A/N: Thank you for your patience and reviews. I have survived Disneyland! :) The next chapter shall come along soon. . . .
Frank and Joe Hardy disembarked from Flight 1276. Like most flights, it had been running late. "Where do we go?" Joe asked Frank.
Frank shrugged. "The agent that gave us our tickets back at Bayport International said that another agent or two would meet us here with a ride and some more background information."
"What kind of information?" Joe asked.
"Everything the Network knows about the possible locations of the cache, contacts, destinations, people who were involved with the spies back in World War II, that kind of stuff."
Joe smiled excitedly, "Contacts, destinations, license to kill!"
"Very funny Joe," Frank commented dryly as they walked towards the luggage pickup stations.
Frank and Joe found their luggage quickly and made their way outside to the pickup lanes and began to look around for some spook type people. "I don't see anyone that looks like they belong to the Network," Joe commented.
"If they looked like they belonged to the Network they wouldn't be doing their job," Frank pointed out as a black Lincoln Towncar pulled up to the curb.
A man jumped out and walked around the car. "Hi, I'm Private Jensen," he said, shaking their hands. "You must be Marshal Hardy, and Deputy Marshal Hardy."
Frank smiled politely. "Just Frank and Joe please."
"Then just call me Dirk," Jensen said, returning the smile.
"How did you pick us out of all the people standing here waiting for rides?" Joe inquired as Dirk helped them put their luggage into the trunk.
Dirk laughed, "I've actually worked with you before on one of your cases."
"Oh?" Frank said, his interest sparked. "Which one?"
"Remember the Lazarus Clinic? There must of been a billion of us there that night." Dirk said.
Joe nodded and shuddered. "Not on of my favorites. Not at all."
"That one was very odd indeed," Dirk commented as they all climbed into the car. Frank in the front with Dirk, and Joe by himself.
They pulled away from the curb. "So where are we going?" Frank inquired.
"The local police headquarters," Dirk replied. "Deputy Marshal Drew should be there looking over the evidence they found on Lieutenant White's body. Oh whoops! I was supposed to give this to you too." Dirk reached under his seat and handed Frank a thick packet with a envelope stuck to the front.
Frank took the envelope off and opened it, and read it:
Frank:
Just a quick note, you probably shouldn't open this packet in front of your chauffeur. Neither should you talk about your case. I went through channels and he probably doesn't know that I was the one who gave the order to pick you up. Whoever he/she is, they could be working under the chain of command of one of those agents possibly involved with this case. Most of your cases will be like this. You, Ms. Drew, and your brother serve me personally, therefore, whatever I assign you is most likely to be a delicate matter. Caution is always wise.
A.S.F.
Frank set the packet down and handed the note to Joe. "So, anything interesting been happening around here?" Frank asked Dirk.
Dirk shrugged. "Not really, the only remotely interesting thing is White's murder."
"How's that?"
"I don't know," Dirk replied. "Most people claim that it was just a mugging or something like that. Rumor has it though that she was stationed in Europe for a time and just barely got back."
"Back?" Frank said in a quizzical voice.
Dirk nodded affirmatively. "Yes sir, back. Chicago was actually where she was stationed before she supposedly left for Europe."
That's interesting, Frank thought. Did White have a specific person or place to carry the info, or was she just supposed to get the info to the Network somehow through the chain of command? Perhaps there was a traitor in Chicago. "Hey Dirk," Frank asked. "If White wanted to contact someone high up who would she go to in Chicago?"
Dirk thought for a moment. "She was a lieutenant, if she wanted to be prim and proper she would go to a captain maybe. If she wanted to get high up she might've arranged a meeting with a colonel or general. Maybe."
Joe had caught on to what Frank was up to joined in. "Any colonels or generals about Chicago?" he asked.
Dirk nodded. "Yes, there actually a couple of colonels hanging about. I can't recall their names, they're only here temporarily. Don't quite know what they're doing here. Some sort of un-official visit."
"Who's the highest ranking person around here?" Frank asked.
Dirk laughed, "Why, you are sir!"
"Me? I'm just a marshal!" Frank retorted.
"Face it sir, a marshal is basically the same thing as commander-general." Dirk said in an amused tone.
"How many marshals and deputy marshals are there?" Joe asked curiously.
"Just you three right now. Usually the Commander-General only commissions marshals temporarily. You're the first permanent ones that I've heard of."
Frank raised his eyebrows, "Indeed?"
"Yes sir, and here's headquarters," Dirk said as he pulled the car in front of the police headquarters. "Don't worry about your luggage, I'm your driver the whole time while you're in Chicago."
Frank and Joe exited the car, thanked Dirk, and walked into the building as the Lincoln pulled away to find a parking spot. They walked across the lobby to talk to the desk sergeant.
"Hey look!" Joe whispered, "It's Brenda Carlton."
Frank glanced over to the chairs in front of the desk and sighed. "Well that means that Nancy is around somewhere."
They approached the desk and the sergeant looked up, "Hi, we're Frank and Joe Hardy," Frank said, introducing them.
The sergeant nodded, "Of course, of course. From the FBI right? You're expected." He gave them directions to where Nancy was running the investigation. As they left the lobby Joe turned around and gave Brenda a cheeky wave just as she looked up.
"Was that nice Joe?" Frank said as they walked down the long and mostly dark hallway.
"If I had not done it, you would have," Joe replied solemnly.
Frank rolled his eyes as he opened the door to Detective Johnson's office and walked in closing it behind him. Nancy was sitting at the desk alone, thoroughly examining a set of clothes. "Hey Drew, what's up?" Frank said in way of greeting.
"The ceiling, Hardy," Nancy retorted in a very tired voice.
Joe laughed out loud. "So, have you found anything interesting?" he asked as he and Frank sat down.
Nancy sighed, "Just this ring." She picked up a antique, golden ring, and handed it to Frank.
Frank examined it closely. "Nothing much on it, just this nice pattern." he commented.
"Couldn't find anything at all on it. I got it from White's dossier, via Elayne, that White wasn't ever married or engaged, so the ring must mean something." Nancy said as she stifled a large yawn.
"Do you need some coffee?" Frank asked with concern.
Nancy shook her head, "No thanks, I've already had a gallon and it hasn't done much."
"Oh well," Joe said eager to get on with the investigation. "Fairchild had this packet sent to us, should have some more useful information."
Frank nodded, "Let's split it up, unless of course, Nancy wants to catch some sleep first."
"No, really, I'll be fine. I can catch some sleep on the plane, to wherever we're going." Nancy said in protest. She was just as interested.
"Okay, that works," Frank said.
Joe opened the packet. For the most part it contained, notes, memos, reports, lists and histories. He divided it into three equal portions, keeping it in order. "Here you go, let's read up on this and then compare notes when we're finished."
Frank and Nancy nodded and the trio began to read.
*********
"Are you two finished yet?" Joe asked in an impatient voice. "Let's get on with the show."
"We're finished Joe," Nancy replied tiredly.
"Great, I'll start!" Joe said. He began to outline what he had read. "Okay, approximately five years ago a Dr. Alfred Bernardo, an American history professor linked to the Network stumbled on a clue or something that may have led to his discovery of the cache. The report refers to it as the Boswell Cache. John Boswell was the chief spy/resistance person situated in and around Marseilles, France. Apparently there was a traitor within his organization and they were betrayed to Nazi spies/forces that were pressing forward. Just before being discovered and executed by the Nazis, Boswell hid this cache filled with extremely valuable information that could hurt either side, the Allies or the Axis depending upon whose hands it fell into. Not only did he hide information, he hid treasure. The Boswell cache is estimated to be worth millions. Who's next?"
"I am, I suppose," Nancy said. "I got more stuff about Bernardo. Apparently he resided in the same residence that Boswell lived in back during the war. That probably explains how he found the clues that led to wherever he found the cache. Our contacts in Marseilles are his nephew and niece. Jean and Felicia. They're approximately eighteen to nineteen years old. They know what places Bernardo visited frequently before his 'accidental' death. While we are there they will serve as our tour guides and show us all of the places."
"I have that here," Frank said. "The two sites are actually tourist sites that see a ton of tourists every year. Apparently they served as spy hideouts during the war. The two places are, Abbaye de Sènanque and Fort de Buoux. Fairchild also warns us that we won't be the only ones looking for the cache. We need to be careful of enemies that will likely be among us. He also warns that we may have a disadvantage due to the fact that the enemy has already had a week to search the fort and abbey. He also notes that several previous searches have also been made, which included the fort and the abbey."
"Does anybody have anything else to add?" Nancy asked through a yawn.
Frank and Joe shook their head. "Nope, nothing else here. I think that covers it." Joe said.
"Good," Frank said, "I'll go see about making reservations to Marseilles. I hope you have your passports on you." Everyone nodded. "Good. Nancy, chances are that we'll have to wait a little while. Why don't you take a nap or something?"
"I still need to get packed," Nancy said.
Frank frowned. "Whoops, sorry, I forgot. Let's see, I bet I can get an afternoon or evening flight. Let's have Dirk drive us over to River Heights where Nancy can pack and get some rest. Then we'll catch our flight later."
"Dirk?" Nancy asked.
"He's the guy that drove us from the airport. He's in the Network," Joe said, filling Nancy in.
Nancy nodded. "That sounds good to me."