As they traveled on the Metro, Joe held his tongue about Callie. He couldn’t believe that Frank had ditched her the day before, and hadn’t bothered to call. Maybe it was because Callie had been so ill; maybe it was because he was beginning to see how much fun she was to hang out with; maybe it was just because she was a nice person; but, in any case, Joe was recently feeling very protective of Callie. Still, he had to admit that it wasn’t his business to get involved, and Callie certainly appeared to have forgiven Frank for his behavior yesterday. Maybe, when they went to meet the girls for lunch later, everything would be back to normal. With a sigh, he settled back into his seat.

"Problem?" Frank asked him, hearing his brother’s sigh.

Joe turned to him. "No, not really. Just thinking."

"About the case?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, sort of."

"What about it?"

Joe took a deep breath. This little bit of curt conversation with him and Frank was beginning to drive him crazy. Deciding to concentrate on the case at hand and not his brother’s love life, he steered the conversation back in that direction.

"Frank, this case obviously has some sort of pattern to it. I have no idea what "AGIB" means, or if the colors of the envelopes are important, or even what "So Defendants Will Prevail" would mean. It would seem to me that the last line implies some sort of revenge plot, but against whom, I have no idea. What about you? Any insights?"

Frank remained quiet for a few moments before speaking. "No, Joe, I’m at a loss, to tell you the truth. Maybe the police will provide some insights. Jenna has some good ideas, too, I’m sure. Maybe we should run them by her later."

Be calm, Joe told himself, trying to forgive his brother for his temporary insanity. "Well, Callie and Vanessa might have good ideas as well. Maybe we should run it by them. After all, they’ve both helped us out a lot in the past, you know," he said to his brother.

"Definitely!" Frank agreed enthusiastically. "Maybe we all can talk about it over lunch. Then, all of the girls can help us with it."

Joe couldn’t help himself this time. "ALL of the girls?! Frank, you’re not honestly considering asking Jenna to join us for lunch, are you?! Don’t you think Callie might be just a little annoyed about that, considering what happened yesterday?!"

Frank met Joe’s eyes. "Callie wouldn’t mind. We talked about this last night! Anyway, maybe you’re right. I mean, it would be easier to have everyone together, but I wouldn’t want to upset Callie at all, even though she knows there’s nothing going on."

"You’re sure about that?" Joe asked, but Frank’s glare silenced him. "Okay, then," he muttered to himself.

As the Metro pulled into its stop, the brothers descended from the train and were met almost immediately by Jenna. She was wearing a short denim skirt that accentuated her long legs, and a form fitting green blouse, which brought out her eyes. Joe watched as his brother gave Jenna a friendly greeting, and he noticed that Frank’s eyes barely left her.

"Hi, Joe!" he heard her say happily to him.

"Hi," Joe said, trying not to sound annoyed. "I guess we ought to get going to the station, huh?"

"Sure," she replied, playfully linking her arm through Frank’s. Joe noticed at once that Frank didn’t pull away, and he felt himself getting mad for Callie, again.

As they walked along, Joe listened into parts of their conversation, catching brief phrases here and there as he looked at the beautiful scenery surrounding him. He couldn’t help but to wish Vanessa was here with him. But- no. Here they were on yet another vacation in which all they were doing was working on a case. So much for fun in the summertime.

Joe heard Jenna asking about their future plans for the week, and he heard Frank reply that Callie would be looking at colleges, staring with Georgetown, the following morning. He noticed how Jenna kept reinforcing the idea to Frank about how difficult long distance relationships were to maintain, although she was sure that Frank and Callie could do it if they wanted to. Somehow, by the time they reached police headquarters, Jenna had basically gotten their schedule down pat.

Shaking his head in wonder at this girl, Joe followed them into the police station. Once inside, they walked up to one of the front windows and asked to speak with an officer, stating that they had some interesting information about two robberies that appeared to be connected. As they were ushered into the back, the police officer excused himself for a moment. When he came back, he had another man with him.

"Thank you for excusing me," the officer said to them, taking a seat on the opposite end of the table. "Again, I’m officer David Grammar, and this is my commander, Kelsey Pierce." With introductions made, they all shook hands before sitting down again.

Officer Pierce began speaking. An older gentleman with a kind face and disposition, he appeared concerned as he listened to Frank and Jenna describe their findings. At the conclusion of their story, he nervously began tapping his pencil on the table. At last, he spoke.

"Mr. Hardy, Ms. Barkalow," he began, slowly. "We have, indeed, noticed these two robberies, and we’re highly concerned about them. Quite frankly, we wouldn’t even be entertaining a discussion with you about them, but the reason that Officer Grammar called me in here was not only because of your information, which is relatively secret at this time, but because of your name. You’re not, by any chance, related to Fenton Hardy, are you?"

Joe was surprised, but Frank spoke up. "Actually, we’re his sons. Do you know him?"

Officer Pierce smiled, and said, "Sure! He’s helped out the federal government on a lot of cases, and clearly you two have followed in his footsteps. You’d certainly have a foot in the door if either of you ever decided to go into federal law enforcement," he added, earnestly.

"We’ve thought it. Thank you, sir," Joe responded.

"That being said," Officer Pierce continued, "Let me be blunt. These two cases are being worked on by the FBI as well as local officials. It appears to be an inside job, as you suspected. We’ve been looking to get people into the touring aspect for the museums to work undercover. Certainly, the FBI has young men and women working on this as well, but not as young as you. No one would suspect teenagers to be investigating this. Would you be interested in serving in an undercover capacity?" he asked Frank and Joe.

Joe bit his lip. It DID sound like an interesting job, but Callie and Vanessa would kill them. On the other hand, there would probably be ample opportunity to spend evenings with them when the museum closed. He was about to respond when he heard Frank say, without hesitation, "We’d love to help!" Joe just stared at him in disbelief.

"Oh, and I can help, too!" Jenna cried enthusiastically.

"Not so fast, Ms. Barkalow," Officer Pierce responded. "The only reason I am offering such a position to these young men is because I have met their father, and I know their growing professional reputations. I’m sorry, but you have no experience. And," he added emphatically, "you will have to remain quiet about this."

Jenna, however, didn’t take no for an answer. "Well, that might be true, officer," she said with a bright smile. "But I have something these guys don’t."

They all stared at her, as Officer Pierce asked, "And what would that be?"

"I have a badge! I actually know my way around some of these museums, and it would be believable that I could help find people my own age to employ. Come on! It’s the perfect cover." She glanced at Frank slyly, a look which he missed but Joe picked up right away. "We’d work very close together," she added.

"Well, that’s true," the officer said, rubbing his neck. "That might not be such a bad idea."

"Hold on a second!" Joe interjected, unable to stay silent any longer. "Frank and I have solved dozens of cases on our own, without help from anyone else. I’d tell Jenna thanks, but no thanks!"

"I don’t know, Joe," Frank cut in. "I actually think it’s a good idea. Jenna could help us out with this."

"I agree," the Officer stated, and Joe was, once again, stunned into silence. What was Frank thinking?!

"Is there a reason why you’re eager to have us? I mean, I know very valuable things have been stolen, but is there a certain place you’d like us to start?" Frank asked. "There’ve only been two robberies so far."

"Three," said the Officer seriously.

"What? Where?" Joe asked, curious. He was pretty sure that if there had been information on a robbery out there, Frank would have found it. Then again, he thought warily, Frank may have been distracted.

Officers Pierce and Grammar looked tired. It was Officer Grammar who finally spoke. "Boys, Jenna," he said. "Just last night, another robbery occurred. It took place at the International Gallery, which is known for its collection of valuable paintings and portraits from all over the world. Everything is the same; "AGIB," "So Defendants Will Prevail," the piece missing from the basement. The only variable seems to be the color of the envelopes, which might be pure coincidence. This time, the message was left on a blue envelope, and the piece of artwork was from Chile; a portrait entitled "Refugees." We’re certainly working overtime on this. Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated."

Joe let out a low whistle. "Wow! Something big seems to be going on here," he said.

"That’s what we’re afraid of," Officer Pierce responded.

"We’ll certainly do our best to help you out," Frank replied sincerely, as they all got up to leave."

"Start tomorrow, boys. Come here first thing in the morning, and I’ll instruct you where to go. Jenna, go to The National Air and Space Museum, where you normally go, tomorrow, and see what you can find out. Please, keep us up to date on what’s going on."

After promising to do so, the three headed outside. Jenna smiled, and said, "Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess! Frank, if anything changes, give me a call. Here’s my number," she said, handing him a pre-filled out slip of paper. "I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of each other!" With those words, she bounded away happily.

Joe turned to his brother before they headed back onto the Metro. "You know, Frank, you were supposed to take Callie to Georgetown tomorrow. As it is, Vanessa is going to be mad enough at me, but this vacation was supposed to be for you and Callie, really. Just what, exactly, are you planning on telling her?" he asked.

"The truth, Joe," Frank said, simply. "Look, I feel bad enough about this already without you trying to make me feel worse. I guess Vanessa’s going to have to keep Callie company on the college tour, and we’ll have to hook up with them later in the day."

"Don’t you think you might be taking Callie a LITTLE for granted?" Joe asked, exasperated. "Especially when she finds out that you’ll be working very closely with Jenna," he finished, imitating Jenna’s words.

"Callie will understand, Joe. I TOLD you that. Now, let’s go and catch the Metro. We have to meet the girls for lunch," Frank replied evenly, and headed away from his brother.

"I’m not so sure about that, big brother," Joe muttered under his breath as he ran to catch up with Frank.

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