Frank woke late morning, finding the house in silence. Looking across at Joe’s bed and saw that it’d been slept in, but remained unmade. Vaguely recalling his brother had gone downstairs in the night complaining of a headache; he became mildly concerned and leapt out of bed to find him.

Dressing quickly he went downstairs and scouted around. He didn’t find Joe, but he did find the pills which had been moved from their position of the night before. He searched through the rest of the house unsuccessfully, even checking the other spare bedroom and Mark’s room in case Joe has become confused and climbed into the wrong bed. After finally looking in the garden, he came to the grudging conclusion that he must be in Helen’s room.

Climbing the stairs silently, he drew level with the door and saw it was ajar. Peeking in he could see they were both asleep. Joe was lying fully out on the four-poster bed with his arms about Helen and she was using his chest as a pillow, their legs intertwined. Frank flushed slightly and stepped back, feeling like a Peeping Tom - even though he could clearly see they were both fully clothed.

Joe suddenly opened his eyes and caught Frank in the act before he could flee. He smiled reassuringly at his older brother, put his finger to his lips and pointed down at Helen. Frank nodded his understanding and made a tea shape with his hands and lifted his eyebrows questioningly. Joe lifted his arm and made an ‘ok’ signal.

Frank made Joe’s usual coffee, made Helen some tea and carried them back upstairs. Entering the room silently, he found his brother had somehow managed to push himself up into a half sitting position with his back cushioned against a pillow. He put the steaming tea on the bedside table and handed his brother the other - Helen didn’t stir from her slumber. He left them to it and went and took a quick shower.

Just as he’d finished dressing, he heard the doorbell ring. Opening up, he found Rob, Mark and Kiwi standing on the doorstep, it was drizzling and their hair was damp. Mark looked shell-shocked and ashen, just like Kiwi and Rob the night before.

"We’ve only just told him about Alex," explained Kiwi at Frank’s questioning expression. "They didn’t tell him a thing at the hospital."

Rob led Mark inside the house by the arm and deposited him on the sofa.

"I’m going to get so terribly British now, and make him a cup of sweet tea," said Kiwi quietly to Frank.

"Yeah, I just did that for Helen – what is it with the sweet tea thing do you suppose?"

Kiwi shrugged his shoulders. "How’s she holding up?" he asked, dropping two teabags into Mark’s overly huge mug.

"Not sure, but Joe spent the night with her and is still up in her room."

"At least she wasn’t on her own."

"Yeah." Frank started to feel quite proud of his brother at that second.

Kiwi stirred the tea and they went through to the sitting room and he handed the cup to his friend.

They heard a movement in the hall, turned and saw Joe and Helen entering. Helen’s eyes were raw from crying, but her hair was freshly brushed and she wore clean clothes. Her eyes fell on Mark who was slowly rising to his feet, putting the mug aside. She rushed into her best friend’s arms and they stood hugging each other for a long time. Eventually they pulled apart and she parted his damp fringe to inspect the large purple and black bruise on his forehead. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Just slightly," he said, giving a lop-sided grin. He wiped away the single tear that washed down her face with his thumb. "Don’t worry," he said. "I’m here for you, I’m not going anywhere."

The doorbell rang and someone began banging on the door insistently.

"Who on earth?" exclaimed Frank. Joe went to the door and opened it. On the other side stood Inspector Kyle, dressed in plain clothes. "You again!" stormed Frank.

Kyle put his hands up in front of him. "Mr Hardy, I know we didn’t get off to the best of starts, but I really do need to speak to you concerning Mr Morris’s death."

"Why me? I’m just here on vacation - I wasn’t even in the car." Frank argued.

"All will become clear, may I come in and discuss things?"

Frank sighed resignedly and turned to Helen, who nodded. "Okay, you can come in, but anymore of the strong arm stuff and you’re out. Do you understand?"

Kyle passed by him without reacting and entered the living room; the others stood regarding him sourly.

"Can everyone take a seat, I’ve got something I want to tell you - something that will come as a great shock." They all sat, accept for Rob who defiantly remained on his feet, his arms crossed tightly against his chest.

Kyle waited for them to settle down before taking an armchair himself and continuing. "We’ve had the inspection report back on the BMW. The examination showed that the car’s brake line had been severed part way through – deliberately."

There was a general intake of breath around the room and Helen started to weep again. She accepted a tissue from Mark and the young men all gaped at him.

"Deliberately?" repeated Joe. "But why?"

"I have a theory I was hoping you two could help with." He took an envelope from his inside pocket and offered it to Frank.

The Hardys glanced at each other nonplused and Frank took the communication from his fingers. "What’s this?" he asked.

"I took the liberty of checking the post box outside and found it left there, it helped to confirm my theory."

Frank examined the envelope, Helen and Alex’s names were scrawled across the front and he could see it had been opened. Frank narrowed his eyes at the Policeman. "Did you open this?" he demanded accusingly.

"Yes, but…"

"I don’t believe this! You had no right! How on earth did you ever make it to the rank of Inspector?"

"Before you say anything more, I’d advise you to read what’s enclosed."

Shaking his head in disbelief, he opened the flap. Frank saw a single sheet of white paper inside which he pulled out and unfolded. Scrawled in red ink were the words: ‘We want the ring back. If we do not get it back, you and your friends will have another accident and next time we will make sure the job is done right. We will be in touch’.

Joe, who was reading over Frank’s shoulder, rolled his eyes and groaned, "Just great!" he muttered.

Rob leant over and snatched the note from Frank’s fingers and read it before passing it around, the muscles in his jaw twitching.

Helen turned to Kyle after the note had been passed her way. "So what you’re telling us is that my husband was murdered, and all over a ring?" she spat, waving the letter.

"It would seem that way yes."

"Not necessarily – well not in the way it seems anyway," Frank interrupted. Joe nodded, pretty sure of where his brother’s train of thought was heading.

"What do you mean?" asked Kiwi intrigued.

"Well, the letter is address to both Helen and Alex. Also, the envelope wasn’t left in the post box until this morning. Which draws me to the conclusion that the killer, or killers, don’t realize Alex was killed," replied Frank.

"How do you know the envelope was left in the post box today?" asked Kiwi.

"Because it was raining this morning, and the paper is still damp. Look, the ink’s even run"

"Exactly," agreed Kyle, "and why do you suppose they think Mr Morris is still alive?"

"Because they’ve been watching the house and think Frank is Alex," said Joe automatically.

"Well done, I knew two clever detectives like you would get straight to the crux of the matter," said the Inspector triumphantly.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy as the room fell into a deafening silence. The Hardys felt distinctly uncomfortable and shot a guilty look at each other. Frank leant his elbows on his knees, buried his fingers in his hair, and turned his face towards the wall.

"Okay, you got us - how did you find out?" asked Joe quietly.

"The two keenest and smartest young detectives in the world? You’re famous in police circles even over here. As soon as I heard the names I knew who you were. I just wasn’t banking on the marvelous co-incidence of your older brother looking stunningly like the deceased."

Everyone turned and stared at them expectantly. Rob’s face turned very red, and his eyes looked like thunder.

"Sorry guys," apologized Joe eventually. "We’ve not been entirely truthful with you…well…we’ve missed stuff out anyway.

"No kidding!" growled Rob.

Joe gulped and continued, "Frank and me are still at high school, but we also work as private detectives back home with our dad."

Frank finally turned back and spoke up, "and I didn’t repeat the year at school due to ill health, it was because I missed tons because of the sleuthing."

"Wow, you kept that quiet didn’t you," said Mark. "Why would you lie like that?" He asked forthrightly.

"We just wanted to have a normal, everyday vacation. Whenever we go away, we almost always get embroiled in something, so we decided to keep it quiet. We weren’t being maliciously misleading, honestly."

"It doesn’t matter," said Helen. "No harm done."

Rob said nothing, but kept his eyes keenly trained on them.

"Mrs Morris, that ring you’re wearing, is that the one these people are after?" asked the Inspector.

"Well, yes, I suppose it must be," she said, putting her hand over it protectively.

"I recognized the ring as soon as I set eyes on it yesterday. I think you’ll be surprised to hear that it’s not a reproduction, but a genuine 12th century piece that belongs to the Southampton Museum. It was stolen a year ago, along with an irreplaceable brooch."

Kiwi sat up taller and held his hand out to Helen who slipped the ring off and placed it into his palm. He examined it closely. "I can’t believe I didn’t notice it. I’ve examined lots of jewelery like this on my university course and it real is the genuine article – wow – must be pretty valuable," he handed it back and Helen slipped it back on her finger.

Kyle nodded and continued, "relics have been going missing from museums and private houses throughout the country for the past five years and the burglars always use the same MO. Unofficially, we know it’s the work of the same band of criminals," he paused and took a breath. "The biggest hurdle we faced was that as soon as the artifacts were stolen, they vanished off the face of the earth. This led us to believe they were being held in a private collection - until yesterday." His eyes swiveled in Frank’s direction and narrowed slightly. "I was going to ask Mrs Morris about the ring yesterday, but as you know, I was interrupted."

"None of us is going to apologize for that!" barked Rob hotly. "You were out of order, and you know it!"

Mark sensed his brother’s temper was getting decidedly frayed and quickly changed the subject. "It was bought at a re-enactors’ fayre. I spotted it on a table amongst a lot of other nice things. I even examined some of them."

"What I really can’t understand," began Kyle, "is why they’re so adamant they want the ring back. You bought it off them you say?" Mark nodded. "Then it makes no sense at all."

Kiwi suddenly snapped his fingers, "we didn’t buy it from the person who was running the stall, he’d gone off somewhere, remember Maties?"

"I’d forgotten about that," agreed Mark. "We actually paid Blue who was operating the next stall along. That happens quite a lot – someone goes for a break and asks the person on the next table to keep their eye on things."

"So, this guy Blue could have sold it in error?" surmised Frank. "Makes sense. Can any of you remember the guy’s name?"

They sat in silence for some time, thinking hard. "Ah!" exclaimed Mark, and snapped his fingers. "Albert…no…tell a lie, Alan…it was Alan, wasn’t it?" he looked from Kiwi to Rob. Rob shrugged his shoulders, but Kiwi nodded in agreement.

"Did any of you see this Alan chap?" asked Kyle

"No, he’d already gone when we got there."

Kyle beckoned Mark over, opened a briefcase he’d bought with him and pulled out a stack of photographs. Each picture was of a stolen artifact. Laying them out side by side on the coffee table, the younger Randall brother inspected them closely in turn.

He pointed at two pictures excitedly. "Yes that jug and that drinking horn, they were both on the table. A few of the other pictures look familiar too."

Helen moved closer and picked up the photograph of the ring and brooch, at the bottom was the inscription ‘Ring and Brooch Discovered in peat bog, near Southampton Harbor. Due to the location of the find it is a strong possibility they may have been lost by a rich merchant - Circa 12th century’.

Kyle smiled up at Mark. "Good, that lends credence to the other reason I’m here." He now addressed Frank directly. "I want to employ you to go undercover for the British Police."

"Whoa! Run that one by me again," said Frank, not believing his ears.

"We want you to impersonate Alex Morris now that he’s dead."

Frank stared over at Helen who was staring incredulously back, stunned. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, her hand rushing to her mouth.

"It’ll be like having him back again, eh Mrs Morris?" grinned Kyle tactlessly.

The next instance, all heads spun towards Rob. "YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!" he finally exploded, looming to his feet threateningly, "OF ALL THE UNFEELING…" Bearing over the Policeman, he started shouting obscenities, reached out and hauled him by the shoulders from the chair. Mark, with practiced ease, reacted instantly. He leapt up and dove on top of his brother’s broad shoulders, shocking him into letting go. Kyle dropped back into the chair and shrank away from the older Randall brother. Rob tried to violently shake his brother off, but Mark clung on tenaciously.

"CALM DOWN ROB," he bellowed into his ear.

"GET OFF ME BRO…"

"NO CAN DO, NOT THIS TIME, DEAR BROTHER!"

Joe, Frank and Kiwi sat gaping with their mouth’s hanging open, frozen in their seats. Helen jumped up and joined in the fray. She stepped in front of Rob and fronted up to him.

"Calm down, for Pete’s sake! He hasn’t upset me - not this time!" He didn’t seem to hear her, so she tried a different tack, "you want to catch the people who did this to your best friend, don’t you?" she asked bluntly, aiming low.

Rob stopped trying to shake his brother off and glared into Helen’s eyes, reason entering his brain, "You know I do," he protested.

"And so do I! So stop losing your temper and listen." She rubbed his upper arm and turned to the sweating Inspector. Jabbing her finger an inch from his face she said, "you had a lucky escape this time Mr Kyle, I think you need to learn the art of diplomacy, before its too late."

"Here, here." agreed Mark over Rob’s shoulder.

Kyle breathed a huge sign of relief and jiggled the neck of his tee shirt in an effort to cool himself down. Mark slid down off Rob’s back and with Helen’s help they pulled him back to sit between them on the sofa.

Frank nudged Joe, "and I thought you had a short fuse," he said, grinning slightly. He turned back to the Inspector. "So, to recap," he continued, "you want me to impersonate Alex? For what reason?"

"Obviously, these people are not going to be satisfied with a small, pathetic road accident…" Rob started to shift again in his seat and Mark and Helen wrapped their hands around a thick arm each. Kyle started to talk quickly, keeping a watchful eye on Rob, "…I don’t think it was a small and pathetic road accident – I’m just putting myself in the crooks shoes!" he spluttered, by way of an explanation. "We don’t want them alerted to the fact that the police are on to them, so we’re asking you to behave as though nothing has happened, that Mr Morris is fine, and that the only injured party was young Mr Randall who had to spend a night in hospital. That should buy us time to progress the investigation within the confines of re-enactment, without the crooks doing a runner."

"Hmmm," said Frank thoughtfully, considering Kyle’s scheme. "Good plan, but a flawed one."

The Inspector frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Simply that undercover policemen would not fit in at a re-enactment show. How many of you know how to use a sword and own suits of chain mail armor?"

"Well, none of us, I suppose," conceded Kyle. "We’d have to buy some armor."

Joe spoke up, "I bet suits of armor can’t be bought off the rack, am I right guys?" he asked.

"Yes, you have them made to measure, and then wait for delivery – at least three months," answered Mark, "and it would look odd if several suits where ordered at once. Also, new members don’t come along often, so a whole bunch of jubblies would look a little suspect."

"Jubblies?" asked Kiwi, Frank and Joe at once, incredulously.

"Sorry, it’s what we call new members."

"I see," said Kyle looking despondent.

"I’ve got a suggestion," said Frank, "Joe and me could investigate from the inside. All I ask is that you provide us with any technical equipment we may need."

"Sorry, I can’t allow that."

"Why not? We are ‘The two keenest and smartest young detectives in the world’ remember," quoted Joe, "and we’d sure fit in a lot neater than you."

Kyle went quiet and thoughtful and tapped his fingernail against the brown leather of the chair. "Okay, this is what I’ll do. I’ll go back to HQ and discuss this further with my superiors. Later, I’ll phone you with a decision - is that agreeable?"

The Hardys nodded.

"That’s settled then – unless anyone else has anything to say…" he looked around at the six faces, "…okay, I’ll see myself out." Rising to his feet, he walked towards the door. He suddenly stopped and turned towards Helen. "Mrs Morris, just a thought, have you told anyone about your husband’s death yet?"

"No, I only have one relative, I certainly haven’t had chance to tell him yet and Alex’s parents are on holiday."

"You may have to postpone any funeral arrangements…"

"There won’t be a funeral without Alex’s parents anyway," she interrupted.

He nodded curtly and exited the room.

They sat in silence and listened until the front door slammed before all the young men in the room turned and looked at Helen.

She stood up and walked to and fro across the room with her hands on her hips. Stopping, she rubbed her eyes and smoothed down her hair. They watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose thoughtfully and looked down at her feet.

Finally, she spoke, more to herself than to the others, "okay, no more tears – time enough for that later." She took a deep breath and returned their gazes from under her eyelashes and continued, "it’s time to get down to business. Let’s get the Mothers who did this to Alex!"

"Right on!" said Mark.