The Secret of the Soldier's Gold (7 page)

“It may be a while, Joe,” Frank said. “I think we gave a pretty good performance back there.”

Joe grinned. “Yeah,” he said. “I think the way I
dropped that map and ran away should earn me an acting award!”

“Well, you should have seen the way I dropped the shovel and the canvas bag,” Frank said. “Talk about great acting!”

“Let's not rest on our acting laurels just yet, though,” Joe said. “We need to get the
real
suitcase as soon as possible.”

“Right,” Frank agreed. “We can only keep those guys fooled for so long.”

“What about going after the gold tonight?” Joe said.

“I think that's a good idea,” Frank said. “But we'll have to figure out a way to get into the backyard—past the guards and the dogs.”

“We've overcome greater odds before,” Joe said. “Between now and tonight, I'm sure we'll figure out something.”

For the rest of the trip Frank and Joe enjoyed the scenery. On the walk back to the hotel they decided to buy another shovel and canvas bag at the camping-supply store.

The same clerk waited on them. “If there's something wrong with what you bought earlier, you may return it,” he said.

“Oh no, we just need another set,” Frank said.

“We're letting somebody else use what we bought this morning,” Joe said.

That story seemed to satisfy the clerk. He wrapped up the new shovel and canvas bag. At the last minute Joe added a small flashlight and paid for it with some Portuguese money.

“We need to call Isabel and tell her what happened,” Frank said as they left the camping-supply store.

“Right,” Joe said. “It was silly to think she was somehow involved with those fascist groups.”

When Frank and Joe got back to their hotel, they called their parents to let them know that they were all right.

Mrs. Hardy asked them if they'd like to go to a movie that evening. “The concierge told us that there's a theater just a couple of blocks away that plays American movies,” she said. “Aunt Gertrude would like to hear some English—she's already feeling a little homesick!”

“We're going to call Isabel to see if she wants to do something tonight,” Frank told their mother. “Thanks for the invitation, though.”

“All right . . . but if you change your mind, the movie starts at eight o'clock,” Mrs. Hardy said.

“Thanks, Mom,” Frank said.

After Frank hung up Joe dialed Isabel's number. She answered on the third ring. He told her what had taken place at the Jardim Agrícola Tropical.

“Oh, that was such a brilliant plan!” Isabel said.
“No wonder Frank and Joe Hardy are known far and wide for solving mysteries.”

“We have another brilliant plan,” Joe told her. “And we hope you'll want to be part of it.”

“I trust you guys so much that I'll say yes before you even tell me what it is,” Isabel said.

“Now, that's what I call having faith in someone!” Joe said.

Isabel laughed.

Joe told her their plan to find a way into Senhora Bragança's backyard that night and to dig up the suitcase.

For a few seconds Isabel didn't say anything, and Joe wondered if she was having second thoughts about going with them. But then she said, “It's not stealing because the gold belongs to Frau Rilke—and I'm sure we can talk our way out of any trespassing complaint.”

“That's what we were thinking,” Joe said.

“The Portuguese courts would surely give us permission to dig, anyway—but then, getting that approval would probably take months and months, and I know that you don't have that much time,” Isabel added.

“No, we don't—and neither does Frau Rilke,” Joe said.

“We're probably stretching the law here, but those were terrible times,” Isabel said, “and I know
the Portuguese people would be on our side.”

“Well, maybe not
everybody,
” Joe said. “Those fascists would probably figure out a way to get that money instead of Frau Rilke.”

“Which, as far as I'm concerned, is a very strong argument for going to Senhora Bragança's house tonight,” Isabel said.

“Can you pick us up at the hotel in your car?” Joe said.

“No problem,” Isabel said. “What time?”

Joe looked over at Frank. “What time should Isabel come by?” he asked.

“Ten o'clock,” Frank said. “We need to be there by eleven.”

Joe repeated the information to Isabel.

“Okay—I'll be waiting for you in front of the hotel at ten,” Isabel said. “Look for a red Porsche.”

“We'll be there,” Joe told her.

When Joe hung up the receiver, he said, “Why ten? We never really talked about that. Do you know something that I don't?”

“I just remembered that when we were at Senhora Bragança's house the first time, the car with the domestic help arrived just before 3
P.M
.,” Frank said. “That's the beginning of a normal work shift.”

“Oh, yeah!” Joe said. “7
A.M
. to 3
P.M
., 3
P.M
. to 11
P.M
., and 11
P.M
. to 7
A.M
.”

“Exactly. So if we're there when the car brings in the domestic help at around 11
P.M
., we can follow
the car through the gate,” Frank said. “I think that's the only way we can get past the security guards.”

“What about the dogs?” Joe said. “Once we're inside, won't they pick up our scents?”

“We'll bring a little fresh meat and a mild sedative. Nothing that will harm them,” Frank said. “We'll get some kind of ground meat and an over-the-counter sleep aid.”

Another conversation with the concierge led Frank and Joe to a nearby meat market, where they bought a pound of ground pork. After that they went two doors down to a pharmacy where—after pondering which one of the many sleep aids to buy, it occurred to Frank that he could ask the pharmacist for whatever pet owners gave to their animals when they were taking them on long trips. The pharmacist went directly to the shelf, picked up a package, and said, “This one is the best!”

A few minutes before ten o'clock the Hardy boys were waiting in front of the hotel. Joe was holding the canvas bag containing the fold-up shovel, a flashlight, and a bag of ground pork that had been mixed with some of the sleep aid.

Isabel pulled up in front of the hotel a couple minutes after ten o'clock, but she was driving a dark-colored late-model Ford instead of the Porsche.

Frank and Joe spotted Isabel in the car and quickly climbed in.

“Where's
your
car?” Joe asked.

“I thought it would be too obvious,” Isabel explained. “This was the car Father used when we were in the United States. It's in great condition and it doesn't stand out.”

“Good thinking,” Frank said.

Even though the traffic was heavy, with Isabel's expert driving they made the trip in forty-five minutes. They parked the car two blocks away from Senhora Bragança's house.

“We have about fifteen minutes to prepare,” Frank whispered as the three of them climbed out of Isabel's car. “That's plenty of time. Come on.”

As they headed toward Senhora Bragança's house Joe explained to Isabel their plan to enter the grounds behind the car that would be carrying the domestic help.

“If everything goes according to schedule, the car will be arriving here just a few minutes before eleven,” Frank said. “We'll be hiding behind some shrubs beside the gate and we'll follow the car inside.”

Joe told Isabel about the ground pork with the mild sedative. “If this doesn't work on the dogs, then—well, do you think you can scramble back over that fence?”

They were close enough to Senhora Bragança's house for Isabel to judge the high fence. “No problem. I took gymnastics for years,” she said. “What about you guys?”

Frank grinned. “We're in track and field back at Bayport High School.”

Joe glanced up and down the street. He didn't see anybody. As they were all wearing dark clothing, he doubted that they were visible from Senhora de Feira's house.

Frank looked at his watch. “We need to get behind the shrubs,” he whispered. “If it's coming, the car with the domestic help should be here any minute.”

They had just hidden themselves when headlights appeared at the far end of the street. Within seconds the gates opened and the big car pulled into the driveway.

“Get ready!” Frank whispered.

When the taillights were even with their hiding place, the three teens crouched down and began following the car. Once on the grounds they veered to the right toward some bushes, where they could hide until the occupants of the car were inside the house.

As they reached the bushes, they heard the dogs.

“Shoot—this doesn't look good!” Joe said.

Frank was frantically trying to unwrap the ground pork. “Let's hope they're more interested in this meat than in us.”

Frank decided to wait until the dogs were almost at the bushes to toss out the ground pork laced with the sleep aid. He thought that they were far enough from the automobile that the driver and the passengers wouldn't see him throw out the meat.

There were three dogs—some of the biggest mastiffs he had ever seen. It was tempting to toss out the meat sooner, but Frank forced himself to wait. He could feel Isabel's tight grasp on his arm. It was almost cutting off the circulation.

“Now!” Joe whispered.

Frank waited a couple more seconds before tossing the meat into the yard, out of the line of vision of the people getting out of the car.

“Look!” Joe whispered. “The driver's coming to check out what the dogs are barking at.”

“Oh, great,” Frank said. “Now we're in trouble.”

“What are we going to do?” Isabel whispered.

“We'll just play it by ear,” Frank said. “If he finds us, we'll tell him it's a prank—our climbing over the fence—and that we're sorry. Joe and I can act like crazy teenagers. If he ever watches any of those American television sitcoms, then maybe he'll believe our act!”

“That might work,” Isabel said. “I'll use my American accent.”

“Rodrigo, come back here now and help us!” a voice called from the vicinity of the car. “You're not going to get out of carrying these bags inside.”

The driver muttered several sentences in Portuguese, stopped, scanned the area where the Hardy boys and Isabel were hiding, and then turned and started back to the car.

“What'd he say?” Joe asked Isabel.

“He thinks the dogs must have cornered some kind of animal,” Isabel replied. “He also doesn't like these two women. He wishes Senhora Bragança would fire them.” She smirked.

When the driver was finally back at the car and listening to the rantings of the two women, Frank exhaled. “Whoa—that was close.”

For the next few minutes Frank, Joe, and Isabel
watched as Rodrigo and the two women carried several paper bags into the house. They also kept an eye out for the mastiffs, who had hungrily devoured all of the ground pork.

By the time Rodrigo and the women were finished unloading the car and were finally inside Senhora Bragança's house, the mastiffs were sleeping. They had simply lain down where Frank had tossed the meat and gone to sleep.

“It worked!” Isabel said.

“Yeah, Frank, good plan,” Joe said, “but we need to get away from the driveway before the other shift leaves for the night.”

“You're right,” Frank said. He shone the flashlight on the map that Frau Rilke had drawn. “Let's orient ourselves.” On the map he found the location of the driveway, which was nearby. “Frau Rilke even drew in the bushes around us,” he said. “Maybe the backyard hasn't changed all that much.”

“It's been almost sixty years,” Joe said. “Do you think that's possible?”

“Yes, it's possible because Europeans don't change things as much as Americans do,” Isabel said. “We have buildings here in Lisbon that are several hundred years old. We'd never think of tearing them down to build new ones, like you sometimes do in the United States.”

“That's good for us,” Frank said. He turned off the flashlight. “Let's take a look around and see if
the rest of the backyard is the same as it was during World War II.”

The three of them slowly moved away from the bushes and walked deeper into the backyard, but they kept as close to the fence, the trees, and the shrubs as possible just in case they needed to dash for cover.

Frank had memorized the map that Frau Rilke had drawn for them. Both the moonlight and the security lighting helped them to see where they were going.

“If I'm reading the map correctly,” Frank said, “the suitcase is buried between two rosebushes toward the far end of the backyard.”

“That's the way I read it too,” Joe whispered.

Just then Frank thought he heard voices nearby, so the three of them took cover behind the closest bush. But it turned out to be just an elderly couple taking a stroll on the sidewalk that was adjacent to the fence.

Finally the teens made it to the rear of the backyard. Once again Frank turned on the flashlight so he could see the map.

“The rear of the fence is here, these bushes and shrubs are here,” Frank said, pointing to the paper, “and right here, between these two rosebushes, is where Herr Fleissner buried the suitcase.” He pointed to the X on the map. “I think we're standing on the spot.”

Joe set the canvas bag down on the ground. “We need to get started. We don't have any time to waste.”

Frank pointed the flashlight at the ground between the two rosebushes. Joe unfolded the shovel and started digging.

“I get a turn too,” Isabel said. “I stay in shape, so I can dig.”