"What do you think YOU’RE doing – oh, hey!"

Frank felt the hands gripping him loosen abruptly. "You’re the guy working for Captain Lee! Sorry about that." The guard stepped back, allowing Frank to straighten up.

"Do you always jump on people looking at their own cars?" Frank demanded hotly, and roughly shoved the man away. The nagging feeling that his locker had been tampered with, the threatening note left inside the Saturn, followed by this further unprovoked attack, culminated in what was the verge of a temper tantrum for the elder Hardy.

"I’m sorry, really!" the guard repeated, raising his arms and spreading his hands outward. "I just was coming back to the guard shack from a break, and I saw you fussing around with the door – I didn’t recognize you, in this dim light, and I thought it was someone breaking into a car!" He shuffled nervously. "I could get in trouble for this…I’m real sorry, honest!"

Faced with the man’s evident contrition, Frank felt his anger drain away. "It’s okay. I was just checking the door lock. I’ve been having trouble with it; it keeps sticking, for some reason." He was reluctant to mention that his car had been broken into; right now he just wanted to get away from the base and get back to the bed-and-breakfast, where he could rest, and think. "Don’t worry about it; you were right to interfere, if you thought someone was breaking into it."

He opened the car door and got in. The guard, still muttering apologies, sheepishly retreated towards his little shelter. Frank started the motor, fastened his seat belt, and exited the parking lot. As he drove towards the B & B, he glanced down at the note lying on the passenger seat. Who could have left it – and why?

*****

When the two brothers met a short time later, they settled into Joe’s room to compare notes. Frank lay down on Joe’s bed, while Joe flopped into a squishily-upholstered armchair nearby. The younger Hardy related his meager findings first.

"We don’t know much more than we did before, about the lighter." Joe concluded sourly. "Apparently, it’s old, which makes it nearly impossible to trace." he added in disgust. "I find it hard to believe that someone who had it engraved fifty years ago could be the one who strangled Hurd Applegate! The guy would be nearly as old as Hurd!"

Frank snickered softly at the image that produced, then sobered. "It might be a relative, though—" he suggested. "A son of whoever originally owned the lighter, possibly – a brother – a cousin…."

"Also," Joe continued, "I phoned Con, and asked him to run our ‘friend’s’ plate. He said he’d trace it, and get back to us later with the results."

"That’s cool." Frank nodded.

"Let’s hear about your day," Joe encouraged him, now. Frank told him about genial Captain Lee, about surly Corporal Chris Walker, and how he’d managed to get on the captain’s good side with one simple print job. He mentioned that he’d been working with the personnel files all afternoon, exactly what they’d wanted. And only then did he tell Joe about the disquieting things which had happened at the end of the day.

"…I just had this funny feeling that my locker had been messed with. Maybe someone didn’t actually get into it, but I think they tried. And then when I got into the Saturn – well, this was lying on the passenger seat."

Frank fished the notebook page from his pocket. He’d considered trying to keep it clean, for fingerprints, but realized that matching prints to someone at the Military Police base would be an insurmountable task. He handed it to his brother, who examined it carefully, frowning in concentration.

"It was inside the car?" Joe verified. "And you didn’t leave a window down, or anything?"

"Inside," Frank confirmed. "And the windows were all shut. I couldn’t help thinking about my missing car keys….I tried to check and see if the lock looked like it had been jimmied – but I sort of got interrupted."

He went on to tell Joe about the over-zealous gate guard who had accused him of trying to break into his own car. Joe’s frown deepened upon hearing of this attack on his brother, but by now Frank could see the funny side of the situation. "You should see your face, Joe! – It’s okay, he was really apologetic, and it’s nice to know there’s someone watching out for that sort of thing."

"He couldn’t have been watching out very well," Joe grumbled. "since someone obviously did get into your car."

"Well, my cover may be blown," Frank admitted. "But it’s the only lead we’ve got, so I don’t really have much choice about going back."

"Let’s go out and grab some dinner somewhere," Joe proposed.

"Sounds fine to me." Frank replied. "And when we come back, I want to start going over the information I mailed to my laptop."

*****

True to his word, Frank set to work when they returned from having dinner. He downloaded the files he had sent himself, then sat perusing them intently. Joe came and stood behind him, reading over his shoulder.

"What are you going to do?" he inquired.

"Well, first I’m going to compare the names on this list to the ones in that one—" Frank glanced over his shoulder and grinned a little. "—and then this one – and then this one…." He ducked Joe’s mock swing. "I want to see who all has been on more than one of these tours of duty. And then I’m going to compare the dates of the duty tours to the dates of the murders in the files Con gave us."

Suddenly, Joe’s phone began to ring from the bedside table. "Speaking of Con!" Frank joked.

Joe flipped open the phone and held it to his ear. "Hey, Con."

Frank watched as Joe nodded into the mouthpiece, adding the occasional "uh-huh" of understanding, then following that up with considerable sighing and rolling of eyes. Eventually he finished the call: "Thanks for trying, Con – it’s pretty much what we expected."

"No luck?" Frank inquired, as Joe returned his phone to the table.

"Nope. The car was purchased at a second-hand car lot in New York a few weeks ago, but the dealer didn’t look too closely at the guy’s ID – which turns out was false!"

Frank grimaced. "Foiled again!"

"At every turn," Joe agreed, and perched on the foot of the bed where he was still able to see the laptop’s screen. "So, let’s see the list of suspects, then." he said positively.

If Frank had had his printer, they would have gotten faster results; as it was, they had to write lists down by hand for comparison. An hour and a half later, Frank wasn’t the only one with a headache, but they had succeeded in narrowing the list of personnel down once again – now perhaps 40 names stared up at the Hardys.

They had hoped that by comparing the murder dates with the tours of duty, they could limit the names even further, but the time spans were too large to be conclusive. There was just too much latitude in the time frames.

Frank was, nevertheless, satisfied with the evening’s work. "Tomorrow I’ll check the detailed records of these guys." he decided. "Maybe there will be something that will correspond with those ‘T A’ initials in their personnel files."

The Hardys then took a short break, and used their cell phones to call Megan and Vanessa. The conversations weren’t extended, but both young men felt that touching base with the girls was important. Vanessa was staying at the Hardy home with Laura that night, so after he spoke to his girlfriend, Joe briefly talked with his mother. Mrs. Hardy assured him that she was fine, and that she had once again spoken to their father.

Frank returned to Joe’s room, after finishing his call, and began packing up his laptop.

"Tomorrow," Joe offered, as Frank was closing down the programs and preparing to go to his own room. "I’m going to go to work with you – not onto the base, don’t worry! – but I’m going to hang around close. I’m going to keep an eye on your car, and see if anyone messes with it."

Frank considered it for a moment, but could see no harm in the proposal. "Okay, that sounds good. But you’ll get awfully bored." he warned his brother.

"I might as well be bored watching your car as be bored sitting here and not accomplishing anything." Joe responded dryly. "And you never can tell when you might need someone to watch your back, big brother."

Frank chuckled, his dark eyes twinkling. "You don’t think I’ll be safe, tucked inside an MP base?" he teased.

Joe elevated an eyebrow. "Someone put that note in your car."

Frank nodded slowly. "Point taken."

*****

The next morning, the Hardys planned their departure carefully. They didn’t want to run the risk of being tailed again. Joe went for a brisk walk about the neighborhood, via the fire escape, while Frank was still finishing breakfast, keeping a sharp eye out for the battered Buick they had seen before. Seeing no sign of it or their lurker, he hastened back to the B & B, and signaled Frank.

Shortly thereafter, the Saturn pulled into traffic with Frank again at the wheel. Both of them watched closely for a possible tail, but they finally decided that they’d managed a clean getaway.

"I sure wonder what that guy is so interested in us for?" Joe speculated as they drove to the MP base. "You know, Frank I’m sure he’s the one I saw under the trees, the first night."

"Oh come on, now—" Frank began to protest, then paused, considering the possibilities. "Well, maybe there was someone there, after all."

"I know someone was there!" Joe insisted, not for the first time. "And I want to know why he’s following me around!"

"Well, it can’t be because of your good looks," Frank said, glancing sideways at his brother. "With that beard half-grown in, you look like a fairly-well-dressed tramp. And the hat doesn’t help!" he added.

Joe defensively settled his ‘lucky’ hat more securely on his head. "I don’t make remarks about your clothes!" he protested. "And it’s lucky, I tell you!"

"Whatever." Frank pulled the Saturn over to the curb. "We’re a block away from the base; I’m going to kick you out here."

"Okay." Joe opened the door. "You say there’s a little restaurant across the street? I’ll hang out there. Come and meet me for lunch, if nothing else happens between now and then."

"All right." Frank put the car in gear as Joe slammed the car door shut and stepped back, waving. He drove off, leaving his brother to walk the rest of the distance.

This being Monday morning, traffic was much heavier on the streets of Bayport, and the amount of activity at the military police base was increased tenfold. When Frank pulled into the driveway, he was merely one of a line of cars entering the base. He inched his way up to the barrier at the guard house, and held up his ID card so that the guard – not the same man who had been there the day before – could check it.

The guard read the name, checked his list, and pushed the button to raise the bar. "Go right on in, Mr. Harris." he said. Frank nodded his appreciation, and drove into the parking lot. Remembering Joe’s intention to keep an eye on his car, Frank parked the Saturn as close to the street as possible, rather than near the buildings. I guess that’s my sacrifice today, his thought ran, as he walked across the parking lot. I get to hike just so that Joe can watch my car!

Captain Lee was there ahead of him, and greeted the elder Hardy with great cordiality. With some misgivings, Frank took his jacket down to the locker room, and left his car keys in the pocket. He didn’t relish the idea of leaving them there as bait, somehow.

Returning to the office, Frank settled into his little cubicle and set to work on the personnel files again. He would slip his own private task into the middle of the morning’s work, he decided, and concentrated on doing as good a job as possible of updating files. However, he subconsciously noted files that included persons with the initials ‘T A,’ intending to go back later and check them more thoroughly.

When he finally managed to run his search, he was elated with his findings, for from the list of approximately 40 people he and Joe had compiled the previous evening, he had now reduced the names to 23. Frank made note of these suspects, and then returned to his "real" job, for he was very aware that Captain Lee might pop in and visit at any time!

Joe, meanwhile, had walked the distance to the MP base, and located Frank’s car, parked near the outermost fence. He grinned a little; Frank would probably tell him off for making him park so far away from the buildings. But I need to see his car! the younger brother told himself, virtuously.

He made his way to the little restaurant across the street, and entered. It was fairly crowded, and most of the people were in uniform, evidently workers from the base. In his "civvies" and baseball cap, Joe felt decidedly out of place, but brazened it out. He purchased a newspaper, secured a small table near the front window, and ordered a cup of coffee. He knew this wouldn’t keep him occupied for too long, but just then he couldn’t face another breakfast; Mrs. Bennett’s French toast and sausages were still heavy on his stomach.

*****

A couple of hours – and three cups of coffee – later, his newspaper read from front page to the last section of the classified ads, Joe glanced out the window for at least the twentieth time. The restaurant had cleared out by now; all the breakfasters having left for work, and persons on coffee break not yet having arrived. As he gazed thoughtfully at the base parking lot, Joe saw a slender young man walking purposefully toward the black Saturn parked next to the fence. Immediately his senses went on alert, and he watched the man sharply.

Glancing about nervously, the stranger checked the doors of Frank’s car, then leaned close to the driver’s side door, evidently doing something with the lock. Joe couldn’t decipher what that might be, but he had seen enough. Pulling his cell phone from his jacket pocket, he called Frank.

"Bro? There’s a guy sniffing around your car…better check it out!"

"Thanks." Frank said briefly, and cut the connection. Quickly getting to his feet, the elder Hardy hurried from his cubicle towards the elevators.

I hope I’m quick enough to catch him! – whoever it is! He realized that Joe would be keeping an eye on things, though, and wouldn’t hesitate to move in, if he thought it was necessary. Impatiently, Frank tapped his foot while waiting for the elevator car to arrive and take him to the ground floor.

When he reached the front entrance, Frank slipped outside the building and stealthily made his way along the edge of the parking lot towards where he had left his car. To his utter surprise and high irritation, he saw that the person standing there was none other than Corporal Chris Walker!

What is he doing there? Thoroughly angry now, Frank broke into a quick jog, and before the corporal realized what was occurring, the elder Hardy had come upon him, seized his shoulder and whirled him around, forcing him back against the car – using the exact same maneuver the gate guard had used on him the previous day.

"Hey! What the—" Walker began to protest, then stopped abruptly when he saw who was holding him.

"What are you doing to my car?" Frank demanded hotly but quietly, purposely using his full height to loom menacingly above the smaller man, in as intimidating a manner as he could manage. Unblinking, his brown eyes pierced into Walker’s blanching face.

"Nothing! I’m not doing anything to it!" the corporal denied, but his eyes shifted nervously from side to side, and he didn’t meet Frank’s accusing stare. "Leave me alone; I’m not doing anything!"

Behind him, Frank heard running feet. Still keeping a firm grip on Walker, he risked a hasty glance over his shoulder, and saw the man who had been in the gate guardhouse rapidly approaching.

"What’s going on here? What’s the problem?" the man shouted as he ran up.

"This twit’s messing around with my car." Frank told him, giving Walker a little shake.

"I didn’t do anything to it!" Chris Walker whined. "He’s just—" He broke off as Frank released his shoulders only to grab his right wrist and yank it up. Clutched tightly in his hand was a familiar set of keys – Joe Hardy’s set of keys, easily identifiable by the tiny gold dolphin Vanessa had brought him from Hawaii, and by the fact that his Aztek key was also there.

"Those keys were in my jacket pocket, in my locker." Frank accused. "What are you doing with them? How did you get them?"

"I – well, I—"

The gate guard was using his walkie-talkie now, apparently calling for backup. Corporal Walker shrank away from his captor, but Frank kept a tight hold on his wrist. In just a minute or two, two burly MP’s arrived, followed by Captain Lee himself. The captain, for once, wasn’t smiling. His cold gaze traveled over the little scene.

"Go back to your post, Harper," he brusquely instructed the gate guard. "Mr. Harris, Corporal Walker, what’s the meaning of this?"

"I always knew you were trouble, Chris." The guard muttered as he turned to leave.

Walker looked at the ground, refusing to meet his commanding officer’s eyes. Frank explained that he had been suspicious of his locker being opened, and how he had found the threatening note the day before; and then stated that Corporal Walker was in possession of his set of car keys. Captain Lee listened impassively to the recital.

"Well, Walker, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked, finally.

Chris Walker raised his head, glaring hotly at Frank. "I was supposed to have that job!" he spat. "You just waltz in off the street, and take a job I’ve been working up to for months!" Frank opened his mouth to explain that he was only going to be there a week, but Walker rushed on. "You think you’re so great, with all that computer stuff! Well, I figured if you found a warning in your car, you might think twice about staying here!"

"All right, that’ll do. Take him inside and put him in a detention cell." Captain Lee signaled to the MP’s gripping the corporal’s arms, and they started moving toward the building, escorting their prisoner between them. Then the captain turned to Frank. "Mr. Harris – Andy – I regret this deeply. I had no idea Corporal Walker felt so possessive about that position."

"It’s only a week’s job experience—" Frank felt inexplicably guilty.

"That makes no difference," Captain Lee said curtly. "Make sure he didn’t do anything to damage your car, Mr. Harris, and then let’s get inside and—" he sighed, "—start filling out the paperwork."