Frank eased himself away from the window, his heart thumping, and rejoined Biff and Chet, reaching to unclip his cell phone from his belt. Without speaking to his friends, he flipped the phone open and punched in 9-1-1 with fingers that trembled. When he finished his conversation with the dispatcher, he shut the phone and leaned against Biff's Blazer. "Why?" he whispered.
Biff and Chet had gone to peer in the garage window too, and had returned as pale and shaken as the elder Hardy boy. All three of them were horrified at this sudden turn of events. Was it murder? Suicide? Until an official investigation was made, they wouldn't know.
When the police arrived, Frank hovered close, trying to find out the details of what had happened. He was afraid that the investigating officers would shoo him away from the scene, but luckily both were acquainted with the Hardys, and were willing to go easy on the regulations. Biff and Chet waited in the Blazer, trying to stay out of the way.
"Officer Hamilton, what killed him?" Frank asked, as the slight, dark-haired young officer finished radioing for an ambulance to transport Bartlett's body.
"Looks like suicide, Frank," Hamilton replied. "Carbon monoxide poisoning. The car's out of gas…motor must have run in there until the tank was empty, and then died. There's a note on the seat of the car. We'll test it for fingerprints, of course, but basically," he added, looking down at the note, which was encased in a plastic bag, "it's a confession to planting a bomb in Joe's backpack, cutting the brake line of his car, and putting the bomb in his locker…Hey, who did he do all this to? Who's Joe?"
"Our Joe," Frank informed him grimly. "My brother, Joe."
"Oh, for the luvva.…Well, that makes the rest of the note make more sense. It goes on that he only wanted to divert Fenton Hardy's attention from the case he was working on, not hurt the students at school."
Frank stared at the police officer, unbelieving. How in the world could Mr. Bartlett have anything to do with his father's cases? It made no sense whatsoever.
I'll have to call Con Riley and see if he'll get me the autopsy results, Frank thought. And anything else pertinent to the case…. Aloud, he thanked Officer Hamilton, and slowly walked back to the Blazer.
"Come on, let's get outta here," Biff urged him. "Chet's been bugging me to leave for half an hour now."
"This creeps me out," Chet complained. "Frank may enjoy hanging around crime scenes, but not me."
"I don't enjoy it," Frank retorted. "But I wanted to find out what happened." He climbed into the back seat of the Blazer morosely. "Okay, I'm ready to leave, Biff."
Biff dropped Frank off first, and he and Chet drove away. Frank went into the house, wondering how Joe was feeling by this time. He'd had the whole day to rest; surely he must be recovering!
Frank found Joe lying on the couch, watching television. When he told him of Mr. Bartlett's death, Joe was extremely upset; he had liked the history teacher and enjoyed his class. He found it difficult to believe that Bartlett could have been behind all the mysterious and disturbing events which had occurred in the past few days.
"But Frank, I found something out while I was here today." the younger boy added. "I was on the computer, reading the stories on that mystery fanfiction site, and…well, just come here and see something!" Joe got to his feet and led the way into the den, where he sat down at the desk and seized the mouse. A few clicks later, he had accessed the site.
"Look at this story, Truth and Consequences," Joe urged. "The chapters have been matching what's been going on - and they're posted before the things happen!" He pulled up the story in question, and then switched to the message board. "See? The messages talk about the chapter, and the things that happened in it - look, Frank, see?"
In his enthusiasm, Joe was touching the monitor, and getting fingerprints all over the screen. This was a pet peeve of Frank's, and the older boy automatically reached out and pulled Joe's hand back a bit, then felt in his pocket for a handkerchief and wiped the monitor.
Joe rolled his eyes, but waited, albeit impatiently, until Frank had finished before continuing. "It's basically the same things that happened! And the very last chapter ends with the archeology professor committing suicide and leaving a note!" Joe's face was flushed with excitement.
"Take it easy; calm down." Frank admonished. "You're getting way too worked up; you're supposed to stay quiet, remember? You know perfectly well that if we handed the police a theory like that, they'd say it was coincidence, and a far-fetched one, at that."
"You said Mr. Bartlett left a note?" Joe asked, sitting back in the chair and trying to obey Frank's remonstrations.
"Yes, he did." Frank nodded. "It said he was sorry for all those things that happened - the cut brake line, the bomb in the backpack, the locker bomb-"
"Then it couldn't have been him!" Joe cried, tension building in his voice once more. "He wasn't even at school that day - the one when the bomb was in my backpack - he was at a conference in New York City. We had a substitute teacher!"
"Okay, okay….You have a point." Frank conceded.
Joe reached for the telephone. "I'm going to call Con down at the police station, and see if he can check this out."
When Joe spoke to Con Riley, however, the best the officer could do was assure Joe he'd look into it, and with that, Joe was forced to be content.
Frank, meanwhile, had gone into action on the computer. He had e-mailed the webmaster of the site, and requested the e-mail address of the author of Truth and Consequences. Afterwards, he sat and skimmed through the chapters of the story, mentally tabulating the coincidences…which no longer seemed quite so far-fetched!
But when Joe finished his call to Con, Frank logged off and shut down the computer. "You feel up to going out tonight?" he inquired. "We're supposed to double with Callie and Vanessa, remember?"
Joe's eye - the uninjured one - widened. "I'd forgotten!" he gasped. "I need to get ready…." He stood up hastily, only to make a quick grab for the edge of the desk, as a brief dizzy spell caught him by surprise. "Dang it…."
"Slow down," Frank cautioned. "Quit trying to rush everything, and you'll be fine."
They went upstairs, and Frank ducked into the bathroom for a hasty shower, then put on clean khakis and a long-sleeved denim shirt. Joe had lain down on his bed while Frank was in the shower, and now took his turn. It took him longer than his brother; he had to be careful about his stitches, and his bruised shoulder made moving a painful process, but eventually he, too, was dressed and ready to go.
"I'm glad they took the bandage off before I left the hospital," he commented, as the boys descended the stairs. "I look scary enough as it is!"
Callie was the first to be picked up, since she lived closer to the Hardys, and when she climbed into the van she anxiously inquired as to Joe's health.
"I'm okay," he assured her. "What's that line?…'bloodied but unbowed.' That's me!"
She snorted. "Yeah, that's you all right. But really, I'm glad you were feeling up to coming tonight."
Frank drove out to the Benders' farmhouse, and Vanessa hurried out to join them. She slid into the van's middle seat next to Joe, and cuddled close, and he happily put his arm around her. It had been awhile since the four of them had shared a 'real date,' and they were looking forward to it.
The movie was a new release - a live-action version of an old TV cartoon the teens had watched since they were small. The theater was full of people, and the movie was fun. Afterwards, Frank, Joe, and the girls decided to drop by Mr. Pizza, and there they found several of their friends. When they started comparing notes on the evening, they found that Chet and Biff had been at the movie too, and that Phil had seen an earlier showing.
"What I think we should go see…" Joe paused to wind a strand of mozzarella cheese about the point of his slice of pizza, "…is Ninja Frogs of L.A.!"
"You've already seen it - and so have I." Frank objected, picking stray olive slices off the pizza pan and popping them into his mouth.
"I know, but I want to see it again." Joe persisted. "I love the way the created the 'live' versions of Dimitri and Domino, the two mutant frogs."
"The ones who save Los Angeles?" Chet inquired, with his mouth full.
"Uh-huh." Joe munched his pizza contentedly.
"Actually, it would be fun." Vanessa agreed. She liked movies like these; since her mother worked in computer animation creating Rex Rover cartoons, she loved seeing related works. "I get such a kick out of Grater, the mutated cheese-eating mongoose." She paused, suddenly contemplating the pizza. "…cheese-eating…" she murmured…then shrugged, and continued eating.
"Oh yeah, he's great!" Biff's deep chuckle rumbled over the conversation. "He infiltrated the Warmer Sisters' studio, and is making movies with subliminal messages in them, telling humans to adopt cows and make cheese!"
Chet grinned. "Say, Joe - don't you have to go home and milk the cows?" he kidded. Joe rolled his eyes, but joined in the laughter. Biff kept up the joke, by pretending to go into a trance, and demanding the cheese off Joe's pizza. "I've been sublimated," he intoned. "Must…have…cheese…now!" He made a grab for a slice of pizza, only to have his hand smacked by Callie. "Ow!"
Eventually, the party broke up, and Joe and Frank took the girls home. As they drove back home from Callie's house, Joe admitted he was feeling a little wiped out by the activity.
"Think I'll head for bed when we get home." he said. Frank nodded agreeably. He didn't want Joe to overdo, but knew better than to keep harping on it. But if Joe himself thought of taking it easy….!
But when they got home, Joe's attention shifted from bed to the computer. He decided to check the mystery story site, and see if anything new had come up in Truth and Consequences. As he logged on, a melodic chime sounded, and a smooth voice announced You've got mail!
Joe grimaced. "Can't we kill the sound on that, or get a different service? That voice grates on my nerves!"
"You're just grouchy because you don't feel good." Frank told him, rapidly typing in his password to access his mail. "Ah - it's a reply from the site webmaster!" Quickly, he scanned the message. "Oh nuts…says he can't give out the address, but he'll pass on a message to the author if I want." He swiftly typed a reply, explaining that the author in question was a possible suspect in a case. "Maybe that will shake something loose."
"Check the story site," Joe urged him, and Frank obliged. To their gratification, there was a new chapter posted in Truth and Consequences, and the boys read it avidly. But as it progressed, they began to feel uneasy…and when the chapter ended….
"Someone broke into the teacher's house for the second time…" Frank breathed. "and tries to kill her!"
"Second time!" Joe exclaimed. "Ms. Westerman!" He jumped up from his chair and dashed from the room, yelling back "Come on!" to Frank. Frank, equally alarmed, followed at a run.
They drove through the late-night-deserted streets of Bayport, and soon were at Ms. Westerman's house. They hurried up the walk, and Frank was about to knock on the door, when they were startled to hear a scream erupt from the second floor of the house!
Biff and Chet had gone to peer in the garage window too, and had returned as pale and shaken as the elder Hardy boy. All three of them were horrified at this sudden turn of events. Was it murder? Suicide? Until an official investigation was made, they wouldn't know.
When the police arrived, Frank hovered close, trying to find out the details of what had happened. He was afraid that the investigating officers would shoo him away from the scene, but luckily both were acquainted with the Hardys, and were willing to go easy on the regulations. Biff and Chet waited in the Blazer, trying to stay out of the way.
"Officer Hamilton, what killed him?" Frank asked, as the slight, dark-haired young officer finished radioing for an ambulance to transport Bartlett's body.
"Looks like suicide, Frank," Hamilton replied. "Carbon monoxide poisoning. The car's out of gas…motor must have run in there until the tank was empty, and then died. There's a note on the seat of the car. We'll test it for fingerprints, of course, but basically," he added, looking down at the note, which was encased in a plastic bag, "it's a confession to planting a bomb in Joe's backpack, cutting the brake line of his car, and putting the bomb in his locker…Hey, who did he do all this to? Who's Joe?"
"Our Joe," Frank informed him grimly. "My brother, Joe."
"Oh, for the luvva.…Well, that makes the rest of the note make more sense. It goes on that he only wanted to divert Fenton Hardy's attention from the case he was working on, not hurt the students at school."
Frank stared at the police officer, unbelieving. How in the world could Mr. Bartlett have anything to do with his father's cases? It made no sense whatsoever.
I'll have to call Con Riley and see if he'll get me the autopsy results, Frank thought. And anything else pertinent to the case…. Aloud, he thanked Officer Hamilton, and slowly walked back to the Blazer.
"Come on, let's get outta here," Biff urged him. "Chet's been bugging me to leave for half an hour now."
"This creeps me out," Chet complained. "Frank may enjoy hanging around crime scenes, but not me."
"I don't enjoy it," Frank retorted. "But I wanted to find out what happened." He climbed into the back seat of the Blazer morosely. "Okay, I'm ready to leave, Biff."
Biff dropped Frank off first, and he and Chet drove away. Frank went into the house, wondering how Joe was feeling by this time. He'd had the whole day to rest; surely he must be recovering!
Frank found Joe lying on the couch, watching television. When he told him of Mr. Bartlett's death, Joe was extremely upset; he had liked the history teacher and enjoyed his class. He found it difficult to believe that Bartlett could have been behind all the mysterious and disturbing events which had occurred in the past few days.
"But Frank, I found something out while I was here today." the younger boy added. "I was on the computer, reading the stories on that mystery fanfiction site, and…well, just come here and see something!" Joe got to his feet and led the way into the den, where he sat down at the desk and seized the mouse. A few clicks later, he had accessed the site.
"Look at this story, Truth and Consequences," Joe urged. "The chapters have been matching what's been going on - and they're posted before the things happen!" He pulled up the story in question, and then switched to the message board. "See? The messages talk about the chapter, and the things that happened in it - look, Frank, see?"
In his enthusiasm, Joe was touching the monitor, and getting fingerprints all over the screen. This was a pet peeve of Frank's, and the older boy automatically reached out and pulled Joe's hand back a bit, then felt in his pocket for a handkerchief and wiped the monitor.
Joe rolled his eyes, but waited, albeit impatiently, until Frank had finished before continuing. "It's basically the same things that happened! And the very last chapter ends with the archeology professor committing suicide and leaving a note!" Joe's face was flushed with excitement.
"Take it easy; calm down." Frank admonished. "You're getting way too worked up; you're supposed to stay quiet, remember? You know perfectly well that if we handed the police a theory like that, they'd say it was coincidence, and a far-fetched one, at that."
"You said Mr. Bartlett left a note?" Joe asked, sitting back in the chair and trying to obey Frank's remonstrations.
"Yes, he did." Frank nodded. "It said he was sorry for all those things that happened - the cut brake line, the bomb in the backpack, the locker bomb-"
"Then it couldn't have been him!" Joe cried, tension building in his voice once more. "He wasn't even at school that day - the one when the bomb was in my backpack - he was at a conference in New York City. We had a substitute teacher!"
"Okay, okay….You have a point." Frank conceded.
Joe reached for the telephone. "I'm going to call Con down at the police station, and see if he can check this out."
When Joe spoke to Con Riley, however, the best the officer could do was assure Joe he'd look into it, and with that, Joe was forced to be content.
Frank, meanwhile, had gone into action on the computer. He had e-mailed the webmaster of the site, and requested the e-mail address of the author of Truth and Consequences. Afterwards, he sat and skimmed through the chapters of the story, mentally tabulating the coincidences…which no longer seemed quite so far-fetched!
But when Joe finished his call to Con, Frank logged off and shut down the computer. "You feel up to going out tonight?" he inquired. "We're supposed to double with Callie and Vanessa, remember?"
Joe's eye - the uninjured one - widened. "I'd forgotten!" he gasped. "I need to get ready…." He stood up hastily, only to make a quick grab for the edge of the desk, as a brief dizzy spell caught him by surprise. "Dang it…."
"Slow down," Frank cautioned. "Quit trying to rush everything, and you'll be fine."
They went upstairs, and Frank ducked into the bathroom for a hasty shower, then put on clean khakis and a long-sleeved denim shirt. Joe had lain down on his bed while Frank was in the shower, and now took his turn. It took him longer than his brother; he had to be careful about his stitches, and his bruised shoulder made moving a painful process, but eventually he, too, was dressed and ready to go.
"I'm glad they took the bandage off before I left the hospital," he commented, as the boys descended the stairs. "I look scary enough as it is!"
Callie was the first to be picked up, since she lived closer to the Hardys, and when she climbed into the van she anxiously inquired as to Joe's health.
"I'm okay," he assured her. "What's that line?…'bloodied but unbowed.' That's me!"
She snorted. "Yeah, that's you all right. But really, I'm glad you were feeling up to coming tonight."
Frank drove out to the Benders' farmhouse, and Vanessa hurried out to join them. She slid into the van's middle seat next to Joe, and cuddled close, and he happily put his arm around her. It had been awhile since the four of them had shared a 'real date,' and they were looking forward to it.
The movie was a new release - a live-action version of an old TV cartoon the teens had watched since they were small. The theater was full of people, and the movie was fun. Afterwards, Frank, Joe, and the girls decided to drop by Mr. Pizza, and there they found several of their friends. When they started comparing notes on the evening, they found that Chet and Biff had been at the movie too, and that Phil had seen an earlier showing.
"What I think we should go see…" Joe paused to wind a strand of mozzarella cheese about the point of his slice of pizza, "…is Ninja Frogs of L.A.!"
"You've already seen it - and so have I." Frank objected, picking stray olive slices off the pizza pan and popping them into his mouth.
"I know, but I want to see it again." Joe persisted. "I love the way the created the 'live' versions of Dimitri and Domino, the two mutant frogs."
"The ones who save Los Angeles?" Chet inquired, with his mouth full.
"Uh-huh." Joe munched his pizza contentedly.
"Actually, it would be fun." Vanessa agreed. She liked movies like these; since her mother worked in computer animation creating Rex Rover cartoons, she loved seeing related works. "I get such a kick out of Grater, the mutated cheese-eating mongoose." She paused, suddenly contemplating the pizza. "…cheese-eating…" she murmured…then shrugged, and continued eating.
"Oh yeah, he's great!" Biff's deep chuckle rumbled over the conversation. "He infiltrated the Warmer Sisters' studio, and is making movies with subliminal messages in them, telling humans to adopt cows and make cheese!"
Chet grinned. "Say, Joe - don't you have to go home and milk the cows?" he kidded. Joe rolled his eyes, but joined in the laughter. Biff kept up the joke, by pretending to go into a trance, and demanding the cheese off Joe's pizza. "I've been sublimated," he intoned. "Must…have…cheese…now!" He made a grab for a slice of pizza, only to have his hand smacked by Callie. "Ow!"
Eventually, the party broke up, and Joe and Frank took the girls home. As they drove back home from Callie's house, Joe admitted he was feeling a little wiped out by the activity.
"Think I'll head for bed when we get home." he said. Frank nodded agreeably. He didn't want Joe to overdo, but knew better than to keep harping on it. But if Joe himself thought of taking it easy….!
But when they got home, Joe's attention shifted from bed to the computer. He decided to check the mystery story site, and see if anything new had come up in Truth and Consequences. As he logged on, a melodic chime sounded, and a smooth voice announced You've got mail!
Joe grimaced. "Can't we kill the sound on that, or get a different service? That voice grates on my nerves!"
"You're just grouchy because you don't feel good." Frank told him, rapidly typing in his password to access his mail. "Ah - it's a reply from the site webmaster!" Quickly, he scanned the message. "Oh nuts…says he can't give out the address, but he'll pass on a message to the author if I want." He swiftly typed a reply, explaining that the author in question was a possible suspect in a case. "Maybe that will shake something loose."
"Check the story site," Joe urged him, and Frank obliged. To their gratification, there was a new chapter posted in Truth and Consequences, and the boys read it avidly. But as it progressed, they began to feel uneasy…and when the chapter ended….
"Someone broke into the teacher's house for the second time…" Frank breathed. "and tries to kill her!"
"Second time!" Joe exclaimed. "Ms. Westerman!" He jumped up from his chair and dashed from the room, yelling back "Come on!" to Frank. Frank, equally alarmed, followed at a run.
They drove through the late-night-deserted streets of Bayport, and soon were at Ms. Westerman's house. They hurried up the walk, and Frank was about to knock on the door, when they were startled to hear a scream erupt from the second floor of the house!