“We did a little asking around at the Bear Foot Lodge to figure out who might have been causing problems for Dr. Kroopnik,” Frank replied.
“Dr. who?” Smith asked.
“My research isn’t quite that advanced,” Dr. K replied with an amused smile.
By this point, Smith looked entirely baffled. He clearly didn’t know who Dr. K was or what he was talking about. He squinted from the four of us by the rescue chopper over to Gonzo dangling from the church steeple and scratched his head. It was pretty obvious he’d been a false lead and wasn’t involved in the Fritwell-Gonzo heist conspiracy. If he had been, he wouldn’t have hung around looking dumbfounded while the rescue pilot radioed for police backup from a few feet away.
“All that time wandering around the mountain without finding anything, and some kids beat me to the treasure.” He shook his head in resignation. “From the looks of things, you earned it with whatever ordeal you went through.”
“Black Bear Mountain never disappoints in the adventure department, that’s for sure,” I said.
“Beaten by teenagers…” John Smith sighed and walked off muttering to himself.
Sirens pierced the mountain air as a pair of police cars sped down Main Street and screeched to a stop in front of the Last Chance General Store.
“Late as usual,” I said.
Last Chance and Bayport were about as different as two towns could get—except for one thing: the police usually didn’t show up until after the Hardy boys had already solved the crime.
More from this Series
A Treacherous Tide
Book 21
Secret of the Red Arrow
Book 1
Mystery of the Phantom…
Book 2
The Vanishing Game
Book 3
More from the Author
Sea Life Secrets
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FRANKLIN W. DIXON is the ever-popular author of the Hardy Boys series of books.
ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Franklin-W-Dixon
READ ALL THE MYSTERIES IN THE
HARDY BOYS ADVENTURES:
#1 Secret of the Red Arrow
#2 Mystery of the Phantom Heist
#3 The Vanishing Game
#4 Into Thin Air
#5 Peril at Granite Peak
#6 The Battle of Bayport
#7 Shadows at Predator Reef
#8 Deception on the Set
#9 The Curse of the Ancient Emerald
#10 Tunnel of Secrets
#12 The Madman of Black Bear Mountain
#13 Bound for Danger
#14 Attack of the Bayport Beast
#15 A Con Artist in Paris
#16 Stolen Identity
#17 The Gray Hunter’s Revenge
#18 The Disappearance
#19 Dungeons & Detectives
Coming Soon:
#21 A Treacherous Tide
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Aladdin paperback edition February 2020
Text copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Cover illustration copyright © 2020 by Kevin Keele
THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY SERIES, HARDY BOYS ADVENTURES, and related logos are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Series designed by Karin Paprocki
Cover designed by Tiara Iandiorio
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dixon, Franklin W., author
Title: Return to Black Bear Mountain / by Franklin W. Dixon.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover/paperback edition. | New York : Aladdin, [2020] | Series: Hardy boys adventures ; book 20 | Summary: Brother detectives Frank and Joe return to dangerous Black Bear Mountain to help locate a scientist gone missing from a remote research station. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019019140 (print) | LCCN 2019021722 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534441347 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534441323 (pbk) | ISBN 9781534441330 (hc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Brothers—Fiction. | Mountains—Fiction. | Wilderness areas—Fiction. | Missing persons—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.D644 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.D644 Rem 2020 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019019140