"You're under arrest," he heard a voice growl in his ear as the lights were turned on.

Frank blinked at the sudden brightness. As his vision returned, he was released. He turned around and saw two officers replacing their guns in their holsters.

"What are you doing here?" Sergeant Con Riley demanded of Frank although he had known the Hardys long enough to know the answer.

"I was going to look for a lead," Frank replied, frowning. "Why are you guys in here? I thought you'd be outside."

Con frowned. "After Joe disappeared we checked out Dr. Wagner," he told Frank. "He died a month ago in a plane crash."

"Then who.." Frank began in alarm only to be cut off by Con.

"We don't know," Con replied. "Wagner was slated to start work at Corwin three weeks ago. When this Wagner showed up with the real Wagner's credentials, no one questioned him."

"Was the plane crash an accident?" Frank asked.

Con shook his head. "Not a chance," he replied. "Pieces of the bomb used to blow it up were found."

"Call Dad and let him know," Frank ordered. "He's trying to find a common enemy of his and Mrs. Brown's who might be around town. This will give them some kind of time frame. Do you mind if I look around?" he asked.

"Go for it," Con replied, picking up the receiver. "Meadows," he said to the other officer, "check the outside grounds again."

"You don't think he's coming back?" Frank asked as Meadows went outside.

Con shook his head. "You'll see why," he said. Frank walked into the dining room. The room was nicely furnished, nothing out of place. He walked into the living room. Again, everthing was neat and orderly. A lone copy of yesterday's Bayport Times lay on the coffee table beside the television remote. Frank walked to the desk in the corner of the room and pulled open the drawer, checking beneath it in case something had been taped there. Nothing was beneath the empty drawer. He then went into the bedrooms, searching the wastecans, closets, and bureaus. Except for a few bare hangars, there was nothing to show anyone had lived there.

Frank shook his head in disgust and returned to the kitchen. "This place is owned by Stacey Myers," Con told Frank. "She rented it out to our fake doctor a little over three weeks ago. He paid first and last month's rent. She said he had credentials from a Martha Whitman in Bainbridge, Alaska, which is where the real Dr. Wagner had lived," he added.

"What about Barnes and Blevins?" Frank inquired.

"We found Barnes body about an hour ago," Con said. "Shot twice. There were no witnesses."

"Blevins?"

"We've got an APB out on him," Con informed Frank. "His address was a no-go. The street didn't even exist."

"What about Joe?" Frank finally asked. "Is he still under suspicion for killing Cornette?"

Con nodded. "Honestly, no one believes he's guilty, especially not after everything that's happened, but he did confess."

"He didn't know what he was doing," Frank defended his little brother.

"Easy, I'm on your side, remember?" Con demanded. "The only sure way to clear Joe is to find Cornette's real killer."

"And find whoever robbed Maxines," Frank added.

Con looked at Frank in surprise. "Joe's already been cleared," he told Frank. "Your dad did that today."

Frank drove home and headed for his dad's office. "How did you clear Joe?" he asked his dad from the doorway.

"It wasn't hard," Fenton admitted, waving Frank to a chair. "Joe had the expertise to pull it off but not the equipment or build."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked, leaning forward.

"The break-in was done by a professional," Fenton stated. "The store was entered through a sky light. It was cut, not broken. A small square allowed someone, smaller than your brother, to use a rope and lower themself inside the store and take the watches and jewelry from two cases which were side by side. The alarm was in the floor. Had anything heavier than a feather touched the floor, the alarm would have sounded.

"That's good," Frank said. "But I still want to nail whoever has done this to Joe. Have you come up with anything about Cornett?"

"Paul McCormick was released on parole five weeks ago," Fenton informed Frank. "After he was sent to prison his father went crazy. Two years later, still in a mental institution, he hung himself."

"He's not just trying to convince everyone Joe's a murderer. He's not even set on driving Joe crazy. He's going to kill Joe, if he hasn't already," Frank said dully.