Author's Note: Thank you so much to EvergreenDreamweaver, Iheartninjago2010, Cherylann Rivers, and max2013 for your reviews on the first chapter. Your feedback means a lot to me, and I love it that you've already started making guesses about what's happening.

Just as an added note, Kate is the name of Nancy's mom in HerInteractive's The Silent Spy. Mrs. Drew was also a reporter in that game (at least part-time), so I just went with that. Otherwise, this story is definitely in an alternate universe from that one.

Chapter II

Carson sat in his home office on the second floor, looking carefully through the copy of Le Morte d'Arthur that Nancy had gotten in the mail. Nancy had seemed bewildered when he had requested that she give it to him, and even more so when he had told her that he didn't think it was from the Hardy boys. Right now, she was calling them to find out for sure. If Carson's suspicion proved to be true, he was going to have to have a long talk with her.

He sighed. It wasn't a talk he looked forward to having, but it would have to be done. It had to be done. Carson buried his face in his hands as he told himself that, repeating it in an attempt to convince himself. It was going to hurt to put all those old memories into words, and it wouldn't be any easier for Nancy to hear it than it would be for Carson to say it.

He closed his eyes, and it seemed as if no time had passed since those days as he thought back to them.

Fifteen years earlier

"Do you have everything you need?" Kate Drew asked her husband Carson as she slung her purse over her shoulder, preparing to leave their New York City apartment for work.

"Don't worry about it," Carson assured her. "Nancy and I are going to have a great day. Isn't that right, Nancy?" As he said the last sentence, he picked up his three-year-old daughter and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Kate smiled. "I wish I could stay here with you two. It sounds much more fun than being in that stuffy, old newspaper office."

"I thought you loved working for the paper," Carson told her.

"That was before I had you and Nancy – and our other little one." Kate placed a hand on her belly with another smile. "Somehow that cranky Alexa with the cubicle next to mine just doesn't compete."

Carson laughed. "It's only two more weeks before I finish my internship and we can go back to River Heights. Then I'll be working for Weston Browning and you can go back to being a freelance reporter like you want."

"That will be wonderful," Kate said. "I can hardly wait for the next two weeks to pass."

She leaned over to kiss him and Nancy good-bye. As she turned to go, the phone rang and Carson picked it up.

"Hello? This is Carson Drew."

"Carson, I need you to come into the office. Right now."

"Now? But –" Carson started to say.

"No buts. We've got an issue here and we need you right away."

"Okay." Carson tried to hide his disappointment. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Be here sooner."

"Who was that?" Kate had paused at the door to listen.

"My boss," Carson told her. "He says they need me in the office ten minutes ago from the sound of it. Uh, I guess I'll have to see if Eloise can look after Nancy today. It's her day off."

Carson's unmarried sister, Eloise, lived in an apartment just down the hall from the one they had rented for their temporary stay in New York.

"I'll take her," Kate offered. "It sounds like you were late ten minutes ago."

"Can't I go to work with you, Mom?" Nancy asked as she toddled forward to take her mother's hand.

"Not today," Kate said. "You'll have much more fun with Aunt Eloise anyway."

"Hey, kiddo." Carson playfully tweaked Nancy's nose. "We'll spend the day together another day."

"Tomorrow?" Nancy asked hopefully.

Carson shook his head. "No, but it'll be soon. I promise."

"And maybe one of these days all three of us can spend some time together," Kate added. "Maybe it will even happen before it's the four of us."

"That won't be for another five months," Carson reminded her. "We'd better be able to spend some time together."

Kate grinned. "We'd better. But it's not going to be today. You and I had both better hurry or we're going to be late."

As she and Nancy went down the hall to ask Eloise to babysit for the day, Carson hurried to throw on business clothes and grab the few things he needed to take with him. Fortunately, it was about the time he usually went to work, and he was just in time to catch the same bus he always rode.

Carson had just recently graduated from law school. He had jumped at the chance for an internship with the DA in New York City. His official position was as a legal assistant for Henry Shoemaker, one of the lawyers who worked for the district attorney. It was a good position, but he and Kate missed their mid-West hometown of River Heights. When Weston Browning, a lawyer back home, had offered Carson a position in his law firm, Carson had decided to take it rather than remain in New York after his internship ended.

Nearly three quarters of an hour had passed before Carson came practically running into Shoemaker's office. In addition to the lawyer, his secretary and two men in business attire whom Carson didn't know were also in the room with him.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I got here as quickly as I could," Carson explained.

"I didn't expect you to be able to get here any sooner," Shoemaker replied. "Sorry to have called you in at such short notice on your day off. I wouldn't have, but this seems to be urgent." The lawyer stood up and gestured to the two strangers. "These are Lieutenant Fenton Hardy and Sergeant Mitchell Johnson of the NYPD. Officers, this is Carson Drew."

Carson shook hands with the two detectives and then looked questioningly at Shoemaker. "So what is this all about?"

"The officers have already explained once," Shoemaker said, "but perhaps they would be willing to explain again?"

"All right," Lieutenant Hardy spoke up. "We've got a murder case, and it's a strange one. Devin Matthias was murdered last night."

"Any suspects?" Carson asked, listening intently as soon as the name hit his ears. It was one that had been discussed a great deal recently in the DA's office.

"Matthias was in with the Irish Mob," Hardy explained, although there was no one there who wasn't well aware of the fact. "With that kind of connection, we've got any number of suspects and motive."

"True," Carson agreed. "What is it that makes this particular case so strange?"

"It wasn't your typical mob killing," Hardy said. "His body was found in an empty house and the whole scene was set up to look like the murder scene in the first Sherlock Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet."

Carson looked incredulously from one police officer to the other. "Seriously?"

Johnson stepped forward, nodding earnestly. "I couldn't believe it myself when I saw it. It was set up exactly like in the book. The body had blood on it, but not a mark on it. There was a woman's wedding ring lying on the floor and the word Rache written on the wall in red. Rache is the German word for 'revenge', you know."

"I know. I read the book," Carson said. "So do you have any theories?"

"I don't think Matthias was actually a Mormon from Utah who had kept a pair of young lovers from marrying each other." Hardy grinned. "So the solution from the book is out. We don't have any real ideas yet. All we've got to go on is the physical evidence. We still haven't officially determined the cause of death, by the way, but it appears to be poison just like in the Holmes story."

"So there's no one to start prosecuting," Carson said to Shoemaker. "What do I need to do?"

"It's not really unusual for the DA to help investigate a crime, especially when it involves organized crime," Shoemaker explained. "This part is a little bit unorthodox, but you've got a good head for this sort of thing. I want you to assist the officers in any way you can."

Carson raised an eyebrow incredulously. "I didn't think the police encouraged amateur detectives."

"As a rule, no," Hardy interjected. "In this case, it is a little different. Since you are affiliated with the DA's office, you're do have an official capacity. We're going to need all the help we can get in wrapping up this case as soon as possible."

"If the Mob's kicking up trouble, we need to nip it in the bud," Johnson said.

"But what we're afraid of is that it's not even the Mob," Hardy added. "The whole Holmes angle concerns me."

"Why does that make it any worse?" Carson asked.

"Honestly, the dramatics of it make it sound like a serial killer's game," Hardy replied. "That's even worse. At least the Mob has a method to who they kill. With a serial killer, you never know, even if you do figure out their pattern."

"There you have it," Shoemaker said. "As I say, it's not orthodox, but if you're willing, Carson, I'd like you to spend the next two weeks working on this thing. I'll run it by the DA, but I'm sure he'll give his okay."

Carson stopped to think. It wasn't an ordinary proposition, but it appealed to him. Still, he had to take some things into consideration. Investigative work didn't know regular hours, and it would likely take a toll on his family life. Not only that, but if either the Mob or a serial killer was involved there would definitely be an element of danger. That would certainly be something to consider with a wife and almost two children.

"Count me in," Carson said, his moment of deliberation ended. It was only for two weeks. How much could happen in two weeks?

Present day

How much, indeed. Carson smiled a little bitterly as he recalled his decision that day. He knew it wouldn't have changed everything to have decided differently; it wouldn't have even necessarily changed the most important thing. For that matter, he reminded himself, some of the changes a different decision could have made would have been worse.

There was no point in dwelling on how things might have been. This was how they were, and he had to make the best of it. One thing he knew he had to do. He had to tell Nancy the whole story, no matter what she learned about the book.

This whole thing had come back to bite Fenton. Carson certainly couldn't have heard the end of it. He already knew how these people played; when they came for Carson, they'd get to him through Nancy. He needed her to be on the same page.