Thank everyone for your reviews. Here is my new chapter. I hope you like it. Let me know your thoughts, and review!

Iola's Treasure10

"How could Dad and Frank just leave me out of the investigation?" said Joe, fuming. "I knew there was something suspicious about Albert Douglas!"

"Oh! I can understand Dad's reason for doing it! But, Frank... Frank! How could he do that? We're brothers! Best friends! Partners for Pete's sake… at least I thought so!"

" Frank is so good at everything! Frank is the good son! Frank never gets into trouble like I do! Frank is always coming to my rescue!"

After taking a breath to calm down Joe began to slow down his pace while stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Maybe I hold Frank back." He thought sadly kicking a small rock out of his path. "He doesn't really need me. Frank could solve cases all on his own. Although he'd never admit to that, he's too good of a big brother to hurt my feelings." Then he concluded with, "In all honesty Frank is the better detective! He's just like Dad. How can I compete with them?"

Quickly pushing the argument with Frank out of his head, Joe stepped up to the front porch. The sound of a loose board creaked beneath his feet. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Out of the corner of his blue eye, he caught a hand push back the curtain slightly in the window. Then there was a sound of feet scuffing against a floor from the inside.

"Yes, who is it?" A lady called from behind the door.

"Mrs. Hattie Granger?" Joe called to her.

"Yes."

"Ma'am, I'm Joe Hardy."

"What do you want?" The woman called again.

"Gertrude Hardy is my aunt. I believe she called you last night about my community service. I'm here to help you." Joe began to explain to her. "I'm pretty good with a hammer, so I can fix just about anything. I can mow the lawn if you want or whatever else you need done around the house."

After a few minutes the door finally opened as a short lady with gray-hair stepped out. Joe estimated the lady stood about five feet and three inches tall to his six foot frame. She had on a floral print cambric style dress as she looked Joe up and down suspiciously in her steel-rimmed glasses. She was holding a cane at her side; Joe immediately noticed a white bandage on her right ankle. He knew she'd fractured her ankle recently, he also thought the woman looked thin and frail.

"Gertrude... Oh yes." Mrs Granger expressed cheerfully as she opened the door to let Joe in."Come on in Joe." Joe was a little stunned by the appearance of the room as he took the place in. The foyer had light blue paneling with hardwood flooring that opened up to the living room.

He noted the outdated blue wallpaper with floral designs that covered the walls. There were maroon colored drapes on the windows that appeared to be dusty. A large Oriental rug on the floor sat between two light blue checkered pattern sofas with two cushions on each one.

In the center of the room was a brick fireplace in need of cleaning out. Sitting on the mantel was an antique clock that wasn't working. There were seemingly endless stacks of newspapers and magazines as well as books, clothes and other objects cluttering the room. He had a feeling the rest of the house was the same way.

"And my family complains about my room being messy. This lady has me beat." Joe wrinkled his nose at the scent of mold and mildew.

"Let's go into the kitchen and have some tea. We can talk and get to know each other." Mrs. Granger happily invited.

"Please Mrs. Granger don't go to any trouble." Joe said as he followed Mrs. Granger to the living room. He noted she was wobbling along with her cane. Mom and Aunt Gertrude would kill me if anything happened to her on my watch," Joe thought to himself.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" The women chuckled. "And please, call me Hattie."

"Okay, Hattie and thank you." Joe smiled politely. "Here allow me to escort you to the kitchen." He said, extending an arm out to her.

"Oh my, you're such a gentleman." Hattie graciously accepted his arm.

About an hour later at the Hardy home Frank entered the kitchen, finding Aunt Gertrude taking an apple pie out of the oven.

"It's about time you got back. Did you get Joe to Mrs. Granger on time?" She immediately asked.

"Yep" Frank glumly replied plopping down in a chair at the table.

"Frank, what's wrong?" Gertrude asked worriedly, alarmed by the sad tone in her nephew's voice.

"Did everything go okay with Joe?"

"Yep"

"Frank, what is wrong?"

"Joe and I had a fight." Frank huffed.

"Oh, I see."

"I hate it when we fight."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gertrude offered as she brought the pie over to the table and sat down beside Frank.

"Joe thinks Dad and I are going to start leaving him out of investigations." Frank shook his head. "It's not true Aunty. We're trying to protect Joe."

"I don't want my brother to go to jail."

"You know Frank; in a way this is kind of new to us." Gertrude stated. "Joe got himself into trouble that led him to getting arrested. I think it opened our eyes; I know it did your parents. We know you boys are following in your father's footsteps. You're so good at being detectives. We have to remind ourselves that you boys are still teenagers and to pay more attention to what's going on in your lives".

"I also think it's more of a trust issue." She added. "Trust is a fragile thing. Once it's broken, it's hard to put it back together".

"I trust Joe." Frank said. "Okay, maybe I didn't trust his erratic behavior towards Mr. Douglas and the issue with Barmet Island. Maybe if I'd done more…."

"Frank". Gertrude cut in placing a hand on top of Frank's. "Stop blaming yourself, you did the best you could with Joe. You are not responsible for him. You can't control his actions or words. We can all take turns telling him the Do's and Don'ts. Eventually it's Joe who needs to make the ultimate decision of what's right or wrong".

"Everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions. Hopefully Joe will learn something from his community service. That there are better ways of handling problems without losing his temper and getting violent."

"My advice to you Frank is not to worry. Things will work out with Joe". Gertrude patted Frank on the arm. "Everything will be okay". She began cutting into the pie, placing it onto a plate, setting it in front of Frank. "Here you can have the first piece."

"Thanks Aunty." Frank smiled. "Now I feel special. Joe usually gets the first piece."

"That's usually because your brother is practically glued to my hip, waiting eagerly to get the first slice". Gertrude chuckled. "The minute I cut him a slice, he dives right in, burning his tongue rather than letting the pie cool".

"Yeah, that's Joe in a nutshell." Frank nodded. "He's always diving into a situation without thinking first."

"You're right, Aunty, Joe and I will work things out." He asked, changing the subject as he dug into his pie. "Can I ask you something about Mrs. Granger?"

"Go ahead."

"What do you know about her family?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious." Frank answered as he finished the last of his pie.

"I'm not sure about her family." Gertrude said.

"Have you ever met her husband, Harold?"

"No. I've never met him. All I know is that he died in a horrible car accident." Gertrude informed him. "They never had any kids."

"That's what Dad said." Frank responded. "Is there a reason why?"

"I believe an illness was the cause of her not having kids." Gertrude went on. "She said she became a school teacher because she loved kids so much, and her students became like her kids."

"I guess that's why she likes it when we visit her." Frank said, "Telling us stories and welcoming us young people into her home."

"Hattie told me once that Harold was in the Navy and, after he got out of the service he went to work for some real estate company in New York."

"Harold Granger worked in real estate?" Frank suddenly perked up. "What was the name of the company?"

"I don't know." Gertrude knitted her brows together as she thought. "I'll think of it here in a minute."

"How long did he work for the Real Estate Company?"

"Oh, I don't know Frank. It's been years. I know the company became very successful. Oh wait! Now I remember!"

"What was it?!" Frank prompted.

"At the time it was called Underwood Real Estate."

"What?" Frank's eyes grew the size of quarters. "Harold Granger worked for Underwood Real Estate.

"You mean Douglas & Underwood real estate?" He repeated one more time. "As in other words, Harold Granger worked for Albert Douglas and Richard Underwood real estate!"

"Yes, I suppose that's right." Gertrude nodded in agreement. "Frank, what are you..." she stopped in mid sentence suddenly realizing the connection.

"Oh Good Heavens! Joseph!"

"I think I better go check on Joe." Frank quickly jumped to his feet and raced out the back door meeting Chet walking up in the driveway.

"Frank what's wrong!?" Chet asked, rushing up to him.

"Hop in the van Chet! I'll tell you on the way!" Frank exclaimed in one breath as he slid behind the wheel. "Besides, I might need your help." Without questioning Frank, Chet hopped into the van, as Frank pulled out of driveway disappearing down the road in a flash.

"Here you go Joe." Mrs. Granger said as she handed Joe a cup of tea.

"Thank you." Joe smiled at the elderly woman sitting across from him. He sat his tea cup down on the table.

"Now tell me about yourself Joe." She said after taking a sip of her tea.

"Ah, well, there's not much to tell".

"That's not what your Aunt Gertrude told me." Hattie Granger replied. "From what she says you and your brother have quite a remarkable talent for solving cases like your father."

"Yeah, I guess." Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Frank's a lot better at it than I am. I tend to get myself into trouble a lot".

"Yes, Gertrude also told me all about you getting arrested and having to do community service." Hattie acknowledged.

"Oh, Mrs. Granger…" Joe started to say.

"Hattie." She quickly corrected him.

"Sorry… Hattie." Joe began again. "I want you to know, I won't be any trouble and that I'm here only to work. I mean... you can trust me… unlike some people I know." He muttered the last part under his breath.

"Why do you sound so sad Joe?" Hattie asked, picking up on the sad tone in his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is fine." Joe lied plastering a smile on his face. "Like I told you Mrs. Gran… er… Hattie, I'm here to work. So what would you like me to do first?"

"Well, let's see…." Hattie started thinking. "There's a hinge on the screen door in the sunroom that needs fixing". Then she began rattling off a list of things. "The banister on the stairs is loose. The fireplace needs to be swept out…"

"Guess I better get started." Joe said, getting to his feet.

Hattie piped up. "Oh Joe, before I forget to tell you. There's an old shed out back; everything in it belonged to my late husband. You can use the tools if you need to".

"Is it locked?"

"Oh yes, You'll find a set of keys in a drawer over by the stove." Hattie pointed to a counter by the stove.

"You keep your keys in a drawer in the kitchen?" Suddenly alarmed by this, he began to grow concerned for the old woman's safety. Joe went over to the drawer that she indicated. Sure enough, there was a keyring with several keys on it.

"Do you know what each key opens?"" Joe asked showing her the keys. His stomach sank when he heard Hattie answer, "Yes I do. They unlock every door in and out of this house."

"Joe, would you be so kind and help me to my room before you go out?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Joe asked rushing over to her.

"Oh yes, I just need to lie down."

"Okay." Joe said, slipping the keys into his pocket.

After he escorted Hattie safely to her room, he made sure she had everything she needed. Joe then went back outside to see a small wooden shed with nothing securing it but a rusty old padlock. It wouldn't take much for someone to break into this thing as well as the house. I need to talk to Dad about making sure this place is secure enough for Hattie", Joe made a mental note to himself.

It took some time for Joe to find the right key. When he finally had the shed unlocked, he opened the door; an avalanche of tools and objects came crashing down at his feet. "I have a feeling this is a case of déjà vu."

Joe knelt down to pick up the stuff when suddenly he caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of his eye. His heart skipped a beat when he looked up in time to see a person dressed in dark clothing from head to toe climbing up a trills that led up to a second story window to Hattie's room!