Free The Last Laugh by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

boxes behind the Dumpster.
    The dark figure fired a warning shot in the air as Whip Scorpion sprinted toward the end of the alley.
    Joe watched from the fire escape as a silver van roared up to the mouth of the alley. Dreadnought's angular helmet was clearly framed by the open driver's window. A split second later the door on the side of the van slid open, and Whip Scorpion dived in. The Hardys heard the van's powerful engine rev, then the tires screech as it raced off.
    In the next instant the dark figure spotted Frank and Joe on the fire escape. He swiveled and pointed his revolver at the boys, standing in a marksman's crouch.
    "Freeze or I'll blow you away!"

Chapter 10
    Frank and Joe raised their hands.
    "Don't shoot," Frank called out. "We're unarmed."
    "Come down where I can see for myself," the dark gunman commanded in a strangely familiar voice. "And keep your hands where I can see them."
    "Play it cool, Joe. This guy seems edgy," Frank said in a low voice as he caught up with Joe. Frank and Joe reached the bottom of the fire escape and dropped lightly to the ground. The gunman stepped out of the shadows. It was Sergeant Hanlon.
    "What are you two doing here?" Hanlon demanded angrily, lowering his gun.
    There was an awkward silence, which was filled by the loud whine of an approaching siren.
    "Well, speak up," Hanlon told them.
    Joe broke the silence. "We were checking out a lead in the Johns case, Sergeant. Dewey Strong gave us his keys to the Zenith offices so we could see a threatening letter Johns got a few days ago."
    "And I suppose you don't know anything about the bomb your buddy set off," Hanlon said sarcastically.
    "Our buddy!" Frank said incredulously. "Detective, we were chasing that guy!"
    Hanlon gestured for them to come forward. "Yeah. Sure. Tell me about it at the station house."
    ***
    "I've already told you, Sergeant. We went to Zenith to look at a letter Johns got from Harry Saul," Frank said, feeling his exasperation growing. They had already been in the station over an hour, but Hanlon was still giving them a hard time. They'd told him what Strong had said about the letter from Saul, and had filled him in on all they knew about Johns, Kaner, and Parente.
    "Look," Frank said, trying hard to keep a lid on his temper. "We're trying to cooperate. What else do you want to know?"
    "Anything you guys have learned about Johns that might have a bearing on this case," Hanlon responded.
    "Did you know Saul was in the vicinity of the Kaner kidnapping?" Joe asked suddenly.
    "Or that he was also nearby when Parente got kidnapped from the hotel?" Frank added, remembering that he'd seen Saul in the crowd after his leap into the pool.
    Hanlon nodded and made some notes on his pad.
    "Here's another angle you may want to look into," Frank told Hanlon. "Where's my bag? There's a piece of evidence that I want to give you."
    Hanlon got up and left the room, returning a moment later with Frank's bag. Frank opened it and pulled out the scorched page fragment Tom had given him.
    "Okay, I'll bite. What is it?" Hanlon asked.
    "It's a piece of art from Johns's collection that got burned during his kidnapping," Frank replied. "We think that piece of artwork you're holding is a forgery.
    "Can you have it sent to the police labs to test the age of the paper?" Frank asked. "If it's less than fifty years old, it's a forgery."
    "Forgery?" Hanlon shook his head quizzically. "Wait a minute, I thought we were dealing with kidnapping here."
    "It's more complicated than that, Sergeant. Johns has been selling off his art collection to one art dealer," Frank explained. "We think it's possible that Johns replaced the art with forgeries so it would look like he still owned them."
    Hanlon made several notes, then looked up at the Hardys with a flinty expression. "Maybe I was a little hasty calling you boys amateurs. You've turned up some real interesting information. But smart or not, you're still civilians, and if you stick your noses into