What Happened at Midnight
Encyclopedia
What Happened at Midnight is Volume 10 in the original The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional teenage brothers and amateur detectives who appear in various mystery series for children and teens....

 Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a United States book publisher founded in 1898.The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of the British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC through its American subsidiary Penguin Group....

.

This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate
Stratemeyer Syndicate
The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of mystery series for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others.- History :...

 by Leslie McFarlane
Leslie McFarlane
Leslie McFarlane was a Canadian journalist, novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker. McFarlane is most famous for ghostwriting many of the early books in the very successful Hardy Boys series using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.- Early life :The son of a school principal, McFarlane was raised in...

 in 1931. Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1967 by Tom Mulvey resulting in two different stories with the same title.

Plot summary (revised edition)

Joe and Frank are asked to break into the house of a scientist and retrieve a secret invention and keep it safe from being stolen while he is away. Later, Joe is kidnapped. This event leads Frank and his friends to investigate. While investigating they see someone waving from a car and think its Joe. The mystery has begun.......

Plot summary (original edition)

This story opens with Chet Morton
Chet Morton
Chet Morton is a fictional character in the The Hardy Boys book series by Franklin W. Dixon.-Fictional history:Chet grew up with Frank and Joe Hardy and has been one of their best friends since second grade. He usually says he doesn't want to have anything to do with the Hardy boys' mysteries,...

 giving the Hardy boys and their chums a lesson on how to use the new automat
Automat
An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink are served by coin-operated and bill-operated vending machines.-Concept:Originally, the machines took only nickels...

 which just opened in their hometown of Bayport. While jostling one another the boys bump into a blonde haired man. Later, while wrestling with the boys from Crabb Corners, Joe Hardy falls against the blonde man again causing him to drop his package which is later revealed to contain diamonds he is smuggling.

That evening the Hardy boys attend a party at the Morton's farm. While the clock was striking midnight Joe Hardy disappeared without a trace. At first Frank thinks his brother is playing a joke on him but when he does not reappear Frank gets worried. A while later Frank and his chums manage to locate Joe who has been kidnapped and kept hostage in a cave along the Shore Road.

The rest of the story deals with Frank and Joe traveling to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to unravel the mystery of the blonde man. In New York they are pick pocketed and have to spend a night sleeping in a park, while listening to the clock strike midnight. While hitchhiking back from New York the boys meet two Department of Justice men who are investigating a case of diamond smuggling. When they return to Bayport the Hardy brothers locate who they believe to be Taffy Marr, the diamond smuggler. The Hardy boys chase him to the airport and then hire a plane to continue the chase, however the plane they hired has mechanical problems and crashes. After again returning to Bayport they locate Taffy Marr again, and send a message for the Department of Justice men to come and help them make the arrest. Together with help from the Department of Justice men, the Hardy brothers manage to arrest Taffy Marr and the men he's been working with.

The story concludes with an informal party at the Morton's farm again, with the boys recounting their adventures for their friends, while the clock strikes midnight again.
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