Foreword: One of the most exciting updates is finally made! I decided to go third-person after all, since I didn't want to confuse my readers. Anyway, this is when the murder occurs, and the prime suspect is someone the detectives don't want to believe. It took me a long time to write this chapter, since I wanted to put a lot of things in just one chapter. I wish you will enjoy and review it. The more reviews I get, the faster I will update (well, probably) ! So here is the newest chapter: Invitation to Crime...

4

Invitation to Crime

Nancy did not expect to see the two detectives. After all, she was thinking of a flight with Ned and George. But the Hardys' appearance made her gasp. Frank was sitting down next to the seat that was assigned to her, even though Ned and George, somehow, were seated far at the back. They both got permissions to go to the trip with Nancy, just telling to their parents that they were planning to spend some time under the sun. The fare was paid by their parents, even though Ned and George paid half from their own allowances.

"Wow! What a surprise!" Nancy managed to say. "I didn't know you two were on a case in Florida as well."

Nancy got the letter from Mr. Chandler just five days before, telling her the place she would be staying and the address of the plantation. She found out from the letter that the place she and her friends would be staying at was owned by the husband of Mr. Chandler's sister. He said that his name was Mr. Percival Stuart, a prominent attorney.

"What? That doesn't make sense!" George had said. "If he was an attorney, then why does he have an orange farm?"

Nancy read the sentences after the part where she stopped and nodded. "I understand now. The orange farm is his wife's business, and she hired some other people to help her do the job at the plantation. It says here that Mr. Stuart was mainly working in his office and home on his cases, but he sometimes went out of the city. Since he couldn't help his wife as much because of his business, he decided that the best thing to do was hire his relatives, who were glad to help his brother."

Apparently, the people staying in the house were his older brother, Jerome Stuart; his younger brother, Kent Stuart; his sister, Patricia Morley; and her husband, Chris Morley. The place they were staying in was the bed-and-breakfast owned by the Stuarts.

"Geez," George had muttered. "Mr. Stuart is an attorney, Mrs. Stuart maintains the orange farm business, and they own a building and makes it a bed-and-breakfast? Boy, they must have tons of income from those businesses."

Nancy nodded. "They hire a lot of people to maintain those two businesses. It says that he booked two rooms for us. Mr. Chandler wrote that Jerome, Kent, Patricia, and Chris live nearby, about an hour's drive to the inn. The inn's name is, obviously, Orange Farm Inn. He says he wants this case to be a private investigation because there will be other guests who will be staying at the inn."

George still had more questions. "So there isn't any suspect?" she had asked.

Nancy shook her head. "None so far."

"So are you going to Florida for vacation or a case?" Frank asked.

Nancy answered, "Oh, Ned, George and I are there going for vacation. We thought we needed some time off from work and mysteries."

Frank nodded understandingly. "Same here. Joe and I are planning to do the same here. I was thinking about visiting this cool orange farm that is nationally known for the oranges they sold. Joe and I'll be staying at the inn owned by the farm's owner."

Joe then spoke: "Yeah. Mrs. Morley was Aunt Gertrude's friend since high school and she works at the farm, so she invited us to a week at the farm. She said she could use some help at the farm."

Small world, Nancy thought wryly. But she said, "Oh, really? We are staying there as well!"

Frank was amazed. "Wow. What a coincidence!"

Before they could say more, the stewardess started talking, "Please secure your seatbelts and turn off all electronic appliances."

Nancy and the Hardys did what she said and before long the plane was taking off.

In two hours, the two teams were at the Miami International Airport. As they went to the exit, Nancy told Ned and George about the Hardys. They were surprised at the fact that they were going to stay at the same inn Ned, George, and Nancy had booked.

As the five teenagers took their luggage from the carousel, they were met by a middle-aged couple. Nancy immediately knew that they were the Morleys. Mrs. Morley was a short, chubby woman who made Nancy think of Hannah Gruen, her housekeeper who was staying in the Drews residence with Nancy and her father ever since Mrs. Drew died because of an illness.

Mr. Morley was a tall man who seemed to be about four years younger than his wife. He had thick gray eyebrows and a black mustache that made him look like a sophisticated Englishman. His head was gray but not actually bolding yet, just like Nancy's father. Some black strands of hair showed beneath his gray ones that covered his entire head.

Mrs. Morley smiled warmly and introduced themselves. Mr. Morley, who was obviously not a people-person, remained unsmiling and stern, as if he treated his life as a serious business meeting. One thing was sure to Nancy: she didn't want to tell a joke to him, since she knew he wouldn't laugh.

"Please follow us to the van parked outside. We will be driving about one and a half hours to Florida Key and we'll be walking for a couple of miles to the farm," said the lady.

"A…A couple of miles?" George asked disbelievingly. "Why?"

"There won't be a road broad enough for us to drive the car on. Besides, it's good for your body when you walk."

"Ugh," Frank heard Joe groan. "I knew I shouldn't have brought so many things here if we knew we would be walking for a couple of miles. I brought my laptop and all those detective gadgets just in case."

Frank shook his head. "Little brother, this is a vacation we haven't taken in a long time. Why worry about a new mystery popping up?"

Nancy suppressed a grin. She hoped she didn't need help from those two because they were on vacation, unlike her.

Ned was watching the two talk without saying a word. He just carried his suitcases, still keeping his eyes on Frank and Nancy.

After a few miles of walking, the team arrived at the inn, which was concealed by numerous trees and bushes. Beyond the two-story inn, there were innumerable orange orchards and trees. Beyond those, Nancy saw the Atlantic Ocean and the beach.

"This is really beautiful," George said, walking toward the bed-and-breakfast.

"It sure is," Mrs. Morley said with a smile. "Please come in."

As the young visitors entered, Nancy was surprised to see the well-decorated interior and many paintings hanging on the wall. There was a reception desk in the middle of the lobby.

After getting the keys, the teenagers decided to look for their rooms. Nancy noticed that all three of their rooms were upstairs. There was a staircase right next to the reception desk. As they climbed up the stairs, Nancy looked at her key card. She and George were going to share room nine which was right next to the stairs. Next to it was room eight, where Ned was staying. Nancy saw a wall beyond the door of Ned's room. Turning right, she noticed room seven, where Joe was staying. And again, the corridor turned right and led to room six. The next right-turn led to room five, where Frank was staying. Going beyond that would lead to the staircase the group used to get upstairs.

Nancy and George went inside room nine using the key Nancy had. Inside they were amazed at the clean wallpaper and antique furniture, with two queen-size beds touching the wall facing south. Each of the rooms had their own bathroom and sink. Between the beds was a large window with curtains covering it. Sunlight poured into the room as Nancy opened the window. Nancy noticed that the room was decorated and maintained better than most of the hotel rooms she had stayed in before.

"This is definitely the best hotel I've ever stayed in," George said, as if she knew what Nancy was thinking.

After putting away their luggage in their rooms, the visitors went down to the first floor to meet the other people staying at the inn. Mrs. Morley was at the reception desk and was writing something on a piece of paper. As she noticed the visitors coming down, she hurriedly shoved it into the desk drawer and smiled welcomingly. "Did you make yourselves at home?" she asked.

Nancy nodded. "Who else is staying here right now?"

"Well, there are my brothers Jimmy, Percy, and Kent. I call Jerome and Percival that. They seem to hate my calling them Jimmy and Percy, but I don't care, since I'm the older sister," she said, grinning. "I'm sure you treat your brother that way, Frank."

Frank smiled and looked at Joe, "I don't call you names, do I, Joseph?"

Joe made a face. "Whatever."

"So there's no other guest?" Nancy asked.

Mrs. Morley thought for a second and nodded. "There is one more person. Sam Cantu is his name… He's my cousin and is the CEO of his company. He came here because he wanted to enjoy the sun, even though I doubt it."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because he was never a people-person, just like my husband," she said in a whisper so Mr. Morley couldn't hear. George suppressed a giggle. "Anyway, he hates mosquitoes and hot weather, since he had the awful experience with mosquitoes at the Everglades National Park when we went there thirty-some years ago. He went wandering off into the swamps and got so many mosquito bites you would hardly tell it was he!" She then laughed for a while. "Anyway, he is the CEO of his company, which doesn't seem to go well these days. I heard he was on a verge of bankruptcy!"

George gasped. "Really? Then why would he come here?"

Mrs. Morley shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Anyway, you two." She faced Frank and Joe. "I'm really glad you could come here and help out the farm. We have been on edge ever since Christina died in an accident."

"Who died?" Frank asked in surprise.

"Christina Stuart. She is—I mean, was—Percival's wife who started this orange business that has been going pretty well. I can say it was all thanks to her."

As she finished the sentence, a gray-haired man came into the inn and walked to the room right behind the reception desk without saying a word to the group gathered in the middle of the lobby. As he closed the door, Mrs. Morley made a face. "That was Sam. You might want to call him 'Mr. Cantu.' You see, he has an ego bigger than the size of Florida! And with his attitude, I don't think he wants anybody around him. And the room over there—that's room four, by the way—is the one he's staying in. Room one, which is right over there," she said, pointing to the one facing Mr. Cantu's room, "is where Chris and I will be staying. The one next to us is Jerry's room, and the one just before the dining hall is Kent's. You might want to talk to my other siblings: they are really friendly, unlike my cousin in that room."

Then, a man who looked just like Mrs. Morley but was about ten years younger came out of room six. Nancy remembered that it was the room where Mr. Percival Stuart had stayed. Mr. Stuart smiled as he noticed the young visitors. "Hello, my name is Percival. I welcome you to my inn."

"It's a very nice one, Mr. Stuart," Nancy said.

"Oh, please, call me Percival. I'm sure with three Stuarts in this house, you will get yourself confused calling all of us 'Mr. Stuart'!"

Frank was sure about the friendly part about Mrs. Morley's speech. This man seemed really glad they were here. But, why?

Percival looked at Nancy, George and Ned. "And you three are the ones Kevin sent, am I correct?"

Nancy, George, and Ned all nodded. Percival smiled. "I'm very glad you could come. Please make yourselves at home."

Percival then excused himself and went outside. Mrs. Morley then went into the kitchen and the teenagers decided to enjoy Florida for the rest of the afternoon. Frank, Joe, and Ned wanted to go to the Everglades National Park while Nancy and George voted for the Barracuda Golf Course, which was just about ten minutes drive from the farm. Obviously, the Everglades won and the team decided to rent a car and go there. After a few hours at the national park, they came back, all sweaty and tired from the adventure they had.

When they came back to the inn, they noticed that it was already five o'clock. Nancy and George decided to go take a shower while the Hardys went to their rooms and get some rest before dinner. Ned went back into his room to work on a project he had to do during the summer vacation.

Frank closed the door of his room and sat down onto the bed. "Wow, I never thought Nancy would be here in Florida. What a coincidence! I just hope there won't be a mystery this time. I'm getting wary of those…"

As he thought about the most recent mystery he, Joe, and Nancy solved together, someone came to the door and slid something into the room through the small opening between the door and the floor. Frank noticed it and opened the door immediately, but nobody was there. He saw that the person had slid into his room an envelope. He opened it and took out the piece of paper inside. He read it. "Huh?"

Joe was taking a nap when the phone suddenly rang. It made him wide away and a little short-tempered because of his nap being interfered. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Dining hall…" a voice said in a whisper. "Come to the dining room…"

"Wha?" Joe was confused. "Who are you?"

"Come to the dining room…" the voice repeated. "Now…"

"Who are you?"

Click!

The caller hung up. Joe didn't waste any time. This might be a frantic call for help. He needed to go to the dining hall and see if anyone was injured.

But… he thought. But would he call me? Why didn't he call 911?

Joe didn't stop and think about it either. He ran across the hall and down the stairs. He noticed that Nancy and George was at the lounge reading magazines. They looked up from those magazines and stared at Joe with questioning looks.

"What's the hurry, Joe?" George asked.

"I got the call telling me to go to the dining room. I'm not sure who the person was, but I'm going there to—"

Smash!

The detectives froze as they heard the noise of glass shattering. It was coming from the dining room! They quickly dashed to the closed door and opened it forcefully.

And they were shocked to see what was inside the dining room. There was a person lying down with his head in the pool of dark-red liquid.

It was blood.

George covered her mouth as she saw the blood. It was a body, the body of Sam Cantu. He was sprawled on the floor, face down, with his right hand reaching out in front of him. He was not moving. And someone was sitting on the chair, his dark eyes wide open in shock and horror. His hand clenched on the golden statue with blood on it, and on the floor were a shattered vase and the flowers in it. Nancy, George, and Joe just stared at the person sitting on the chair, not believing what they saw.

The person was Frank Hardy.

Postscript: Wasn't that the most shocking chapter of the entire story so far? I will be updating this story as soon as I get five reviews, but it might take me a few days longer. Anyway, if you have any question, please e-mail me. I'm showing my e-mail address in my profile. Don't forget to review!