I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.
Enjoy!
~Joe
Frank had gone to make a report to ATAC, while Ivy and I went with the police to examine the body. George and Nancy came with us. George was shaking, while Nancy was silent.
We waited in one of the rooms that were empty. It seemed like hours had passed by before we actually started talking to each other.
"I don't get it," Ivy said at last to me. "Why would someone kill again if they already gotten away with one murder?"
I shrugged. "Maybe they want to prove something to the world."
"Like what?"
"That they're a complete psycho? Murders aren't usually logical." I sighed, and leaned back in my chair. "Maybe Adam discovered something. Maybe he pissed off a kid. Or maybe he was chosen by chance."
"Life's cruel."
"Hard to argue with you on that point."
"What can we do?" George asked in a soft voice. It was the first time she spoke since we found the body.
"Hope that we can find them," I answered. I turned to Nancy, who had her face hidden in her hands. "Nance…?"
She let out a sob, and I realized she was shaking. "Why?"
"Nancy…"
"I… I didn't think there was a murderer! And now Adam's dead!" She began to cry harder. "Why didn't I listen to you guys? Why…"
"Because you had hope," Callie's voice answered. I turned towards the doorway, and saw her leaning against the doorframe.
"You could become a ninja," I said.
She ignored me. "You saw good in everyone, Nancy. It's not the worst thing in the world."
"But there was a murderer-"
"But would it have helped? That murderer seems to have eluded everyone so far, so why should we be the ones to catch them?" Callie walked up to Nancy, and sat in the chair next to her. "Right now, we need to focus on who did this, and we'll mourn later. It might sound harsh, but we can't let the murderer get away with this, okay?"
"It is hard to think that someone you know is a killer," Ivy added.
"It happened to me plenty of times. One minute, I thinking I'm with a really cool guy. The next, he snaps and is chasing me around with a gun." Sadly, this has happened to me and Frank too many times to count.
My cell phone went off before Nancy could respond. I pulled it out of my pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"
"It's Phil. Stacy just contacted Frank, and now he lost some of his memory."
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"I was hoping we were done with her," I mumbled as I drove to my house.
"Did Phil say how bad it was?" Callie asked. Ivy had decided to stay with Nancy and George while Callie and I checked on Frank.
"It's kinda mild. On one hand, he recognized Phil. On the other, he thinks it's September and that he and Phil are only buds."
"Because he found out he was gay in October," she concluded.
"Yeah." I pulled into the driveway. "This is gonna be great."
We quickly got into Frank's room, where he was laying in bed asleep. Phil sat in the chair next to the desk.
"She wasn't supposed to have a phone, but she did. And now…" He looked at Frank. "It was kinda awkward."
"Did you contact anyone else?" I asked.
"His psychologist. She said we have to reintroduce him and hope."
"Reintroduce to the fact that he's gay. That's sure to go over well," Callie said, the sarcasm evident.
"Well, maybe he'll like you again." Phil said this with a smile, but it wasn't hard to hear the sadness in his voice.
Callie slapped his arm lightly. "He loves you. I'm not stupid."
"And you're not a Deidre," Phil added. "She was hitting on him earlier today."
"Wow. Anyways…" I thought for a moment. "Is it possible that the murderer in our case contacted Stacy? You know, to try and throw us off balance?"
"I already asked. Someone did send a message, but it's most likely in code."
"It has to be either Nancy, Bess, or Ned," Callie said. "They're the only ones who truly know how Frank was hurt by being hypnotized, and they probably did some internet research to find out about Stacy."
"No George?" I asked.
"Ivy's pretty sure George isn't acting, and I have to agree. We'll keep an eye on her, though."
"So now what?" Phil asked.
"Find out anything the police found, and try to go from there. Maybe we can even get into Nancy's or Bess's rooms. Ned's a whole other issue." I glanced at my brother. "If we jog up his memory, we might find out something else."
"Hopefully."
"Yeah." I tried to remember what Frank was like in September. A lot has changed since then, even after taking out the preferences in partners. His study habits had shifted a bit, to accommodate the ATAC missions. The missions themselves were sometimes intense, so he would forget some of the new techniques we used.
And his anger at Dad was really great before this happened.
The thought of Dad got me angry too. But it also posed another issue. What happens if Frank never recovers his memory? What if he stays straight as a pin? He'll find some nice girl, get married, have kids…
And Dad will get away with his behavior when Frank revealed who he truly was.
I had to talk to Mom. Maybe Aunt Trudy too. But not Dad. Not yet, anyways.
Damn it, Stacy. Why do you keep attacking Frank?
Once again, my cell phone rang. This time, I put it on speaker when I recognized the caller. "What's up, Ivy?"
"The chess piece had the same message. No fingerprints. But I found another paper in Adam's room that looked like Adria's recorded game. It's against 'The Roller' this time."
"Great. More than one," Callie said.
"And our friend Adam was on the Chess team. Matt won't talk about it, but a kid named Jason mentioned how Adam was really competitive and was bit of a sore loser."
"Pissed off everyone, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. Besides that, I can't find any connection between him and Adria. Something's going on in the chess team that we need to find out."
"Oh boy…" Phil whispered.
"What?"
"I just remembered." He pulled out a folded picture from his pocket. Flattening out on the table before handing it to me, he said, "This is their chess team. And look who's on it."
I glanced at the picture before realizing what worried Phil. At the edge of the group sat Ned and Nancy, grinning for the camera.
Adam probably tossed the chess board and pieces into the air one too many times...