Three-Ring Terror by Franklin W. Dixon

she’s also got a heart of gold.” He stood up from his chair. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” he asked. “I hate to cut this short, but I do have a lot of work.”
    â€œJust one more question,” Frank said.
    â€œYes?” Dean Turner asked.
    â€œWhy hasn’t Georgianne called the trustees yet to tell them about all these accidents?” Frank asked.
    Turner shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. She keeps threatening, but so far she hasn’t followed through on her threats.”
    â€œThat seems a little strange, doesn’t it?” Joe asked. “Since, as you say, she wants your job.”
    Frank nodded in agreement. “But who knows. Maybe she’s waiting for someone to get hurt, so it looks really bad.”
    â€œI hope not,” Turner said sadly. “That’s a terrible thought.”
    The Hardys had just gotten up from their chairs when the phone on Turner’s desk rang.Turner answered it. Frank motioned to Joe that they should leave.
    Turner held his hand over the mouthpiece and said, “Please, boys, stay a moment, if you don’t mind.”
    Frank exchanged a look with Joe and sat back down in the chair across from Turner’s desk. The dean didn’t say more than two or three words to the person on the other end of the line. After a moment he hung up the phone and sat down slowly, a dazed expression on his face.
    â€œWhat is it?” Joe asked.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Frank said.
    â€œThat was the head trustee for Circus U.,” Turner said dully.
    â€œAnd?” Frank asked.
    Turner swallowed before going on. “He said that Georgianne Unger just called him to tell him about the accidents. He said that unless I find out who is behind the incidents within one week, I’ll be removed as dean of Circus U.”

7 A Coded Connection
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    â€œWhat?” Joe asked Turner. “You mean they’ll fire you?”
    â€œThat’s exactly what I mean,” Turner said. He rounded his desk and started pacing back and forth. “Oh, this is terrible, just terrible.”
    Joe watched as Frank stepped over to Turner and put his hand on the dean’s arm. “Calm down,” the older Hardy urged. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
    â€œFrank’s right, Dean Turner,” Joe put in. “We’ve got a week. That’s plenty of time.”
    Turner sighed deeply. “Oh, I hope so,” he said. “Oh, no,” he added, looking at his watch. “I have an appointment with an important donor in fifteen minutes. Would you mind—”
    â€œNo problem,” Joe said. “There’s just one more question. What do you know about a guy with the Montero Brothers Circus by the name of Ralph Rosen?”
    Dean Turner looked puzzled. “Ralph Rosen? I personally kicked him out of this school about a year ago.”
    â€œYou mean Rosen went to Circus U.?” Joe asked.
    â€œHe did,” Turner said. “Until he got expelled. In fact, I’m stunned to hear that he’s working for the Montero Brothers Circus. Jim Jacobs didn’t tell me he’d hired him. I’ll have to speak to him about that. With his record, Rosen shouldn’t even be clowning for a third-rate outfit, let alone a world-class circus like the Montero.” Turner shook his head a few times, as if trying to clear his thoughts. “How did you find out that Rosen was working for the circus?”
    â€œIt’s a long story,” Joe said. He took a deep breath and quickly explained to Dean Turner that Rosen had dropped one of his juggler’s balls in Chet’s tote bag and then disappeared. “So we went looking for him,” he went on. “But the guy’s taken off.”
    â€œI’m not surprised,” Turner said. “About Rosen taking off, that is. He used to miss classes all the time. When he did come he would disrupt