The Mummy Case by Franklin W. Dixon

“They recognized our unmarked car as an embassy vehicle. No doubt they have a spy in the embassy who alerted them.”
    Mr. Hardy closed the door as the men departed and ushered Frank and Joe into the room. Two men got up from a battered couch. The detective introduced them as Craig Compton, the American ambassador, and Colonel George Palos, chief of the Rubassa Secret Service.
    â€œI’m glad you could come,” Compton stated, shaking hands with the boys. “I thought you might have to stay on that freighter and guard the mummy.”
    â€œThe mummy’s okay,” Joe replied. “Captain Baker allowed two pals of ours, who are members of the crew, to watch the crate for us.” As they all sat down, he told his father how Chet and Biff had gotten jobs on the freighter.
    â€œSorry we couldn’t let you know what was happening,” Compton began, “but spies are everywhere on Rubassa.”
    Fenton Hardy took up the account. “This is the conspiracy I mentioned over the phone when you were still in Bayport. Rubassa is the country I was working for at the United Nations. I’ve come here because the conspirators now have the weapons they need. A disloyal member of the Rubassa Mission at the United Nations was involved.”
    â€œWe have him under arrest,” Palos put in. “But he refuses to talk.”
    â€œU.S. Intelligence learned that the arms were taken to the nearby island of Milbin,” Compton added. “From Milbin, they were transported to Rubassa. When I heard that, I alerted your father.”
    â€œAnd that’s when he flew here from New York?” Joe asked.
    â€œRight. The revolutionaries are a small band of conspirators, but they could stage a coup and overthrow the democratic government. We know they plan to ask a foreign power for troops to hold down the people of Rubassa. That would lead to a grave international crisis, and must be prevented at all costs!”
    â€œWhere do we come in?” Joe asked curiously. “I’m sure you called us here for a reason.”
    â€œYou’ll be of service to us because you’re not known on the island,” Palos stated.
    â€œYou see,” Fenton Hardy explained, “our countermeasures have to be carried out under cover. In order to prevent a panic, the population must not know the danger. That’s why we’re meeting in this hotel. As you can see, it’s not the best in Loma. But we’re hoping the conspirators won’t suspect us of being here.”
    â€œIf that motorcycle gang is part of the conspirators, they might have seen us in the car,” Frank pointed out.
    â€œI doubt it,” Joe said. “They were concentrating on pushing the driver off the road. Besides, it would be hard for anyone to recognize people in the back seat.”
    â€œâ€˜That’s true,” Fenton Hardy agreed. “What we had in mind, boys, was for you to go to a place where our other agents can’t because they might be known.”
    â€œSuch as?” Frank inquired.
    â€œA house in Loma,” Palos replied. “We suspect it’s the communications headquarters of the conspirators. We believe the tenant, who is an En glishman, by the way, receives and sends messages for them.”
    â€œHow do we get in?” Joe asked. “He isn’t going to invite us to go through his house.”
    â€œYour father has thought of a plan,” Compton replied. “You boys will be plumbers.”
    â€œPlumbers?” Frank asked. “You mean we’ll have to fix leaky pipes?”
    Fenton Hardy smiled. “Not quite, although you’ll have all the equipment that plumbers use, including overalls and hats. You’ll find everything in a van in the parking lot behind the hotel. You’ll look like members of the Plumbers Union when you drive into Loma.”
    Frank grinned. “As long as it’s only a cover it’s okay. Because we