Terror at High Tide Read Online Free

looking as though he wanted to gag, “this thing stinks. And it’s got its arms all over me.” He removed two tentacles, which had fallen over his legs. “I guess taxidermy doesn’t make it a cuddly kid’s toy.”
    â€œCome on,” Frank said, jumping to his feet. “Whoever’s in here threw that on you. We’ve got to find out who it is.” Frank’s sneakers scudded on the floor as he took off up the stairs.
    â€œCallie, Alicia!” Joe called as softly as he could. “We’re going to look around. Can you turn on some lights?” Alicia flicked on the light switchby the main entrance as Joe dashed up the stairs behind Frank.
    â€œI can’t believe it!” Frank exclaimed when he reached the top. Before him lay the ruins of the shipwreck exhibit. Display cabinets had been smashed, and shards of glass were everywhere. Ship models had been knocked off their display tables and lay in broken pieces among the glass.
    â€œI wonder if anything’s been stolen,” Frank said. “Alicia might know—”
    A crash interrupted him. It came from Mr. Geovanis’s office, and it sounded to Frank like glass breaking.
    Frank and Joe took off down the mezzanine toward the closed office door. Joe was about to fling the door open when Frank grabbed his arm. “Whoever’s inside might have a weapon,” he cautioned.
    Positioning themselves on either side of the door, the Hardys listened for a moment. Everything was silent. Frank pushed the door open a crack and peered inside. He could see that the computer monitor was on, giving off an eerie glow in the darkness.
    Frank opened the door farther, while Joe switched on the overhead light. The room looked empty.
    â€œWhat happened here?” Joe said with a low whistle. The office was a wreck. Manuscripts and books were scattered everywhere. File drawershad been opened, and papers were strewn on the floor. Glass from a broken picture frame lay in tiny pieces on the desk.
    â€œMake sure no one’s hiding behind the desk,” Frank said as he and Joe strode into the room.
    â€œNo sign of anyone,” Joe said, leaning over the desk.
    A breeze wafted through the room. “Joe, look,” Frank said, pointing to the far corner.
    A window, partially hidden by a bookshelf, was wide open. “He must have escaped that way.” Frank moved over to the window and leaned out. A fire escape led down the side of the old brick building to a deserted alley.
    â€œNot a soul in sight,” he said. “The guy must be long gone.” Frank brought his head back inside.
    â€œTake a look at this,” Joe said as he stood in front of the computer.
    â€œIt looks like the main menu of files,” Frank said, coming up next to Joe. The cursor highlighted a file labeled Fundra.97. Frank clicked the mouse, and a list of fund-raising events for the current year flashed onto the screen. “Can you make anything of this, Joe?”
    Joe’s blue eyes looked puzzled. “Nope,” he said. “At least, not yet. Give me a few more minutes.”
    â€œYou stay here, then,” Frank said. “I’m going to tell Callie and Alicia it’s okay to come up.”
    Joe gave Frank the thumbs-up sign, his eyes on the computer screen.
    Two minutes later Frank, Callie, and Alicia came in. Alicia’s face was sheet white, and her green eyes flashed with anger. “Can you tell whether anything’s missing?” Frank asked her.
    Alicia shook her head. “I can’t tell anything right now. I hate to think how Dad’s going to take this.” She sat down in her father’s desk chair.
    â€œI can’t make sense of these files to see if the intruder was looking for a specific thing,” Joe said. “And I haven’t noticed anything that might clue us in to his or her identity.”
    â€œIdentity!” Alicia scoffed. “Isn’t it clear that the