HDA - Where Troubles Melt by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

The following evening, Frank and Joe sat in their room, still trying to work out the details of this case. They had sent the girls and Chet to the movies in order to relax. Although they had been incredibly helpful the previous night, the brothers agreed that they should take it easy and have some fun. After all, now that the case was closer to being solved, even a bit, Frank and Joe were both getting a bit apprehensive about the possible danger that could follow them. As a result, they were trying to keep their friends at a relative distance while they could work on some of the finer points.

"Well," Frank began, as he stared at the computer screen, "Last night was something, huh? I can't believe that these guys would send us a message based on the names of jewelry stores!"

Joe lay on the bed and sighed. "I know, Frank. That was a good catch by Callie. It's also… what's the word I'm looking for?… I guess 'troubling' would be it. I mean, whoever they are, this is really serious now. They're out for us. That's why I hated telling dad about this."

Frank turned away from the monitor, and spoke to his brother, considering Joe's words. "Yeah, I know. It IS disturbing. These guys are going to a lot of trouble to get to us. We had no choice but to tell dad, though. I mean, let's look at the facts here. Shelley Butler, the literature expert, is dead, but someone went to his home to get books recently."

Joe nodded, and replied, "Which could explain all these allusions to poetry and novels."

"Exactly!" Frank replied with a smile, which he saw Joe return. It was nice to be working on the same team again.

"Okay," Joe went on. "Then we have Ramses, who is also dead. But, weirdly enough, someone went to HIS house and got computer disks and the gold medallion that he wore when he died, just like they got the gold medallion from Butler."

"I hadn't thought of that!" Frank exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "So, now we have two mysterious people who took something from the homes of the other two people who were killed. In both instances, medallions were taken. Are you thinking that…"

Joe cut in, excited. He loved when he and Frank were on the same page. "Yeah! The two people who went were probably Wilkins, who knew about architecture, and Smith, who was also into computers. But…" Joe hesitated, then continued, "their families were pretty adamant about NOT seeing them, although they did swear revenge on us. So… I mean, do you think they've been in contact with their families? It's the obvious answer, but I'm not so sure."

Frank furrowed his brow in concentration, and then replied, "I know. It seems a little too obvious, huh? That's why dad's re-interviewing the families, again. I was also thinking that since these guys are so into clues, that maybe there's some significance in the fact that, in both instances, gold medallions were taken."

Joe shrugged. "It's a possibility," he said, simply. In a moment, he went on. "Frank, we need to figure out where these guys are going to strike next, because we have to be prepared in case this is their final heist, and we're the targets. The computer is great for searching these store names in surrounding states, but it's taking forever. Let's think about this. You've been right about the locale of these most recent robberies, and I think you're also right that whatever is going to happen will be around here, somewhere. But why? What does it have to do with gold medallions, and….."

Suddenly Joe stopped. Something was in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite place it. Whatever it was, it was on the tip of his tongue.

Frank looked at him. "Joe? Did you think of something?"

Joe shook his head and replied, "Nah. Well… kind of. I don't know. I'm not sure."

"Joe! Come on! Any guess, however far off, is better than nothing." Frank bit his lip. "And nothing is what we have right now."

Joe hesitated. He knew he often came up with the final answers to their cases, but he always had a deep- rooted fear of seeming stupid to his brother. Although Frank had never once made fun of his intelligence, and often praised him, Joe knew that sometimes people mistook his light-heartedness and silliness for stupidity. Shaking off that feeling, he decided to talk to Frank. After all, Frank had never thought he was stupid. Joe just hoped he could keep up that notion. "Um," he began, "I was just thinking that maybe this case DOES have to do with gold, gold mines, gold manufacturing, something. I mean, the medallions might be important. I would not normally think so, but these guys are masters of dropping hints."

"Hmmm…" Frank murmured. "That's a good idea, actually. While my laptop is running searches of jewelry store names, maybe we can search also look into stores or factories or something with gold. Interesting."

Joe beamed. He liked impressing Frank, plus he really did have a gut instinct about his idea. "Hopefully we can catch these guys before the next strike, " he concluded.

He noticed Frank didn't respond, and was staring at the screen again. "Frank?" he questioned.

Finally, Frank turned around, his mouth in a tight line.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Well, as we're doing the search for jewelers, guess what just popped up on the screen for AOL."

Joe groaned. "Again? Another one?" he inquired, frustrated.

"Yup," Frank replied. "Check this out. Little brother, I think you're right. This case might very well be about gold."

Joe came up behind his brother, and read over his shoulder. "Oh, man," he muttered. "Dawson, Colorado. White gold only is taken? Give me a break!!!" Joe let out an audible sigh as he read on, noting the same car, license plate, time scheme, and method as in all former cases. "What type of message are they sending us?" He slammed his hand down on the dresser.

Frank, startled, looked up at him and said, "I don't know, Joe. What's the name of the jeweler this time?"

"Dreiser's," Joe replied. "Uh oh." He rubbed his forehead. "Even I know that one. We had to read it in lit this year. He wrote An American Tragedy."

Frank laughed, then quickly stopped. With a self-effacing smile, he said to Joe, "Well, now I feel much better."

Joe stood up, and paced the room. He finally spoke. "How long can this go ON, Frank? How many messages are going to be sent? That's what- seven?- already! What if we just gave up on this? Would the guys come after us? They're risking an awful lot to draw us out here and commit these robberies in broad daylight!"

Frank exhaled a deep breath. "Joe?" he asked. "I honestly don't know. But, if the patterns are right, I have a feeling that we'll find out real soon."

Joe met his brother's eyes. "I have the same feeling," he said, quietly. They continued to search for clues…

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.