Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: If I owned it I'd be writing the real thing.

Fenton Hardy was taking a lunch break and watching the news when he saw a bulletin about the 'seventh' cop shooting, he knew from what he'd heard from one of his contacts in the police department, before they had started looking so closely at him, that there was in fact one murder that was connected to the rest that the reporters never got wind of, so this one was in fact the eighth. He sighed and told his secretary to go home for the day, he had a feeling they would be closing early. Ian Mahoy might have an intellect rivaled only by garden tools, but with eight dead cops on his hands, a talking monkey could get the chief to support an arrest warrant, and probably a judge to sign one if someone pointed out the right judge to ask.

While he was waiting for Mahoy to manage that warrant he worked on his latest case, just because it was likely that he was about to be arrested didn't mean he should take the day off. It was entirely possible that he was wrong and Mahoy wouldn't be able to get the warrant signed, or he may not even want to arrest Fenton at all. After all not everybody held grudges like that, and Mahoy might even see that it's not Fenton's fault that he was blamed for not noticing that his partner was on the take. Fenton didn't really see why he was blamed either, he was hardly the first not to notice something like that. Though it hardly helped his case that he had been dating his partner at the time and still hadn't noticed anything was up. Actually the fact that he had been dating his partner was probably a large portion of the reason he had gotten into so much trouble, the department kind of frowned on that sort of thing. Dating other cops was fine, dating your partner was not.

Fenton looked up as Mahoy came into his office, "Hello Ian, or should I say Lieutenant? Since I'm guessing this isn't a personal visit." he said to the man that headed the small group of officers.

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Joe waited until after Bess was on the plane and Nancy had moved to the window to wait for the takeoff before he approached her. "Hey Nancy." he said with a grin.

Nancy spun around to face Joe almost like he had poked her with a cattle prod, "Hey Joe, you startled me." she said with a forced sounding laugh.

"I can see that. You seem jumpy Nan." Joe said as he came up to stand beside her and look out the window.

"Ned's been complaining about my detective work again." Nancy said evading an actual response.

"That has never made you this jumpy before." Joe pointed out, turning his gaze to her profile. Nancy was gazing intently out the window though.

"Well… Things are just adding up." Nancy said slowly.

"Like what?" Joe asked hiding his worry as much as he could, he was hoping Nancy would tell him even if she didn't want to.

"I can't talk about it Joe." Nancy said as she stepped back from the window, and Joe. "I have some things I need to do, see you around." she said before rushing off. Joe started to follow but Nancy was lost in a crowd of people almost before he had realized that she'd moved, sighing he called Frank to let his brother know what he'd just found out.

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Nancy hurried to the taxi line to wait for a chance to get away from the airport before her bad luck escalated and she was faced with both Hardy brothers or something equally catastrophic. It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been so obvious that Joe knew something was up, but at least Frank hadn't been there to make things even more difficult. If she'd been that transparent to Joe she shuddered to think of how much his brother would see. She and Frank had always shared a certain bond that had been a saving grace on several cases but could spell serious trouble on this one.

Nancy sighed in relief as her turn for a taxi rolled around and she could finally leave the airport, and she hadn't seen anything more of either Joe or Frank so she thought her luck might be turning around.

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Frank walked up to Joe who was still standing at the window where he had spoken to Nancy. "What's up Joe?" he asked as he came up to stand beside his little brother.

"I overheard Bess mention a case and Nancy mention a possible arrest, neither sounded happy." Joe said turning away from the window to face his brother.

"Well that not like Nancy, she's usually thrilled to be on a case." Frank said frowning, "Did you hear anything else?"

Joe ran a hand through his hair as he tried to remember as much of the conversation as he could, "Someone named Mahoy was mentioned… I think that's where Nancy was going next." he said but he couldn't remember anything else since the usual airport sounds had made it difficult to hear much of what his friends had been talking about.

Frank's frown deepened, "Where have I heard that name before?" he asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know but it sounds familiar to me too." Joe said as the two brothers started working their way towards the exit.

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Nancy walked into Lieutenant Mahoy's office, "I need to talk to you." she said without preamble. "Are you pushing for a warrant to arrest Fenton Hardy?" she asked after closing the door behind her and though Mahoy gestured her towards a chair she didn't sit.

"I am. The evidence points to him Miss Drew. I understand your distaste at the idea that one of your colleagues could be a murderer but the evidence doesn't lie." Mahoy said in a soothing voice, though he neglected to mention the fact that Fenton Hardy was already in a holding cell downstairs.

"I'd hardly call him a colleague." Nancy said coldly, "And the evidence I saw pointed to at least a dozen cops as well as Mr. Hardy, he wasn't the only one who knew all the victims." she added.

"We aren't required to give you all the evidence Ms. Drew." Mahoy said, his tone matching hers now.

"Then I fail to see how I'm expected to be of any use to you during this case." Nancy responded, her eyes flashed but her voice stayed level and controlled.

"I don't see it either, but the chief said to hire you." Mahoy said though he hadn't seemed to mind her being there before, and he had been the one to call her in.

"Since I'm here why don't you let me do my job and give me the information I need?" Nancy asked as politely as she could.

"I'll give you what I feel like giving you!" Mahoy snapped, "Now if you don't mind I have work to do and I don't have time to baby-sit a rookie PI!"

Nancy bit her tongue to keep from saying something she would regret later and left the office, Mahoy didn't mention once during their conversation that he had arrested Fenton. Outside, she hailed a cab to go back to the hotel needing to look up the address of Mr. Hardy's office before she could do anything more. Not for the first time she wished she could work with Frank and Joe on this, it would be so much easier to just call them and ask for the address

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Nancy's phone rang as she entered her hotel room, and after a rather apprehensive check on who was calling her she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Nan, how's the case going?" Ned asked sounding like he was smiling.

"I've had easier ones… It's good to hear your voice Ned." Nancy said smiling to herself, she was honestly happy to hear from him after the argument they had had the last time they had spoken about her coming to New York in the first place.

"It's good to talk to you too, but I'm afraid I have a reason for calling other than that." Ned said sounding a bit less pleased, "Frank and Joe have been calling us, George, Hannah, and I. From what George and Hannah told me they seem very interested in why you're in New York."

"Has anyone said anything?" Nancy asked nervously, she knew her friends would never tell a stranger why she was somewhere if she was on a case but she wasn't entirely certain what they'd do with other friends asking.

"I don't think so… I certainly didn't since I hung up on them and they haven't called again since." Ned said.

"Ned! That's so rude" Nancy asked torn between guilt that she had drug her other friends into helping her keep secrets from the Hardy's, and relief that hadn't told them since he had been against her taking the case to begin with.

"Well they would have figured out something was rather if I had talked to them, it probably raised less suspicion since I hung up on them instead. Let's face it Nancy, I've never liked Frank and probably never will." Ned said fairly reasonably.

"I suppose that's true…" Nancy said reluctantly, she had never been entirely comfortable with Ned's feelings toward Frank since Frank was one of her best friends.

"Look Nancy, you know I have nothing against Mr. Hardy, or against Joe really, but are you certain he's innocent?" Ned asked hesitantly, "I mean if the cops think he did it, maybe they know something you don't."

"I'm certain Ned. I don't think he's capable of killing people when it's not self defense." Nancy replied not quite sounding as certain as she claimed to be.

"I just you be sure that you're looking at the evidence Nancy, and not just trusting that it's not him because he's Frank's father." Ned said slowly knowing that this was a serious accusation for Nancy, but also knowing that she would think about it later no matter how mad she was about it now, and once she thought about it she might start to look at the case more objectively. But that knowledge did not stop him from hoping that she wouldn't blow up at him now.

"Ned Nickerson you know me better than that! I've been looking at everything they've given me, and everything I've managed to get on my own trying to figure out whether or not Fenton is guilty! I've seen nothing to say he is! All of the supposed evidence I've seen could just as easily point to another cop! As much as I hate that idea I can't discount it either! I may be wrong about Mr. hardy but I have to look for other alternatives since Mahoy seems to have developed tunnel vision and won't even look at another scenario! I may be the only one working this case that thinks Mr. Hardy is innocent!" Nancy said angrily, then she flipped her phone shut and pitched it across the room before she could stop herself. The phone hit the wall and promptly broke in half, it would seem that flip phones were not designed to be used as projectiles.

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Frank leaned back in his seat, he and Joe were eating lunch at a small diner and trying to remember where they had heard the name 'Mahoy' before. "Maybe Dad mentioned?" Joe said finally, he hadn't exactly given up on remembering but he was certainly having trouble.

"Maybe… But I don't think that's it." Frank said frowning, "I don't think that where I heard it anyway." he thought for another moment, "Could it have been on one of our old cases?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Who knows? Is it even possible to remember all the names we've heard on all those cases?" Joe asked in an almost pained tone.

Frank laughed, "I don't know, if it is it takes a better memory than mine." he said. "Come on, let's go home and check our files. If this Mahoy was closely connected to one of our cases he should be in there." he said as he stood up.

Joe groaned but stood up as well, he hated research but he saw where it was necessary sometimes. Just because it was necessary did not mean he had to like it, it just meant that he had to do it and do it thoroughly. "Why don't we stop by Dad's office before we do that?" he suggested, "If doesn't know then we've only lost a few minutes, if he does we've saved hours."

Frank chuckled at Joe's rather transparent attempt to avoid research, but he couldn't dispute the logic. "Okay Joe,

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Nancy's cab pulled up in front of the building that held Mr. Hardy's office, it had taken her awhile to find the address but once she had it hadn't taken that long for the cab driver to find it. Though she had stopped for lunch at the A taste of France Café before she'd started out she was still making pretty good time and it was only a little after three thirty now.

Once she was inside she took out the paper she had written the office number on, it was on the fourth floor. She walked over to the elevators and started up, she knew that Mr. Hardy would never let her search his office. But she thought that getting an idea of the layout of the place before she broke in was a good idea, but she really hoped that she wouldn't have to break in at all. There was always a chance that the cops would get a hot lead on the case without her help and for once she sincerely hoped they would!

When she got to the door she found it closed and the lights inside off, she frowned and knocked first wondering if maybe he was working on paperwork today. After her second knock went unanswered she thought back to her conversation with Mahoy, and the slightly smug look on his face that she hadn't really noticed at the time; Could that have been caused by having made an arrest? Even if the arrest was of an innocent man? A man that worked in a field where an arrest, even a false one, could ruin him?

Nancy sighed and looked around, it seemed that the only other office on this floor was vacant. It didn't have any sign by the door, and it looked pretty deserted anyway. She fingered her cell phone and briefly considered calling Frank and asking for the key, but she quickly rejected the idea. If she asked for the key she'd have to tell him why, and she couldn't do that. She took another moment to berate herself for turning down Mr. Hardy's offer to give her a key, he had suggested it since if anything happened to him it was quite likely that Frank and Joe would call her anyway and he thought that if they did she may need to get into his office. She had turned it down because she felt that he should keep the number of keys to a minimum, and at the time she had thought that if she needed to get into his office then something would have happened to him and she'd be working with Frank and Joe ergo; able to ask one of them for their key!

She sighed again as she slipped her lock pick kit from her pocket and knelt by the door, it would seem that now was as good a time as ever. As she worked on the lock she looked over her shoulder at the elevator and the stairs often, while she knew that she was probably being taped she was more worried about someone coming from there than a tape that she could probably deny. She was a detective, she knew that those security tapes still rarely got a good look at anyone who didn't look directly at the camera.

After only a few short moments she looked over her shoulder at the elevator again and saw that it was coming up from the lobby. She froze, then making a snap decision to listen to her gut, snatched up her things, and ran for the stairwell. Once she was there she paused, when she saw two men exit the elevator she turned and hurried downstairs until she reached the lobby and could get out of that building to hail a cab back to the hotel.

Author's Note: Ok, I finally finished this chapter. Though I'm pretty sure it was flipping me off for part of it. Better than the other fan fiction I have going though, I'm trying to get it ready to post but I'm pretty sure that it's cussing me out. Oh and for you Ned fans… He's actually going to show up in the next chapter! I am not responsible for anything happens though! Oh wait… Yes I am, still though no flaming if you don't like it. And I feel the need to say: one kiss does not make a relationship. Any way if you guys think you know who the bad guy is do you think you could PM me? I already know who it is but I want to know if it's obvious, I just don't want anyone giving it away to everyone else if anyone happens to be right. Or even if you happen to be wrong it would just be rude to make them think it was someone that it wasn't because you said so and they might end up really confused.