"Our intruder!" gasped Frank in surprise. "But why abduct Dr. Reynolds?"
"What?" Lacey demanded.
"You know something about the doctor's disappearance?" the officer demanded.
Frank gave a condensed version of his problematic admirer and revealed their reason for returning to campus. "I just don't understand how it could be connected," he added, wearing a scowl of frustration. He hated not being able to make connections easily.
"Who said it was?" the officer asked.
"Our father always taught us that in a mystery there are no coincidences," Joe stated.
"Then how are they connected?" the officer inquired with a smirk.
"If we can find that out then we will know who has Reynolds," Joe replied with a smirk of his own.
"Would you mind us looking around his office?" Frank asked Lacey.
"Yes," the officer replied at once.
"No," Lacey said, frowning at the officer. "Kidnapping goes a bit farther a field than the campus boundaries," she informed the officer. "So the Hardys are more than welcome to look around and ask questions."
Lacey turned to face the two teens. "I haven't been in Bayport long, but I have heard of you and your father," she said. "I would appreciate all of the help you care to give. And please, don't hesitate to let me know if there is anyway I can assist you."
"Thank you, Miss Myers," Joe said.
"Lacey, please," she said, smiling even though her eyes remained troubled. "Please find Craig?" she pleaded.
"We'll do our best," Frank promised.
The two boys continued on their way to Reynolds' office. "This is a nightmare," Joe commented, entering the overstuffed room behind Frank and closing the door behind him.
"I doubt we will find anything in the books," Frank told Joe, eyeing the stacks thoughtfully. "We should concentrate on the desk and file cabinet."
"I'll take the desk," Joe volunteered quickly. Starting from scratch meant going through each file and Frank wasn't only faster but also had a photographic memory and so would be able to make a connection faster if he did find something.
"I can't find anything that would lead to his being kidnapped," Joe said, leaning back in Reynolds' chair almost an hour later. He had gone through every drawer of the desk and every paper upon it.
"Me either," concurred Frank, frowning as he replaced another folder in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet.
"What?" Joe asked, recognizing the look that crossed his brother's face at once.
"What if my stalker did kidnap Reynolds?" Frank put forth his scenario. "He, or she, got worried when we came to see him before and grabbed him because he, or she, thought he could be helpful in us nabbing him."
"Or her," Joe amended, grinning. Callie and Frank had gotten into an argument about why Frank always considered the bad guy a 'he' so Frank had been trying not to assign gender. Most of the time he failed, but on the occasion when he did remember, Joe couldn't help but find it amusing.
"Or her," Frank acknowledged, his nose wrinkling in distaste because he knew his brother was picking on him.
"Possible," Joe concurred with Frank's theory.
"And probable," Frank continued. "Unless Reynolds has enemies we don't know about."
"Lacey?" queried Joe, quirking an eyebrow.
"I'll talk to her," Frank said. "Camille wanted you to call her since she wasn't sure if you would be home or not this afternoon."
"And you're just now telling me?" Joe demanded indignantly.
Frank shrugged. "Relax," he told his brother. "You only started dating her last month and even that was postponed because you got kidnapped."
"But I like Camille," Joe told him, still frowning his disapproval at Frank's negligence in passing on the message. "We haven't exactly known each other long enough for me to ask her to go steady."
"Actually, I think she would like for you too," Frank said, grinning. After a questioning look from his brother, he explained. "Camille told Callie she really likes you."
"When?" asked Joe, pleased.
"Last Wednesday," Frank answered. "So call her and I'll talk to Lacey."
"Do you think anyone would mind if I used Reynolds' phone?" asked Joe.
"I doubt it," replied Frank. "It isn't long distance," he added before leaving the small office.
Joe picked up the phone and dialed the Lane's phone number. Camille answered on the third ring. "Hi, Camille," Joe greeted her when she picked up and said 'hello'.
"Are you okay?" she asked at once. "Are you still in the hospital?"
"I'm fine and, no," Joe answered. "I was released around noon. Frank just now told me you asked me to call you," he explained with a grimace.
"So you wouldn't have called if I hadn't requested it?" she asked, her tone bristling.
"I didn't want to seem pushy," Joe defended himself. "Not after what you went through because of me."
"I'm beginning to think you might be worth it," Camille told him, her voice softening. "So how about coming over for dinner tonight?" she asked.
"Can't," Joe replied regretfully. "We're working on a case."
"But you have to eat," she stated.
"But Frank's the target," Joe said. "And I don't want to let him out of my sight." He then told her about Dr. Reynolds disappearance.
"Are you sure this person's disappearance has to do with Frank?" Camille asked.
"We aren't a hundred percent sure, no," Joe replied. "But we are fairly certain. Dr. Reynolds gave us some tips about what to look for yesterday," he explained. "We came back today to see if he could give us any more help but..." he let his voice trail off, seeing no need to repeat himself.
"What kind of help?" Camille asked curiously.
"We thought the stalker had to be someone Frank just met but according to Reynolds, it couldn't be. It has to be someone we have known for at least a little while," Joe told her. "Whoever it is has to have been around long enough to know quite a bit about us. He would have to know I have a darkroom in the basement, otherwise, why go there at all?
"And how could he have taken the pictures of Frank at Chet's? We're too good at spotting people who are following us for us not to have noticed; especially since the Morton farm is on the outskirts of town. That patch of road is long and straight but there are a lot of side roads along the way we could have taken," Joe ended.
"I'm fairly new, but I know where your friends live," Camille teased Joe. "I could be your stalker."
"No, you couldn't," Joe retorted. "I bet you don't even know I'm really into photography."
"No, I didn't," Camille answered, casting a mournful glance at the camera and photography magazines on the kitchen table that Matt had brought over for her to become acquainted with so she would have something more in common with Joe. 'All that studying for nothing,' she thought, positive she shouldn't bring it up to Joe now.