Free The Great Airport Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

lean, middle-aged man, who was seated at a desk. “The chief doesn’t come on duty for another hour yet.”
    The brothers explained the situation to him and requested his help.
    â€œI remember the Stanwide plane taking off,” the tower man recalled. “It departed soon after I came on duty.” He quickly checked through his listing of aircraft movements. “Here it is,” he said, pointing out a small card. “The plane took off shortly after midnight.”
    â€œDid the pilot file a flight plan?” Frank questioned.
    â€œYes—an instrument flight plan to a field in California,” the operator responded. “I can’t tell you exactly, because normally we don’t keep a record of flight plans here in the tower.” He picked up a telephone and snapped a toggle switch mounted on the desk. “I’ll check with our communications station.”
    It was several minutes before the operator received the information he requested. Then he placed the phone down and turned to the young sleuths. “The Stanwide pilot canceled his flight plan at Chicago,” he said. “After taking on fuel, he departed without filing a new flight plan.”
    Frank and Joe were dismayed. After thanking the tower man for his help, they left hurriedly.
    â€œI want to call Mr. Allen right away and let him know what happened,” Frank said.
    Mr. Allen’s voice was heavy with sleep as he answered the telephone. When he heard the news, however, he snapped awake.
    â€œWhat!” he exclaimed. “Peterson didn’t have authority to leave before the scheduled time. Meet me at the Stanwide hangar! I’ll be right over!”
    The boys next called their father and informed him of the incident. Then they started walking toward the Stanwide hangar.
    â€œPeterson and Lieber decided to vanish and keep everything for themselves,” Frank said. “That was a valuable load they were carrying. It could make them rich.”
    â€œPeterson might also be trying to escape Clint Hill’s ghost,” Joe added.
    Mr. Allen arrived at the hangar and was aghast at the situation. He immediately placed a long-distance call to the Sun-Plat Tool Company in California, which was supposed to receive the air shipment. An official there told him the cargo plane had not arrived at the nearby airport. He assured Mr. Allen he would notify him the instant any information concerning the flight was received.
    Turning from the telephone, Mr. Allen said to the Hardys, “I don’t mind telling you I’m pretty worried about this whole thing.”
    The boys followed him to Peterson’s office, which they thoroughly searched. In the top desk drawer, Frank discovered a notation stating that Mr. Allen had ordered an earlier departure.
    â€œI never gave such an order!” the executive declared. The young sleuths noted that the notation was typed, making it difficult to identify the writer.
    They next went with Mr. Allen to interrogate the night watchman, who said Peterson had told him nothing. “I thought it was a funny time for him to be taking off, but it’s not up to me to question the actions of our company’s chief pilot.”
    â€œNo, of course not,” said Mr. Allen.
    Using a master key, he searched Lieber’s locker but found no clues. Frank suggested they check the bills of lading for the Sun-Plat shipment. They scrutinized the records for more than an hour, but the results gave no hint of any tampering.
    â€œWell,” Frank said, sighing, “there’s nothing more we can do here.”
    After assuring Mr. Allen they would continue tracking every possible lead locally, the Hardys returned to Randy.
    â€œSorry our flight has been grounded,” Joe said wryly.
    â€œToo bad. Well, I’ll just return the plane,” the pilot replied philosophically. “I’ll be around if you fellows need me again—maybe next time we’ll