Free The Prime-Time Crime by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

series is ending next week.”
    â€œSpeaking of the police,” Joe said, “how are they doing in the search for Clarence?”
    â€œNot too well,” Marcy said with a sigh. “They’ve questioned all of Clarence’s neighbors as well as everyone at the station, but no leads so far.”
    Frank nodded. “We’ve been coming up empty, too.”
    â€œDo you want us to stay on the case?” Joe asked.
    â€œOf course,” Marcy said. “The police seem to be losing interest already. Apparently they’ve had other missing person cases like this and most of the investigations end up going nowhere, or the people return on their own. I told the police Clarence wasn’t the type of person to walk out on his job and his coworkers like that,” Marcy added. “He may have a strange sense of humor, but he also has a real sense of responsibility.”
    â€œThat’s not what Matt Freeman said yesterday,” Frank said.
    â€œMatt has his own reasons for not liking Clarence,” Marcy said. “The two never got along very well, and Matt never made any secret of the fact that he’d like to have Clarence’s job. Now he’s got it.”
    Just then, the phone rang. The brothers turned to leave.
    â€œThanks, guys,” Marcy said as she picked up the receiver. “Keep me posted on how things are going.”
    â€œWe will,” Frank promised. After the brothers left Marcy’s office, they walked down the hallway. As they passed the engineering room next to Studio A, they spotted Matt Freeman having a conversation with two of the engineers.
    â€œThere’s Matt,” Frank said. “Why don’t we talk to him now?”
    â€œGood idea,” Joe said. “He’s the only person weknow so far with a clear-cut motive for getting rid of Clarence.”
    â€œRight,” Frank said. “With Clarence out of the way, Matt stands to turn a pretty nice profit, from what Marcy tells us. Let’s ask him a few questions.”
    The engineering room was lined with television monitors and banks of electronic equipment. A young engineer with curly brown hair sat before a console filled with dials and switches. As Frank watched, she pushed buttons and threw switches in response to commands that she was apparently receiving over a pair of headphones. Matt Freeman, who was talking to a second engineer, turned and smiled at the Hardys as they walked into the room.
    â€œHow are you doing, guys?” Freeman asked. “I hear you’re looking for Clarence. Any luck?”
    â€œNot much, Matt,” Joe said. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about him yourself?”
    â€œNot a thing,” Freeman responded. “Like I said, maybe he’ll come jumping out from behind the curtain Tuesday night and announce that all’s well. If he does, I’m going to pop him one in the nose.”
    â€œWhy?” Frank asked curiously.
    â€œWhy?” Freeman echoed. “Because it’s a pretty stupid publicity stunt for him to pull, that’s why.”
    â€œAnd because he’ll probably want his job back?” Joe suggested.
    Freeman’s expression changed. “Very funny. You’re not thinking that I might be glad that Clarence has disappeared, are you? And I hopeyou’re not suggesting that I might have had something to do with his disappearance.”
    Frank flashed Joe a disapproving look. “We’re not suggesting anything, Mr. Freeman.”
    â€œGood,” Freeman said, turning back to the engineer. “Now go play detective someplace else. I’m busy right now.”
    â€œWe were just on our way out,” Frank said, tugging his brother’s arm. “Come on, Joe.”
    Out in the hallway, Frank turned to Joe and said, “That was a dumb question. You really didn’t expect him to answer it, did you?”
    â€œSorry,” Joe said. “It just slipped