Free One False Step by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

else, so neither Frank nor Joe continued the discussion.
    After several minutes of chitchat with Heather and Alice—who Frank thought must be great actresses considering that they didn’t really want to be with Elisabeth—the public address system crackled. An announcer said, “We wish to apologize, but High-Wire Troupe D will not be performing tonight.”
    Joe felt as though somebody had slugged him. He looked over at Frank and nodded.
    â€œHeather and Alice gave me and Joe a tour of historic Philadelphia this afternoon,” Frank said, “and just as we were leaving, we thought we saw you.”
    Elisabeth blinked, gave Heather and Alice a funny look, then turned back to Frank. “Well, yes, I was doing the same thing for some of the acrobats,” she said. “They’re interested in American history too.”
    â€œHigh-Wire Troupe D?” Joe asked.
    It was clear to Frank that Elisabeth was getting uncomfortable.
    â€œWell, as a matter of fact, yes, and it’s probably all my fault that they’re not here tonight, because I insisted they have one of our famous Philly cheese steak sandwiches,” Elisabeth said, “The place where we went was, well . . . kind of a greasy spoon. Their stomachs probably aren’t used to that.”
    Frank looked down the aisle and saw Mario headed in their direction. He stood up. “I just thought of something that Joe and I need to talk to Mario about,” he said. He turned to Heather and Alice. “Could you make sure these three,” he pointed to Chet, Matt, and Tony, “get back to the Zettarella’s?”
    â€œOf course,” Alice said.
    â€œIt’ll be our pleasure!” Heather added.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Elisabeth asked.
    Joe could hear the concern in her voice. “I hope we’re going to solve a mystery,” he said.
    The Hardy boys hurried down the aisle to intercept Mario.
    When they reached him, Joe said, “We need to head downtown!”
    â€œWhy? What’s wrong?” Mario said.
    â€œHigh-Wire Troupe D isn’t performing tonight,” Frank said. “That’s the troupe Elisabeth was with downtown this afternoon.”
    â€œThey weren’t looking at the historic sights,” Joe said. “Frank and I think they were casing some of the high-rise apartment buildings.”
    â€œ What?” Mario said.
    â€œWe’ll tell you all about it on the way downtown,” Frank said.
    The three of them raced toward gate forty-two. Mario radioed the police officer he had talked to earlier and told him to have the van running.Within minutes, they were out of the stadium parking lot and heading back downtown. The traffic was heavier tonight, but Mario expertly maneuvered the van through it all.
    When they finally reached downtown, Mario said, “Do you remember exactly where you were when you saw the acrobats looking up at the high-rise apartments?”
    â€œI think so,” Frank said.
    â€œWasn’t it just past Benjamin Franklin’s grave?” Joe said.
    â€œYes, it was, Joe—you’re right,” Frank said. “Hurry—we don’t have much time!”
    Mario made a couple of turns, drove back north for several blocks, then said, “Does this look familiar?”
    Frank and Joe stuck their heads out the van’s windows and scanned the skyline.
    â€œOver there!” Joe said. “I’m sure of it.”
    â€œI think he’s right, Mario,” Frank agreed. “Let’s head down that street.”
    Mario made a U-turn and headed toward a couple of high-rise apartment buildings that were across the street from each other. A half block away, he parked the van and the three of them got out.
    â€œDo you have any binoculars?” Joe asked.
    â€œAs a matter of fact, I do,” Mario said. “Did you see something suspicious?”
    â€œNot yet,” Joe said.
    Mario handed him the