"It is a pleasure to meet you," Sebastian greeted Fenton. "You have two wonderful sons."
"Thank you," acknowledged Fenton, smiling briefly at the compliment before turning serious. "Unfortunately, one of them seems to be missing. Do you remember the last time you saw him?"
"This afternoon," Demar answered, his forehead creasing as he remembered his conversation with the younger Hardy. "Ever since I had spoken with Frank about Beverly I had been thinking that perhaps she might have just been feeding me a line. When I saw Joe, I told him my fears and he said he would check it out but he had to pass on a message from Artie to models first."
"So Beverly could have been the last one to see Joe," Frank said, a little less worried than before. While he did believe she might be behind the sabotage, he felt fairly certain she wasn't the killer. "Her office had been cleared out," he informed Demar. "Let's head over to her apartment," he suggested, turning to look at his father.
"No. The police will already be there," Fenton pointed out. "Perhaps we should speak with Kenny and Danny."
"Why them?" Demar demanded, completely bewildered.
"Can you just call them and have them come over here?" Fenton requested. "I do have my reasons."
Demar placed the calls and the three waited for their arrival. Almost an hour later, the doorbell rang. Demar answered it and escorted the two boys into the living room. "What's going on?" Danny demanded, seeing Frank and the older man who resembled him waiting.
"Allow me to introduce you to Fenton and Frank Hardy," Demar said.
"Hardy?" Paul asked, more surprised than annoyed. "I thought your last name was Davis or something like that."
"Frank and his brother, Joe.." Demar began.
"Joe?" Danny snapped, his eyes wide.
"Yes, Joe," Demar reiterated. "Frank and Joe have been investigating the sabotage and trying to find out what happened to Troy and Jeff."
"So, where is Joe?" Paul asked, looking around.
"Missing," Frank answered, frowning.
"Maybe he was taken by the killer," Danny suggested.
"But only models were taken," Frank said, shaking his head.
"Joe was one," Danny pointed out.
"But he quit," Fenton said. He watched the boys expectantly. He had a feeling they knew something that his sons didn't know about the other two boys. Something that might make sense of why they had been taken.
"Yeah, well Troy and Jeff were quitters too," Danny said.
"No they weren't," Demar stated.
"Well, they wanted to quit," Paul retorted. "Jeff was planning on quitting the shoot and going to college. It was scheduled to begin two days ago. And Troy was sure if Demar let Jeff out of the shoot to go to school then he could be released to become Artie's assistant."
"So by quitting the shoot, Joe became a possible victim," Frank said, paling.
"Who would be affected by one of the models quitting?" Fenton asked, looking at Demar.
"Everyone," Demar admitted. "The other models have to put in longer hours because of the change and that means the make up; photography; and developing departments have to work longer hours as well."
"What about Kenny?" Frank asked. "What kind of effect would this have on him?"
"Kenny?" Demar asked, surprised. "Quite a bit. He has to change the settings, decide which outfits go with which setting and arrange any special on site permits."
"So he has a lot to do?" Frank asked. "You might even say a switch would affect him more than anyone."
"Most likely," Demar affirmed.
"And if the model has agreed to work for his special project, then it might be enough to push him over the edge."
"Special project?" Demar asked, his eyes sharpening as he stared at Frank.
Frank revealed Kenny's "job" offer to Demar. "What?" he sputtered softly, shock robbing him of his normal tone. "I don't believe it," he added, falling to the sofa.
"I'm going to get in touch with Chief Collig and see if they have found out anything about Beverly," Fenton said, more concerned with his son than Kenny's betrayal.
"Where does Kenny live?" Frank asked. Maybe Kenny had Joe.
"He's staying at a bed and breakfast on Maple Street," Demar answered. "He lives in Los Angeles."
"Why did you take an assistant from so far away?" Frank inquired. "And why hasn't he moved here instead of just renting?"
"Maybe we should ask him," Demar suggested rising from the sofa. "Thanks for coming over," he said to Paul and Danny. "Please, don't mention this to anyone just yet."
"I won't," Paul agreed.
"Me either," Danny said, looking at Frank. "I hope you find Joe. I..uh..kind of gave him a hard time." Demar looked at him hard. "I thought he was causing some of the sabotage," Danny confessed. "That's the only reason. Honest," he added, his voice unmistakably sincere.
"Thank you," Frank said. The two models left as Fenton hung up.
"Anything?" Frank inquired.
"She wasn't at home but some of the missing equipment from the studio was found in her apartment," Fenton replied. "Ezra said three were several pictures lying around the place but the ones that were most interesting were the ones she had lying next to an envelope addressed to Raven Gilbert. At the bottom of each photograph was a memo stating the date, time, and title of the design listed. The artist was also labeled. Sebastian Demar."
"Did they find anything that might link her to Joe?" Frank asked.
Fenton shook his head. "But he did find several rolls of undeveloped film. He's going to have Forensics develop them and he'll call on my cell phone if anything helpful comes up. I also asked him to pick up Kenny Parsons for questioning."
"Let's go, then," Frank said, heading for the door. Fenton and Demar followed.
By the time they arrived at the police station, Kenny was already in custody. He was sitting in a chair in the interrogation room, his shoulders slumped forward and his head propped in his hands which rested the table. When Demar and the Hardys entered the room he looked up, hope springing into his eyes but when he saw the grim set to Demar's mouth and the hardness of his eyes, his dejected look returned.
"I haven't done anything," Kenny told Demar. "Nothing. They're saying I'm under suspicion for killing Troy and Jeff. I never!"
"But you would steal my models and use my equipment, to do your own shoot," Demar accused. "If you would do that, why should I believe you didn't kill them?"
"I..I...how did you find out?" Kenny asked.
"Frank Hardy," was the answer.
"Who?" Kenny asked, confused.
"Frank Hardy," Demar repeated, pointing to Frank. "He and his brother, Joe, have been working undercover at the studio to find out who has been sabotaging the shoot and what happened to Troy and Jeff."
"Joe's not a real model?" Kenny asked, a faint smile on his lips. "He's got the body."
"You slime!" Frank snarled, stepping forward but halted by his father. "What have you done with Joe?"
"I haven't done anything with him," Kenny said. "The last time I saw him he was going into Beverly's office. Why? Where is he?"
"Are you saying you really have no idea where he is?" Fenton inquired.
"None," Kenny swore. "You don't think that whoever killed Troy and Jeff have him too, do you?" he demanded, his face showing genuine concern.
"You act like you care," Demar noted.
"I do," Kenny assured him, holding his head up straight and squaring his shoulders. "And the shoot I was doing was for you," he added, looking Demar in the eyes. "I wanted to surprise you."
"Can you prove it?" Frank demanded.
"The layout is at my room at the bed and breakfast," Kenny said. "I had to re-work it after Troy and Jeff left. Then I got Joe in and set it up for him but when he backed out, well, Artie wanted to rework it but I insisted we wait for Joe to heal. He didn't want too. He said Joe would never do the shoot, he wasn't really a model; he didn't have the heart to stick with it. I disagreed with him but Artie insisted if I wanted this shoot done, we work with Danny and Paul and forget about Joe."
"When did you have time to do this?" Fenton inquired. "Joe just quit today."
"After the shoot," Kenny said. "He met me on the way outside and we got into an argument about it." Kenny frowned. "He seemed positive Joe wouldn't be available for the shoot. Matter of fact, he said he wouldn't be surprised if Joe took off just like those other two."
"Fenton," Chief Collig entered the room, some pictures in his hand.
Fenton walked over to stand beside the chief who handed him the pictures. "Where did you get these?" he demanded, looking at the photographs of the two boys in various stages of being tortured.
"These were on one of the undeveloped rolls of film we found at Beverly's residence," he said.
"Beverly is the killer?" he asked, causing everyone to look at him.
"No," Collig denied. "One of the guards at the studio, a friend of your sons, Biff Hooper, found her body in the dumpster behind the building housing her office."
"May I see those?" Demar inquired.
Fenton handed him the pictures. Frank looked over his left shoulder as Kenny gazed over his right. "Artie," breathed Demar and Kenny at the same time.
"What?" Collig demanded, looking at them sharply.
"This is Artie's work," Demar told him. "His work is unmistakable."
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"You don't have to do this," Joe said, swallowing his fear as Artie reached toward Joe and ripped his shirt open. "I...I'll go back to modeling. You won't have to rework anything."
"Looking like this?" Artie demanded. "Bruises on your face and wrists. Your side. You have already been more trouble than Jeff and Troy combined. Oh no. You must suffer. I've put in so much work and you made it all worthless," he leaned down and let the razor blade nip Joe's side where the black and blue bruise was most prominent.
"Aiieee!" Joe screamed. He bit his bottom lip and took a deep breath. "Can't we work something out?" Joe begged. "I could wait here until I heal and then you could...ow!" he shouted as the razor nicked him again.
"I used to wonder how many nicks a person could take before they died," Artie said, nicking Joe's chest repeatedly. "Troy took over five hundred but Jeff held out for almost eight hundred. You look to be in a bit better shape," he continued, nicking Joe again and again in various places. "Don't worry. You'll still be in pictures. I promise to take pictures after every hundredth nick," he added, nicking Joe just above his neck, careful not to hit a major vein or artery.
"Please stop," Joe begged, tears of pain spring to his eyes as Artie nicked his bruised jaw three times in rapid succession.
"Stop your whining," Artie grumbled.
"Then.." Joe began but Artie grabbed Joe's chin.
"You won't shut up," Artie said. "Perhaps if I cut your tongue up, you won't have choice." He lifted the blood soaked razor to Joe's lips and sliced. Joe's mouth opened involuntarily and Artie grabbed Joe's tongue and pulled it from his mouth.
"Let him go!" shouted Chief Collig from the doorway. Artie looked up to see the chief of police, three other officers, Frank, and an older man who looked like Frank enter the room.
"This is my property," Artie informed them haughtily. "Get off of it."
"Not without him," Frank said.
"Forget it!" Artie snarled. "The world will be much better off without this waste of oxygen." He reached for Joe's tongue with the razor, but a shot rang out and Artie screamed, falling backward and clutching his shoulder.
The officers raced forward and quickly took him into custody while Fenton and Frank rushed to Joe's side. "Son," Fenton rasped, his brown eyes reflecting the horror and worry he could not conceal.
"Joe," Frank's breathing was labored as he reached his little brother and began attacking the belts which held him in place.
"An ambulance is on the way," Collig said.
"He killed Beverly," Joe rasped, his lips sore and bleeding.
"We know," Fenton said. "Be quite," he ordered, pulling the now free Joe into his arms. "After the doctor has seen you, then you can tell us about it. But for right now..."
"For right now, just take it easy," Frank finished for his father. "Artie's on his way to jail and he won't be able to get near you again."
"Be..." Joe began but Fenton cleared his throat menacingly and Joe went quite.
"Beverly was behind the sabotage," Frank told Joe as they waited for the ambulance. "And Kenny was doing a shoot for Demar," he continued. "We know Artie killed Troy and Jeff, but we don't know why. Nor do we know why he killed Beverly."
"She.." Joe began but Fenton interrupted him.
"After you've seen the doctor," he ordered his youngest son. "Artie can't hurt anyone now. It can wait."
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It was three hours later and Joe was comfortably ensconced in a room at Bayport General Hospital. Chief Collig and Officer O'Dell were there as was Demar, Kenny, Frank and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy. Joe had just finished his statement for the police.
"I can't believe it," Mrs. Hardy said. "Killing those poor boys just because he wanted to win another award."
"Paul told me that you are only as good as your last modeling job," Joe said. "I guess Artie felt that way about his photography."
Kenny looked at Joe. "Sebastian is going to let me continue with the shoot I have planned," he said. "I would still like you to be one of the models."
"Sorry," Joe said, shaking his head. "Modeling is too dangerous. I think I'll stick with being a detective."
End