"Who is this?" Joe demanded, and then he heard a laugh in his earpiece. Frank and Chet looked at Joe.
"You Hardys aren't as smart as you think you are!" the disguised voice said over Joe's earpiece. "You forget that we took your brother's earpiece as well. You gave yourselves away!"
The disguised voice continued laughing and then yelled, "But you're going to pay a heavy, heavy price for sticking your noses back in this case!"
"What kind of price?" Joe demanded. "We took your hostage from you!"
"You'll see," the voice chuckled. "You'll see."
There was a loud screeching noise over Joe's earpiece, and then it was silent.
"He ditched the earpiece!" Joe fumed.
"From what I could make out, the disguised voice on the phone was on your earpiece," Frank concluded with a grim look.
Joe nodded as he took out his earpiece. "Yeah, same guy with the same disguised voice."
Frank gave him a sharp look. "And you remember that he threatened to harm Aunt Gertrude, right?"
Joe paled. He completely forgot about that threat!
"I shouldn't have mouthed off to him," Joe shook his head in disgust. "Why don't I think before I speak?"
"Not that your mouth mattered," Frank said. "That was probably their plan all along! We're heading back to Bayport! But first, we need to get to a pay phone and call home!"
Frank noticed a gas station just off the next exit from the freeway, and took the exit. Frank found a pay phone booth there, and proceeded to call home. Instead of an answer, Frank heard the answering machine greeting.
"Hi, you've reached the Hardy residence," the voice of Laura Hardy said in the greeting. "Leave your name and phone number, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you."
Frank hung up, frustrated. We've got to get to Bayport ASAP, he thought to himself. Frank ran back to the van and jumped in.
"Were you able to talk to Mom or Aunt Gertrude?' Joe asked.
"No," Frank said in frustration. "I hope we get to Bayport in time!"
Frank put the van in gear, and sped off towards Bayport. Chet, in the meantime, snoozed next to Fenton Hardy, who was still sedated.
"Sorry I mouthed off to that guy," Joe apologized.
Frank shook his head. "Stop apologizing! Again, I don't think it mattered if you mouthed off or not. What mattered was us being back on the case."
"Do you think they took Mom and Aunt Gertrude?" Joe asked.
Frank sighed. "I don't know, Joe. All I know is that all I got was the answering machine. And I hope that my gut feeling is wrong."
Joe punched the van's glovebox, frustrated. "If they took Mom and Aunt Gertrude, then we'll have no leads. We don't know even know who would be behind it!" he fumed.
"Somehow, they're linked to Huntley," Frank said.
"I wonder if the LPR really is part of this," Joe thought out loud.
"I was thinking that myself. Obviously, the motive is revenge on Dad for being Huntley's arresting officer. It's entirely possible that the LPR is Huntley's muscle," Frank theorized.
"So maybe LPR isn't planning anything at Times Square?" Joe asked. "What if this whole story of Times Square being a target on New Year's Eve was a ploy to get Dad out in the open?"
"You're talking about the involvement of a lot of people for that kind of conspiracy," Frank said. "That means Huntley had to have had inside help in law enforcement. And I doubt that it's NYPD. I can't see NYPD helping somebody trap Dad."
"What if it's the FBI?" wondered Joe. "Does that mean Culligan's involved? After all, it seems like all the LPR files are from the FBI."
"I was wondering that myself," Frank said. "I've become more suspicious of Culligan. He asked us to keep in touch with him, so he was aware of our moves. Plus, he made a big deal of having Dad help him in this investigation, to the point of having Dad flown to Bayport to get his stuff and come back. Culligan kept close tabs on him. What if Dad found out that Culligan's behind this, and that's why he was taken hostage!"
Joe snapped his fingers. "I think you hit the nail on the head, Frank! That makes perfect sense! Culligan's our guy!"
"We'll need to ask Dad when he wakes up," Frank said. "Right now, Dad's our key to figuring this mystery out."
"For now, Culligan's our suspect!" Joe declared. "I bet you a pizza that he's the big boss!"
Frank chuckled. "You should make that bet with Chet."
Frank and Joe maintained small talk to pass the time, and they were soon in Bayport. Chet and Fenton were still asleep in the back of the van when they pulled into the driveway of the Hardy house.
"The station wagon is gone," Frank said. "Joe, keep an eye on Chet and Dad. I'm going to check out the house and make sure everything's okay. It's almost midnight. There's no reason for Mom and Aunt Gertrude to be out this late. They're both usually sleeping at this time of night."
"Got it," Joe said as Frank left the van.
When Frank opened the front door, he found it to be empty. There were no signs of struggle, at least on the first floor, as nothing was scattered or broken. Frank did a quick search upstairs and found that both his parent's bedroom and Aunt Gertrude's bedroom were empty, and, like the downstairs, showed no signs of struggle.
Frank ran back to the van and jumped in. "Mom and Aunt Gertrude are both gone, and no signs of struggle in the house at all," he told Joe.
"So now what?" Joe asked.
Frank thought for a moment, and then said, "Let's get wake up Chet and get Dad in the house. We'll wait on Mom and Aunt Gertrude to get home. Plus, Dad can get whatever drug Huntley gave him out of his system."
Joe nudged Chet. "Rise and shine, Morton!" he exclaimed, nearly scaring Chet out of his wits.
Chet jumped, causing Joe to laugh. "Thanks, wise guy!" Chet stared at Joe, and then grinned. "I guess I was in a pretty deep. What's up, guys?"
"We're at home, that's what's up," Frank said. "We need to get Dad in the house and put him on the couch. It's midnight, and Mom and Aunt Gertrude aren't here."
Chet looked confused. "Why? Where are they?"
"We don't know," Joe said. "But we're going to get Dad on the couch while we wait for them to get home."
"Do you think they've been kidnapped?" Chet asked. "I heard you say something about Aunt Gertrude while I was falling asleep."
"There's a possibility that they've been kidnapped," said Frank. "But there's no sign of struggle in the house. They left the house on their own. There's no doubt about that."
"I hope they didn't get lured into a trap!" Chet shuddered.
"Let's not go there yet, okay?" Frank said. "Let's just get Dad in the house, and we'll figure out a plan. I don't know what to do just yet. We're stuck until Dad wakes up, and we don't know why Mom and Aunt Gertrude aren't here at midnight."
Frank unlocked the front door, then came back to the van. He opened the rear door. With Joe and Chet holding Fenton Hardy by his torso, Frank grabbed Fenton's legs. Together, the three of them got Fenton into the house, and set him down on the couch.
"He's definitely in a deep slumber," Chet said.
"Fortunately, his breathing looks okay," Joe said. "And his pulse is strong. Whatever Huntley gave him, it's quite the potent solution."
"Chet, can you keep an eye on Dad?" Frank asked. "Joe and I need to go through Dad's files upstairs. Try not to fall asleep this time!"
"I feel refreshed after that nap!" Chet chuckled. "I'll check the fridge to see if Aunt Gertrude left any pies for us."
Frank rolled his eyes. "Make it quick," he said. "Your main concern is keeping an eye on Dad."
Chet gave Frank a salute as he and Joe ran upstairs. Frank led Joe into their father's den.
"Trying to find another lead?" Joe asked.
"Until Dad wakes up, we don't know who's behind this, but I think you and I agree that Dad most likely knows who it is. Until then, we need to see if there are any clues in his files," Frank said.
"But what are we looking for?" Joe asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Frank said, looking through the file cabinet drawers. "First, let's start with the LPR file. Here, start looking through it again."
"What am I looking for?" Joe asked.
"Look at everything and examine closely," Frank said. "See if anything weird sticks out."
"Well, that narrows it down," Joe said with a sarcastic grin as he started going over each sheet of paper in the LPR folder, while Frank proceeded to go through a different folder.
A few minutes later, Frank said, "Now this is interesting."
"What's interesting?" Joe asked.
"This is a file on Ted Huntley," Frank said. "You know how Dad's files on people typically contain pictures and description of siblings and other relatives?"
"Yeah, Dad's always done that," Joe said.
"Yeah, well, Dad's file describes Ted Huntley's brother Tony," Frank said. "But no photo of Tony Huntley, and no bio of him, either. The notes here say 'Unknown'."
Joe frowned. "That's strange," he said. "I wonder why that is?"
"I remember Dad saying one time that sometimes, information is privileged and he doesn't have the proper clearance for such information," Frank said.
"Now why wouldn't he have access to the information?" Joe wondered.
"Because it's been classified by the FBI," Frank said. "I remember Dad saying that."
"Still makes Culligan our suspect!" declared Joe. "He could have classified that information!"
"The information in the file hasn't been updated since Huntley went to prison," Frank said, "Judging by the dates on these papers."
"So maybe not, then?" Joe said, frustrated.
"Maybe Dad can shed some light on this," Frank said. "Anything new we overlooked in the LPR files?"
"No, this thing is so limited," Joe said. "Because the FBI had limited information, and, Frank, this goes right back to the FBI again!"
"But why would the FBI get involved with setting Dad up?" Frank asked. "That one isn't making much sense."
"There has to be a link between Culligan and Huntley!" Joe exclaimed. "What if Culligan is Huntley's brother?"
Frank gave Joe a strange look. "Do you remember what those two look like?" he asked, trying not to laugh. "They don't even remotely look related!"
Joe chuckled. "Ok, maybe I was jumping to conclusions!" he smiled. "It's very rare when I'm not impulsive."
"Yeah, never you," Frank said with an eye roll. "But there has to be a link between them. I'll give you that. That angle makes more sense than them being brothers!"
"I wonder if Dad has a file on Culligan?" Joe asked.
"The FBI wouldn't let files of their agents be distributed outside of their agency," Frank pointed out. "The only ones who would have that would be the CIA, maybe. But even that's debatable."
"Great! So we're at a dead end!" Joe shook his head.
"Let's just wait and see what Dad has to say when he wakes up," Frank said. "I think we're stuck until then."
"I sure hope Mom and Aunt Gertrude get home soon," Joe said as he looked at his watch. "I guess we should head back downstairs."
Frank and Joe came downstairs and found Chet finishing off the remnants of a chocolate cream pie while Fenton Hardy continued sleeping.
"You should consider yourself lucky that our aunt loves you so much!" Frank chuckled at the sight of Chet's cheeks having smeared chocolate cream and crumbs on his chin. "She had baked that pay for her Library Club."
Chet looked embarrassed. "Oh, I didn't know!" he apologized. "It just looked so good, and I couldn't help myself!"
"Relax, buddy," Frank laughed. "I was just messing with you. I'm sure she made a dessert for tomorrow!"
"Nice way to treat your supposed best friend!" Chet exclaimed in mock disgust. "But, that pie was really good."
Joe started laughing at this point, and all three of them were laughing at the pie situation. Their moment of levity, however, was interrupted by the telephone ringing.
"I hope it's Mom and Aunt Gertrude," Joe said as he reached for the receiver.
"Hardy residence, this is Joe speaking," Joe said as he put the receiver to his ear.
"Joe! Thank goodness you boys are okay!" said the voice that Joe recognized as Mrs. Morton, Chet and Iola's mother. "Your mom and aunt were supposed to be here and they didn't show up!"
"How long ago was this?" Joe asked as his eyes widened, motioning Frank and Chet to get closer to him so they could listen to the phone call.
"About two hours ago is when I called them," Mrs. Morton said frantically.
"Mrs. Morton, what's wrong?" Joe asked, which caused Frank and Chet to listen even closer now.
He heard Mrs. Morton crying, and then she said, "Iola's missing! And the police said something bad happened to you, your brother and Chet!"