They followed Angel backstage, Phil striding hurriedly in the boy’s wake; Joe just behind him, grasping Vanessa’s hand tightly in his own; Megan holding Frank’s arm loosely, allowing her boyfriend to do what he did best: observe, note, calculate, try and comprehend exactly what had happened. Joe watched his older brother looking at everything as they passed, considering how a theft might have occurred. Well, that’s Frank’s method; for myself, I’ll wait until I hear what Allison has to say, and find out more about what happened..

When they reached the room where the orchestra members were, Allison flew into Phil’s arms, choking back tears.

"Phil – my violin – it’s gone; someone took my violin…" She buried her face in his shoulder, shuddering with sudden sobs.

"Shhh, shhh, don’t cry, Alli, shhh…" Phil patted her back, making soft soothing sounds. "We’ll get it back, don’t worry…."

"Who are all you people?" The conductor loomed over the newcomers, glaring suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

Phil stopped patting Allison. "Mr. D’Vargas, these are some friends of mine, from Bayport. Vanessa Bender, Megan Wright, and Frank and Joe Hardy. Guys, this is Mr. Anthony D’Vargas. Frank and Joe are detectives, sir, and I’m sure they can help find Alli’s violin."

At that comment, both Frank and Joe winced. It was difficult to maintain a low profile when one’s sleuthing status was broadcast to everyone!

Phil knows better than to do that! Joe fumed. Why’d he give us away like that? He realized, however, that Phil was probably attempting to make Allison feel better, and assuring her that her precious violin would be speedily recovered was the way to do it. Well, maybe we can find it – after all, we just need to locate Rodney, right?

"Detectives, eh?" The conductor looked unconvinced. Joe felt himself bristle reflexively at the unexpressed doubt, but kept a firm grip on his temper.

Allison was calming down now, since Phil was there to hold and comfort her, but it was obvious that she was still extremely upset by the loss of her violin. She dashed the tears from her cheeks with her palms, and straightened her shoulders, trying to gain control of herself.

"Allison, where was the violin, and where were you in relation to it?" Frank asked, calmly ignoring the curious clustered orchestra members and the disapproving conductor.

"I was sitting here," Allison indicated a circular formation of chairs. "Mr. D’Vargas was holding his usual after-performance critique and praise session. We were all sitting here," she repeated, choking a little. "My violin was back here. The case is still here." She led them about twenty feet to the rear, where several instrument cases were lying on the hardwood floor.

Joe knelt down beside the indicated violin case, but didn’t touch it yet. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit, and pulled out a handkerchief. "Did anyone touch the case after you noticed the violin was missing?" he asked, as he carefully opened the case, using the handkerchief to shield his fingers.

"Yes," Allison nodded vigorously. "I did. It was open when I saw it was gone. I closed it then. And everyone started looking around back here to try and find it."

"And no one noticed anything peculiar – or saw anyone back here who shouldn’t have been?" Joe continued his questions. He glanced from one young face to another as the orchestra members hovered about him. The only replies he received were headshakes and muted mumbles of denial.

"Let’s check it out back stage…" Frank suggested quietly, and Joe got to his feet. He and Frank moved to look through all the unlocked backstage rooms. Vanessa and Megan and Phil remained with Allison, as did Angel, and the rest of the young musicians.

Nothing appeared to be out of place or unusual – and then Frank, descending a half-flight of stairs down to what appeared to be a service entry, saw that the exit door was standing partly ajar! He hastened down the steps, and spotted a figure hovering in the middle of the aperture!

"Hey!" he cried, hurrying towards the door, but as he did so, the figure dodged outside and slammed the heavy door shut, right in Frank’s face!

Joe had dashed down the stairs in his brother’s wake, and now skidded to a halt beside him. "Did you see who it was?" he demanded, as Frank shoved at the door to open it.

"I sure did!" Frank replied. "It was that weird guy from Phil’s apartment – Robert! The one who used to be Allison’s boyfriend!" Finally the heavy door yielded to the brothers’ pushing, and they leaned out.

There was nothing to be seen but a dimly-lit service bay, evidently seldom used. There was no sign of Robert.

"Stay here to let me back in," Joe instructed, and trotted outside to take a quick look around. Frank watched as he scanned the area, but it was evident that there was nothing to be seen. Joe soon returned, disappointed.

"Nothing – no Robert, and no one else, either."

"It looks like we have a suspect for our violin theft," Frank said. "Robert."

"We have more than one," Joe pronounced confidently. "My money is still on dear cousin Rodney. Find him, and I’ll bet the violin is sure to be somewhere in his immediate vicinity! After all, why would Robert want Allison’s violin?"

Frank gazed at him with his usual calm. "Maybe," he said cryptically.

Joe made a face at him. "Frank, face it, this time it’s an open-and-shut case!" he insisted. "Hunt down Cousin Rodney, pummel the location of the violin out of him, and voila, hand it back to Allison. Case solved!"

Frank’s dark eyes held a twinkle of sardonic amusement. "Maybe," he repeated. "An open-and-shut violin case?"

Joe growled beneath his breath. Why couldn’t Frank just admit he was right, for once?

The boys turned to go back to the others, but Frank halted almost immediately, and stooped down. "Hang on," he murmured, and Joe saw him pick up something from the floor.

"What is it?" Joe craned his neck curiously.

"It’s a cuff link," Frank told him, and pocketed the item without displaying it. Without further comment, he went back to the main room, leaving a mystified and irritated Joe to trail along in his wake.

Why can’t he ever SAY anything? Explain anything? Joe felt his teeth clench involuntarily. You’d think he was being charged for every syllable he utters….

"Did you find anything?" Phil demanded, as soon as they were within speaking distance, and was echoed by many of the orchestra members. Allison gazed at them, her green eyes imploring silently for hopeful news.

"Yes – we found a back door standing open," Joe reported. He didn’t want to mention Robert at the moment. "Whoever took your violin, Allison, probably escaped that way."

"Did the security people see anything?" Mr. D’Vargas demanded.

Joe looked slightly puzzled. "We didn’t see any security people," he said. "Were there supposed to be some around?"

"Yes, there are." Mr. D’Vargas grumped.

"We also found this, just inside the door," Frank said then, and took out the little piece of jewelry he had found. He held it where the conductor and Allison could see it. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Lying in Frank’s palm was the cuff link, a small gold eighth-note, with tiny letters in the middle of it, Joe noted. He glanced quickly at the orchestra members, hoping to see some reaction or other; what he didn’t expect was the reaction they received.

Mr. D’Vargas frowned. "Of course I’ve seen it before," he growled. He pushed up his coat sleeve, exposing his shirt cuff. "Every male member of the orchestra has a set of those, it’s part of the uniform. See?" He indicated the gold eighth-note cuff link in his shirt sleeve, and gestured to the other orchestra members, who likewise showed the Hardys their sleeves. Every one of them displayed the identical cuff links. "The initials in the middle stand for Junior Symphony Orchestra. Someone evidently lost a cuff link."

"Oh….That’s interesting," Frank commented quietly, and turned away from Mr. D’Vargas, re-pocketing the cuff link .

"What are you thinking?" Megan whispered to him. He glanced down at her intent face, and winked.

"I found this right in front of the open door," he replied softly. "It may have been there forever – or it may have just been dropped a little while ago."

Allison spoke up at that moment. "But it has to have been my cousin Rodney who had someone take my violin!" she insisted. "He’s the only one who’s ever shown any interest in having it, and he’s not tried to hide the fact that he wants it very badly. No one in the orchestra would take it, even if it is worth a lot of money. Everyone has their own instruments!"

"Yes, I suppose so, although this could be something else, of course," Frank mused.

Joe eyed his brother keenly. He knew Frank too well to be fooled by the innocuous-sounding comments. Frank thinks that someone in the orchestra took it! he realized.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. D’Vargas intoned, "it’s getting very late. Put away your instruments, if you have not already done so, and we’ll depart." He glanced at the little group formed of the Hardys, their friends, and Angel Coussard. As the director spoke, Angel reluctantly stepped away from the others, obeying the request to pack up the instruments. "Allison, I hope your friends can assist you," D’Vargas concluded, and turned away dismissively. The orchestra members followed suit, and in just a few moments the little group from Bayport, and Allison, found themselves alone.

"Did you find anything else besides that cuff link?" Megan persisted.

Frank looked down at her, his eyes twinkling. "You’re getting too good at this," he murmured. Louder, he said, "Actually, we did. We saw someone – that fellow Robert was halfway-in the service door back there. But he got away before we could talk to him."

"Robert!" Allison stared from Frank to Phil. "How do you know him? And why would Robert have anything to do with taking my violin?"

"Frank, you know it must be Rodney," Joe persisted with his theory. "He was here, after all. We just need to find him, and get it back! We could go do it right now!"

"Rodney?" Now Allison’s voice was escalating in pitch. "He was here too?" Phil murmured something affirmative but comforting, and pulled her closer.

Frank eyed Joe dubiously, and shook his head. "Joe, we have to get back to Bayport. I have to fly a run for Wayne’s World tomorrow morning, and you and Vanessa have graduation rehearsal." he reminded him.

"We could find this Rodney guy, get the violin back tonight, and then go back to Bayport!" Joe stubbornly stuck to his plan.

"Joe, we don’t know where to find Rodney, even if he does have it—" Frank’s normally mellow voice evinced his frustration with his brother’s scheme.

Vanessa caught Megan’s eye and grinned; this had a very familiar ring to it.

"Alli and I know where Rodney lives," Phil interrupted the debate. "We can drive over to his place; we don’t need you guys to help us track him down! If he has the violin, I’ll call and let you know tomorrow – one way or the other."

Allison nodded vigorously. She had calmed down now, certain that her cousin was the one who had orchestrated this theft of her instrument. "I’m sure Rodney’s the one behind this. I can’t imagine anyone associated with the orchestra taking it, nor Robert, and Rodney’s the only one I can think of who’s ever tried to get it away from me. But to take it like this – he must be really desperate!" She frowned. "But I don’t know how he managed to do it!"

Joe scowled, but knew when he was outgunned. "I don’t like this," he grumbled. "I want to get it settled tonight." He eyed Megan and Vanessa hopefully, looking for support, but found none. "Okay, okay – I’ll go back to Bayport tonight." His tone of voice, however, showed his disapproval of this plan.

"Joe, I’ll be glad to drive back here early Sunday—" Frank laid a hand on his unhappy brother’s shoulder. "—but really, I do have to take that flight for Jack tomorrow morning. We have jobs, remember? Both of us." He squeezed Joe’s shoulder gently.

"I know." Joe sighed deeply, but shrugged in resignation. "I just wanted to get it done with."

"Phil, we’ll come back Sunday morning, unless you find it before then." Frank said. "In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you’d get the information for us on how to find Rodney, huh?"

Phil chuckled. "I doubt if Alli’s going to want to wait that long—" He paused, grinning at Allison’s emphatic head-shake. "—but okay, no problem."

Bidding Phil and Allison goodbye, the four Bayport teens set out for the parking garage. They walked slowly, in deference to the girls’ high heels, and both Megan and Vanessa clung to their escorts’ arms. As they paced along the nearly deserted sidewalk, they discussed Alli’s mysteriously vanished violin.

"It’s usually the obvious person, right?" Joe pushed his argument. "It isn’t just a joke that ‘the butler did it.’ And it’s not a joke that the police always suspect the family members first, in a murder investigation, either! They’re usually the ones behind it! And dear Cousin Rodney wants Allison’s violin, and he’ll take it any way he can get it. We should check up on him – right?"

"Yeah, we should check on him," Frank reluctantly agreed. Rodney was the most likely suspect, he had to admit that, although seeing Robert there backstage was disturbing. And maybe Rodney had more of a motive than was apparent. "But it’s not a murder, Joe, so maybe your theories don’t hold water."

They continued the trek to the parking garage. Frank now had his arm draped about Megan’s shoulders, cuddling her close to him as they walked. Joe and Vanessa were slightly ahead of them, swinging their linked hands. They came to the last crosswalk, and started across the street, for the signal was flashing "walk…walk…walk" continuously.

Halfway across, Frank looked up, alerted by a sudden sense of impending peril. Headlights glared, bathing them in a flood of light, and he heard the roaring engine and squealing tires of a rapidly-approaching car.

"MOVE!" Without further hesitation, Frank shoved Megan roughly forward towards Joe and Vanessa, as the car bore down on them….