Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Evelyn Saunders looked up from her computer as Billy Moss walked into her office. She liked Billy’s laid back manner and his keen ability to analyze a crime scene. She gave him a smile and stood up to greet him.

“You’re here about the Campton case, aren’t you?”

“You bet, Evie,” Billy grinned. “Tell me what you found out.”

“I’m just printing out my report for the sheriff,” Evelyn answered, “and he’d kick your butt if he knew you were here, Billy.”

“The Chief?” Billy looked mockingly appalled at the coroner’s words. “Naw! Me and Longtooth are best buds!”

“Right,” Evelyn laughed.

“Longtooth seems anxious about this case,” she continued in a more serious tone. She looked intently at Billy, as if contemplating her next move.

“He was stabbed,” she finally said, picking up the paper she’d just printed out for the sheriff. “The blade was serrated, like a steak knife but much bigger.”

“A Hopi ‘Manyteeth’ is like that,” Billy commented. The ‘Manyteeth’ was a traditional Hopi hunting knife.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Evelyn agreed. “There was only one thrust near the heart. It clipped the breastbone, but then cut his aorta.”

“He bled to death?”

“That’s my official finding, yes.”

“Could he have killed himself?” Billy questioned.

“Not likely. The angle was all wrong,” she glanced toward the autopsy room behind the glassed wall. “Also, there was no blood on his left hand, and Mark was left-handed.”

“What?” Billy asked.

Evelyn sighed. “Mark’s left handed. I’ve seen him at the diner on Buffalo Street in Durango a few times and he was definitely left-handed.

“There was bruising, too,” she continued, “along the right side of his face. Looked to me like he was struck with a blunt object; not hard enough to even render him unconscious, but enough to stun him. My guess is that someone sucker punched him, and then stabbed him.”

Before Billy could comment, Evelyn smiled and held up a small specimen bag. Inside, a tiny silver triangle could be seen.

“Is this from the knife that killed him?” Billy anxiously asked, taking the bag from her hand.

Evelyn nodded, “It was embedded in the bone. You find the knife that fits that blade tip, and you’ve found your murder weapon.”

* * *

“There is no way the sheriff is going to give us any information,” Joe Hardy commented as he and his brother made there way along the main street of Durango where the Montezuma County sheriff’s department was housed in the basement of the county courthouse.

“True,” Frank agreed, running a hand through his dark hair, “but we have no place else to start.

“The worst he can do is to tell us to get lost,” Frank concluded, giving Joe a shrug.

“Or throw us in jail for interfering,” Joe suggested.

“All we have to do is go in and…” Frank began outlining a plan when Joe grabbed his arm.

“That’s the crime-scene guy!” Joe hissed into his brother’s ear as he watched Billy Moss exit the courthouse. “Bet he’d be easier to talk to than old Longtooth any day!”

Before Frank could say a word, Joe hurried toward the tall cowboy. Frank quickly followed, hoping Joe was making a wise choice in trusting the investigator.

While Frank tended to be cautious and treated everyone as a potential suspect, Joe generally trusted people until they gave him cause not to – or unless he picked up something suspicious with his sharp intuition. As Frank followed his brother, he decided to trust Joe’s call on this one. They needed to have someone close to the case on their side and maybe Billy Moss would be that person.

“Good morning, Mr. Moss,” Joe greeted the CSI, his sapphire eyes sparkling.

Billy stopped walking and peered over the top of his sunglasses at the two approaching teenagers. He couldn’t help but smile. He really didn’t think the son’s of Fenton Hardy would walk away from an investigation, even if the sheriff had threatened them.

“Morning, Joe,” Billy said, then nodded at Frank and added, “Hey, Frank. What brings you boys all the way over here to Durango?”

The brothers exchanged a quick glance at each other and Frank gave Joe a slight nod. This was Joe’s ballgame.

“I think you probably know,” Joe began. “We’re not going to sit around while Catherine’s being railroaded by the sheriff.”

“Whoa, there buddy,” Billy cajoled, putting a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “I know Longtooth isn’t much in the personality department, but he’s an honest cop.”

“Then why’s he so anxious to arrest Catherine?” Frank inquired.

Billy looked carefully from one brother to the other. “Okay, guys,” he said, “let’s talk; but not here.

“Follow my jeep and I promise I’ll tell you what I know,” Billy nodded toward a late-model black jeep covered in dust parked near the curb. The boys agreed and quickly ran to their van.

Two men peered from two different angles at the departing vehicles. Sheriff Longtooth had seen Moss leaving the courthouse and figured he’d been to see the coroner. He wondered what Billy and the Hardy boys had talked about; quite sure he wouldn’t like it.

From a restaurant across the road, the old man got up and walked to a payphone in the corner. He put the change into the machine and dialed.

“We may have a problem,” he told someone on the other end.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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 original characters without express permission of the authors.