"Too noisy," Frank denied. "Lewis knew we wouldn't open it."

"Then why leave it here in the first place?" Phil demanded.

Frank thought for a moment, his forehead creased, then looked up at Phil, his eyes a curious mixture of delight at having thought of a reason and fear because of what that might mean. "Maybe he left something in the pack," Frank said.

"Well, DUH!" Chet put in sarcastically.

"He means something besides the snake, lame brain," Tony said, elbowing Chet in the ribs.

Frank pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and climbed the steps. "Leave it and come inside," Frank told the trio. "I'll call the zoo."

He unlocked the door and went straight to the phone while Tony and Phil made themselves comfortable in the living room and Chet went into the kitchen to scrounge for a snack.

After Frank phoned the zoo, he called the police and told the officer who answered about the van's return and the surprise at the front door. The officer promised to send someone to check for prints and offered to alert the zoo, but Frank quickly informed him he already had. Frank hung up and checked the answering machine. There were two messages so he rewound the tape and hit play.

"Frank Hardy, you were supposed to have picked me up an hour ago! If you aren't in trouble, you will be," came the upset voice of his sixteen year old, blond-haired, green-eyed girlfriend, Callie Shaw. Frank groaned. He had forgotten all about Callie.

The next message began. Frank groaned again as he heard his mother's voice. "We can't get a plane," were her first words. "The pilots at the airline are on strike. Your father's renting a car now and we should be home in about twenty-four hours. I'm sorry, honey," she added tenderly. "Please be very careful as you try to find your brother. We love you, bye."

"Just great," Frank mumbled, but was overheard by Chet who chose that moment to leave the kitchen.

"What's wrong now?" Chet demanded as he followed Frank into the living room. Frank told Chet, Phil, and Tony about the phone messages.

"I really don't have the time to deal with Callie right now," Frank said with a frown.

"Why don't Tony and I go over to Callie's and tell her what's going on?" Phil suggested. He knew Frank needed to keep the phone line open in case Lewis called and be there when the zoo personnel arrived for the snake.

"That would be wonderful," Frank replied gratefully. "You can drive Dad's car," he said, pulling out the key to his father's sedan and handing it to Phil.

"Wake up, Precious," Lewis whispered into Joe's ear. Joe had fallen asleep shortly after Lewis had forced the second cigarette on him. Now, he awoke with a sense of dread. He opened his eyes and looked at Lewis as he lit another cigarette. Unlike before, he never put it in Joe's mouth. Instead, Lewis drew in a long drag, sucking in all the smoke he could hold, then blew it into Joe's face. Joe's nose twitched, his eyes burned and he coughed feebly behind the tape.

"You really have to have one everytime you wake up," Lewis told him, taking another drag and releasing more smoke into Joe's face. Lewis repeated the process three more times before tossing the cigarette to the floor and stepping on it as he came closer to Joe, pulling out a switchblade when he reached him. He flipped it open and brought the blade to the side of Joe's face, then let it slide to his Adam's apple.

"I'm going to take the tape off so you can eat," Lewis told Joe. "But if you yell, I'll cut your tongue out and send it to your old man," he warned Joe, his cold hard eyes boring into Joe's bloodshot ones. "Understand, boy?" he asked. Joe blinked. "I asked you a question, boy!" Lewis said sharply.

Joe gave a slight nod which caused the sharp blade to nick his neck. A little blood ran down his neck and soaked into his tee shirt. "Hmmm," Lewis said thoughtfully as he folded his knife and slipped it back into his pants pocket. "Another picture first."

Frank jumped up from the sofa when he saw the zoo's van pull onto Elm Street. He ran to the front door, Chet following close behind. Frank opened the door as a young man in his twenties stepped down from the driver's side. Frank and Chet watched as he opened the rear door and pulled out a pole with a loop at the end and a large bucket with a lid. The man came to the steps. "Hi, there," he said in greeting. "I hear you have a friend of mine."

"Friend?" Chet asked the curly, red-haired man.

"Treat them with the respect they deserve and they aren't all that bad," the man told Chet, his brown eyes serious. "Some snakes make great pets."

Chet shivered at the thought of having a rattlesnake for a pet. "No, thanks!" he declared loudly, causing the backpack to start moving and making rattling sounds.

"How did you get it in there?" the zoo man asked.

"It came that way," Frank replied with a frown. "Can you get it out of the pack?" he inquired. "We think there may be something important in there with it."

"No problem," was the response. "Just move out of the way. I don't want either of you to get bitten."

Frank and Chet went down the steps and to the edge of the lawn as a police cruiser pulled up and Officer Daedium stepped out and approached the boys. "Hi, guys," he said. "The Chief sent me over to dust your van," he told Frank.

"Have you come up with any leads yet?" Frank almost begged.

"Lewis carjacked old Hurd Applegate," the officer replied. "He took off heading north."

"Did Mr. Applegate get hurt?" Frank asked in alarm. Frank and Joe had know Hurd Applegate for almost two years and the man prided himself on standing up to anyone who tried to do something wrong. Joe had said Mr. Applegate must secretly want to be a detective which is why he was always trying to get him and Frank to go out west to work on an old mystery he came across in a letter from a friend.

"A shoulder wound," was Daedium's reply. "He wouldn't have gotten that if he hadn't tried to fight Lewis."

"And you're sure it was Lewis?" Chet asked.

Daedium nodded. "The Chief insisted I dust your van in case Lewis has someone helping him," he added to Frank.

The zoo man came down the steps holding the bucket in his left hand and the pole over his right shoulder. "All done," he said cheerily, although he was plainly curious about what was going on.

"Thanks," Frank said, ignoring the questioning look in the man's eyes. The zoo man nodded at the threesome and returned to his van, stowing his equipment in the rear before climbing behind the wheel and taking off.

"I'd better get busy," Daedium said, opening the door of his cruiser and pulling out his fingerprint kit.

Frank and Chet left him to his job and climbed the steps to the door. Frank bent down and picked up his backpack. Looking inside, he found a disposable camera.

"Hey..." Chet began to shout to Daedium, but Frank clamped a hand over Chet's mouth and dragged him into the house before releasing him. "What's the big idea?" Chet demanded, looking at Frank as if he had gone off his rocker.

"If we turn this over to the police we won't get to keep the pictures," Frank explained. He handed the camera to Chet. "Take this down to the one hour photo lab and get double prints," he ordered. "Then we'll give a set to the police and keep one to look for clues in." Chet nodded and left for town.

Joe wasn't sure what was going on. Lewis had started feeding him an age ago. First it was stuff like broccoli and asparagus, the kind of stuff he really didn't like. Then, when Joe had told Lewis he was full and didn't want anymore, Lewis had started feeding him fried chicken, a Big Mac, and fries. Joe was so sick by then he felt nauseous, but Lewis had pulled out some apples. Joe refused to take another bite, and Lewis punched him in the stomach. Three apples down and Lewis now stood in front of Joe holding up something else.

"And here we have some delicious carrots," Lewis said, bringing them closer to Joe.

"No," Joe told him. "I can't eat anymore," he insisted.

"Open wide," Lewis ordered, bringing a carrot up to Joe's mouth.

Joe clamped his lips together and shook his head. Lewis backhanded Joe, causing a trickle of blood to seep from the corner of Joe's mouth. "Open your mouth, boy," he ordered again.