Read Online Kickoff to Danger by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online Page B

saw with my own eyes.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” Dan mocked.
    â€œI saw Biff lying on the furnace-room floor,” Frank said quietly. “And all around him, there were book bags.” Frank took a step forward until he was right in Dan Freeman’s face. “Biff was trying to get those books—and their owners—out of the basement.”
    For a second Frank managed to change Dan’s bad attitude. Dan went pale and then stepped back.
    But like any good debater, Freeman quickly rallied. “Brilliant deduction,” he sneered. “I figure you just made your job twice as hard.”
    Frank frowned. “What do you mean?”
    â€œIf what you say is true, then Biff was trying to ruin the punching party his pals had set up. Maybe one of the jocks—like Chet—put a stop to that by putting a stop to Biff.”
    Dan’s swollen lips twitched in a half-smile as he watched Frank’s expression.
    â€œDidn’t think of that, did you?” the tall boy asked. “Maybe you should track down Terry Golden and try a couple of questions on him. A shovel to the back of the head sounds like his style.”
    Dan turned and started walking away again. This time Frank didn’t try to stop him.
    When Freeman stopped to glance back this time, he said, “Of course, if you try what I said, you may have to watch
your
back.”
    Frank was watching Dan Freeman walk off when a hand landed on his shoulder.
    â€œHey, bro,” Joe Hardy said. “Where were you? I wound up having lunch with your girlfriend.”
    â€œWho just happens to have a little information,” Callie Shaw said, stepping up beside them.
    She dug in her shoulder bag and gave Frank a piece of paper. “Here are all the debate group guys who went out after their books.”
    Frank stared at the list of names. “How did you—”
    â€œI got it from the
girls
on the debate team.” Callie gave him a smug smile. “When those big bozos came in, they took
everybody’s
books. The stuff belonging to the girls was left piled in the hall. The creeps were definitely after the boys. I guess theyfigured that after taking the trouncing they had planned, the boys would be too humiliated to talk about it.”
    â€œIt might have gone that way, too,” Joe said. “Get the nerds down in the dark, work them over hard and quick, and get out of there. All the debate kids would have was a bunch of bruises and nobody they could point a finger at.”
    Frank nodded. “But then the plan went off the track.”
    â€œYou mean
we
turned up?” Joe said.
    â€œ
Biff
turned up and began helping the debate guys.”
    â€œAnd somebody hit him for that—hard.” Callie suddenly looked a little sick.
    Frank held up his piece of paper. “According to this, seven debate guys left the classroom in pursuit of their books. One of them was Jimmy Brooks.”
    â€œThat’s the guy you sent to Mr. Sheldrake,” Joe said.
    â€œAnd we know he went, because Old Beady Eyes mentioned him this morning,” Frank went on. “So he wasn’t down there in the dark. That leaves six debaters, including Dan Freeman.”
    â€œMr. Coordination,” Joe joked.
    Frank ignored him. “From the football team, we’ve got the guy I saw in the hall—Walinovski. Then Chet, of course—”
    â€œAnd Lousy Logan, who punched Chet out,” Joe added. “There were three other guys who snatched the books.”
    â€œPlus the brains of the outfit—Terry Golden,” Frank said. “He’d certainly be downstairs, waiting for a piece of Dan Freeman.”
    â€œSo, besides Chet and Biff, there could have been a dozen people wandering around down there,” Callie said.
    â€œAt least,” Frank agreed. “And any of them could be responsible for what happened to Biff. The debate guys who were being terrorized would certainly see Biff as