Free Strategic Moves by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

gives me an idea." Ziggy took a small notebook from his pocket, sat down on the grass, and began scribbling. "Would you like to play chess tonight?" Ziggy didn't look up.
    Frank knelt beside Ziggy. "Are you kidding? You were leading me to slaughter before our little accident last night."
    "Yes, but I think you will find tonight's game fascinating." Ziggy scribbled on.
    "What are you working on?" Frank leaned over to look at Ziggy's notebook.
    "Excuse me, gentlemen," Lewis said loudly. "But would you mind paying a little more attention to the lecture."
    "I'm taking notes," Ziggy lied, smiling at Frank.
    Frank stood up. "Sorry," he mumbled.
    They spent another fifteen minutes listening to Lewis before the group was dismissed to explore the stones.
    Frank was eager to find Petra and Joe, but he didn't want to leave Ziggy, who still sat on the grass scribbling in his notebook. Also, Frank wanted to examine the stones himself. He would hate to have come all the way to England without getting a good look at one of the world's truly great mysteries.
    ***
    An hour later they were all on the buses, headed to the city of Salisbury to eat lunch before returning to Oxford.
    Frank explained to the others that Salisbury was famous for its many spires and the orderly way the city had been laid out in a grid. Although Salisbury had been designed hundreds of years before, the city still followed the same basic plan.
    "Nice and orderly and logical," Frank concluded.
    "There's that steel-trap mind again," Joe said with a laugh.
    Frank frowned at his younger brother.
    The students were allowed to eat at any one of the many pubs and sidewalk cafes, as long as they were back at the buses by one-thirty.
    Frank, Joe, Ziggy, and Petra decided on a small cafe away from the main street. They scanned the menu.
    "I wonder where Fitzhugh is going," Frank said.
    Joe looked up. Fitzhugh was on the other side of the street, walking quickly. He disappeared inside a shop with its name hand-printed in white letters on the picture window: Stonehenge Antiques.
    "I think I'll check out some of the local artifacts," Frank said to Joe. "Order for me."
    Frank glanced both ways and then crossed the street. He didn't know what, but something about Fitzhugh bothered Frank.
    Frank walked up to the old shop and pushed open the door, causing a bell to clang.
    "May I help you?" asked a short, bald man from behind the counter. He had been leaning on the counter, reading a newspaper. His skin was wrinkled and mottled, and he looked to be in his seventies.
    Frank glanced around the small shop, which was cluttered with rusted tools, old baby carriages, and stained tables. An assortment of stuffed animals hung on the wall.
    "I'm with the students from Oxford," Frank explained. "I'm looking for Mr. Fitzhugh, our program director. He just came in here."
    "I'm sorry," the old man said. "You are the only customer I've had in the past hour."
    "I'm sure I saw him come in here," Frank insisted. "A tall, broad man with dark eyes."
    The old man slowly shook his head. "No. As I was saying, you are the only living soul I've seen in an hour."
    "Thank you," Frank said with a sigh, and left, the bell clanging again.
    Frank spotted Joe across the street at the café. Joe nodded his head. Frank shrugged his shoulders, then pointed to an alley.
    Frank walked into the alley, which ended at a brick wall. He knew Fitzhugh had gone into the shop and then disappeared into the back of the store, but why was the old man hiding that fact? Frank wanted to find a side door and perhaps sneak in.
    He walked to the middle of the alley. There was an olive drab door on rusty hinges. Must be the one, Frank thought. He put his hand on the knob and turned. The door was locked.
    "Look who we have here, Chris," came a voice from behind Frank.
    Frank spun around. Howard Markham and Chris St. Armand stood at the head of the alley.
    "We have ourselves an alley cat," St. Armand sneered.
    "Hi, guys," Frank said calmly.