabel believes is involved.”

Frank thought for a minute. “Complicated but
necessary,” he said, “and I think this just might work.”

Frank and Joe dressed quickly and took the elevator down to the lobby. They asked the clerk at the front desk for the envelope that they had put in the safe the day before.

After they got the map the teens went back up to their room and redrew the map of Senhora Bragança's backyard. This time they put the X as far away from the real location of the suitcase as possible.

Joe put the fake map in his pocket, then he and Frank went back downstairs and returned the brown envelope containing the real map to the desk clerk.

As they headed back up to their room for a second time, Joe said, “We need to study a map of Lisbon and find a big park that has a lot of secluded areas where someone could have buried a suitcase full of gold bars.”

Frank nodded. “That Lisbon guidebook in our room will give us the information we need,” he said, “and it'll also let us know if the park existed in 1943.”

“Oh yeah—I forgot about that!” Joe said. “Couldn't have put the gold in a park that wasn't around then.”

Back in their room Frank got out the guidebook to Lisbon. For several minutes they studied the different maps that showed park locations all over the city.

“Maybe we should choose one that's not too far from where Frau Rilke's family lived. If her father had walked all over Lisbon carrying a suitcase, he would have attracted a lot of unwanted attention,” Joe said.

“Well, Joe, remember that Dad said there were a lot of refugees in Lisbon then, so a suitcase in itself might not have been a problem,” Frank countered. “A suitcase full of gold bars would have been heavy, though, and it would have been difficult for Herr Fleissner to carry it too far. That's probably the best reason for him going to a park that was nearby.”

“Oh yeah, that's right,” Joe agreed.

They decided to concentrate their efforts in Belém, where the Fleissners had lived.

“Here's a park that was built in the early 1900s to showcase the plants and trees from the Portuguese colonies all over the world,” Joe said. “The Jardim Agrícola Tropical. And the location is just about right.”

Frank read the description of the park. “Perfect!” he said. “This is now the location of Frau Rilke's suitcase full of gold bars.”

Frank and Joe drew the new map and put an X in a secluded part of the park, near some dragon trees from the Madeira Islands.

“We'll leave this map lying around the room and then when someone—,” Frank started to say.

But Joe interrupted. “Wait—I just thought of a better idea!”

“Okay, what is it?” Frank said.

“We'll go to the Jardim Agrícola Tropical ourselves and dig up the suitcase!” Joe exclaimed.

Frank looked at him for a couple of seconds, then said, “But Joe, hello—this map's fake.”

“I know it's a fake, Frank,” Joe said, rolling his eyes. “But what we're going to do is buy one of those little fold-up shovels so we can hide it easily—and take it to the park along with this map. And we'll see what happens.”

Frank's eyes widened and a big grin spread over his face. “So you think that somebody will follow us to the fake location?”

“That's what I'm hoping!” Joe said. “If they do, they'll probably wait until we're just about ready to start digging and then will surprise us. Of course we'll drop everything—the shovel, the map,
everything
—and run from the park as if we're scared to death.”

“Then whoever followed us will start digging up the whole Jardim Agrícola Tropical, hoping to find the suitcase,” Frank said. “Brilliant!” He paused. “Except I'd hate to have that beautiful park destroyed.”

“Oh, I don't think they'll really get too far before the authorities stop them,” Joe said. “Remember that we'll have our shovel hidden, and we've put the
X in a really secluded part of the park, so I don't think the authorities will bother us—but when whoever follows us can't find the suitcase in the spot we've marked on the map, they'll probably start digging all around the area. That's when the park authorities will stop them.”

Frank laughed. “They'll be so frustrated! They'll probably spend
weeks
trying to outsmart the park police in order to get a suitcase that isn't there.”

“That's what I hope will happen,” Joe said. “In the meantime we'll try to figure out a way to dig up the real suitcase at Senhora Bragança's house.”

“I just thought of something else, Joe,” Frank said. “We'll also solve another problem.”

“What?” Joe asked.

“If we really are followed to the Jardim Agrícola Tropical, then we'll know that Isabel was telling the truth,” Frank said. “She knows that the suitcase is buried in Senhora Bragança's backyard. I don't think she—or anyone she might have told—would follow us to this other park.”

“Right,” Joe said. “I really do hope Isabel's innocent.”

After checking in with Mr. Hardy and telling him that they were still working on Frau Rilke's case, Frank and Joe took the elevator down to the lobby. A man at the concierge's desk told them that there was a camping-supply store just two blocks from the hotel. He said that they should be able to buy a
fold-up shovel there, and he asked if they needed the locations of some nearby campsites.

“No,” Joe responded. “We already know where we're going.”

“But thanks anyway,” Frank added.

The Hardy boys found the camping-supply store without any trouble, bought the fold-up shovel and a small canvas bag for carrying it, and then they headed to the tram to Belém.

As they were boarding the train Joe whispered, “Have you noticed anyone suspicious?”

Frank shook his head. “No, but I'm trying to act as normal as possible and not seem too suspicious myself. I don't want anybody to think that we know they're following us.”

The tram wasn't overly crowded when it left downtown Lisbon, but the closer it got to Belém, the more crowded it became. Soon it was hard to see past the people who were standing right around them.

Finally a recorded voice announced in Portuguese and English that the next stop was the Jardim Agrícola Tropical.

Frank and Joe stood up and slowly moved through the crowd of passengers to the rear door of the tram.

Once Frank thought he noticed a man watching them with more than just passing interest, but when he looked at the man again, he was reading a newspaper.

When the doors opened, Frank and Joe jumped off. They knew that several other passengers got off too, but they purposely didn't turn around to look, just in case it might scare off whoever might be following them to the park.

The teens found the entrance to the park, paid the small entrance fee, and then, after consulting a park map, headed for the area where they had marked the phony X—near the dragon trees.

Frank had read that for some reason this park didn't attract many visitors, so it was perfect for their mission.

“This is it, I think,” Joe said. He was looking at a sign in Portuguese. “I recognize the word for dragon.”

Frank stopped, bent down, and started retying his shoelace. At the same time he noticed that no one was behind them.
Of course,
he thought,
if somebody is following us, they would try not to be too obvious about it. At this very moment they could be observing us from behind some of the trees.

“See anything?” Joe whispered when Frank had straightened up.

“No,” Frank whispered back. He knew that Joe had used the same maneuver while on other cases.

“Okay, we're here. Let's just hope that the suitcase is still here too,” Joe said, talking not so loud that it seemed unnatural but not so quietly that
anyone nearby wouldn't have heard him. He took the map out of his pocket and pointed to it. “The spot where we need to start digging should be around those trees over there.” He pretended to look at one particular tree. “Come on, Frank!”

Frank, taking the hint, took the fold-up shovel out of the canvas bag and unfolded it.

As the Hardys entered the area of the dragon trees Frank thought he heard a noise to his left—but he willed himself not to look in that direction.

Joe must have heard it too, because he said, “It's been a long time coming, but in a minute we're going to be really rich!” This time he spoke loud enough for anyone to hear.

At that moment a loud crashing noise made Frank and Joe turn to their left. Two men were rushing toward them.

Frank dropped the shovel and the canvas bag and Joe dropped the map—just as they had planned to do—and they ran as fast as they could toward the main park entrance.

No one followed them.

When they reached the entrance, they nodded to the park official and then left the park, heading back to the tram stop.

“Looks like it worked,” Joe said.

“Good plan, Joe,” Frank told him. “We know now that Isabel is okay to trust.”

“What's next?” Joe asked.

“We have to figure out a way to convince Senhora Bragança to let us dig up her backyard,” Frank said.

“That means buying another fold-up shovel and canvas bag from the camping-supply store,” Joe said.

“If this little ruse keeps people from bothering us, it'll be worth it,” Frank said.

Frank and Joe waited anxiously for all the passengers to board the tram that would take them back to central Lisbon. Finally the doors closed and the tram started.

“I don't think anybody followed us,” Frank said. “The other people onboard are mostly women and elderly men.”

Joe nodded. “Those men are too busy digging up the Jardim Agrícola Tropical,” he said. “I wonder how long it'll be before they realize the map was a fake.”