Becka squealed gleefully and hugged Frank. Frank hesitated briefly out of shock before hugging her back. "What next?" she asked.

Frank took a step back so Becka wouldn’t notice how his heart was racing. "Whittington has just become Suspect Number One. I wonder if he has a dressing room up here," Frank’s voice trailed off and he glanced down over the railing to see police officers in the wings. "We need to hurry, though." He turned to Becka. "You game?"

Becka smiled and nodded. "Tell me what to do."

Frank did, and the the two began searching. They already knew who three of the rooms belonged to, so they were able to skip those. It didn’t take long to find it.

"Bingo!" Frank whispered. He opened the door and the two slipped in. The room had several pictures of Whittington scattered around the room, and even more of a young man who appeared to be Whittington’s son, the one Kurt had told them about.

"What are we looking for?" Becka asked when the door was closed.

"I’m not entirely sure," Frank answered somewhat sheepishly. "Credit card receipts, anything with Clancy’s name on it, things like that."

Becka nodded. She sat down at a small desk in the corner of the room and began sifting through the drawers. Frank turned his attention to a locked briefcase sitting on a small sofa. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw it was not a combination lock. With the aid of his pocketknife, he had it open in under a minute.

Inside, Frank found sheet music galore, a baton, a notebook and quite a bit of loose notebook paper. He pulled the notebook out and flipped through it. All it contained was rehearsal notes. Frank put it back and turned his attention to the loose paper. More rehearsal notes.

When he was finished, he snapped the briefcase closed with a frustrated sigh. "Any luck?" he asked Becka.

"Maybe," she answered. "There’s a bunch of credit card receipts here for a local pharmacy. There’s also a book on poisons in the top drawer. I haven’t looked through it yet."

Frank moved over to the desk and pulled the book out. Several pages were marked with colored tabs. "If he’s the murderer, he certainly didn’t think he would get caught," Frank remarked.

Becka placed the receipts back where she’d found them, and was just about to open another drawer when Frank exclaimed "I found it!" She stood and leaned over his shoulder to see the page. Several passages were marked with a bright yellow highlighter, specifically how to administer the poison and what quantities to use to achieve different results.

"Chloral hydrate." Frank placed his finger on the symptom list. "It matches Clancy’s symptoms perfectly." At that moment, he caught a whiff of Becka’s perfume. It sent his head spinning at the wonderfulness of the scent and how well it suited her personality. "I love that scent," he said softly.

Becka looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you."

Frank returned the smile. He then found himself leaning over towards Becka, and their lips met in a soft kiss.

At just that moment, there was a loud knock on the door and the two quickly broke apart. They stood frozen as the door slowly opened. Becka gripped Frank’s hand tightly.

Frank breathed a sigh of relief when Joe and Vanessa stepped in. "You scared me half to death, Joe!" he hissed.

Joe held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry! Didn’t know you were in here. We thought you two got swallowed up by a black hole or something."

"Not exactly." Frank closed the book and put it back in the drawer. He was praying that his ears were not turning red. If Joe knew what he and Becka had been doing just now, the teasing would be merciless!

"Find anything?" Joe asked.

Frank nodded. "Let’s go someplace a little more safe though." He turned the lights off and the foursome went back downstairs to the little alcove they’d been using previously. They were safely tucked away from the police there and any prying eyes and ears. When they were settled, Frank pointed at Joe. "You first."

Joe and Vanessa both shook their heads. "Absolutely nothing," Vanessa answered.

"Now what did you find?" Joe prodded.

Frank and Becka both smiled. "Well," Frank began. "We caught Whittington coming out of Clancy’s dressing room with a half empty bottle of Sprite. Then we searched his dressing room and found credit card receipts for a local pharmacy and that book on poisons. The most interesting part is that the page for chloral hydrate is highlighted. And when that substance is dissolved, it is completely tasteless and odorless."

"So I was right!" Joe pumped his fist in the air.

Vanessa held a finger up. "Wait a minute. I just remembered something. What was the name of the pharmacy on those receipts?"

"Williams Medi-Thrift Drugs," Becka told her.

"If I remember correctly, Evan’s parents own that pharmacy."

Frank and Joe looked at each other. They were both convinced now that Whittington was the murderer. What if Evan Williams were his accomplice? And why? Had Evan supplied the poison?

"I think it’s time we give Evan Williams an interview," Frank announced.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.