"What are we looking for?" Joe asked, scrolling down the page. "Ouch. Look at this serial killer from Holland. This guy would force his victims to dip their arms and legs in acid, and later on when half their bodies were rotting away, he’d force acid down their throats." Joe winced. If he thought the Bayport serial killer was cruel then this one was a beast.

"He’s been sentenced to death, hasn’t he?" Frank said, his eyes rapidly skimming down a thick file. "I think I read something about the Acid Guy somewhere in the papers." Frank had just finished reading about a woman in Connecticut who had a habit of poisoning her new husbands on their wedding days. So far she’d managed to do away with six young grooms before she was captured in the year 1996. And before that, he read about a serial killer in Pakistan who had cut up over a hundred little children to pieces before dissolving the body parts in barrels of acid. Frank was amazed to see there were so many colourful, different ways of killing people. You could make a catalogue out of all these various killing methods, he thought in horror. And it would be a very thick one.

"Yeah. So he couldn’t be him. And the MO’s different too."

"Hmm," Frank frowned. Both of the brothers had not had any luck so far although he’d been going through the huge pile of case files and Joe messing with the computer for hours.

"I think I’ve found something," Joe said, his blue eyes lighting up. Then he frowned. "Then again, maybe not…" Frank pushed the folder off his lap and rose. A few seconds later, he was standing behind Joe, reading what was on the screen over Joe’s shoulder. Frank’s eyes narrowed.

Joe’s frown deepened. "Dad even put a KIV beside it."

"Then it must be important." Frank raked a hand through his dark hair, wincing as the sore muscles of his healing jaw pulled. He’d deliberately avoided looking into the mirror this morning; the grimace on Joe’s face was enough a mirror as to how terrible he must have looked.

"Sweden?" Frank’s eyebrows rose. Joe nodded seriously. Joe scrolled down a little further. A group of scientists working for Jord|gubbe Korporation, a Swedish drug company, were found dead in hotels between Stockholm and Uppsala, about 100 miles from Stockholm in late year 2000. The modus operandi of the killer was eerily similar in nature to the Bayport killer. All 6 scientists were kidnapped one by one and most of them were found several days later with various cut and stab wounds all over their bodies and some of their body parts severed. Then the killings mysteriously stopped. The perpetrator was never found.

The murders started approximately after the exchange students arrived. "Could it be a coincidence?" Joe asked himself silently.

Frank was asking himself the same thing. Could Craig Henderson be behind this? Crossing his arms against his chest, Frank tried hard to remember the two nights he had been attacked in a row. It had been the same guy, he was sure of it. Frank had only seen Craig once during lunch. Craig was about the same height, and he was quite muscular too, Frank thought.

"Joe, where did Craig sit in class?"

"Two seats in front of Tessa and she sits next to me."

Far enough, Frank thought, a little disappointed. But he decided to ask anyway. "Have you ever noticed the perfume he wore or whether he’d ever worn any at all?"

Joe stared at Frank as if he was crazy. "Frank, it has never been my favourite pastime to go around sniffing every new guy’s armpits and I don’t intend to start anytime soon. What sort of a question is that?"

"An educational one." Joe frowned after Frank had finished telling him what he’d noticed when the guy kidnapped him and about Craig being a suspect.

"How can he be a suspect? He’s been kidnapped himself," Joe argued.

"True. But we don’t know that for sure, do we? You’ve got to understand how the mind of a serial killer works, Joe. The modus operandi is like a trademark. A killer is very proud of it, sometimes too proud. And when we find similar cases like this, it is important to look at it from every angle."

"So that means you are also putting Tessa on the list of suspects?" Joe asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Calm down," Frank said, aware of his brother’s fast-growing temper. "You never learn, do you, Joe? We’ve got to think of all the possible alternatives and then we’ll cross them off one by one. That’s how we always work."

"Doesn’t mean I have to like it," Joe snapped. He knew Frank was right but why was it that every time he liked a girl, there would be something about her that Frank found amiss. For a second, Joe thought about Vanessa. A mixture of sadness and anger and pain immediately washed over him, getting stronger and stronger by the second. He still had strong feelings for Vanessa; that one fact would never change. But Joe honestly couldn’t bring himself to admit that Tessa was not a part of his life right now.

"Don’t get me wrong, Joe. Tessa seems like a nice girl, but I don’t think we know her well enough to cross her off yet. And besides, this is just an idea. At least, we’re getting somewhere."

Joe sighed, pushing his blond bangs out of his eyes. Then he perked up when a beep suddenly emanated from the speakers.

"Dad’s sent us a message."

Joe clicked on the mini envelope indicating one new message on the screen. Fenton Hardy’s message quickly appeared on the monitor.

"Guess you were wrong after all, Frank." Joe said in a hushed voice. Their father had told them that Craig Henderson’s body had been found in Middle Grove Hotel downtown earlier that morning, with over 18 stab wounds all over his body.

Frank straightened up, feeling more confused than ever. Back to square one, he thought feeling a wave of frustration and foreboding crash over him. They were at a dead end and Frank didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

A gloved hand reached inside the drawer and slowly took out a syringe. Next came out a small vial filled with a clear liquid.

The sharp end of the needle plunged into the vial, and with quickly the clear liquid ran up and filled the syringe. Cold eyes gloated at the sight of the bubbling and gassy liquid as if it was the drink of life itself. But it was much, much more precious than that.

Placing the tip against one arm, with one fluid motion, a finger pressed on the depressor. A deep sigh of satisfaction could be heard as the last of the crystal-clear liquid disappeared into the vein. Suddenly lost in a swirl of bright, resplendent colours, the effects were more that what had been expected, and the ecstasy was as intoxicating as ever. It was pure bliss.

"I can’t believe this, Joe," Tessa wept, her tear-streaked face stricken with grief and disbelief. "How could this have happened?" Her lower lips trembled as an image of her childhood friend played across her mind. Oh Craig, she wept inside. She couldn’t believe he was dead.

Joe and Tessa were sitting on the Reids’ porch. When Joe had broken the news earlier to her she had instantly broken down and Joe was beginning to wonder if he should have just let the police break it to her. Too late for that now, Hardy, Joe thought guiltily as he rubbed slow circles on Tessa’s back in the vain attempt to comfort her. But the pain in her heart wouldn’t go away, pestering and provoking more tears to her eyes.

"It’s okay, Tessa…please don’t cry…"

"He was just a 17 year-old boy, Joe. He had so much to live for," Tessa said tearfully and turned her blotched face away. "If we hadn’t come to America, all this wouldn’t have happened. Craig would still be alive."

Joe felt very bad indeed. All the exchange students wanted was a chance to feel, to learn, to experience what living in the States was all about. Their intentions were good and harmless, and now what’s left of their hopes and expectations? Nothing.

"I am so, so sorry, Tessa. I never thought it would be like this," Joe said gently. "This must be very hard for you."

Tessa sniffed. Swallowing hard, she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. But no matter how hard she tried; the tears couldn’t seem to stop. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Craig. Every time she forced herself to calm down, the feeling of helplessness and terror would hit her full-force all over again.

"Every night I’ve prayed since Craig went missing that he would come back safely." Tessa’s face crumpled. Pain-filled brown eyes locked gazes with sympathetic blue ones. "Guess I should have prayed harder."

Joe stared deep into her eyes. He remembered perfectly well that the first thing that had attracted him to her was how much she looked like Iola. But now after spending a lot of time with Tessa, he realized that Tessa was special; so special that Joe couldn’t convince himself that it was not a coincidence that had united them; it was fate. Tessa was kind, gentle, caring and more importantly she understood him. And that was an attribute that he’d been looking for in a girl for a long, long time. She had helped him a lot and not just in his studies. Tessa had helped him a hell of a lot more than that.

"When we first came here, he was the only one I had, Joe. I knew no one. And then I met you. And now he’s g-g-" Tessa choked on her words. With a sob, Tessa buried her face in her hands and cried harder.

Joe scooted closer to her and slowly he wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders. Her tense muscles loosened up at last and she flung her slender arms around Joe’s neck, bringing herself closer, at last losing herself in Joe’s embrace.

Closing his eyes, Joe breathed in deeply, and tightened his arms around her, completely ignoring the warnings from somewhere deep in his heart. It took a couple of minutes until Tessa’s sobs subsided. She drew back. Silently, Joe lowered his head and kissed her.

"I can’t believe we’re doing this again," Joe muttered as he looked from left to right. The corridor was deserted. He raised his hand and Frank ran silently from the opposite side of the hall.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Tell me why we’re doing this again?"

"Because we want to get the report on Craig Henderson’s death." Frank whispered. He tested the knob on the door of the coroner’s office. They were in luck. It wasn’t locked.

"And we want to get the report because?"

Because we want to get as much detail as we can on these deaths. We could stumble upon clues."

Joe nodded. Then he frowned. He followed his brother into the dark coroner’s office. "I still don’t get it. He died the same way like the previous kids. How could his death be any different?"

Frank sighed and stared at his brother in exasperation. "Joe, those other five kids were found only a day prior to their deaths. But how come Craig’s body was found three days, three LONG days after he went missing? Don’t you think that’s strange? He should have been found way sooner before that. Now shut up and guard the door."

"As if anyone’s going to come. The coroner’s out of town remember? The assistant told us over the phone."

"Exactly the reason why I want you to guard the door. He’s out of town so there should be no one snooping around in his office right?"

"We shouldn’t even BE snooping around in his office," Joe retorted, shaking his head. Then he gestured to Frank impatiently. "Go on, get the report. We don’t have all day." He sneaked a glance at the morgue door. The door was closed. Thank God, Joe thought. No corpse slabs in sight. That means no corpse slab door swinging open by itself. No mottled, decaying corpse hand reaching out. Thank God for doors.

"Are you done yet?" Joe said impatiently. He was supposed to pick Tessa up 15 minutes ago before Frank sweet-talked him into committing another breaking and entering to add to his record.

"Just a minute," Frank said, scrutinizing the open report on the desk. Joe watched as his brother went still for a second, his eyes going wide as he stared down at the file.

"What is it, Frank? What’s the matter?"

"What?"

"Yeah. They found traces of an unknown drug in his blood. The report says that they are still doing some tests on it, trying to figure out what kind of drug it might be. But basically Craig died of a number of stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. By the time they got there, he had already lost enough blood to fill a bathtub."

"That’s what the report says?" Joe winced.

"No, I made that up." Frank breathed in deeply. "I wonder what Craig was taking? Was he under medication of some sort?"

"I don’t know," Joe said truthfully. He stared out the windshield of their van. "But I don’t think so. If he were, they would have found out what kind of drug it was."

Frank nodded in agreement. He didn’t like the way the investigation was going at all. There were too many hidden clues. Too many loopholes. Lots of things seemed to be related; but they could all be purely coincidental for all he knew. For one second Craig seemed like a possible suspect. But you kind of automatically change your mind about that when your suspect turns up dead, Frank thought dryly. Could the drug found in Craig be connected to the Swedish drug company with the murdered scientists? Could it be that the person who murdered all these high school kids be the same person who committed those murders in Sweden back in 2000? Why them? Why here?

Ugh, Frank thought inwardly. He was genuinely baffled and judging by the expression on Joe’s face he knew that his brother was every bit as clueless as he was. A whole day had passed without any attempts on his life and Frank was starting to wonder if these murders had stopped. He hoped they had. He prayed they had.

"What!!" Tessa gasped. "Craig would never do that!" Then her face turned red with anger. "Joe Hardy, don’t you dare accuse him of-"

"Calm down, Tessa. I’m not accusing him of anything. In fact, I’m sure Craig had never touched any of that stuff when he was alive," Joe said, laying a reassuring hand over hers. They were sitting in the van after going out for a late dinner at one of the local cafes after a particularly tiring Physics study session. "I just wanted to ask you if Craig was taking some sort of medication or something because you knew him well, and I thought you’d probably know."

"Hmm," Tessa said, frowning. At last she shook her head. "No, I don’t think so."

Joe tried not to look disappointed. "Are you sure?"

Tessa tried hard to remember. "Yes, I’m positive. Craig had never mentioned anything about taking any sort of medication to me. In fact I don’t remember him ever telling me if he had any illness or conditions."

Joe’s blue eyes narrowed. "Then the only way that drug would enter Craig’s bloodstream is if the killer had injected him with it."

Tessa nodded unhappily. "Poor Craig. He must have been so scared…"

Tessa leaned her hand on Joe’s shoulder and Joe placed a protective hand firmly against the side of her head, both of them lost in thought. Tessa then snuggled closer against Joe’s chest, grateful for the warmth he provided.

"This is cosy," she murmured. She had never felt this way about a guy before. Being in Joe Hardy’s arms always made Tessa feel safe and secure; her problems and worries melted away just like that. Just looking into those mysterious depths of ocean-blue eyes sent a shiver down her spine. She was falling in love.

Maybe coming to America wasn’t such a bad idea after all, Tessa thought dreamily. Then she froze. What am I thinking?

Then slowly she disentangled herself from Joe’s embrace, but still keeping one hand around Joe’s, squeezing it lightly. "Joe, I have something to tell you."

Joe stared down at her upturned face, her features soft and alluring in the dim light of the street light. A frown creased his handsome face. "What is it?"

"I’m leaving. I’m leaving America."

"Hey Frank."

"Hey, Vanessa? What are you doing here?" Frank asked awkwardly.

Vanessa Bender stood at the door, a serious expression framing her beautiful face. Frank certainly didn’t expect Joe’s former girlfriend to come visit. At this late an hour too, he thought.

"Is Joe here?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

"No, he’s not. He’s-out," Frank said hesitantly, unsure of what to say. Apparently Joe himself didn’t know she was coming or else he would have informed him. And Frank would have thought of something else to say to her except that Joe was out with Tessa McCaffrey. He stared at her intently; hoping to see some reaction, hoping to get some indication as to Vanessa might want to see Joe for. To make up? To dump him officially? To ask for a second chance?

"Oh, good," Vanessa said, sounding relieved. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you."

Frank couldn’t believe his ears. She didn’t come here to see his brother as he had thought. Hell, she didn’t even ask where Joe was! "Uh, sure. Come in."

"Can I get you anything? A soda perhaps?"

"No, thanks. I-I have a very important thing to tell you." Vanessa sounded nervous. She never struck Frank as the nervous type and to see her as anxious as this automatically switched on his danger sensors.

"What is it? And why don’t you want Joe to hear it?" Frank asked, sitting across her, propping his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

"It’s about Craig Henderson."

"I’ll miss you." A lump rose in Joe’s throat as he said those words. He couldn’t believe that she was leaving. He couldn’t believe that he was going to let her slip away from him just like that. The light from the Reids’ driveway shone across her face, creating an ethereal aura of incredible beauty around her. Suddenly Joe couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. Not after Iola.

"I’ll miss you too," Tessa said tenderly, gazing into his eyes. Joe could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes.

How true. It had only taken Joe a minute to fall in love with her. He had loved her the moment she held out her hand and said her name.

"I-I’d better go," Tessa said, smiling sadly. "I have an early flight back to Sweden tomorrow."

"Okay." Joe hesitated a little. Then he lowered his head slowly. At first Tessa gave in to the kiss; she even kissed him back a little. Then he felt a firm hand on his chest.

"No." Tessa pushed Joe away from her gently. Her face crumpled at the crest-fallen look on Joe’s face. "Please don’t make this any harder for me, Joe…"

Don’t go, Joe begged silently. Stay. I want you to stay.

"Do you really have to go?" Joe asked, clenching his fingers tightly by his side.

"I can’t do anything about it. The embassy told me this morning. They want me to leave as soon as possible because it’s-not-" Tessa faltered.

Safe, Joe answered silently. Breathing in deeply, Joe lowered his head, casting his eyes down to the ground.

"I understand," he whispered at last.

Tessa managed a wan smile. "It’s been nice knowing you, Joe Hardy."

Joe shook his head, smiling slightly himself. "No. It’s been nice knowing YOU, Tessa McCaffrey. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. I owe you."

"You owe me nothing." Tessa stood on tiptoe to give him a last kiss on the cheek. She squeezed his arms lightly. "Take care."

"You too." And Joe watched as she walked slowly up the driveway. He watched as she threw one last look over her shoulder. He watched as she walked up to the door. And he watched as the door closed behind her.

Joe turned and walked back to the van, his gaits slow and unsteady. He was crushed. This is not fair, he thought angrily. She could have been happy here if it wasn’t for-

Joe didn’t have the chance to finish his train of thought when suddenly a sharp, piercing scream pierced through the silence of the night. And the terrified scream had come from the house.

"Tessa!!!!!!!!"

Joe bolted up the driveway and barged in through the unlocked door. He stood in pitch-black for a second, his heart pounding so fast it felt like bursting. Adrenaline coursed through him as he squinted in the dark, aware of the unnerving silence. The silence was deafening after such a scream.

"Tessa?" He called out hesitantly. He took a step forward. "Tessa, are you alright?"

His heart pounded faster as he narrowed his eyes. His vision was getting accustomed to the dark. Is that a body I see? Joe neared the dark lump of a figure on the far end of the Reids’ living room. "Tessa?" he called out again fearfully.

Suddenly Joe felt something prick his neck. "Ouch!!"

He reached a trembling hand and at last his fingers enclosed around a small cylinder stuck deep into the side of his neck. A dart, he thought fuzzily. And all of a sudden, Joe couldn’t breathe.

Gasping, Joe dropped to his knees. He blinked rapidly a few times, trying to clear his blurring vision. The whole room was spinning; and his lungs were screaming for air. Someone help me, Joe thought frantically, clutching his throat as he dropped weakly to the floor on all fours. I can’t breathe. Oh God I can’t breathe.

Black spots danced in front of his eyes. Joe collapsed on the floor as the last of his strength gave out. His whole body was shutting down. Tessa, he thought through the clumps of wool stuffing his brains. Don’t take her. Please, don’t take h-

Then Joe Hardy’s world went black.