Free The Crowning Terror by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

eyes on Starkey and Feodor. They walked up to an outdoor cafe and took seats at a table that looked onto the street.
    Frank watched them carefully. Neither man looked as if he had been forced into this meeting. The pair chatted calmly, joking and laughing as the waiter took their order. They looked like old friends.
    "I've got to hear what they're saying," Frank said. Before Joe could stop him, he shambled across the street.
    The restaurant's outdoor cafe almost jutted out onto the sidewalk, which was separated from the tables by a low, wrought-iron fence. Frank shuffled past table after table, slouching and hunching his shoulders, trying to keep his face hidden by his hat and collar.
    "We're set for tomorrow night," Frank heard Feodor say without his Russian accent. As he wandered past their table, neither Starkey nor Feodor paid any attention to him. Feodor poured two glasses of wine, and he and Starkey each took one. "To success," Feodor said.
    Starkey laughed. "To crime," he replied.
    "Speaking of crime," Feodor began. Frank stood by the curb, parallel to their table, digging in trash that had collected in the gutter. From there, he could hear clearly.
    Before Feodor continued, he shouted, "Hey, bum!"
    For a moment Frank considered hurrying off. How had they discovered him? He had made certain he hadn't shown his face. Was it something in the way he moved? he wondered. The way he was dressed? Or perhaps, he thought, Starkey wanted something else. Crossing his fingers, he lowered his head so the hat cast a long shadow on his face, and he turned to face Feodor.
    "You mind, pal?" Feodor asked. "Go mooch somewhere else, huh?"
    Frank nodded, keeping his head down and slamming his fists into his pockets. He moved off. He had come away with just one bit of information. But, he thought, what a piece of info it is.
    From behind him, Frank heard Starkey call, "Take a bath!" He turned to see Starkey and Feodor laughing at him.
    Then Starkey took a narrow manila envelope from his pocket and slid it across the table to Feodor. The dark-haired man picked it up, slit it open, and began to leaf through the contents.
    Suddenly Starkey's expression changed. He angrily grabbed Feodor's hand, forcing him to push the pieces of paper back into the envelope. Feodor's eyes flared and his voice rose, but Frank was now too far away to make out the words.
    Starkey threw his napkin on the table and stormed away as Feodor continued to yell. At the corner Frank waited. When Starkey had passed him, he wandered back toward the restaurant. Feodor was still there, gleefully pulling the pieces of paper out again.
    It was cash, Frank saw with a start. He moved by before Feodor saw him again, crossed the street, and hurried back to Joe.
    "Money?" Joe asked when Frank told him what he had seen. "Think it's a shakedown?"
    "No," Frank replied. They walked through San Francisco, discarding their secondhand clothes. "It was more like a payoff. They were all chummy until Feodor started counting the money there at the table. I think Starkey didn't want anyone to see it."
    "Wow," Joe said. "Starkey having Russians on his payroll. Are we talking public or private payroll here?"
    "I don't know," said Frank. "But there's something I do know, Joe. Feodor's not Russian."
    "What?"
    "Feodor's a fake. I heard him speak back there. He's as American as you or I."
    "Are you sure he wasn't just putting it on to blend in?" Joe asked.
    Frank shook his head. "Remember I told you his accent and his pal's kept shifting yesterday? This explains it. They're just pretending to be Russian."
    Puzzled, Joe said, "No, it doesn't explain it. Uncle Hugh spent years behind the Iron Curtain. He'd know the difference between a real and a fake Russian accent, wouldn't he?"
    "He's got to play along. They poisoned him," Frank said. "Joe, he's being set up for something. That's the only thing that makes sense."
    "Then we've got to warn him," Joe decided.
    "No," answered Frank. "We still don't have