Foreword: Finally! After weeks of planning, I am starting my fifth mystery! This story will have more romance, more adventure, and less suspects for you to remember! However, this story will be a little different from the one I told you about in my previous story. Yes, I know. I did change my story's title from Knowing Too Much to Broken Promises. Well, there are lots of reasons behind this. There will be slight changes in the plot after I considered my readers' requests (for example: more romance, less suspects). I also made this story harder than any of the last ones (yes, I mean HARD, as in even more difficult than Haunting Memories!) to challenge my readers. I'll also ask who you think is the culprit in the end. If you don't feel like answering it in your review, you can always send a message to me, if you have an account at fanfiction. Anyway, here is the newest mystery. Read, enjoy, and review, please!

Prologue

Un jour d'été

One Summer Morning

Joe Hardy dove right into the pool. With a huge splash, water around him rose up like a tidal wave and covered his brother's face with water. Frank Hardy, Joe's brother who, unlike him, had dark hair, wiped his face and took off his goggle. As Joe rose to the surface of the pool, grinning, Frank sighed and said, "Joe, you should really practice on diving."

With a mischievous grin, Joe answered, "I think my diving skill is fine, thank you very much." He then swam to the other side of the pool.

The two brothers were in the pool that their father had built for them in the backyard. Because the local pool was too crowded for them to have any fun, the two boys had asked their father for a private pool. Joe was there to practice swimming with Frank. Unlike Joe, Frank was very good at swimming, and he had won three times in the state swimming competitions. The first time, he won a bronze medal, the second time was a silver one, and finally, this year, he had won a gold trophy that he brought home with pride.

Just as the two got out of the pool, their aunt, Gertrude Hardy, got out of the house with two cups of lemonade. "I bet you're thirsty, boys," she said, handing each of them a glass. Joe felt the coolness of the glass and took a sip. "Did you make it, Aunt Trudy?" he asked, biting on the ice cube that got into his mouth as he swallowed the drink.

Gertrude giggled. "Yup, and that's my own secret recipe that I learned from my grandma. I'm glad you liked it." She took the glasses after the boys finished them, and then told them that their father wanted to see them.

"What is it, Dad?" asked Frank as the two boys arrived at their father's study. Mr. Fenton Hardy had a serious expression on his face.

"I just got a phone call from Mademoiselle Renee Frazier," he said, "and she would like to see you."

"Mud-mwa-zell Row-nay Fra-zee-ay?" Joe asked, completely confused. "Who's that?"

"It's French, Joe," Frank said. "And based on my knowledge of French television, I believe she's an actress that started her fame from the time she was twelve. Receiving countless awards, including four Academy Awards, she has been very popular worldwide. She is currently in many movie production companies and is starring in her own soap opera. Am I right?"

Mr. Hardy nodded. Joe looked at his brother with suspicion. "Frank… Since when did you have interest in soap opera?"

Frank smiled uneasily. "Oh, that. It's not me who's interested. It's Callie Shaw. She's been hooked on the show particularly and has been talking to Iola about it, remember?"

Joe thought for a moment. "I do think she said something about that."

"So what does she need from us?" Frank asked.

"To shorten the entire conversation I had with her, she needs you to go to France," answered Mr. Hardy.

"Us? France?" asked Joe. "Why does she want us to go all the way to France in the first place? Why does she need us?"

Mr. Hardy smiled. "Well, I'm proud to say that you two will be on a French television show."

"Television show?" shouted Joe in surprise. Unlike his brother, Frank was calm.

"I see," said Frank. "But why us?""

His father answered, "She said that she read about your achievements over the last month and was amazed to see how many baffling mysteries that you two have solved. She would like you to speak to the entire country during the Saturday prime time talk show." He turned to the boys. "And I do mean prime time, the time slot when there are more people watching the show than other times of the day."

"Wow!" was all Joe could say, and he looked as though he couldn't believe this.

Asked Frank, "So when are we heading to Paris?"

Mr. Hardy looked at the calendar. "I'll say in a week. So be sure to get ready. And by that I mean polish your French. You two will be staying there for one week, and I do want you to spend some time having fun. From my experience with you, I've learned that you two don't spend more than a week on a single case."

Frank nodded. "We'll do our best."

Joe, on the other hand, groaned. "I have to study? It's still summer, and my brain isn't working! Why can't we just hire a translator?"

Still complaining, Joe turned around and went back into his room. Frank, following him, exited. Mr. Frank watched as the two boys went up the stairs. Grinning, he muttered, "I can still remember myself talking like that." He then turned around and started typing on his laptop.

Iola Morton got out of her car as she parked it on the Hardys' driveway. She noticed that Frank and Joe's mother was outside watering the flowers. She smiled as she walked to the lady. "Good morning, Mrs. Hardy," she said, taking off her golden-colored straw hat and her new sunglasses. She was wearing light blue one-piece dress with white flowers. Her dress resembled the blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds in all directions. Mrs. Hardy turned around and smiled as she saw the guest.

"Well, good morning. Are you here to meet the boys?" she asked. Iola nodded. Taking out her keys, Mrs. Hardy then went to the door and unlocked it. "But be sure to keep quiet. I'm sure it's better for the boys to see you when they're spending their precious teenage hours studying French!"

"Why are they studying French?"

"They're going to France next week, and they'll be spending one week there. I'm sure they'll be pleasantly surprised when you knock on their door." She placed her index finger to her lips and winked at the young girl. Iola in return smiled and nodded. Taking off her shoes, Iola went to the stairs quietly and headed towards the boys' room.

Frank and Joe were studying French with books sprawled across the table. With their heads buried in books and notes, they mumbled to themselves the unfamiliar phrases. Frank and Joe both took French, but they managed to regain their knowledge that they lost during the time off from school.

Joe found an interesting phrase as he opened up the book French for Dummies. He then turned to Frank.

"Frank, do you know what 'Salut beauté' means?" he asked.

Joe's brother sighed in disbelief. "Are you actually going to say that? That means 'Hey sexy.'"

Joe chuckled. "Who knows? There might be two or three dozens of cute girls at Paris. Did you know that France has the highest percentage of young people? There ought to be some hot ones amongst that number. Maybe I can befriend a girl and we can send each other e-mails and things."

Frank looked at Joe. "What about Iola, Joe? Don't tell me you're dumping her!"

"I'm not saying that," said Joe. "I'm just saying that I might want a new girl friend to send e-mails to that I don't usually see during the school year. She might actually be pretty cute."

Just then, the door of the Hardys' room opened forcefully. Surprised, Frank looked up, and Joe turned around. To the latter's dismay, the person that stood there was his girlfriend, Iola Morton. Iola, with an enraged expression, was gripping the doorframe with her hand, and Joe could see that the hand which she grabbed the doorframe with was trembling slightly.

"You're going to France and look for a girlfriend to talk to, all without telling me first, aren't you, Joe?" said Iola.

Joe couldn't believe that the statement which he told his brother as a joke had been overheard by his girlfriend. Immediately, he shook his head. "No, I didn't actually mean what I said. It was all a jo—"

"I don't want to hear about your excuses!" shouted Iola. Joe stopped as he saw a drop of tear roll down the girl's cheek. "So go wherever you want and make as many girlfriends as you wish! I can care less about you!"

With that, Iola turned around and ran down the stairs. Joe immediately sprinted after her, but she was too fast. Even though Joe was athletic, Iola was part of girls' track team when she was in junior high. Because of it, she was faster than Joe when it came to sprinting. Within seconds, Iola got to her car and was off. Joe panted as he got to the driveway just a second after Iola drove away.

Frank looked at Joe with worried eyes as he followed them outside. Joe sighed as he turned around. "I can't believe she was there," said Joe. Mrs. Hardy looked up from the flower garden worriedly.

"Sorry, Joe. I told her to keep quiet and surprise you, but it actually surprised her, didn't it?" said Mrs. Hardy. "Come inside. I'm sure you've done plenty of studying for today. Who wants a freshly baked lemon pie?"

Joe sighed and turned around. "Count me in," he said with a sigh.

Just as the Hardy brothers went into the living room, Joe turned on the TV. Mr. Hardy was the last one to watch the TV, and he had left it on the news channel. Joe, too lazy to change the channel, watched it as he waited for his mother to get the pie from the kitchen counter.

Frank then came into the living room. He got thirsty, so he went to the kitchen to get a cup of water. When his brother was gone, Joe took the remote control and thought about changing the channel.

At that moment, the newscaster announced the news about a hit-and-run accident. Joe sat up, remembering that he had been hit by a truck when he, his brother, and two of his friends had gone to a hotel in Maine.

The friends whom he mentioned were Nancy Drew and her boyfriend Ned Nickerson. Nancy was a world-renounced girl detective, who had solved dozens of cases by herself in the time span of two years. Because of her fame, however, she had been threatened many times and nearly lost her life. But thanks to her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne, she was able to survive.

The case that Joe remembered was called Haunting Memories, in which Nancy went to a hotel in Maine to solve the murder of her mother. Also, a truck hit Joe as he was chasing the pickpocket and nearly lost his life. His being hit by a truck actually spurred Nancy to remember what had really happened to her mother as more and more pieces of the puzzle fit into a picture. And as the picture was competed, Nancy and Frank were able to reveal the truths behind the impossible crimes that had happened at the hotel.

Joe leaned forward as the newscaster took his papers and read the news aloud.

"Three weeks ago, at a hiking route of Peaklodge Mountain, forty-year-old Audrey Jensen was hit by a black car as she was hiking. Apparently, the car did not stop after the woman was hit, and the police are gathering clues to solve the case. There were no witnesses to the accident, and…"

"Hey, Joe. Do you want me to get a drink…?" asked Frank as he came out of the kitchen with a cup of water, but he stopped as he saw Joe focusing on the news. Frank then went to the chair right next to his brother and watched the news.

"…the police is still searching for the driver. If you have any information regarding this, please contact the police at…"

After the telephone number was given, the commercials began. Joe turned to Frank and said, "Oh yeah. Can you get me something to drink?"

Postscript: I'm sure some of you found that the chapter title is weird. Well, since this is the first international mystery that I've ever written, I'm making my subtitles French! Anyway, I'll try to update every week or every two weeks, so be sure to come back and see if I loaded a new chapter up yet!

As you might have read, I'm adding Iola into my story this time! Joe only meant to say a "girl friend" to talk to, but Iola mistakenly thought that he said he wanted a new "girlfriend"! What will happen to those two? Will their relationship be over? Read more to find out!