CHAPTER 11

Frank followed Con and his men into Mrs. Streetman's house. Despite the wonderful sunny day outside, the atmosphere inside the house was filled with intense anxiety and tension. It was obvious Mrs. Streetman never experienced a crime being done in her own home before.

She nervously showed them to Duncan's room. The room, which used to be immaculately tidy, was now in shambles. Duncan's going to get freaked out when he sees this, Frank thought grimly.

He surveyed the room carefully, while the forensic experts were working around the room. Careful not to disturb anything, he walked over to the window.

There were scratched marks on the sill outside of the window. It looked as if someone tried to force open the window with a lever.

"When did you notice the room was ransacked, Mrs. Streetman?" Frank heard Con asking the elderly woman.

"Just this morning," she replied, fidgeting on the gold bracelet on her wrist. "I wanted to clean the windows in this room after I did with the others," she explained.

"You didn't hear anyone coming into your house?" Con asked again.

"No."

Con started asking some more basic questions before he inspected the room.

"Did you find anything here?" Con asked Frank.

"No, but it looks like whoever it was entered through the window," he replied. "Someone must be really desperate searching for the CD."

"Which makes me wonder if he would make a try in McGuire's house," Con said.

"Or maybe he already had," Frank said. "I'd say we check it after this."

After they had done with Duncan's room, Frank and Con stopped at McGuire's home. The police tape was still there. Sure enough, when they entered the house, everything was turned upside down.

"Maybe the identity of the killer is in the CD," Frank suggested as he surveyed the messy computer room. "Whoever it was, I hope he didn't find what he was looking for here."

***

Joe didn't hesitate for a second when he dashed after the mysterious person. He yanked the emergency door open and found himself facing the back alley of the post office. The sound of running footsteps echoed on his right. With a burst of energy, he raced after the person. Even though he was a fast runner, he had to admit the other person was moving very quickly – almost effortlessly.

Slowly and slowly, he was closing the gap between them. At the last possible seconds, Joe leaped up and tackled him down by the waist. Both of them fell to the ground.

The other person continued struggling stubbornly. In a swift move, he lashed out his leg and gave a karate kick toward Joe. Taken by surprise, Joe loosened his grip on him slightly.

"Urghh!" Joe grunted, feeling the pain on his chest. But he refused to give up. He continued clinging to the person.

The person seemed annoyed by this. He twisted around, and punched Joe right in the face. The blow almost got the wind out of Joe. Whoa, this guy knows how to fight, he thought with a grimace. He could almost see white spots in front of his eyes. He shook his head, hoping to get rid of the dizziness.

It was the advantage that the other person needed as he rolled away from Joe and got up to his feet. Rubbing his swollen jaw, Joe got up, too, and ran after the person again. He can't get away now, Joe thought when he noticed a dead end ahead of them.

The wall was too high to climb, and there was nothing in the narrow alley that could be used to climb up the wall. The person had no choice but to turn around.

Joe blocked the path when the guy neared him. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you some questions," he told the person.

He seemed to consider Joe's suggestion when Joe saw him hesitating. Joe slowly lowered his guard down. As soon as he did that, the guy pushed him hard, sending Joe's back against the wall with a thud before running away again.

"All right, tough guy, now you're going to get it!" Joe growled. Ignoring the pain on his back, Joe ran and managed to catch the person before he could make a getaway. He locked his arms around the guy from behind tightly, trying to immobilize him.

"Hmmph!" the person grunted. The hooded figure stomped on Joe's shoes, jabbed his elbow hard against Joe's midsection before hurling him over his shoulder - straight to the concrete pavement. All these were done in one swift movement.

Joe couldn't manage to catch on what was happening to him. The last thing he knew, he was already lying on the ground – his body felt sore. The figure seemed to examine Joe briefly, as if checking that he was all right.

Then he moved away, but Joe lashed out his leg against his opponent's ankles and tripped him. Caught by surprise, the figure fell to the ground. Without wasting his time, Joe scrambled over to the person and pulled off the hood and the cap. Long black hair tumbled down in silky waves.

"Y-You're a girl!" Joe gasped in shock. He immediately recognized the girl when she turned around and glared at him angrily. It was Marilyn Bauer.

"Why does that shock you? Because I've beaten you?" she shot back. Her blue eyes flashed challengingly.

Joe's face reddened in embarrassment. "Um…uh, no, I – I mean, well, I thought you were a guy – actually, what I mean was – uh, you fight like a guy," he stammered.

The young woman couldn't help smiling smugly. "That should teach you not to underestimate a woman," she told him.

"I can see that," Joe winced, massaging his swollen jaw. "You really gave me a pack of wallop."

She looked at him in concern. "I hope nothing's broken," she said, helping him to get up.

"No, but it's going to be colorful the next few days," he cracked.

Relieved that he was all right, she looked at him cautiously. "I'm Marilyn. Call me Lyn," she introduced herself as if finally deciding that Joe wasn't going to harm her.

"I know…I mean, I'm Joe Hardy," Joe said quickly.

"You're Joe Hardy?" Lyn asked in surprise.

"Yes. What's wrong?" he asked quizzically.

"Oh, man, I didn't know that," Lyn started saying. "I'm sorry for hitting you and all that," she apologized sincerely. "Duncan has been telling me about you."

Joe waved her off. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. "You really showed me that I need some serious street fighting lessons!"

"No, I thought you worked for my Dad. I saw you and the other guy at my Dad's house last time," Lyn explained.

"That other guy is my brother, Frank," Joe replied. "You must have been the intruder that your Dad was searching the other day."

"Guilty," she said with a rueful smile. "I wanted to take some of my things I've forgotten without my Dad seeing me."

"Why all this secrecy, Lyn? Who is Hans Turner? Do you know where Duncan is?" Joe asked her in a rush.

"Actually, Turner is my neighbor. We share the same PO Box. And as for Duncan, I can take you to him," she smiled. "How did you come here?" she asked, putting on her cap and the hood.

"By van. It's just across the street," Joe replied.

"Then we'll use your van. I came here by bus," she said.

It was a short ride. Lyn took him to a five-story apartment at the edge of town. The building was old, with its off-white paint peeling.

"It's nothing fancy, but it beats than staying at my house with a bunch of spies," Lyn told him as soon as Joe pulled the van into the parking lot.

"Duncan is staying with you, too?" Joe asked with a surprise look.

"Come on, I'll show you to him," Lyn said, ignoring his question. They entered the building. Soon, they arrived on the third floor.

Lyn stepped out of the elevator before turning to her right. Joe followed closely behind. She stopped in front of a room with the number 311 on it. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. Joe was the first one to rush inside. The room was nicely kept despite the outer condition of the building.

He immediately noticed Duncan, sitting on a couch facing a laptop in the living room. The handsome young man looked up. Right now, he was wearing a pair of faded Levi's and sweatshirt that stretched across his broad chest. He looked more at home in those instead of the executive suit that he had worn a few days ago. Duncan was surprised when he caught sight of Joe.

"Hey, Joe, you finally have found me," Duncan said, standing up and patted Joe on the shoulder.

"Yeah, the hard way," Joe grimaced.

"Uh-huh, I guess you must have been getting along fine with Lyn Blackwell," he said, looking amused.

"Blackwell?" Joe looked startled.

"Didn't she tell you? Lyn is my wife!"