Frank put the key back in his pocket as he stepped into the dark room. He let his eyes adjust to the dark, noting that dark curtains hung over the windows, preventing light from coming in. He turned to the wall, looking for a light switch. He reached into his pocket for his phone to use it as a light when he touched something else. He smiled softly as he pulled out Nancy's present and turned on the mini flashlight. He played the light on the wall, but couldn't see a light switch. He turned and saw his brother was working on the other side of the door.

"Joe, do you see a light switch?"

"Aha! I think I just found it! Let there be light!" Joe put his hand to the wall, and the room was flooded with light. The rest of the gang came in and admired the foyer.

"Wow, this is really nice," said Chet, rubbing his fingers over the wooden paneling.

"Alright, so we're in. Now what?" Biff asked.

"Now we explore," said Joe with a grin.

"We'll look for any information we can on the nephew," said Frank. He glanced at Joe. "And if we come across any secret passages, we'll explore them."

Joe fistpumped the air. "Yes!"

"But what exactly are we looking for?" Ken asked as the group moved into the living room.

Frank flipped on the light switch for the room. The light revealed a simple living room with a sofa and two chairs facing the fireplace on the far wall and the TV set just above it. "Well, we are looking for two things, something to prove that the John Mead we met is really the nephew of old John Mead and something that old John Mead doesn't want to fall into the wrong hands."

"But you have no clue what that thing is, do you?" said Biff with a sigh.

"Well the nephew didn't know either," replied Frank with a shrug. "But I guess we'll know it once we find it." He glanced at his brother and sighed. "I guess Joe can head up that search, just don't tear the house apart to make your own secret passages."

"What?" Joe blurted. "I would never!"

Buff laughed. "Don't worry, we'll make sure he won't." He punched the palm of his hand. "Or else he'll have to face one of my rigorous training sessions."

Joe chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry, it won't come to that."

Frank laughed. "Good. Then if Chet and Pete want to come with me, we'll look for info on the nephew while you look through the house for this special item."

Ken saluted him. "Aye aye sir!"

Jerry and Jack gave him both thumbs up. "You got it!"

"Alright, meet up here in about an hour?" Everyone glanced at their phones and noted the time. "I don't think we need to be out too late seeing as how we've got plenty of time to find what we need."

Joe nodded and grinned. "Oh yeah, and I kinda want to savor this."

Frank snorted. "Of course you do. Then maybe don't find a secret tunnel in the next hour?"

Joe huffed. "Good point, but I definitely want to know the general area where secret openings are. So let's just look for hollow walls rather than specifically secret doors."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"

With a whoop, Joe led his team further into the living room and they began to peer at every crevice and knock on every wall paneling, listening for hollow sounds.

Frank led his team in a search for an office and the room John Mead called his own while he stayed there. They found the office first and went through every drawer, but there was nothing there. They took to the stairs, two at a time, and learned into each room before finding one that had a few suitcases strewn about and a couple of shirts lumped on the bed.

"If I was a guy who moved into my uncle's estate but had to leave pretty quickly to go back home, where would I put my papers?" Chet muttered, rubbing his chin.

"Technically he would take them with him," said Frank as he stepped past Chet to open a suitcase. "But that's fine, there are other clues to help the Chief's search, a letter, a postcard, or even a small token that was given to him. Just anything that can help."

"A bit of a tall order, Frank," said Pete, "but we can definitely try."

Frank shot him a nervous grin. "Yeah, I know, but it's worth a shot. Like I said, technically the majority of his most important papers would have gone with him, so I'm not expecting to find too much."

"Then why bother trying to find anything?" asked Chet.

"Because you never know what you'll find that could help in an investigation," replied Frank as he began going through the suitcase.

Pete scoffed. "You've hung out with the Hardys for how long and you still don't know that?"

Chet shrugged. "I just don't see the point of looking for something you're pretty sure you're not going to find. Why waste that time looking for that when you could be searching for something you can find?"

Frank chuckled. "Because right now, we do have the time. Mr. John Mead isn't going to get back for about a week. Getting in wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be."

Chet chuckled. "Yeah, well, maybe the first John Mead should have met you Hardys, it would have really made him work hard on a new lock, just to stump you two."

Frank grinned. "And I would have been glad to help. Now quit dawdling and help me look through this. We're going to make absolutely sure Uncle John Mead's invention isn't going to fall into the wrong hands. And we're going to start with making sure this nephew of his is legitimate."

Pete cracked his knuckles. "Well alright then, come on Chet, let's get cracking!"

"As long as you're only cracking your knuckles and not my head, we're good!" Chet quipped. Frank laughed.

Pete chuckled. "Then get over here, and I won't have to!"

"Coming, coming!" Chet joined Pete and the two went through the other suitcase.

The three worked in silence for the most part, only interrupted by an exclamation from downstairs. The three jumped up from their search and dashed down the stairs.

"Joe? Joe!" Frank called out as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"In here!" came the reply.

They dashed into the living room to see Jack, Jerry, Ken, Biff, and Joe huddled near the wall on the right side of the fireplace.

"You mean you did it? You found a secret room or passage?" asked Chet excitedly.

"I think so," said Joe, tapping on the wall. "It sounds hollow right here. But I don't know how we can get in."

"Hmm," said Frank, rubbing his chin as he eyed the paneling. "Maybe we can work on that later. Just continue looking for more possible secret rooms or passages in the rest of the house. It's almost time to go home."

Joe huffed. "Already? It seems like we only just started!"

"Well, you two did take a while to tackle that door," pointed out Pete.

"And now that we know what to do, we can get in faster," said Frank.

"Think we can head home now?" Jack asked. "I promised Dad I would have dinner ready by seven."

Frank glanced at his watch and shrugged. "I don't see why not. We'll have more time tomorrow to look through the house."

"Yeah, sounds fine to me," said Biff. "I would like to get up early for lifeguard duty."

Joe huffed. "Oh, alright, but those of you coming tomorrow, let's get out here as early as possible. I want to solve this!"

Frank chuckled. "Careful, Joe, or we won't have much of a mystery to savor."

Joe let out another huff. "Oh fine. But I really, really want to find some secret rooms!"

Frank patted his back. "So do I, but we could miss something if we rush through this, best to go a bit slower."

Joe sighed. "Alright, fine, we'll go slower and 'savor' this mystery."

"I mean, you could also solve this all in one day and have to wait a week for another mystery," Frank said with a chuckle.

Joe threw up his hands in frustration, but his eyes were sparkling with merriment. "Alright, alright! You win! But don't complain if we do get a mystery before the week's up."

Frank laughed. "If we get another mystery in the meantime, we can figure out how to split time between them. We're on our summer vacation now, after all. We have more time."

"Excellent, then let's go!" Jack said, heading out the front door. Frank shot Joe a look as the others left one by one.

Joe shrugged. "Like you said, we have the time since we're on vacation. Jack has to get dinner done on time, though."

Frank patted his brother's back. "Exactly, glad you understand. Maybe we can check up with the Chief and see if he found anything on the nephew."

Joe nodded. "Good idea." Frank closed and locked the door behind them. They dashed to Chet's car and got in, finding out that Pete decided to head home with Biff and that Ken was riding along with them this time.

"Sorry about the change," said Ken. He turned around in his seat to face the Hardys while Chet drove out of the Mead driveway. "Pete said he had an idea for the music for the party and wanted to get home and work on it right away."

Frank nodded with an understanding smirk. "Understandable, I'm sure the girls would only want Pete's best at the party."

Joe scoffed. "I'm sure we would want Pete's best too."

Frank whacked Joe's shoulder. "Yeah, and you especially. Gotta impress the girls somehow, am I right?"

Joe stuck out his tongue. "That's because I can do a better job at impressing them than you."

Frank scoffed. "That's because I'm not out to impress every girl on the planet," he quipped.

"You're right, you have to impress just one," said Joe with a mischievous smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows. "And I don't think you have to do much to impress her."

"Joe!"

Joe merely covered his mouth with his hand and snickered.

"So, what's this about some pen pal of yours?" asked Ken. Chet and Joe burst out laughing. He was obviously trying to change the subject for Frank's sake, but didn't realize he was wanting to know more about the very girl they were talking about! After calming down, the three told him about Nancy Drew and Frank's crush on her, even explaining about Frank only going out with Callie because she didn't like Adam Mason's attention.

"Well, that explains what Joe was talking about," said Ken. He turned to Frank with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Frank, I thought I was changing the topic."

Frank waved his hand. "You're fine. You didn't know. And now that you do know, you can change it more effectively next time."

Ken laughed. "Duly noted."

"Hey guys, there's a car parked in front of your garage," remarked Chet as he pulled into the Hardys driveway.

Joe leaned forward. "Maybe it has to do with Dad's case!"

Frank was unbuckling before the Queen came to a full stop. "Maybe, let's hurry up and find out! Thanks for the ride, Chet!"

"No problem! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" said Ken with a wave.

"Bye!" chorused the Hardys with a quick wave before dashing towards their front door. They had only just entered the foyer when the first sentence they heard made them pause in shock.

"Fenton Hardy, you will find my son, or you'll regret it!"

(Author's Note: Hello rosy readers! Boy, what a cliffhanger! I guess, lol. This mystery isn't as "active" as other Hardy boys mysteries are, full of action and thrills. This one is turning out to be more a of a calmer, slower, more work-at-your-pace kind of mystery. Unfortunately, Joe's not the type to savor anything, while Frank wants to enjoy every moment. Though, they should realize that figuring out a lock that no one but the owner knew how to unlock it is a very marvelous feat. Well, thanks for reading and hope you have a great week! God bless!)