"Joe!" Frank shouted as he stood up and grabbeb his brother's arm. "What's gotten into you?"
"Iola's in the hospital," Joe told him stonily, glaring at Angelic. "She was poisoned."
Frank and Callie gasped in surprised shock and Angelic's eyes widened. "Will she be all right?" Angelic asked.
"Would you care?" Joe demanded, angrily shaking off Frank's hand. "Where did you get the poison?" he asked her.
"Joe!" Callie shouted, stepping between him and Angelic. "Listen to yourself. Angelic would never do anything like that," she defended the girl. "Apologize!" she ordered angrily.
"I'm sorry," Joe said obediently to Angelic. "I'm sorry you ever came to Bayport," he continued. "But don't think about leaving now. You're going to pay for what you did to Iola," he promised her.
"Get him out of here," Callie told Frank between clenched teeth. "Get him out or he will be the one in the hospital."
Angelic's eyes narrowed at her remark but Frank and Joe were looking at Callie and she was glaring at Joe.
"Come on bro," Frank urged joe, taking his arm again and pulling him out the front door.
"She did it," Joe said hotly after they were in the van. "Why are you protecting her?"
"You don't know that," Frank tried to reason with him.
"Yes, I do," Joe insisted.
"How?" Frank demanded. "Did you see her put poison in something Iola ate or drank?" he asked.
"I told you she made a pass at me in the park," Joe said.
"You may be a great catch but a girl isn't going to try and klill someone over you," Frank said. "Your ego can't get any higher if you actually believe what you're saying."
"She asked me if I didn't have a girlfriend if I would have taken her up on her offer," Joe told him wearily. "And fool that I was, I told her yes." Joe leaned his head against the door's window. "It has to be her," he went on. "Who else would want to hurt Iola?"
Frank gave Joe a quick glance as he pulled the van into their driveway, but refrained from reminding Joe about the many enemies they had made since they became detectives who might try and get at them through the people they care about. Instead, he released his and Joe's seat belts and said, "Let's go in and get some sleep."
"Sleep?" Joe asked, jerking his head up and staring at Frank with snapping blue eyes. "Iola was nearly killed a couple of hours ago and you want to go to bed?"
"You won't be of any use to her or anyone if you're too tired to function," Frank said gently. "We'll find out who's responsible," Frank promised.
"I know who's responsible," Joe insisted stubbornly.
"Then we'll find proof," Frank said, desperate to get Joe inside and calmed down.
"You're home early," commented Mrs. Hardy as her sons walked into the living room.
"Iola's in the hospital," Joe told her, his face rigid. "She was poisoned."
"Will she be all right?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm and looking at him with sympathetic hazel eyes.
"They're keeping her for a couple of days, but they think so," Joe answered.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed?" she suggested. "I'll bring you some warm milk to help you sleep." Joe nodded and went upstairs.
Frank looked at his slender mother with worry in his eyes. "Where's Dad?" he asked as he followed her into the kitchen.
"Right here," Mr. Hardy answered from the kitchen table, a half cup of cocoa in front of him. "Is something wrong?" Fenton Hardy was the world's most famous private investigator but he was always available to lend help to his sons even if they only needed to talk to him.
Frank sat down in the chair across from his father and looked at his inquisitiveeyes and other features which so resembled his own. "I'm worried about Joe," he said.
"What about Joe?" prompted Mr. Hardy when Frank never said anything else. Frank looked at his mother but she put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Joesph is my son too," she asserted. "If there's something wrong with him I have a right to know."
"Sorry," Frank mimbled and looked at his lap where he clasped his hands. He then told his parent's about Joe's unwarranted animosity towards Angelic and about how he was certain she was responsible for what had happened to Iola.
"Son, what have your mother and I always tried to teach you?" Mr. Hardy asked gently.
"To do the right thing," Frank answered obediently, tilting his head slightly to the left side as he tried to figure out what his dad was trying to tell him.
"And how do you know the right thing?" Mr. Hardy asked.
"It's kind of instinctive," Frank replied with a lazy grin.
"Is it possible Joe has instinctively picked up on something you haven't?" asked his mother.
"I suppose so," Frank said slowly. "But there's no proof Angelic has done anything. The motive he has is pretty lame," he added.
"Is there any proof she hasn't done anything?" Mrs. Hardy asked him. Frank shook his head.
"Affairs of the heart are to blame for a lot of violence," she continued. "Perhaps Joe has sensed she is a bit mentally unbalanced."
"It doesn't make sense," Frank started to argue with her.
"Would it make more sense if your brother were going crazy?" she countered, taking a mug and pouring milk from a pan into it. Picking up the mug, she left the room.
"Son," Mr. Hardy said, breaking into Frank's thoughts, "I know Joe's tired, but so are you. You've worked together and been through a lot. Have you ever had cause to doubt Joe's instincts?"
"Not very often," Frank answered. "But he has been working a lot and he's stressed out."
"Consider this," Mr. Hardy said rising and going to the sink to rinse out his cup. "You have been through just as much as Joe over the past few months. Are you nearly as stressed out as you believe your brother to be?" He walked to the doorway and paused. "Sleep on it," he suggested.
"Up and at'em baby brother," Frank said the next morning walking into Joe's room and pulling the cover off of him. Joe groaned and turned over. "Wake up Joe," Frank insisted. "We've got a mystery to solve."
"Angelic did it," Joe said, sitting up.
"Then we have to prove it," Frank told him. "But let me be the one to talk to Callie," he advised. "Hurry up," he added, leaving the room. "Mom's putting breakfast on the table."
When Joe got downstairs, Frank was just hanging up the phone. "Callie went over to visit Iola," he told Joe. "Why don't we stop by the pizza joint and check the place out?"
"Why?" Joe demanded. "All we have to do is search Angelic's things and find the poison she used on Iola. We can't do that at the pizza place."
"Be reasonable," Frank said. "Pretend it was Chet instead of Iola who had been poisoned. Would you still think Angelic was responsible? What would you do?"
"I'd go to the pizza joint and see if they store any poisons at the place," Joe admitted after a slight pause.
"Good," Frank gave a sigh of relief because it looked like Joe was going to cooperate. "Do you know what kind of poison was used?" he asked.
"A type of rat poison," Joe replied sheepishly.
"Rats at a pizza place," Frank said with a grin. "I can buy that."
"Okay, okay," Joe said. "I see where you're going with this. You think it could have been an accident."
"It is possible some poison was in her glass," Frank said. "It couldn't have been the pizza or we all would have gotten sick."
"I guess," Joe grudgingly admitted. "But my money's on Angelic."
"Guys!" came a shout from across the room as the Hardy boys entered the pizza place a litle later that morning. Frank and Joe walked over to where some of their friends were sitting.
"How's Iola?" blond, beefy Biff Hooper asked.
"She's going to be all right," Joe answered.
"I heard you were with her when she was admitted to the hospital last night," Biff's date, Karen black said, looking at Joe. "What was wrong with her?"
"She ingested some rat poison," Joe told her.
"Didn't you guys eat here?" Biff asked, turning a pale green as he looked at the half-eaten pizza.
"Yeah," Joe responded. "But Iola's the only one who got sick. I don't think it was the food," he added.
"Joe," Frank said with a degree of warning which his brother ignored.
"Then how was she poisoned?" Karen asked.
"Angelic tried to kill her," Joe answered with a groan from Frank.
"You're crazy!" exploded Karen. "Angelic is a sweet girl. She could no more hurt Iola than you could hurt Frank."
"Why does everyone want to defend her?" Joe demanded angrily.
"Why are you condemning her?" Karen retaliated.
"I have my reasons," Joe replied.
"What?"
"Never mind," Joe said and turned and walked away.
"Sorry," Frank said to Karen and Biff before following Joe to the counter.
"You know you can't accuse someone without proof," Frank reprimanded his brother when he had caught up to him.
"Sorry," growled Joe. "I just can't stand seeing everyone trust her."
"Maybe you're wrong about her," Frank said in exasperation, regretting the words even before they had left his mouth. Joe stared at Frank until the manager arrived at the counter then turned and walked from the building.
The manager cleared his throat as Frank watched Joe leave. "May I help you?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah," Frank said, giving his attention to the manager. "I was wondering what kind of pest control you use?'
"You want to know what happened with the girl last night?" he asked, referring to Iola. The mamager had lived in Bayport long enough to know of the Hardys' reputation for crime solving. "The police have questioned the staff and myself and made a thorough search," he informed Frank. "But you may look the place over if you choose."
"What kind of pest control do you use?" Frank asked again, as he came behind the counter at the manager's invitation.
"Basically, we use an exterminator which takes care of the place on a monthly basis," the manager said. "Recently," he continued, "we have even started a natural means of controlling rodents."
"Natuaral?" Frank asked.
"Cats."
An hour later, Frank had finished his investigation at the restaurant and was on his way to the hospital. "Hi," Frank said, stepping into Iola's room a few minutes later. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better," Iola told him, smiling. "The doctor said I can go home tomorrow."
"Joe said he left you at the pizza place," said Mr. Morton. "You just missed him."
"Did you find out anything at the restaurant?" asked Mrs. Morton.
"They don't use any kind of rat poison," Frank informed the group. "They do, however, have a family of cats at the back of the store."
"Can they do that at a restaurant?" asked Callie in disbelief.
"They stay outside in the alley," Frank explained. "There are a couple of mouse traps inside, but mailnly they use an exterminator." After a few more minutes, Frank made his excuses and left the room.
Callie caught up with Frank at the elevator. "What's with Joe?" she asked as they got on.
"He was upset last night," Frank started to make an excuse for his brother only to be interrupted.
"I meant today," she said, surprising Frank. "He came in and got Iola to tell him where we went last night before meeting you guys."
"I can't believe Joe would chance upsetting Iola like that!" Frank exploded, running his left hand through his hair.
"He didn't," Callie said soothingly, surprising Frank even more. "He was very discreet and indirect, but the result was the same."
"He's convinced Angelic is responsible for what happened to Iola," Frank told her. "No matter what I say, I can't get through to him," he added with despair.
"What?" Callie asked. "He told us he felt Angelic may have been the real target."
"Why would he say that?" Frank wondered out loud.
"He said since Iola and Angelic were sitting beside each other, the poison must have been put into the wrong drink."
"Then why ask where you went?" Frank asked.
"He said we might have been followed."
"No," Frank said with a definite shake of his head. "He really believes she is guilty. He must have just said it so you would tell him what he wanted to know."
"That rat!" Callie shouted, as they got off the elevator and went into the hospital's garage. "He got me to tell him everything I know about her," she explained her outburst to Frank. "I really thought he was worried about her," she added, picturing Joe suspended over a pot of boiling water.
Frank put an arm around Callie's shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Take it easy," he said softly. "I'll try again to get through to him. But Joe did have a point," he added thoughtfully.
"What?" Callie took a step back and stared at her boyfriend as if she were seeing him for the first time.
"Maybe Angelic was the real target," Frank explained his former statement. "Joe and I weren't working on anything until this came up," he added. "Tell me about Angelic."
"I really don't know much about her," Callie said. "We both were at Camp Broadstone about three years ago. We didn't really hang out together. She was shy and kind of kept to herself. Her parents are wealthy," she added. "That could be a motive, but if so it looks like someone would try to kidnap her instead of kill her."
"Maybe someone has something against her parents," Frank theorized. "Going after their daughter would be a great revenge tactic."
"I hope you're wrong," Callie said. "She's so nice. We watched lassie after you two left last night and she cried almost all the way through it. She's very sensitive and Joe's persecution is really hurting her," she added.
"Is she staying with you?" Frank asked.
"No," Callie answered. "She spent last night because it was so late, but she is staying at the Bayport Inn with her dad. I think she said her mom was still in Missouri."
"I think it's time to talk to Angelic's father," Frank said. "Do you need a ride?" he asked Callie.
"Uh-uh," she said and pointed to her car. Frank walked her over and said good-bye. He had made it half of the way back to the van when he heard a loud explosion from behind him. He turned around and saw flames shooting form beneath the hood of Callie's car!
