Holding his hand, which was bleeding, Joe panicked. He took off out the door he had arrived through, barely missing the grasp of the mammoth man who had surprised him. Joe raced down the hall and rounded a corner, stopping and leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
He looked down at his arm to see how much damage had been done, wondering if he would need rabies shots, but was surprised to find there was no wound. Only drying blood on his wrist. "What the..." Joe wondered. He knew he had felt pain, but there was nothing there.
He shrugged. Must have gotten the blood off of the caged crate, he thought, rubbing the now completely dried blood off of him. He contemplated telling Frank as he made his way back to the stairs to meet him but decided against it. No harm, no foul, he thought.
"Hey, I was wondering what happened to you," Frank said as Joe arrived at the designated area. "I found the lab."
Joe followed Frank down the hallway to the lab, flexing his hand as he did so. He felt a tingling sensation in it but saw no reason for it. Must be nerves, he thought. When Frank turned to look at him, Joe quickly relaxed his hand. Letting Frank know he was jumpy about being in a semi-deserted campus building would only give him cause to tease, and Joe wasn't in the mood.
"I doubt we have to worry about fingerprints," Frank said as he unlocked the door and flipped on the light in the lab. "There are so many students coming in and out of here for classes, it would be next to impossible to distinguish an individual set."
"I'll take the left and you start over there," Frank continued, walking over to the first file cabinet in the room.
Joe took his bearings before moving. The other lab he had been in had had a small office attached to it, but this entire lab seemed to be an office, except for the long tables with chairs scattered about. Surely, had that animal been dangerous, it wouldn't have been in an area where the students could get hurt. Joe shook his head. Why was he thinking about this? He hadn't been hurt. There was no wound. But there had been, his subconscious reminded him. "Then where is it now?" Joe growled, yanking open a drawer on the desk he had come to stand in front of.
"What did you say?" Frank asked, looking over at Joe.
Joe glanced up, surprised he had said something out loud. "Um, nothing," he said, shaking his head and putting his mind on the task at hand.
It was several more minutes before either boy made any noise other than the ruffling of papers. Joe closed the last drawer on the desk with a bit more force than he had intended. "What exactly are we looking for here?" he demanded, looking over at Frank who was busy putting a folder back into the file cabinet drawer.
"Anything out of the ordinary," Frank replied calmly. Joe always did get upset if he didn't find something right away. "Besides, you should try and familiarize yourself with some of the material you find," he informed Joe. "Starting tomorrow, we become the professor's assistants. It would help if we knew what we were supposed to be doing, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but the Prof gave us those notebooks to go over at home," Joe argued. "He said they held enough information to get us by."
"Until we meet someone who knows more about the research than we do," Frank pointed out. "We have to go see Angela tomorrow and if she is involved, we need to be able to distinguish if she knows more than she is supposed to."
"Great," Joe moaned, opening the top drawer of the desk he had just gone through and pulling out a folder. He sat down and began looking through it with more intensity than he had shown previously.
Frank grinned, shook his head, and removed another folder from the file cabinet. He had a photographic memory and had only to read over an item once to memorize it's contents. Joe tried, but in the end, Frank knew, it was up to him to really pay attention to what was said.
Their roles in their partnership had been established a long time ago. He was the brains. He thought through problems and considered their possible outcomes. If something was illogical, he tossed out the problem and started over. Everything could be boiled down to logic. Joe, on the other hand, although intelligent in his own right, was more the muscle part of the duo. He tended to act first and think later; sometimes ignoring the warnings of his brother. In life, nothing was cut and dried and so the two ended up meshing perfectly. Where one was weak, the other was strong. Neither boy put the other down because of their weaknesses, they just used their own strengths to make up for it. This formula had served them well since their first case and they had no intention of changing.
"What about Craig?" Joe asked, disturbing Frank once again. Joe had already closed the folder, unable to concentrate, no matter how hard he tried. "Where do we start with him?"
"I guess we should ask Angela and if she has no idea, maybe his family?" Frank suggested with a shrug. "Unless he was kidnapped, they must have heard from him."
"Shouldn't we check out some oil companies?" Joe suggested. "Maybe Craig or whoever took the research has tried to contact one of them."
"That's not a bad idea," Frank said, looking impressed. "If an oil company could get the government to sell them the land where the natural gas deposits were found, they could make a hefty profit even if they paid someone for the information."
"Or whoever took the info could try and buy the land," Joe said.
Frank shook his head. "That would be too obvious. It would..." he broke off as the door opened and the silhouette of a man was framed at the threshold.
"What are you two boys doing here?" he asked, looking at first one boy and then the other one, keenly. Joe had the distinct impression it was the man from upstairs.
"We're Professor Aliem's new assistants," Frank replied. "And you are?"
"Dr. Mayhem," he replied dismissively. "Where either of you boys just upstairs?"
"No," Joe answered a bit too quickly. Frank's eyes narrowed and he looked over at his brother.
"Have you seen anyone else in the building?" Dr. Mayhem pushed, still looking at the two boys alternately.
"No," Frank answered the question, looking over at him. "Why? Was something disturbed upstairs?"
"No, it's just that I am working on a behavioral study of wolves and they seemed a bit restless; like someone had been in my lab," he answered.
"They will calm down, though," Joe pointed out. "They are tame, aren't they?"
"No," Dr. Mayhem denied. "What good would a tame wolf do in a behavioral study?"
Joe shrugged. "Well, if you see anyone else in the building, please let me know at once, won't you?" the doctor continued.
"Why?" Joe asked, "Lock your lab and he can't get in, right?"
"Well, you see, it's possible if someone had been in my lab, he may have gotten hurt," the doctor admitted. "If one of my wolves got at him, he would be in serious danger."
"Your wolves are rabid?" Frank asked, watching Joe's face go white.
"No, of course not," Dr, Mayhew denied. "That would never be allowed on campus."
"Then how could this person be in danger?" Frank pushed.
Dr. Mayhew's face took on an annoyed look. He obviously didn't like having to answer Frank's question but to not do so would look like he was hiding something. "Infection," he finally replied.
"Well, the point is moot anyway," Joe interrupted. "We haven't seen anyone and unless someone comes in here, we aren't likely too."
The man nodded his head at the remark and turned to leave. He glanced back at Joe before he exited and made one last statement, "Should you see anyone, tell him it is urgent he contact me. His life could depend on it."
He looked down at his arm to see how much damage had been done, wondering if he would need rabies shots, but was surprised to find there was no wound. Only drying blood on his wrist. "What the..." Joe wondered. He knew he had felt pain, but there was nothing there.
He shrugged. Must have gotten the blood off of the caged crate, he thought, rubbing the now completely dried blood off of him. He contemplated telling Frank as he made his way back to the stairs to meet him but decided against it. No harm, no foul, he thought.
"Hey, I was wondering what happened to you," Frank said as Joe arrived at the designated area. "I found the lab."
Joe followed Frank down the hallway to the lab, flexing his hand as he did so. He felt a tingling sensation in it but saw no reason for it. Must be nerves, he thought. When Frank turned to look at him, Joe quickly relaxed his hand. Letting Frank know he was jumpy about being in a semi-deserted campus building would only give him cause to tease, and Joe wasn't in the mood.
"I doubt we have to worry about fingerprints," Frank said as he unlocked the door and flipped on the light in the lab. "There are so many students coming in and out of here for classes, it would be next to impossible to distinguish an individual set."
"I'll take the left and you start over there," Frank continued, walking over to the first file cabinet in the room.
Joe took his bearings before moving. The other lab he had been in had had a small office attached to it, but this entire lab seemed to be an office, except for the long tables with chairs scattered about. Surely, had that animal been dangerous, it wouldn't have been in an area where the students could get hurt. Joe shook his head. Why was he thinking about this? He hadn't been hurt. There was no wound. But there had been, his subconscious reminded him. "Then where is it now?" Joe growled, yanking open a drawer on the desk he had come to stand in front of.
"What did you say?" Frank asked, looking over at Joe.
Joe glanced up, surprised he had said something out loud. "Um, nothing," he said, shaking his head and putting his mind on the task at hand.
It was several more minutes before either boy made any noise other than the ruffling of papers. Joe closed the last drawer on the desk with a bit more force than he had intended. "What exactly are we looking for here?" he demanded, looking over at Frank who was busy putting a folder back into the file cabinet drawer.
"Anything out of the ordinary," Frank replied calmly. Joe always did get upset if he didn't find something right away. "Besides, you should try and familiarize yourself with some of the material you find," he informed Joe. "Starting tomorrow, we become the professor's assistants. It would help if we knew what we were supposed to be doing, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but the Prof gave us those notebooks to go over at home," Joe argued. "He said they held enough information to get us by."
"Until we meet someone who knows more about the research than we do," Frank pointed out. "We have to go see Angela tomorrow and if she is involved, we need to be able to distinguish if she knows more than she is supposed to."
"Great," Joe moaned, opening the top drawer of the desk he had just gone through and pulling out a folder. He sat down and began looking through it with more intensity than he had shown previously.
Frank grinned, shook his head, and removed another folder from the file cabinet. He had a photographic memory and had only to read over an item once to memorize it's contents. Joe tried, but in the end, Frank knew, it was up to him to really pay attention to what was said.
Their roles in their partnership had been established a long time ago. He was the brains. He thought through problems and considered their possible outcomes. If something was illogical, he tossed out the problem and started over. Everything could be boiled down to logic. Joe, on the other hand, although intelligent in his own right, was more the muscle part of the duo. He tended to act first and think later; sometimes ignoring the warnings of his brother. In life, nothing was cut and dried and so the two ended up meshing perfectly. Where one was weak, the other was strong. Neither boy put the other down because of their weaknesses, they just used their own strengths to make up for it. This formula had served them well since their first case and they had no intention of changing.
"What about Craig?" Joe asked, disturbing Frank once again. Joe had already closed the folder, unable to concentrate, no matter how hard he tried. "Where do we start with him?"
"I guess we should ask Angela and if she has no idea, maybe his family?" Frank suggested with a shrug. "Unless he was kidnapped, they must have heard from him."
"Shouldn't we check out some oil companies?" Joe suggested. "Maybe Craig or whoever took the research has tried to contact one of them."
"That's not a bad idea," Frank said, looking impressed. "If an oil company could get the government to sell them the land where the natural gas deposits were found, they could make a hefty profit even if they paid someone for the information."
"Or whoever took the info could try and buy the land," Joe said.
Frank shook his head. "That would be too obvious. It would..." he broke off as the door opened and the silhouette of a man was framed at the threshold.
"What are you two boys doing here?" he asked, looking at first one boy and then the other one, keenly. Joe had the distinct impression it was the man from upstairs.
"We're Professor Aliem's new assistants," Frank replied. "And you are?"
"Dr. Mayhem," he replied dismissively. "Where either of you boys just upstairs?"
"No," Joe answered a bit too quickly. Frank's eyes narrowed and he looked over at his brother.
"Have you seen anyone else in the building?" Dr. Mayhem pushed, still looking at the two boys alternately.
"No," Frank answered the question, looking over at him. "Why? Was something disturbed upstairs?"
"No, it's just that I am working on a behavioral study of wolves and they seemed a bit restless; like someone had been in my lab," he answered.
"They will calm down, though," Joe pointed out. "They are tame, aren't they?"
"No," Dr. Mayhem denied. "What good would a tame wolf do in a behavioral study?"
Joe shrugged. "Well, if you see anyone else in the building, please let me know at once, won't you?" the doctor continued.
"Why?" Joe asked, "Lock your lab and he can't get in, right?"
"Well, you see, it's possible if someone had been in my lab, he may have gotten hurt," the doctor admitted. "If one of my wolves got at him, he would be in serious danger."
"Your wolves are rabid?" Frank asked, watching Joe's face go white.
"No, of course not," Dr, Mayhew denied. "That would never be allowed on campus."
"Then how could this person be in danger?" Frank pushed.
Dr. Mayhew's face took on an annoyed look. He obviously didn't like having to answer Frank's question but to not do so would look like he was hiding something. "Infection," he finally replied.
"Well, the point is moot anyway," Joe interrupted. "We haven't seen anyone and unless someone comes in here, we aren't likely too."
The man nodded his head at the remark and turned to leave. He glanced back at Joe before he exited and made one last statement, "Should you see anyone, tell him it is urgent he contact me. His life could depend on it."
