Joe slumped down on the rattan chair and sighed exaggeratedly, cradling his head in his left hand which was propped up on the dressing table. Frank was mumbling to himself, sitting cross-legged on his bed with crib notes scattered all over him. Whatever was going through Frank's mind which worked in varying speeds calculated in light years remained a mystery. Joe knew Frank well- Frank liked to examine angles and spot loopholes not so much as to perfect his own ideas, which he would try of course, but so that he would not be unduly surprised when someone else pointed out a mistake or neglect.
"Don't think too much, Frank. You think too much and that's your problem… just go with the flow…"
"Yes, we can ' go with flow' but I value my ideas which is why I seek to understand thoroughly- their weakness, strengths and be open to be the fact that they can always be improved upon and acknowledge that they may never be the best. The prototype is never the best but the most original…"
"Huh? Now you're rambling."
"Never mind… think about it… my thought process is quite clear."
"Searching for that perfect plan again?" Joe mumbled dryly, annoyed that he was being ignored even though he was the other significant half of the Hardy Brothers Detective Entity. Frank had been talking incoherently to himself for over half an hour and Joe was willing to bet that Frank was going to go crazy.
"You know there's no such thing as a perfect plan. We can dream it up but the gazillions of variables in the world will always hamper it from being executed without a glitch." Frank replied him absentmindedly, chewing on the back of his pen after.
Joe frowned- extremely irritated now. "Then why are you working so hard for? Why not thrash it out with me? Don't you trust me?"
Frank slipped the pen behind his right ear and stared at him blankly for a prolonged second before nodding. Wordlessly, he began to tidy up the crib notes and then, moved over to the edge of the bed and firmly planted his feet onto the ground as he remained seated on the bed.
He hunched over and clasped his hand into a praying stance with his lips grazing the back of his thumbs.
"It's not that I don't trust you. I do… it's just that my plan is so simple and I… I don't know. I want to think through it thoroughly so… well you know how I hate to be belittled because of my ideas and thoughts."
"You afraid that something out of that amazing brain of yours will embarrass you? Sheesh… sometimes, Frank, the simplest plan may be the smartest."
Frank smiled in that big-brotherly way of his- a smile which twinkled his eyes. Shortly after, he let out a low chuckle and shook his head. Joe was perturbed. He gestured cursorily.
"What?"
"And the smarter person may not be the wisest."
"Are you saying you're the smarter person?" Joe pouted unhappily. He was sure that if Frank had shared his ideas with him instead of being so self-conscious about its simplicity, he would have effectively pointed out to Frank what areas were workable and what areas should be discarded. Frank laughed heartily, standing up to walk over to him and clapped his shoulder.
"At least, brat, I'm saying you're the wiser… for now. It's better to be wise than to be smart- smart people do the stupidest thing without wisdom and when smart people have no wisdom, the world is in a perilous state."
"Someone should make you a philosopher instead of a detective-wannabe." Joe spoke from the corner of his lips before shrugging away his ill-feelings towards Frank's silence earlier on.
"Say, Frank, what if someone is smart and wise at the same time?" Joe gazed up into his brother's deep brown eyes innocently before pointing at his own chest with a thumb. "Like me?"
"Are you forgetting about the aesthetical value of your face and body?" Frank responded, humor
dancing in those enigmatic eyes. Joe nodded, giving Frank's comments serious consideration.
"I didn't want to state the obvious but you're right. I'm gorgeous."
"My, my… I'm facing the perfect specimen of Mankind right now…" Frank bowed down mockingly. "All hail the great, perfect Joseph Narcissus Hardy!"
"Yes, yes my good man. I shall allow you to rise before my awesome power." Joe rolled his eyes as he replied blandly. He was being truthful but he guessed his ego could be inflamed at times. "Seriously, what's the plan of yours?"
Frank straightened up and his mien became all serious yet again. Raking his hair, his eyes took on the look of someone looking inwards into faraway dimensions. "Well, it goes like that…"
The knocking on their door had to come at the opportune time. Frank turned around before he smiled a little tediously after glancing quickly at his precious TagHeuer. "Well, she's on time."
"I wonder if Clown's with her?" Joe spoke in a hushed, excited tone. He could not stand Clown when the quirky personality with two hundred billion personalities fighting for attention inside one tiny frame was getting too annoying for his own good but life was a little more than mundane without someone like Clown to stir things up a little.
Frank placed a finger on his lips and had he been less of a rational being, he might crossed himself to ward off whatever curse Joe might have inadvertently brought upon them with his words. "I, for one, hope not. It's difficult to handle one, let alone two…"
"WHY ARE WE WAITING? WHY ARE WE WAITING?" The anticipated irritating voice yelled out the impatient jingle to the tune of "Nay Nee Nay Nee Boo Boo." Frank cringed before reluctantly opening the door.
"Finally! We are getting tired to death waiting! You're lucky I'm not White Rabbit- he would blow from the anxiety that you two have disappeared from the face of this amazing Wonderland!" Clown pushed his way past Frank and plopped his backside down on the lower edge of Frank's bed. Leaf Lady followed behind and winked at Joe.
"I can't stop him from coming. He insisted."
"Oh, it's ok. Frank has this fantastic plan…" Joe was keyed up. "He…"
"Joe!" Frank hissed sharply, taking a seat on Joe's bed- perhaps wanting to be as far away from Clown as possible. Joe had thought Clown and Frank would get along since both loved to speak cryptically but he guessed philosophers must be in constant competition with each other for the ultimate truth.
"Let's hear it then!" Leaf Lady sat down next to Frank and patted his thigh in a motherly fashion. "I'll always be amazed by the brilliant clockworks of your mind."
"Huh?" Frank's jaws dropped at her unusual reply for a second but soon realized that it was perhaps pretty rude to show off the inside of one's mouth to an almost stranger. He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes lethally at Joe before speaking next.
"Well, the clockworks of my mind need some information before it can continue rolling. Actually, we are hoping you… ok… the both of you can offer us some help. We will like to know if there's anybody who's close to Queen with agenda to hurt her. Also, we're not ruling out petty thefts so anyone with financial problems or habits that can lead to cash shortage will be pretty useful to check out. Not to mention, Queen is indeed an intriguing personality and maybe someone may have idolized her too much that he or she wants to actually be her or own a piece of her since things that were stolen were personal items to Queen." Frank spoke measurably, addressing Leaf Lady only rather than both their guests. Joe heard Clown slapping his forehead enthusiastically.
"Of course, Maya! Little Kat has always been in awe of Queen!"
"Who's Kat?" Joe asked, cocking his head to one side. Clown shuffled to the side of Frank's bed which was just next to where Joe was sitting.
"Her name's Kathaleeya. She is Queen's personal maid and I know she absolutely worships the ground Queen walks on. Queen treats her like a foster daughter and the amount of respect Kat has for Queen is enormous! Yes… she will like to be just like Queen… no doubt about that."
Frank was furiously jotting down notes when Leaf Lady scratched her chin contemplatively. "Actually, when you talk about financial problems… I am reminded of Robert. He is Queen's no good brother who kept failing in his businesses because he has no sense of responsibility and only wanted to seek illegal ways to earn the most amount of money in the quickest time. Queen refused to bail him out that one final time and he was put in jail for five years on corruption charges but only served two weeks…get what I mean? But now it seemed as if they are on speaking terms again- he's even in Queen's villa for a holiday. However, I heard them quarreling a few nights ago though I couldn't make out what they were saying. Yes… Robert may have wanted to steal the watch to get back at Queen. He's always a sneaky fellow."
"But what about Queen's pen and perfumes? Why would Robert want to steal those?" Frank was puzzled. "It makes no sense."
"Well, Queen asked you to look into the watch business… who knows? Maybe there's more than one thief!" Clown threw his hands up in the air as if he had hit upon a grand revelation. "I know why you two kids are doing this! It's pretty enjoyable and challenging!"
Frank smiled wearily. "Yes. Detective jobs often are…"
"Pen. Perfumes… her photographs…" Joe remembered the items that were being stolen. "You suggested that it could be someone obsessed with her, Frank. Remember?"
Frank nodded. "Yes. That's a very possible motive. Obsession."
Leaf Lady stuck a tongue in her cheek as her large black eyes clouded over. "I won't call it obsession but… well… Queen had an affair once with her personal bodyguard. He's still serving her but what's between them long over. He was recently widowed."
Poising his pen over an empty spot in one of the crib notes, Frank asked, "What's his name?"
Clown shook his head. "Now, Maya. You know Ted is really just a Teddy Bear…"
"A silent, brooding Teddy Bear." Leaf Lady scowled at him. "That's his name that Don had unwittingly told you. He is Ted and he can be found gardening, repairing broken things and tripped wires over at the villa and resort while acting as Queen's bodyguard as well. Well, I don't think I can think of anyone else now." Leaf Lady turned towards Frank and smiled kindly again.
"What's your plan, child?"
Frank blushed at being called child out of embarrassment. Joe knew Frank always pride himself at being matured beyond his years but Leaf Lady did have that motherly quality that could make Hulk Hogan look like a baby who needed to be cuddled.
"I was just thinking about setting a trap… Queen's study faces the breakwater that we can assess from the public beach and it has a fully-paneled window. We can have Queen mention it to servants, Robert and Ted that her safe is broken and she would get it fix first thing the day after. The thief may see it as a golden opportunity to steal more of Queen's valuable possession. Queen should be utilizing her study room until night time so we can control the time variable. Joe and I will stake out on the breakwater and, by using a pair of binoculars or Joe's highly powered camera lens, we will be able to identify the thief once he or she strikes." Frank shrugged. "What do you guys think?"
"My hands will be sore pressing the camera or binoculars to my eyes the entire time." Joe muttered grouchily. Night stake-out. Sleep loss.
He wasn't looking forward to it.
"Well, most likely, the thief will have to use a torchlight in order to make his or her way around the large study. When we see something like that since the breakwater is near enough for us to make out unnatural happenings in the study with our naked eyes, we then utilize our binoculars or the camera."
"Where are we going to get the binoculars?" Joe ventured, still unhappy with the idea. Frank was right to have little confidence in his plan though it was feasible. "I don't suppose anyone will have one pair lying around right?"
"Then we'll have to use your camera!" Frank offered brightly.
Leaf Lady nodded lightly, pressing her lips together at the same time. "So, when do you want to implement this?"
"Today. I'll love to get it over and done with." Frank peered into her eyes sincerely. "Can it be done?"
"I suppose so… since you have it all thought out, why ask for suspects?"
"Well, most importantly, this may not work. I am hoping it does for if we come to the stage where we have to interview suspects without making them suspicious, there may be slip ups and alarm bells raised."
"Ah…" Leaf Lady pointed her index finger up in the air as understanding dawned on her. "Good thought."
Clown rubbed his hands gleefully. "Do I get to slap the handcuffs on the crook like those suave NYPD officers on T.V.? Huh, huh, huh? Do I?"