Too Many Traitors Read Online Free PDF Page A

who had been interviewing the blond girls that afternoon.
    "You are Frank Hardy?" the man asked in accented English. "I've been waiting to meet you. I am Police Inspector Melendez.
    "You and your brother are under arrest."

Chapter 5
    "You CAN'T ARREST US," Joe said. "We haven't done anything."
    Police Inspector Melendez clutched Frank's arm and shoved him inside the room beside Joe. "Sit down," he said. The Hardys sat on the bed. "Men who haven't done anything don't come creeping into dead men's rooms through the balcony in the middle of the night. Perhaps in America murder is considered nothing — "
    "That's not what I meant," Joe interrupted.
    "But in Spain we take it very seriously," Inspector Melendez continued as if Joe had said nothing. "What was your relationship with the dead man?"
    "You mean Martin?" Frank said. "We met him only once, yesterday. He was supposed to be our guide around Malaga. I'd won this contest — "
    Inspector Melendez cut him off. "Then what was your motive for killing him?"
    "You're crazy if you think we did it," Joe said.
    Inspector Melendez scowled. "I would be crazy to think you did not. You were the last persons to be seen with him before his death and the only persons ever seen with him in this hotel."
    "What about the chauffeur?" Frank asked.
    "Chauffeur?" Inspector Melendez repeated. He pulled out his notebook and leafed through it. "No one else has mentioned a chauffeur. Please describe him."
    Frank swallowed hard. "We can't. He had disguised his face."
    "I see." With a sigh of exasperation Inspector Melendez flipped the notebook closed and returned it to his pocket. "You were overheard to threaten Martin Chase in the elevator." "That was a joke," Joe said. "A figure of speech."
    "And we have this," Inspector Melendez replied. With a tweezers he held up a piece of writing paper. On it were bloodstains and three handwritten words: "Frank and Joe." "The dead man's handwriting. The paper is covered with his fingerprints. The pen that wrote those words was in his hand when he was found."
    "None of that proves anything," Frank said.
    "Perhaps," Inspector Melendez replied. "I think he was trying to name his killers but never got the chance to finish. Have you another explanation?"
    Joe started to stand, but a policeman put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit. "He could have been leaving us a note."
    "With his dying breath?" Inspector Melendez said. "I find that unlikely."
    "All right. A warning then."
    The inspector dropped his cigarette to the floor, ground it out with his heel, and looked at Joe with new interest. "Oh? Of what would he need to warn you?"
    He'll never believe us, Frank thought. Everything we say just makes us better suspects. "We were chased by Russians this morning and spent all day trying to stay out of their way," he said in a weary voice. "He might have been trying to tell us about them."
    With a burst of laughter Inspector Melendez asked, "Russians? You are spies, then?"
    "No, but — " Frank began.
    "Then what," the inspector continued, "would Russians want with you?"
    The Hardys looked at each other. Their last card was played, and it was useless. They were beaten.
    "We don't know," Joe said.
    Inspector Melendez snapped his fingers, and the two policemen stood up straight. One grasped Joe's shoulder and the other took hold of Frank. "One last thing," Inspector Melendez asked. "What did you expect to find here?"
    Joe shook his head. "Something to prove our innocence, I guess."
    "Take them to headquarters," Melendez ordered. "We will get some real answers from them there." The policemen shoved Frank and Joe to the door of the room.
    The whole situation was hopeless. No one would believe their story—unless they did something to prove it. Frank glanced at the door, and Joe nodded. As they were going through the door, Frank said, "Now!"
    Together they spun, and each shoved one of the policemen back into the room. "Run," Frank shouted, and together they headed for