9
It was nearly five in the evening before they arrived back on the campus.
Joe maneuvered their rental car and parked close to the security building before shutting off the vehicle. He watched the throngs of evening students milling around the grounds as he heard Frank talking to someone on the phone about the case.
Moments later, Frank ended his call and pocketed his phone. "I have a call in with the LAPD and FBI with the information we have learned so far and a request for background checks on Andrea West and Seth Granger. After I also explained to the detective in charge what we discovered about the video, they are calling the detective on scene here to meet us at the security building."
Joe leaned back in his seat. "So we wait."
From the backseat, Jonny looked outside restlessly. They were close to an answer, he just knew it. The waiting however – "Why don't we go find Andrea and make her answer for what she did to my dad?"
Joe answered him quickly. "We need proof, that's why. Thanks to you, we now have enough to go after Seth. With the right pressure, he could rat out Andrea easily."
Before Jonny could protest further, an unmarked police car pulled up in the space beside them. Lights flashed brightly from their hidden spots in the grill and dashboard of the car.
The red-haired man that emerged from the car was lean and slightly taller than Joe. He was dressed plainly in a dark blue sports shirt and slacks. A detective LAPD badge was situated on his belt, and a shoulder holster he wore was situated with what looked like an automatic pistol.
Frank got out of the car and motioned for Joe and Jonny to do the same. Once they were all out of the car, he took a step towards the detective and extended a hand.
"I'm Frank Hardy, and this is my brother Joe and our friend Jonny Quest."
In return, the man extended his own hand and gave Frank's hand a hearty handshake. "I'm Detective Maxwell Sanders. My partner is the one who took your call and has briefed me. Of course, we will expect you to turn over the findings of your research on this but what we have learned about Seth Granger in the meanwhile coupled with this warrants a talk with him. Follow me."
Detective Sanders then turned and headed for the sidewalk.
As they caught up with him, Joe asked. "Just what did you discover about the security guard?"
"It was my partner's discovery actually," he replied. "It's part of that background check you requested, Frank. The department is still working on it overall, but it was discovered that Mister Granger has a membership with a local anarchist organization that we have had our eyes on now for the past year."
"Anarchist?" Jonny echoed.
"They believe and operate in chaos and mayhem, Jonny," Frank replied. "So if someone was looking for a willing participant in getting secrets that could help overthrow a government, this is the type of guy that person would be looking for."
Detective Sanders nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Considering the type of work that Professor Cantrell was into along with his purpose in coming here, he would have made a prime target for someone like that."
They walked the short path leading towards the security building until they reached the main door. Detective Sanders opened the door and ushered them inside.
As before, Frank noticed that building for the most part seemed deserted. He pointed out the monitoring room to Detective Sanders and they headed into the room.
Frank, Joe and Jonny were more than surprised to see that Seth Granger was sitting at the exact same computer workstation that he had been sitting at when they visited him before. The video screens were also active as before, showing different feeds of different buildings on campus.
They stayed back as the detective walked forward, clearing his throat loudly. For his efforts, Seth Granger wheeled around in his chair to glare at them. "What do you – oh, it's you guys. I thought I told you that I didn't want you on campus."
Detective Sanders smiled as he stepped forward. "My name is Detective Maxwell Sanders and I am from the LAPD. Mister Granger, we were doing some additional checks into the murder of Professor Cantrell."
Seth's tone was dismissive as he turned his chair back towards the computer workstation that he was working at. "I remember you, detective. In fact, I remember giving statements to you and your partner as well as personally turning over the monitoring footage of that lab. Now if you will excuse me, I need to return to my duties. There was a student protest over near the Humanities building that my men had to break up a few moments ago, so I have to make sure that things are okay elsewhere."
Jonny thought they had been stonewalled again until he heard Detective Sanders make another statement. "We actually have more questions about this monitoring footage that you provided. There seems to be something out of the ordinary that we found. The timestamps seem to be a bit odd."
He grinned, knowing full well it was a gamble that the detective was trying. He was more than curious to see if Seth would rise to the bait.
They watched as Seth stood slowly and then bolted for the exit!
Detective Sanders quickly took off running and launched a flying tackle, catching Seth by the waist. Both men went down hard on the carpet.
Frank motioned to Joe. "C'mon, let's help him get Seth under control."
Jonny watched as Frank and Joe dived into the fray to help Detective Sanders. While the man managed to secure Seth's arms, it was all Frank and Joe could do to hold down the security guard's legs.
A movement out of the corner of his eye then caught his attention. Jonny turned around to find that Andrea West was running out of the monitoring room and towards the exit. She was getting away!
He turned back around and saw that Detective Sanders had Seth in handcuffs and with Frank and Joe's help had him already standing up. They apparently never noticed Andrea's abrupt exit.
Decision made, Jonny ran up to Joe and stated his intentions. "Andrea was just here. I'm going after her."
Turning, Jonny then quickly made for the exit.
It took a moment for Joe to realize what Jonny had meant. "Jonny, wait! Frank, after him! He's going after Andrea alone!"
Frank and Joe ran out of the security building but their path was choked with students leaving and heading towards evening classes. To their frustration, they quickly lost sight of Jonny.
Joe was ready to take off into the crowd. "He has a head start on us. We have to find him!"
Frank put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hold on, Joe."
Joe turned and stared at him intently. "What?"
His thoughts were whirling madly in his head. "I have a plan, Joe, but we don't have much time and with Andrea still on the loose Jonny is in danger. Try heading back to the lab building – Andrea seemed so determined to get back into it that will probably be where she is heading. Call me as soon as you catch up to him and I will meet up with you as soon as I can."
"Got it," Joe replied with a nod and turned to head towards the lab building.
As he started running, Joe heard Frank call out. "Joe? Be careful."
He shouted back over his shoulder. "You too."
When Jonny spotted Andrea exiting the security building, his urge to find out where she was going overruled common sense. He was sure that his dad would ground him until doomsday once he got wind of this, but he didn't care. Jonny was determined to find out what was going on and keep Andrea in his sights.
He soon was frustrated as Andrea managed to lose him in-between two large groups of students heading towards the Student Union. Jonny stopped for a moment to catch his breath and to ponder his options before deciding on heading towards the lab building.
Once he got in range of the building, Jonny noticed that the crime scene tape was still in place but there did not seem to be anyone guarding the perimeter.
Jonny looked around quickly to make sure no one was paying attention to him. Once he was satisfied, he quickly ducked under the tape and quickly ran into the entrance of the lab building.
The hallway was deserted and only served to fuel uneasiness in him. Still, he had come this far and he was determined to see it through.
Jonny reached the end of the hall and stood in front of the lab that had been in the center of all of this. There had been police tape in front of the door here too, but someone had torn them down and they were lying in a heap on the floor nearby.
He looked around, but saw no one. Maybe she didn't come back here. I'll take a look around and -
Jonny froze as he heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"You."
