As Frank reached the Buick, the door to room 107 opened and Merricott stood there. "Hold it right there!" he shouted at Frank. "I've called the police."
"My brother's been shot!" Frank yelled at him. Joe was trying to get up when Frank reached him. "Stay still," Frank ordered. "You've been shot."
"No," Joe said, reassuring his worried brother. "Some glass from the windshield got me," he explained, rising from the broken glass with Frank's help.
Merricott came over with a towel he had run into his room and pulled from a rack in the bathroom. Frank took the towel and swiped gently at Joe's shoulder. "There's a large piece in here," he told Joe.
"Pull it," Joe ordered, and gritted his teeth as Frank did just that. Then he put the towel on Joe's shoulder and applied pressure. By the time the bleeding had stopped, a police car had arrived.
"What's going on here?" demanded the officer.
Frank told him about the brown sedan which had screeched past him seconds after the shot then went on to tell him about the same car running Joe off the road earlier.
"Sounds like someone's really got it in for you," said the officer to Joe. "Do you need an ambulance?"
Joe declined and Frank promised to take him to the hospital for stitches.
"Hold on a minute," demanded Merricott. "I want to know why you were in my car?"
Joe took a deep breath and explained why he and Frank were there. The officer asked for the man's identification. While he was checking it out, Merricott told the boys he was in town on business. His being in the store with the girls had been a coincidence. "To be perfectly honest, I was too busy trying to find the lowfat stuff in that place to even look at the other customers," he admitted.
The officer returned and verified the man's credentials to the boys. They offered to pay damages after they apologized but Merricott assured them his aunt's insurance company would cover the damages.
"One thing we know for sure, the guy in the brown sedan is behind all of this," Joe told Frank when they were on their way home.
"Maybe we ought to see if the sedan was seen around the hospital," Frank suggested. "But I kind of hate to go back to the hospital," he added. "I sort of made a fool of myself when I asked about who had been around Callie's car."
"Isn't easy to control your emotions when someone tries to hurt someone you care about, is it?" Joe asked smugly. Frank wrinkled his nose at Joe but said nothing. "I'll check at the hospital when I get my shoulder seen about," offered Joe. "You check the pizzeria."
"Agreed," Frank said, after checking his watch and realizing the pizzeria would be open for another two hours.
Joe dropped Frank off at home to get their dad's car before driving to the hospital. Frank went inside and informed his mother of their plans. After assuring them Joe wasn't hurt bad and saying good night, he went to the garage and climbed in the car. A short while later he arrived at the pizzeria. Inside were Callie, Iola, Chet, Biff, Karen, and another friend, Jerry Gilroy.
"Hey Frank!" Callie called out when she saw him in the doorway. "Have a seat," she added, scooting over as he drew near.
"Thanks," he said, sitting down beside her.
"Have you found out who has been trying to kill Angelic yet?" Iola asked.
Frank shook his head then brought everyone up to date on what had been happening. "So did any of you see a brown sedan around here when Iola was poisoned?" he asked.
"No," Callie said, frowning. "But I did see one this morning," she added. "I saw Joe driving the van and there was a brown sedan four cars behind him."
"Did you get a look at the driver? How about the tag number?" Frank asked, his eyes bright with the scent of a clue.
"I didn't see the license," she told him. "But I did get a look at the driver."
"Describe him," ordered Frank, giving her his undivided attention.
"He had gray hair and was kind of thin," she replied. "He was wearing a pale blue dress shirt," she added. "That's all I remember seeing. He drove by kind of fast."
"It's a start," he told Callie gratefully. "At least we have a partial description and that's a lot more than we did have." He stood up. "I'm going to ask a few more people and then i had better get back home," he said. "I want to see if Joe found anything out at the hospital."
Frank found Joe at home reading a comic book. "How did it go?" he asked.
"No one knew anything about the sedan," Joe answered. Frank started to tell Joe about what Callie had seen, but before he could open his mouth, Joe continued. "But I know who it belongs to anyway."
"Huh?" Frank asked in disbelief.
"I called the Southport police and asked Officer Higgins if they had found out anything about the attack on Angelic yet. He told me there was nothing new on that angle but they had discovered Cavanaugh had skipped town in a..."
"Brown sedan," Frank finished for him. "What does Cavanaugh look like?"
"About six foot three, one hundred and thirty pounds, gray hair, clean shaven, and wears dress clothes," Joe answered. Frank then told Joe about the car and driver Callie had seen.
"I don't get it," Joe said. "I was positive Cavanaugh didn't have anything against Deveraux."
"Maybe he doesn't," Frank said thoughtfully. "Think about it," he urged his little brother. "He had a good thing going until you showed up. After the attack on Angelic, you set the cops on him. You're also the one who found his journal. Maybe he's after you and not Angelic."
"If that's the case, we're back where we started," Joe said with a groan. "We have no idea who's trying to hurt her."
"Mmm-hmm," murmured Frank.
"What?" Joe asked. He recognized the look on his bother's face which clearly meant he had something on his mind.
"Did you find out about Dr. Philips?" Frank asked. Joe told him about his conversation with Angelic on the subject.
"You and she are getting awfully close," Frank remarked with concern.
"She's been through a lot," Joe replied, starting to get angry.
"Chill out," Frank tried to calm him down. "I was just wondering if you were getting serious."
"Of course not!" Joe said hotly. "Iola's my girl."
"Maybe you should remind Angelic of that fact," Frank cautioned him. "She seems to be getting very close to you," he added before going into the bathroom and closing the door.
Joe picked up his comic but almost immediately threw it back down. He went to the door of his room and listened. He wanted to talk to Angelic but he didn't want to wake her up. After a minute, he decided she must be asleep and went downstairs for a snack.
In the kitchen, he walked over and switched on the alarm which his mom had turned off on his and Frank's return from the hotel. Then he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of milk and a plate of left-overs. He pulled back from the refrigerator and started to turn toward the table when a hand clamped over his mouth and an object was pushed into the small of his back.
"One sound Blondie, and anyone who comes in here gets it too," snarled a voice close to his ear.
