Chapter 19: Officer Hanson Remembers

Zach radioed Frank a minute later to let the Andersons know he’d pulled up to the curb.  The boys came out with their new friend, whom they quickly introduced.  Minutes later, the police showed up.  Auburn hid in the car while the police were around, and by the time Zach and company left, no one else had spotted her.

“Whew, that was close,” said Auburn.  “Thanks for helping me—I really appreciate it!”

“No problem!” said Nancy.  “Frank told me about what you did in Blackwell.  It’s an honor to meet you at last.”

“You find out anything else about the case?”  Dick asked.

“Oh, a few things,” said Auburn.  “For instance, Hill’s not actually in charge of the gang.”

“I thought so,” said Dick.  “That thing he said about the boss—”

“I’ve heard them talk about him before,” Auburn said.  “Never seen him, though.  Apparently, he spends all his time at the base, along with a bunch of other thugs.  They alter the cars there—paint them different colors, switch the upholstery—sometimes even rebrand them.  Then, they send them off to the different dealerships.”

“We found Stephanie’s car at that one,” Frank said.

“I guess they don’t take anything older than twenty years,” Nancy commented.  Auburn quickly nodded.

“Too rare.  More recent models blend in better.  Plus, there’s always a demand for their parts.  Apparently, there’s a couple used parts stores that don’t do legitimate business.”

“That’s not surprising,” said Frank.  “You know, I get the impression that the Subway we’re looking for isn’t in Oklahoma City at all.  Remember what Hill said?  The Oklahoma City Police will have trouble finding it?”

“Them specifically,” noted Dick.  “Well, they would have trouble if it’s outside their jurisdiction.”

“Exactly,” said Frank, “so it’s probably not in Oklahoma City.”

“Where do you suppose it is, then?” Nancy asked.  “Norman, Moore?”

Frank shook his head.  “Too close.  Probably somewhere further out of town.  I think we can rule out the north, though,” he observed.  “If those men were storing the cars in Guthrie or Perry, they wouldn’t have needed to come all the way to Oklahoma City from Blackwell.”

“Probably means it’s not east or west of Blackwell,” Auburn added.  “Otherwise, why would they have gone straight south?”

“Which would imply that it’s somewhere southeast or southwest—or due south—of Oklahoma City.  Which reminds me, that moving van was headed towards Chickasha and Lawton.  Maybe the Subway was located along I-44 somewhere.”

“Which one, though?” Zach asked.  “There are a lot of towns in between those places, as well.  Searching all the Subways would take a while.”

“There are only so many Subways in each town, though,” noted Frank.  “Let’s keep that in mind for tomorrow.  I’ll give you a call around nine.”

“There’s something else I don’t get,” Nancy said.  “How do those stolen library books fit in?”

“What library books—oh, Stephanie’s?  I almost forgot about them.”  Frank thought a second.  “They don’t seem to have anything to do with the case.”

“I don’t think we can rule them out, though” Nancy said.  “Stephanie wasn’t kidnapped at home—the crooks had no need to visit her house.  They wouldn’t have done so unless they had a specific reason.  There must be a clue in one of them.”

“What could that be, though?” Frank asked.  “One’s about an inventor—the other’s about vehicles.  It’s not like they have the location of the Subway written in them.”

Nancy shrugged.  “I don’t know,” she said, “but I think we’ll need to find out if we’re going to solve this case.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a little convincing, but Frank managed to get his father to accept the house arrest idea—as far as Auburn was concerned.  She wasn’t allowed to leave unless one of the Andersons was with her.  That, however, meant any of the Andersons—Susan included.  For that evening, Auburn roomed with Nancy, who had a spare bed set up in her room specifically for visitors.  The girls talked late into the night before finally drifting off to sleep.  Nancy was still sleeping early the next morning when the phone rang.

“You think it’s for her?” Frank asked Auburn, as he got up from the breakfast table.

“I can go get her, if it is,” Auburn offered.

Frank shook his head.  “No, I’ve got a response picked out.  Nancy?  Oh, I’m sorry, but she can’t come to the phone right now.  She was trying to fix a cut on her lip with superglue, and now her mouth won’t open.  If you’ll call back next week…”

Auburn laughed as Frank picked up the phone.  “Anderson residence.  Frank speaking!”

“Hi, Frank!”

“Dad!  You got to work fast!”

“I must have missed every single red light—except that one for Berry, but I was turning right, anyway.  Just thought you’d like to know that Detwiler, the guy who’s supposed to own that house you went to, isn’t mixed up with the gang at all.  He’s got a good alibi.”

“How good?” Frank asked.

“He’s been dead for five years.”

Frank nodded.  “That’ll hold up in court.  How did Hill get there, then?”

“As near as we can figure, he’s been living there off and on since Detwiler’s death.  There were a bunch of legal complications with his will, and the place would’ve been abandoned if it weren’t for Hill.  Now, we know why his hideouts were so hard to find.”

“I see,” said Frank.  “Any sign of him, or any clues on who the big boss is?”

“Negative.” Mr. Anderson said.  “Let me know if you all find out before I do.”

“We will,” said Frank, “as soon as we get a chance.  Love you, bye!”

Hanging up, he quickly explained to Auburn what the alibi was.  She nodded.  “Those crooks are pretty tough, that’s for sure.  What’s our next move?”

Frank glanced towards the door.  “Well, I wanted to go by Ashley’s house this morning and update her on our progress.  She didn’t answer the phone earlier when I tried to call.  However, Nancy will probably want to go along, and she’s still in bed…”

“Any idea when she’s getting up?” Auburn asked, wondering why a grin was coming over Frank’s face.

“Sure,” Frank said.  “Soon.  Real soon.”  He wandered over to the kitchen sink, opened the cabinet underneath, and pulled out—

Auburn’s eyes widened.  “You’re going to use a Super Soaker?”

“Sure,” Frank said, speaking over the rush of water as he loaded the gun.  “I’ve done it before.”

“Does she like it when you do that?”

Frank shut off the water.  “She’ll like getting to see her friend, and that’ll make up for any inconvenience she might experience.  Be back in a flash.”

He raced from the room, weapon dripping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For goodness’ sake, Nancy!  Say something!  You’ve been quiet this whole walk!”

As they wandered up the Dales’ street, Nancy gave her brother a wry grin.  “Huh?  Oh, sorry.  I guess I was too busy thinking of how to get back at you for your little performance this morning.”

“At least your brother only shoots you with a water gun,” Auburn said.  “Now, mine…”

Nancy stared at her new friend in horror.  “What does he shoot you with?”

“Nothing.”  Auburn laughed.  “I’m an only child.”

“Well, the girl you’re about to meet has siblings,” Frank told her.  “Two brothers and four sisters.  There are seven kids, altogether.”

Auburn smiled wistfully.  “Sounds nice,” she said.  “Even one sibling would be great.  It gets lonely at home, all by yourself—”

Nancy interrupted, pointing at the house.  “What’s that police car doing in the driveway?”

“Police car—” Frank’s eyes widened as he saw the squad car.  Quickly, he broke into a run, followed by Nancy and Auburn.  The three charged up in a run to the front door, just as it opened and—

“Officer Hanson!” Nancy exclaimed.  “What’s going on?”

Hanson (who’d just been leaving) jumped.  “Oh, it’s you all,” he said.  “Don’t worry, nothing happened here.  I just had some information for the Dales.”

“Oh?” Frank’s curiosity was at its peak.  “What was it?”

Ashley appeared beside the officer at the door, her face glowing with excitement.  “He saw Stephanie!”

“Really?” exclaimed Nancy.  “When?”

“Well, just before she disappeared, I guess,” said Hanson.  “It’s nothing too dramatic—in fact, I’d forgotten about it, until today.  At 7:30 five nights ago, I was watching for speeders on Classen when I saw a maroon Mercury Grand Marquis run a red light—”

“Maroon Mercury Grand Marquis!” Frank exclaimed.  “Stephanie’s car!”

“She was driving.”  Hanson shifted nervously to his other foot.  “She seemed a little upset about something, but I figured that was because she’d run a red light.  She seemed like a nice kid, so I let her off with a warning. She thanked me, got back on the highway, and took the exit ramp for Route 9—”

“Route 9?” said Frank.  “Tecumseh or Chickasha?”

“Well, let me think,” said the officer.  “It was the second one headed south—Chickasha.  I’m sure of it.  That’s the last I saw of her.  When I remembered this morning, I figured I ought to let the Dales know.”

“Thanks for telling us too,” Nancy said.

Officer Hanson nodded at the group, then wandered back to his car.  As he got in, Nancy glanced at Frank.  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“A Subway in Chickasha!” Frank said.  “Call Zach—tell him to meet us at our house.  You can come too, if you’d like, Ashley.  We’re going to visit every Subway in Chickasha…until we find the right one.”