Free Deadfall by Franklin W Dixon

his knees.
    "All right," he said finally. "I thought I saw Rafe CoUins's Cadillac parked off the road. It's a red sixty-seven, a beat-up old wreck that Collins is real proud of. It's hard to miss. Buster's truck was parked right by it," he said finally.
    "Collins? Bo Johnson's foreman? You actually saw him there?" Joe jumped in.
    Galen shook his head. "I didn't see anybody. Just the truck and the car. Then, right afterward came the explosion. I was so close, I was stunned by it. I wandered away and eventually found my truck."
    "What happened after that?" Frank asked.
    "I went home. Ever since that day, I've been scared."
    "Of Collins?" Callie asked him.
    "Absolutely. Once, after I organized some roadblocks on Johnson Lumber's logging roads, he told me he'd shoot me if I ever set foot on Johnson property again. I believe he'd do it, too. Bo Johnson hired him straight out of prison on a work-release parole to keep the mill employees in line."

    THE HARDY BOYS CA5EFILE5
    *'What do you mean?" Frank asked.
    '*You know," Galen said, 'if Johnson's employees get any notions about saving the local wildlife or joining a union, Collins leans on them."
    Neither of the Hardys believed all of what Galen said, but their impression of Collins coincided pretty well with his description.
    ''Did you have any more plans for sabotaging the lumber companies?" Frank asked. "Anything that might involve dynamite, for example?"
    Galen sat up straight, gripping his rifle more tightly. "Did you come in here earlier?"
    "Relax, Vance," Joe said calmly. "We're just trying to help Stan—and you, if you'll let us."
    Galen slowly relaxed his grip on the rifle. "All right," he said. "I did get a bunch of books on dynamite and some fuses and other stuff back when the state legislature decided to let the redwoods be cut. I was going to get some dynamite and blow up the access roads."
    "But the legislature voted to save the trees," Callie pointed out.
    "It's a good thing," Galen said quietly. "I don't know if I would have had the guts to blow anything up. Collins has me too scared to fight Johnson Lumber, and they're the worst mill in the state. So all I do is talk."
    "As long as it's good talk, it's worthwhile," Frank suggested. "Will you tell Ferris about seeing CoUins's car when we're ready to bring our evidence to him?"

    Deadfall
    Galen hesitated. The Hardys could see the inner battle he was fighting. After a short pause Galen's conscience apparently won out over his fear. ''Okay. I'll talk to Ferris."
    "Great. Now, there's just one more thing we need from you, Vance," Joe said.
    ''What's that?" he asked wearily.
    "A ride down the mountain."
    It was late afternoon by the time the Hardys and Gallic reached the general store. Vance waved goodbye and said he was going to visit Stan. Joe spotted their jeep parked in front—a little beat up, but not too bad, considering. "I wonder if it works." He hurried over and checked. Sure enough, it started right up. A sign taped to the steering wheel read, "Ten bucks for towing off the mountain. Leave the money at the general store."
    "Now that's the kind of small-town hospitality I like," Joe said. "Let's go inside and pay the guy. And after a quick bite, how about checking out the site of the explosion? There's probably no one around today, and something might turn up."
    "Sounds good to me," Frank said, moving toward the general store.
    "Wow. It looks so sad," Gallic said as they drove into the parking lot. Only two warehouses were untouched by the fire.
    "Let's start near that big saw, the one the

    THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILES
    arson investigators were talking about," Frank said as they hopped out of the jeep. 'That is, if we can figure out where it was in this mess."
    Silently they crossed the parking lot to the rubble that had been the main building. Joe instantly found what had to be the mill's largest saw. The jagged-toothed steel plate, at least ten feet in diameter, had been bent nearly in half.
    ''No fire would