There was a sharp pain in the back of his head and vaguely, detachedly, he could feel someone thrashing on a bed.

Joe's eyes flew open and he would have fallen out of his bed had Frank not thrown his arms around him, restraining him.

He quickly fell back down, exhausted.

"What happened?" He even thought his voice sounded weak.

"I don't know really…you complained about a headache and the next thing I know, you collapsed." Frank replied, furrowing his brows in a look of unfamiliar helplessness.

"Yeah…that part I kind of remember." Joe replied, throwing the covers off and attempting to rise.

"Easy, little brother. It's six p.m." Frank told him, easing him back to bed. Joe was too weak to stop him.

"Where are mom and dad?" He asked, after a moment of silence.

"Mom went to get dinner…she couldn't cook during all this excitement…dad's downstairs having a chat with our principal."

"Why?" Joe asked, amazed. Dad never got into their school affairs, well, hardly ever.

"Joe…"

"Frank. Tell me." Joe replied, sternly, sensing his brother's retraction from the subject.

"We think someone might have slipped you something…which is why you collapsed today."

Joe shook his head. "But I didn't take anything…well, except that aspirin Randy gave me."

Frank's eyes shot up. "What aspirin? Do you have any left?"

Joe frowned. "No. I took the only pill he gave me. You don't think…"

"Maybe." Frank replied, eyes shifting downward. "Not ruling anything out…not yet."

"But who would want to take me out?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know, listen," Frank told him, patting his knee, "Get some rest. I'll check up on you in a little while, I want to make a few phone calls now. I'll bring up dinner when it comes."

Frank rose. "Wait."

"What is it Joe, do you need anything?"

Joe massaged the bridge of his nose a bit before turning to face Frank again. "Did Vanessa call?"

Frank smiled a bit. "Yeah. She did. You were asleep. I told her to stop by or call again tomorrow, when you're feeling better."

"Right right." Joe said, distractedly.

"Get some sleep, Joe. We'll settle this in the morning."

Joe nodded and reluctantly let his pillow and blankets lull him back to sleep. He was too tired to care much right now anyway. Slowly, his eyes fluttered shut. Frank gently brushed golden locks out of his face, before retreating out of the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

Descending the stairs, he grabbed the telephone from the living room and brought it to his room. From his pocket he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and began dialing the digits.

After a slow four rings a familiar female voice answered.

"Hello?"

Frank paused and almost considered hanging up.

"Hello?" The voice asked again.

"Hey Jules. It's Frank Hardy."

Silence.

"I thought I'd be hearing from you."

Frank smiled. "Did you?"

"After what happened at school today…and knowing your reputation…yes."

'Yes, their reputation did follow them around,' Frank thought.

"What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you saw Joe anytime before the…incident."

There was silence for a moment before a wary response came.

"I saw him with that friend of yours…Chet Morton…and I think I saw him enter the boy's lockeroom. That's about it."

Frank nodded. "Joe said he talked to Randy…so I guess he probably saw him at the lockeroom."

"Probably."

There was another moment of awkward silence, and then:

"How is he?"

"Who?"

Laughter. "Joe."

"Oh. He's doing better. Just woke up…a little dazed, but I think he'll live."

Silence again, then:

"You stole my line."

"I know…Can you just, keep an eye out. See if there's anything…suspicious going on."

"Well, I'm not a well practiced detective…so I wouldn't know what suspicious activities look like…but I'll keep an eye out for Joe."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem. If that's it, I need to go now."

"All right…one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…for today."

"Your welcome, Frank. Good night."

"Night."

Frank waited for the click of the phone shutting and the dial tone before replacing the phone onto the receiver.