Chapter 2 - The Case

Their dad, Fenton Hardy, saw them as they passed the lounge and called them over to his study. He was a famous private detective and was out of town most of the time, solving cases. When he got home, he preferred to spend his time with the two of them and their mom, making up for the absences. But, sometimes his name attracted people - even to their home - desperately seeking his assistance. Their dad had a hard time turning down clients who genuinely needed his services, even when he was supposed to be taking some time off.

"Boys," he said, waving them in. "Come in here for a moment, will you?"

"Hey, dad."

There was another gentleman with pure white hair and brown eyes sitting on the sofa in his study. He wore a grey, plaid suit and had a cane with an ornate, silver handle resting against the armrest next to his knee. Fenton Hardy was seated behind his desk, and there was an open file before him on the table, presumably a file his client had given him to read.

"Frank, Joe, this is Mr Thornton," he said, and Mr Thornton arose much more gracefully than a man who would need walking assistance to shake their hands. "He's the dean of Lincoln College. We were talking about you just now,"

"Are we in trouble?" Joe asked with a sideways grin and sat on the armrest of the couch Frank chose to sit on, directly facing Mr Thornton.

"Not at all," the dean of Lincoln college smiled. For some reason, those two rows of perfect white teeth reminded Joe of a shark, and he suppressed a shudder. "You boys came highly recommended by Mr Arthur Gray. He's our new security coordinator. He was supposed to arrive with me but he had to stay behind to deal with some… unforeseen circumstances."

Joe and Frank both involuntarily twitched at the name of the man from the Network. Joe saw his dad's eyebrow raise slightly, clearly having seen their reaction. He was absolutely not aware of their connection to the international spy agency that operated under such paranoia, it was even more secretive than the infamous Central Intelligence Agency itself.

"Mr Thornton says that they have been having some issues at the college lately," Fenton said smoothly. His pointed glance at them told Joe that he would be asking some questions later after the dean's departure. "He has proposed to have the two of you spend a few days there as students."

"It was Mr Gray's proposal originally," Thornton said. "He recently took over from Mr Edwin Black, who was the initial head of security for the Saunders group. I agree with his assessment that you two would definitely be able to mingle with the rest of the students to find more accurate information about our issues than any adult ever could."

The name was familiar. But, before Joe could pinpoint the memory, Frank spoke up. "What kind of issues, Mr Thornton?" Could you elaborate?"

The dean looked over to their dad, silently asking for permission and at his nod, began to talk.

"I'm sure you know that we are the best private college in New York for criminal justice studies. Our students end up in prestigious law firms and government law enforcement agencies once they graduate. The name of our university carries such weight, and esteem, they are headhunted before they even receive their degrees. Therefore we cannot afford to stain that reputation for any reason." he stressed, implying that something to the contrary had been happening there recently.

"We have the best lecturers in the state, we are located in a quaint little town at the edge of the city in a very secure complex with the best and most modern classrooms and equipment. We only have two thousand students at all times, about one-tenth the occupancy in any other college in the country. We also have a set of very strict rules and we are very proud of the discipline we instil in our students compared to other institutions. Because of these qualities, our university attracts a certain type of students, such as children of celebrities, higher ranking officers in government branches and political leaders…"

Saunders, Clinton Saunders - The Mayor of New York, it finally clicked. Sounds like a lot of headaches rolled into one, Joe thought. Money and clashing attitudes… fun times.

"We have two very important students who enrolled three months ago, the twin daughters of Mayor Clinton Saunders," Thornton continued, confirming Joe's guess. "Twenty-three more students enrolled with them, who were registered as their close friends, family and inner circle. This is the reason we have the brand new role of security coordinator in our hierarchy that is currently filled by the enigmatic Mr Gray. It was one of the main conditions we had to accept to guarantee the safety of the students. We have additional security officers now due to this agreement - uniform and plainclothes - patrolling everywhere inside the complex at all times."

"Three weeks ago, we had a memorial for a student," he continued, his voice dropping low. "Carl Winters was a second-year student of advanced forensics studies, GPA between 3.5 to 3.8 throughout. He was one of our star football players, in fact, he was accepted to Lincoln on a scholarship…" he trailed off.

"How did he die?" Fenton Hardy asked gently.

"He committed suicide."

"Why?"

"We do not know," Thornton admitted. "The team had recently won the regionals, he'd done well on his exams. There was nothing to suggest that he had been unhappy. He was a well-liked student and to say the entire university was shocked by this would be an understatement."

The dean looked as if he had known Winters personally as well, and that he still had a hard time believing his sudden death.

"He was a well-adjusted student. His friends said that he'd been looking forward to the year-end holidays, and had plans to fly to see his grandparents with his brother," he continued, shaking his head slowly. "There's no known history of any illnesses, physical or mental, either. He showed up for classes one day, took his lunch break on the rooftop of the main building and jumped off of it after finishing his meal. He fell forty feet down a three-story building and died on impact."

Joe exchanged a glance with Frank who did his best to hide his grimace. That sounded like a painful way to go.

"Are you sure it was suicide?" their dad asked. "Nobody pushed him or anything?"

"No," Thornton shook his head. "Winters made sure he was caught by the cameras. We have several up there because it's a popular spot for the students and lecturers alike to hang out. The view from there is breathtaking," he continued. "Carl finished his salad, waved at the camera mounted on top of the exit door frame, climbed on the safety railing and just jumped. His family held his funeral three days later in Illinois, and we held a memorial the next day," he stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and blurted out the rest. "The entire college lost their collective minds on the day after that."

Oh, come on, not again! was the first thing that came to Joe's mind. He felt terrible about it the next moment, but they had just barely survived an inexplicable force of nature only a few days ago. He really didn't want to get involved in another unusual event this soon… or maybe ever.

But then again, Gray didn't know about their last case, did he? So there was no way he would send someone to recruit us to investigate something of supernatural nature. So maybe this is something else, he consoled himself.

Frank leaned forward in his seat, brushing his shoulder against Joe's arm - a silent gesture that conveyed he was thinking along the same lines as Joe.

"What do you mean by that?" he inquired.

Thornton closed his eyes and exhaled. He looked like he was trying to picture the atmosphere in his university after the tragic death of Carl Winters. "The place does not have the same energy, the same lively feel anymore," he murmured. There was a note of sadness in his soft voice. "You could see it in their faces. There's no laughter, no bright joy. There is this aura that has darkened the entire place. The students would just show up for their classes, stay quiet and withdrawn, and go back to their dormitories. It feels lifeless…" then he opened his eyes and focused on them both. "I cannot explain it. I guess you have to be there to see it."

They didn't. Not really. They both had an inkling as to what Mr Thornton had been witnessing in his college. They'd had the same atmosphere in their school as well, just after Iola's death.

"We understand what you mean, Mr Thornton," Joe spoke quietly this time. "More than you might think."

The dean's eyes widened for a moment and then he seemed to understand exactly what Joe meant. He nodded quietly in agreement.

"What else happened?

"Three days after that, another student, Claire Stanford, overdosed on heroin," the dean said. "Luckily one of her friends found her in her room before she died and contacted the emergency services. They got to her in time to save her life. This incident triggered a very thorough search throughout the complex, including the classrooms, restrooms, labs, sports areas and dormitories. Mr Gray brought an entire canine unit for the search. Absolutely nothing was found in the search, no more drugs, needles, pills or anything related to any sort of illegal substances."

"Maybe she got it from an outside dealer?" Fenton speculated. "Could have used all of it in one go."

"Our university is inside a very secure complex, ten-feet high walls from all sides, armed guards in watch towers 24/7, and a tightly controlled single access point," the dean explained. "The students live on the premises and are only allowed to go out with either special permission or on weekends. This happened on a Tuesday and she had been inside the university grounds the entire time-"

It sounded more like a high-security prison than a college, Joe thought to himself. He couldn't help but wonder about their dropout rates, especially with the types of rich kids the university seemed to be catering to.

"Some comforts have to be sacrificed for the sake of security and safety," Thornton added as if he had heard Joe's private thoughts.

"What happened to her? Claire, I mean, after she was taken to hospital," Joe wanted to know.

"She had to stay for two days for observation," Thornton replied. "I believe her parents arranged her therapy sessions and drug rehabilitation programmes…"

"You sound unsure," Frank observed.

"It is quite perplexing what happened to her," the dean admitted. "She used to be one of the best students as well, just like Winters. Well above average scores, president of the science club, secretary of the sorority, Sigma Omicron… Her friends swear that she doesn't have a drug problem, and when she appeared in front of the disciplinary committee, she stated that she didn't even recall taking the drugs."

"Is she still there?" Frank asked. Joe could tell by his brother's tone that he knew it was probably not the case.

"She was expelled," Thornton said. "As I said, the rules are strict in our university. They have to be."

"Were there any other incidents?" Fenton asked this time.

"Yes," Thornton let out a weary sigh. "Melvin Winters, Carl's younger brother, was attacked only a few days after that, by another group of boys who had started to call themselves, 'The Anarchists.' Five of them cornered Winters in the indoor training room, beat him up and pulled a gun on him. The commotion was heard by a janitor who contacted one of the security agents from Mr Gray's team. The five boys were apprehended and taken into custody. That case is handled by Mr Gray's team. The university has already expelled them as well."

"And Melvin, how's he doing?"

"He is in the hospital, intensive care unit, he hasn't woken up from his coma yet." Thornton hung his head. "The security is even tighter now. We even have a permanent canine unit on the ground 24/7."

"Sounds like you have been having a very rough time–"

The dean cut Fenton off mid-sentence. "That's not all."

"Dear Lord!"

"Only the day before yesterday, three more students, a boy and two girls were found in the gym, after hours," he said, turning into a bright shade of crimson. "They were filming a pornographic movie–"

Joe managed to turn the laugh that wanted to burst out of him into a strangled cough. Frank shuddered next to him and their dad closed his eyes and let out a loud exhale, mumbling something that sounded like, 'kids these days…'

"Needless to say, they are no longer students of Lincoln college either," Thornton added dryly.

"Understandable." their dad agreed.

"I know it sounds like a list of unconnected incidents," Thornton said. "Incidents that had never happened in the university for the entire eighty-three years it's been in existence and they threaten the security of all the kids, not just the ones with influential parents,"

"Is there anything that you may have discovered that connects these incidents in the smallest way?"

"There is one thing," Thornton said, replying to their dad's query. "Winters boys, Stanford, two of the Anarchists, and Delaware, one of the girls from the public nudity incident, were all recently recruited into this new social circle of the Saunders twins."

"Which puts pressure on you to keep everything under wraps and investigate within their own security team."

"Precisely," Thornton sighed. Then he looked up wearing a disturbed expression. "There are rumours, very disturbing ones," he said. "This group of students, all twenty-three of them, are pretty close. They do everything together; take the same classes, and share the same extracurricular activities. According to what we have found out, they've been recruiting students to their inner circle since their first day. Their numbers have grown to over a hundred. They are quite tight-lipped about the entire thing. We don't even know what they call themselves, but the consensus among other students and lecturers is that they are like a cult, with their own names and special events,"

"Special events as in hazing new members and such?

"That's what we assume because nobody seems to know," Thornton said, his frustration over the incidents evident in his tone. "The students seem to be divided in their opinions. One half wants them gone or dissolved. They believe that this group is responsible for the drastic personality changes of the students. Some even believe that the students have been acting strange because of the rituals this group conducts."

"What does the other half believe?"

"That they are the best and coolest group ever, that by being admitted into this circle, you discover your true selves, become free of unfair expectations, false personas, societal chains that drag you down–"

"Sounds like the bunch who had applied to become members," Joe voiced his thoughts to Frank who nodded.

"All in all, most of the students are afraid of them. No one has come forward to say anything fearing that something would happen to them if they spoke to any of us. The speculation among most of the students seems to be that the ones who got in trouble recently were trying to quit this club. That they were about to report against them. And were punished for the betrayal…"

"Quite an allegation if anyone can actually come forward with any sort of proof," Fenton said.

"Yes," Thornton nodded. "Only we do not have any. The morale of the entire university has taken a dive because of this group and the rumours surrounding them." Then he turned towards the two of them.

"We don't want you involved in any danger," he said. "We only need you to talk to them and let Mr Gray and myself know what's going on so we can put a stop to it."

Then the dean turned to their father.

"They may be the mayor's daughters and his close family friends, but as the dean of the school, I'm responsible for the safety of all the students. All we need from your boys is to find something, even the tiniest evidence that suggests that these students are involved in something nefarious or illegal. Then the disciplinary committee can act on it and expel them. For Mr Gray's part, he wants to make sure that his party is not compromised by any outside influence. He has concerns that these students might be involved in something that might get them hurt worse. We cannot make any sort of accusation or decision without proof."

Joe exchanged a glance with his brother. Frank seemed to be thinking the same thing. Mr Thornton sounded like he wanted the group out of his college as soon as possible. After the events he described, they couldn't really blame him. They had absolutely no idea what the spy had gotten himself into by taking over close personal protection services for the Saunders girls though.

"I'd like to review the file you have kindly given me with the boys and talk to them before deciding if I'm going to let them get involved," Their dad said to the dean. "I'll be honest, Lincoln sounds like a very dangerous place to be right now,"

"It is," Thornton admitted quietly. "We are desperate, Mr Hardy. I'm prepared to personally guarantee the safety of your boys if they accept the assignment. Although the security of the mayor's party is his main responsibility, Mr Gray will take responsibility for their safety as well. They will essentially become a part of his security team as two undercover agents."

That's quite the attitude change, Joe huffed mentally. Gray had tried his best to keep them away from investigating their last case. Now he had sent them everything but an engraved invitation, begging them to take part in a fact-finding mission.

Mr Thornton stayed silent, looking at their dad expectantly. He had presented his case and all that remained was for them to weigh their options. Joe could easily read the conflicted expression on his dad's face, even though all he had was a small, noncommittal smile on his lips. He knew that their dad did not want him and Frank to put themselves in danger, but he had long ago accepted that they shared his passion for detective work, and wanted to encourage them in their careers.

"Thank you for stopping by, Mr Thornton," was all his dad said, standing up to signal the end of the meeting. "I'll contact you later today with a final answer."