“Okay let’s go!”
While they were walking home they saw the lights on in the house. They all closed in slowly but they did it very quietly. When they got to the door Chief Morando opened it and bravely walked in and he saw the robber, who was searching through the draws. He snuck up and grabbed him. The man struggled and then he gave up because he found out he couldn’t get away. They took off his mask and saw that it was someone they didn’t know. Now he couldn’t be leaving the notes. “He’s just a persistent robber that we couldn’t ever catch.”
“But who could be leaving those notes than” said James.
“I’m not sure” said Chief Morando.
“Well see you tomorrow”
“Okay Bye”
“Let’s go to bed”
“Okay”
“Good night”
The next morning Addie was up bright and early, her father woke up later. She was thinking all morning she decided to go to town to get Natalie. She went to town as soon as her dad woke up. Natalie was still asleep when she got there. So she waited until she woke up.
“Hi Natalie” Addie said
“Good morning Addie”
“How are you?” asked Addie.
“I’m tired! How are you?” Natalie said.
“Good want to come over” asked Addie.
“Do you have any idea about the mystery?” asked Natalie.
“No not really” said Addie.
“What were you doing when you left and did not tell anyone where you were going?” asked Addie.
Natalie’s eye were darting to and fro trying to affix on Addie’s face. “I a, I um, I went shopping.” stuttered Natalie.
“Are you sure you went shopping? You don’t sound as if you are to sure about that,” pushed Addie. “I am just checking!”
“Yes, I am sure. I went shopping at the local mall. I hit the DC shoe store for the new Hi-Fi. It rocks! I almost got the Chelsea, but I thought the Hi-Fi had a better look. I needed to get some new shoes for running on the beach” Natalie stated much more convincingly.
“Okay, let’s head for your house and get something to eat” Said Addie. “I really want to see the new shoes!”

So when they got there they ate breakfast. Then they went to the spot where her mother had disappeared. When they were getting out of the car, another car was going by and nearly hit Addie getting out on the passenger side of the car. A young man seeing what was happening, dashed over and stopped Addie from stepping backward and being hit by the car.
“That car almost hit you. You need to be more careful!” said the young man.
“Thanks! What is your name?” asked Addie.
“My name is Frank. Frank Hardy.” Said the young man. “What is yours?”
“My name is Addie and this is my friend Natalie!” responded Addie.
“Oh nice to meet you Addie and Natalie” said Frank.
“You to” said Addie.
“What are you guys doing?” asked Frank.
“Well my mom got kidnapped and we’re trying to find her” said Addie.
“Do you have any idea who did it?” asked Frank.
“No, not yet” said Addie. “But this is where we last saw her.”
“Oh, would you like me to help you look for clues?” asked Frank.
“Sure” said Addie. “That would be very nice”
“Why not” added Natalie.
“Okay, lets go. You lead the way” said Frank.
So they started looking around. They didn’t find anything for a while, but then frank spotted something in the bushes. It was Addie’s mom’s purse. “So they did take her here.” Addie said with a sad voice. “But who? That was still a mystery. It was who and why that has got me baffled. Why would someone want to do this?”
“I do not know, but they must have been desperate to upset your father, that is for sure.” Natalie said gruffly.
Addie just could not put it together. “Who was it that was leaving those notes? Was it that burglar or was it someone else? I just don’t know.” Addie thought. “It could even be someone that we don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense. Worst part is that we don’t even have a clue as to who it could really be.”
“I know who could it be?”


"We have no idea really" said Frank.
"I know it's terrible" said Addie.
"Well we'll findout who did this for sure" said Addie
"I wish she was back it's so lonely without her" said Addie's Dad.
" Well thanks again for dinner Mr. James " said Frank.
"Natalie, do you want me to take you home?" Frank asked quietly.
"Oh, yes please" said Natalie.
"Okay bye you all, I'm going to go to bed" Addie said to Frank and Natalie
"Dad, goodnight!" Addie said to her dad.
The next morning Addie and her dad went out for breakfast at Starbucks. Then they went to the store and bought some clothes. When they got home there was a new note on the couch. It said, "You caught my robber but you won't catch me or your beloved wife!"
"So the man was associated with mom's kidnapping" said Addie. "Yes, he was. But he wasn't the one leaving a notes" said Dad. "Your right. We need to go to the police" Addie added.
"That is a great idea" said Addies Dad.
"Come on let's go" said Addie.
The next morning, Natalie invited Frank to go looking for Addie's mom some more. They went back to the shack. Once they were in it they started to look around.
Natalie noticed some changes and brought them to frank's attention.
"Frank, some of these spider webs that we broke the last time we were here are back in the same places. These look a little fishy!" said Natalie.
"You are right" said Frank." This does look a little odd. I don't think that the spiders could get these back in place this fast."
"Lets keep looking and see if there are any other clues we might be able to find' said Natalie.
They keep looking around the shack but do not seem to find anything of importance.
"I am going to go outside and see if there is anything that I can see around the outside of the house" Frank calls to Natalie.
"Okay, I will keep looking in here" replies Natalie.
Frank starts to look around the outside of the house to see if he can find any other clues that could help them find a new lead for the mystery at hand. While he is around the back of the house he sees that there is a very slight chance that there is a path that leads through some grass that is bent over a little.
"Natalie, come out here. There seems that there is possibly something here." Frank calls.
Natalie comes trotting out of the house to see what Frank has found. Frank points to the grass that is slightly bent over in the small patch of grass behind the house. It leads off into some trees that are in a stand around the house.
"Let's go see where this takes us" he says to Natalie.
"Absolutely!" replies Natalie. "Let's see what could possibly be in this direction.
Then Frank and Natalie finds the trail follows it for about a quarter of a mile. As they approach a group of big trees they glance up into the trees and see a small tree house half way up one of the larger trees in the gathering.
"Well what do you know" says Frank. "How neat is that. Look at that tree house."
"What do you make of it?" asks Natalie.
"I really don't know" says Frank. "It looks as if it is pretty well made. I am trying to figure out who would have made it out her in the middle of nowhere."
"The question here is who is going to climb up that tree and take a look inside" says Natalie.
" I guess that would be me from the tone of your voice" replies Frank.
" That guess would be correct" says Natalie. " I am a little uneasy with heights".
"Super, I haven't climbed a tree for quite a while, this could be fun. The tree house looks to be in good shape. maybe there is some neat stuff in there. If nothing else, maybe there is a good view of the surrounding area."
So Frank scouts out the best way to climb up to some of the lower branches and pull himself up to the first limbs to climb up the tree.
"It would have been nice if they would have left a rope to be able to pull yourself up to these first branches. Or maybe even a ladder to climb up into the door." Frank barks.
"Well that would be to easy. They probably wanted to deter anyone from stumbling on it and making themselves at home" adds Natalie.
Frank is struggling to hoist himself up to the branches and keeps falling down because he can't get good hold on the lowest branch.
"I could use a hand over here if you wouldn't mind" asks frank.
"Sure" replies Natalie.
"Just put your hands together and let me step one foot into them. that be enough for me to get a good hold on this lowest branch" says Frank.
"Here you go" Natalie says.
Frank steps into the hold and jumps up high enough to get a good hold on the lowest branch. From there he is able to swing himself up and get a leg over the limb.
"There I got it! Thanks!" says Frank. "Now all I need to do is to climb up the rest of these branches and get to the entry'.
The climb up is pretty easy and after a few minutes he is at the trap door entry.
"Okay, I am in!" he says as he sticks his head out the window.

find diary don't know who it belongs to bring it to the police read some very helpful


They find out that it belongs to an Italian person because it has a bunch of Italian writing in it. There was mostly Italian, except there was a little bit of English writing in it as well. Addie knew someone Italian. She was hoping someone who could translate it for them. Addie used to see Mr. Peterson all the time because he had worked at a restaurant she always went to.
"I will go there and ask him if he can translate it for me." Addie said.
So she went there with Frank and her dad. When they got there they walked in and asked for Mr. Peterson.
"We would like to sit in Mr. Peterson's section for some lunch, please" stated Addie.
"We have not seen Mr. Peterson for the past few days. He is not here." said the waiter.
"I wanted to see him, he was a good friend of mine" said " Addie.
"I do not know what to tell you. He has not called in to tell us what is going on. He is supposed to be her now." added the waiter.
"Well thank you very much for the information." Frank said. " We will have to come back at another time."
With that they all jumped in the car and went back to Addie’s house for some food and a conversation as to what to do for the next step. There was not much being said by anyone as they drove back to the house.
Addie and Natalie started to make sandwiches and some soup to get some brain power in all of them. Frank and Addie's dad sat at the table and relaxed and waited for the food. Everyone was still pretty quiet thinking about the information they had just heard.
Lunch went down real fast as everyone was very hungry. Frank jumped up and started to do the dishes.
"I'll give you hand" Natalie said as she jumped up to help.
"Very good" said Addie. "I am going to go sit in the living room and relax for a minute."
"We have got this under control" answered Frank. "You and your dad go relax, it will be good for you both."
As they were going into the living room, Addie notices another note sitting on the buffet behind the couch. She hurries over to the paper to inspect. She picks it up and shows it to her dad.
"Here is another one of those notes" Addie said.
"What does it say?" both frank and Natalie said as they ran in from the kitchen.
"You are never going to catch me! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!" read Addie.
"Whoever this person is who is leaving these notes, it is really starting to make me angry" growled Addie.
"Don't worry Addie, we are going to get this person you just wait" said Addie's dad.
"We are going to get her back, you just know that!" added Natalie. "We are her for you!"
“Well I should probably get going it's getting late” Frank said.
“Okay, well, bye,” said Addie.
“Dad do you think Mr. Peterson kidnapped mom? Asked Addie.
“Why would he do that?” said dad.
“Though I don't know, but mom was kidnapped about four days ago and he's been gone for a few days. But he doesn't have anything against us.” said Addie.” I have an idea. Lets look on the computer to see if we can find any information in the local websites.”
They went on the computer and they were looking for someone who was ever a criminal in any newspapers. There was so many that they couldn't pick anyone out that they knew. They were starting to get tired and so they went downstairs. They took a break and sat down at the couch and there was a note it said:

“You will never find me on the Internet I'm not on there”

“How do they know we were looking on the Internet” asked Addie. “May be they have tapped into our wires. That wasn't here when we first went upstairs.” exclaimed Addie.
“You're right, it wasn't” said dad. “Let's check around the house. You follow me and we will look to see if we can see anything.”
They looked around and did not see anything. So dad decided that they should go to bed to get some sleep and try again the next day.
The next morning they invited Frank and Natalie over and they told him about the note. They said they did not know what to do.
“Someone has to have the ability to watch what you are doing. That is just too creepy” said Frank.
“But how?” Addie said.
“I'm not sure yet, but we will have to find out!” said Frank.

“Oh my gosh! Where did you find that Frank asked Natalie.
“over there in the bush” he said.
That is my Mom’s Purse “said Addie.
Really” said frank.
Yes! So she definitely got taken here” said Addie.
“But to where?” asked Natalie
“I don’t know “said Addie
“Let’s take a look to see if we see any tracks” saod frank.
“Good Idea!” Said Addie. “Lets go!”
So they went to go look for tracks and they found little holes from Addie’s mom’s high heel shoes. So they followed them. They led them to the edge of the woods where they just seemed to stop. The team spread out to look and see if they could find any other tracks that they could identify. They went deeper into the woods but still did not see any tracks. As they looked around Addie called out.
“Hey come over here, I have found a small shed. I need someone to help me look around”
They all came running up to investigate.
Frank said, ”I will take the lead. You all follow me.”
Frank knocked on the door but no one answered. So he open the door and went in. Everyone followed. It was very small with a few things in there. There were cobwebs, and junk laying on the floor. There was a small table off to the side with a plate with crusty spoiled food on it. Everyone looked around. There really was not much to say about the place. It was dirty and funky, that was about it.
“Okay, let’s go. There is nothing here”said Frank.
“You are right” everyone replied.
“Let’s go get some food, I am starved” said Addie.
“Would you like to come over for dinner Frank” asked Addie.
“Sure” said frank.
“How about you Natalie? Asked Addie.
“Sure, I would love to” exclaimed Natalie.
They all walked back to the car and drove over to Addie’s house. Addie introduced frank to her father as they walked in the door. Then they told them of the events of the afternoon.

“Let’s see if we can catch the man by hiding and then jumping out and grabbing him” said frank.
“Ya,lets give that a try” said Addie
“You go behind the door Addie, you go in the kitchen frank and I‘ll hide behind the couch” said Addies dad, James.
“Sounds like a good idea” said Addie.
“We are going to get this guy” said frank.
“You bet we are” everyone said! “Let’s do it.”
So they waited and waited and waited but no one came. With the lack of action and everyone being tired they all just gave up and decided to get some rest and hit the bed. Natalie slept in Addies room and Frank stayed on the floor in the living room. Everyone slept like a rock after the days events.

Frank woke up first because it was not that fun sleeping on the floor. As he got up to stretch, there was another note placed on the couch. Here is what it said:

HA, HA, HA. You can stay up as late as you want but you can’t catch me!!!

Frank called to the rest of the team in the house to come down.
“He came last night after we went to sleep” said frank.
“You’re right” said Addie.
“That is just crazy” said James. “He had to be watchng us somehow to know when we gave up and went to bed.”
‘But how? Said Addie.
“I have no idea” said Frank. “But we need to figure that out or we are not going to be able to solve this mystery.”
“That is exactly right said Natalie.
“He must have type of tool or something so he can see through walls” said james.
“Either that or he was in the house the whole time we were here” Said Addie.
“Very clever. He might have ebeen. We did not check the house before we started.” Said Addie.
“Maybe there is some type of secret passage way we are not aware of” Said Natalie.
“It could be that or maybe he just came in the back door” said Frank.
They all went and looked at the back door. It was closed but seemed to be unlocked. There did not seem to be anything that was out of place other than that. So they went around the house and made sure that all the doors and windows were locked up tight. Then they checked every nook and cranny to see if there was anyway that some could hide in the house.

The next step was to go to the police and give them an update to what had happened in the last few days. They talked about how scary it was to have someone knowing what you were doing and not having any idea how in the world that they could know. The police did not have any ideas to share either.

After the conversation with the police, they all went back to the house to regroup and see what the next steps might be.

As they entered the house, they could tell that someone had been there. There was another note on the couch.

“Locks won’t keep me out James!”

“so he does know me”said James.
“That is good to know” said Addie.
“So that narrows it down a little doesn’t it!” exclaimed Frank.
“Or at least someone who has at least heard of you” said Natalie. “You are a pretty famous person James”.
“Dang, back to page one then, eh?” cried Addie.
“We need to bring the police here on this one” said frank. “This is a true case of breaking and entering.”
They all went outside to get stuff out of the car and make the call from their cell phone.

When they came back in, they saw another note under the flower pot in the entry way where they just had left.

You’ll never catch me! Your like Paris Hilton, rich and dumb!

“Okay, that’s it! Nobody, I mean nobody calls me stupid. And I am not like a girl either” shouted James. “This has got me at my wits end! The police need to get here asap!”
“I am as outraged at this as you are father, We need to spread out fast and see if this person is still here. We were not outside for that long. They still have to be real close.” Said Addie.
I am done with all these stupid notes. We need to catch this person and get my beautiful wife back” said James.