Warning: This chapter contains adult language and implied incestuous and homosexual situations.

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Chapter 6: Another Victim

"I'm trying to locate people who used to know Darren Bolton, the intern from my father's office who was murdered a few weeks ago," Nancy said. Nancy, George and Bess rode in Nancy's car with the top down. It was a pleasant day, with no sign of rain in the forecast. "The Hardy boys found a woman's body a few days ago, who also might have been murdered, and it turns out she and Darren were friends in high school."

"You think their murders might be connected?" George asked.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

"So who is this person we're going to see?"

"Her name is Julie Baker. She used to be good friends with Darren and the dead woman, Tonya Amberson. I tried to call her last night, but she wasn't home. But since she lives right in town, I thought I'd stop by. Here it is."

Nancy pulled over and stopped. They were in a neatly groomed residential suburb of single family homes. No one had fences here. Each yard just ran into the next.

"Why don't we wait here?" George said. "There's no reason to gang up on her."

"That's a good idea," Nancy agreed. "This shouldn't take long." She got out of the car as George moved into the back seat to sit with Bess. George put her arm around Bess' shoulders and they leaned their heads close together. Nancy looked away quickly, but not before she saw Bess take George's other hand in both of hers.

Julie Baker's house had a small porch only two steps higher than the front walk. It was just wide enough for two small potted plants sitting on either side of the door. Nancy rang the doorbell and waited. After a few minutes she rang the doorbell again. She heard a scratching sound on the inside of the door and the plaintive meow of a cat, but nothing else.

"I don't think Julie's home, Miss," a woman's voice called.

Nancy stepped back from the door and saw an older woman in a flowered sunhat at the edge of the yard, a pair of pruning shears in one hand.

"Does she work?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, but I think she might be on a trip or something. I haven't seen her for about a week now. She does like to travel." A concerned look crossed the woman's face. "She usually asks me to feed her cat, though, when she leaves town, so I'm not sure."

Nancy frowned. "I heard a cat just now when I rang the doorbell." She looked back at the door. "When did you last see her?"

"It would have been last Sunday, after church. She was complaining about all the rain causing mildew on her roses."

Nancy stepped up to the door again. It had ornamental stained glass embedded near the top. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to look through, but she couldn't see anything. Something's not right here, she thought to herself. She left the porch and stepped around to the living room window. She had to push a little to lean through the neatly trimmed bushes in front of the window, but she could see in.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed and immediately dug for her phone in her purse.

"What is it?!" the neighbor woman cried in alarm.

"I think she's dead!" Nancy answered as she dialed 911.

"River Heights Emergency Dispatch."

"I need to speak to the police," Nancy said quickly. "I think someone might be dead."

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"I hope talking about dead people over breakfast doesn't become a habit," Joe said cheerfully. He was scrambling eggs. "Can you check the toast, Frank?"

"Sure."

Fenton came into the kitchen looking tired. "Morning, boys."

"Good morning, Dad," Joe said. "There's fresh coffee in the pot over there."

"Good." Fenton poured himself a cup.

"What did you find out at Tonya's place yesterday, Dad?"

Fenton took a seat at the table as Joe brought him a plate of bacon and eggs. Frank brought the toast to the table and sat down as Joe set another plate in front of him. Joe poured coffee for himself before bringing his own plate to the table and taking a seat.

Fenton sipped his coffee before answering. "It seems Miss Amberson was something of a party girl. Not wild, just a regular club-goer. Her neighbors said every now and then she'd bring a man home for the night. They think she might have brought someone home the night she died. No one heard anything unusual. No one saw them leave. Her home was too clean though. No fingerprints anywhere, not even hers."

Frank and Joe looked at each other. "Like Darren Bolton's place," Frank said.

"Who?" Fenton asked.

"Darren Bolton. He was a lawyer up in River Heights. He was murdered in his home a couple of weeks ago and his place was wiped clean, too."

Fenton regarded the boys in surprise. "Why were you checking on him?"

"He was castrated after he was murdered," Frank said. "It just struck me as kind of similar to Tonya having her vagina plugged up. I wanted to check up on it a little more before I said anything. We went up to River Heights yesterday and found out that he and Tonya did used to know each other. We met with Nancy Drew, and she was going to do a little more checking and get back to us."

Fenton stared at them. "When were you planning to tell Sheriff Becker?" He sounded annoyed.

"As soon as we had something concrete," Frank replied calmly. "I didn't want to waste anyone's time on any more of my hunches unless it panned out."

"I suppose that makes sense." Fenton didn't sound convinced. "Well, I think you had better head over to the sheriff's office after breakfast and tell him what you know."

"We can do that if you want, Dad, but I think I'd rather talk to Nancy first and see what she finds out. It might turn out to be nothing but a coincidence."

Fenton looked from one to the other with a slight frown on his face. "I don't want you boys doing your own investigation. Murder is a police matter."

"We know, Dad. We'll talk to the sheriff just as soon as we know something definite." Frank piled eggs onto his toast and took a big bite.

Joe sipped his coffee.

Fenton continued to frown as he finished his breakfast.

"You'd better get a move on, Joe," Frank said. "You don't want to be late for school. I'll drop you off."

"Thanks," Joe downed the rest of his coffee and took the last of his toast with him. "I just need to brush my teeth and get my backpack."

"Ok."

Fenton sat back and looked at Frank. "You boys seem to be doing ok without your mother."

"We miss her, Dad, if that's what you're asking," Frank said. "But school and chores still have to get done."

"True, but… You should have been away at college by now."

"I'll go next year, with Joe. With you working most of the time, he needs someone around the house. I don't mind looking after him." Frank started clearing the table. "Maybe it's time you started dating," he said casually.

Fenton started. "What? No. I'm not ready for that yet. I… still have issues."

"Whatever you say, Dad." Frank piled the dishes in the sink. "I've gotta get Joe to school. See you later."

Frank met Joe by the front door.

"What's up with, Dad?" Joe muttered. "He seems out of sorts this morning."

"He missed his AA meeting."

"Oh." Joe shouldered his backpack. "I hope he's out this afternoon so we can have a little you-and-me time."

"He should be. He's got clients he needs to see."

"Good."

As Frank backed out of the driveway, he suddenly slammed on the brakes and swore.

"Someone coming?"

"No, I just thought of something." Frank backed out into the street and shifted into drive. "Darren was probably gay and most likely doing the club scene, judging by all the condoms we found. Tonya was also doing the club scene, but she was straight. They might still have been friends, but they certainly wouldn't have been dating, or even hitting the bars together."

"But if the same person killed them…" Joe began

"Either the killer was bisexual," Frank stated, "or the killings weren't sexually motivated. I'm going to see the coroner after I drop you off. We need to know if Tonya had intercourse before she died."

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Nancy rubbed her eyes. She was mortally tired. George had taken Bess home in Nancy's car, so Nancy was stuck here until the police decided to take her home. She wasn't sure what it was about police questioning that was so exhausting, but she felt like she'd just spent an hour on the Stairmaster.

"So, Nancy, can you explain again what brought you to Ms. Baker's residence?" Chief Jones managed to sound polite and annoyed with her at the same time.

"Like I said," Nancy began again, "I was checking up on people who used to be friends with Darren Bolton. Julie Baker's name was on my list. I tried to call her, but she didn't answer, so I decided to drop by. Her neighbor said she hadn't seen her. I looked in the living room window and saw the body on the floor."

"And where did you get this list of names?"

"From Darren's high school yearbook, mostly."

Chief Jones put on a patient smile. "I'm still not sure why you felt it was necessary to interfere in a police investigation."

Nancy bristled. "Interfere? I was not aware that you were checking on Darren's high school friends." She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. "Maybe you should have been," she added in an angry undertone.

His polite smile slipped a little. "What specifically led you to look up Ms. Baker?" He began making neat little notes in his notebook.

"I heard from a couple of other people that she, Darren and Tonya Amberson used to be good friends."

Chief Jones looked up in surprise. "How do you know about Tonya Amberson?"

"Frank Hardy told me about her."

"Frank Hardy? Fenton Hardy's son?"

"That would be him."

Now Chief Jones' smile disappeared completely. "I will not tolerate amateur sleuths poking about in a police matter. I will speak to Sheriff Becker about the Hardys. I expect you to keep your nose out of this business as well, or I will be forced to speak to your father."

Nancy's glare darkened. "Of course, Chief Jones. It was never my intention to interfere in a police investigation. Perhaps I should just get out of your way right now. I could use a ride home."

Chief Jones beckoned to a uniformed officer standing near the door. "Officer Bowman, will you please drive Miss Drew home?"

"Yes, sir!" The young officer saluted sharply and stepped aside so Nancy could walk ahead of him.

As she stepped into the hall from the living room, though, Nancy paused. There were several framed diplomas and certificates hanging on the wall, but one of the frames was empty. She touched the empty frame curiously and pulled her finger back with a startled yelp.

"Are you all right, Miss Drew?" Officer Bowman asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Nancy stuck her finger in her mouth as she stared at the frame. Now she could see the jagged edges of the glass just protruding from the frame, with small shreds of paper behind them. Someone had smashed the glass and torn whatever was behind it out of the frame. Nancy looked at the floor. There was no broken glass on the floor. She glanced back at the covered body still lying in the middle of the living room.

Julie Baker's throat had been slashed, probably with a piece of broken glass, although the murder weapon had not been found. Nancy looked back at the frame. What was here? she wondered. And why did the killer take it?

The officer cleared his throat and Nancy started walking again. She needed to call Frank Hardy. They definitely had a serial killer on their hands.