Free Deadfall by Franklin W Dixon Page A

have done that," Frank said, resting a hand on the ruined saw. 'That would take a lot of explosives—probably dynamite."
    "There are plenty of footprints here," Joe said, pointing to the ash-covered ground around the saw. "Fire fighters, paramedics, the arson investigators—too many to identify."
    "I'm glad I wasn't inside fighting the fire," Callie commented as they poked around. "It must have been horribly hot. Hey," she added, squatting down to peer beneath the saw's cradle. "I think I found something."
    Callie retrieved something from under the cradle and stood up. When she opened her hand there was a battered steel cigarette lighter.
    "Hmm. Not very impressive," Callie said. "One of the mill workers must have dropped it."
    Joe took the lighter and turned it over. A bit of brass was tacked to the other side. "Wings over a parachute. Isn't that some kind of military insignia?"
    "Right, for the army paratroopers," said Frank. He took the lighter and scraped the ashes off the bottom. "Uh-huh," he added. "There's

    Deadfall
    an inscription here. It says, 'Saigon, seventy-two.' Whoever dropped this is probably a Vietnam veteran. It shouldn't be too hard to find out if there are any ex-paratroopers who work at the mill. If the owner of the lighter can't explain how his lighter got here, we just might have our man."
    "I don't know, Frank," Callie said with a frown. ''It's pretty flimsy."
    "It's all we have to go on so far," said Frank, irritation creeping into his voice. "Let's look around and see if anything else turns up."
    Joe turned back to sifting through the ashes until he heard Frank say, "Okay, I give up. If we haven't found anything by now, there's nothing else to find."
    "Including Buster's keys," Joe pointed out.
    "Right." Frank nodded. "Which means either the investigators found them—"
    "Or the murderer took them," Joe finished grimly. "Which explains why Horizon's equipment keeps following us around."
    "Let's go back to town. I could eat again," Callie suggested, dusting ash off her hands. "Maybe Peg Robbins at the general store can tell us who owns that lighter. She knows everyone in town, and Uncle Stan says she loves to gab."
    By the time the Hardys and Callie returned to the general store, it was nearly dusk and the lunch counter was empty. Only breakfast and lunch were served. Portly Peg Robbins, whom they had watched serving the loggers the day

    THE HARDY BOYS CASEFILES
    before, stood behind the counter wiping down the coffee machine. Her husband sat in his usual spot behind the cash register, this time working a crossword puzzle. The teenagers headed straight for the single rest room in the back, taking turns cleaning up as best they could.
    *'Hi, Peg," Callie said as they finally climbed onto the stools in front of the counter. ''Do you remember me? Callie Shaw, Stan's niece?"
    ''Of course 1 do!" the woman cried, turning around and giving Callie a big, motherly smile. "1 never forget a soul who passes through this old place." Her face turned somber as she stepped closer, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. "My dear, I'm so sorry about your poor uncle," she said gravely. "Can I get you anything—^we're officially closed but I make lots of exceptions."
    Callie waited until Peg served them to strike up a conversation again. Finally, she held up the paratrooper lighter.
    "We found this yesterday when we were hiking," CaUie said casually. "It looks like it might be important to someone, so we thought we'd bring it here to see if you might recognize it. We'd like to get it back to its owner if we can."
    "Of course," she said. "Mike Stavisky's your man. He went to Vietnam with the paratroopers in—let's see—May of 1971. He was discharged in 1972. I remember his mother's excitement when he got off that bus like it was yesterday."
    "Mike Stavisky?" Joe tried to hide his excitement. "Are you sure, ma'am?"

    Deadfall
    "Of course I'm sure!" Peg Robbins drew herself up to her full height. "Michael's used that