Frank entered the house and went upstairs to look at the damage to his brother’s room. Apparently his mother had started cleaning it while they were at the Shaws but it was still a wreck. He gave a sigh and started cleaning, hoping that having something to do would take his mind off of Mr. Shaw and Joe. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working. After thirty minutes he was more worried than ever. He put on new sheets and a fresh pillowcase then topped it with a quilt and bedspread. Standing up straight, he surveyed the room noting that it was cleaner than it had been before Joe had left it yesterday.

He was just closing Joe’s bedroom door when he heard the front door downstairs. He raced down the steps. “Find out anything?” Frank inquired.

“I did,” acknowledged Fenton. “This coin shows the first design put forth by the state of New York. It was minted only to see what it would look like and when the design didn’t look as good as expected, the Statue of Liberty was chosen.”

“Why wasn’t that coin destroyed then?” asked Frank.

“The coins are collector’s items,” explained Fenton. “All the coins put out and rejected go on the auction block once a year. Most coins only bring in between five thousand and a half a million dollars.”

“But not that one?” asked Frank.

Fenton shook his head. “It actually went for a mere ten thousand,” he said. “But after the disaster on September eleventh the coin’s value increased drastically and it was sold at another auction. It went for eight million dollars.”

Frank let out a low whistle. “How did these guys get hold of it?”

“It was stolen a week after it had been sold,” Fenton answered.

“And you had to give it to the authorities and now we have no bargaining chip,” Frank guessed his face falling.

“Not exactly,” Fenton denied. “The owner told me to give them the coin and get Joe back. And, once he is safe, we are to go after the thieves and get the coin back.”

“You’re kidding?” demanded Frank. “Who owns it?”

“Hurd Applegate,” Fenton informed Frank. “He insisted Joe was much more important,” he added, the same grateful smile he had exhibited when Mr. Applegate had told him reappearing on his face now.

Frank laughed. “That’s Mr. Applegate!” he exclaimed fondly. “I’m only surprised he didn’t insist on trying to help.”

“Luckily, Ezra cut him off before he could get that far,” Fenton said with a chuckle. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” he added, sobering up.

“What’s that?” Frank asked.

“We know how Joe got the coin, but how did Mr. Shaw?”

***

Joe groaned as he felt the skin on his wrist fold over and fresh blood crawl down his arm as he tried to work his hand free of the chain holding him. A low moan from Mr. Shaw brought Joe’s attention back to the man who was in such bad shape.

“You still hanging in there?” Joe asked, refusing to ask the classic stupid question.

Mr. Shaw opened his one good eye and looked at Joe warily. “He...he was lying, wasn’t he?” he begged of Joe.

“Of...” Joe started to agree but couldn’t lie to the man. “Look, when they grabbed you, they took your clothes...everything, and left a note saying you had fallen in love with your secretary and was going away with her.”

“I never...” Mr. Shaw gasped. His secretary?

“Your wife was very upset. She wanted to hurt you the way she had been hurt and I was there,” Joe explained.

“No more,” pleaded Mr. Shaw, not wanting to hear the sordid details.

“All she did was kiss me,” Joe continued. Mr. Shaw looked at Joe with an expression of hope. “She broke down crying and confessed how much she missed you. That’s all,” Joe stated firmly. He stopped and looked at him quizzically. “You said you never,” he observed.

“Of course not!” Mr. Shaw shouted as loud as he could. “I love Serena with all my heart. I could never do anything to hurt her.”

“You remember?” Joe realized, his eyes widening only to close as he winced in pain.

“Yes,” Mr. Shaw said. “I believe I do. I must have gotten my memory back when he hit me that last time. I think...I think they must be after the coin I found.”

“What coin?” asked Joe.

“At the hotel,” Mr. Shaw said, remembering like it was yesterday. “There was a quarter face up in the floor by the checkout. I picked it up for good luck,” he added with a sardonic grin as the irony of the situation hit him. “I didn’t have any other change on me. I always leave my change on the bureau in the bedroom at the end of each night and hadn’t spent any cash,” he explained. “And if they were after something in my clothes then that must be it.”

“But if it were so important, why would it be lying on the floor where anyone could get it?” wondered Joe.

Mr. Shaw frowned as he remembered something. “There were two officers in the lobby. Maybe they had the coin but got spooked because of the police and dropped it, planning to retrieve it when the police left.”

“But you got to it first,” Joe put in. “And were seen,” he added as his bloody wrist slid out of the manacle.

“Very good,” said Ralph coming into the lit basement and carrying a bag of burgers and a cardboard tray with two sodas. “We had a buyer there and we put the coin where it was supposed to be. The buyer was supposed to leave the money in a suitcase when he checked in but when the police arrived, he panicked and left. Mr. Shaw here took the coin before we could get it back.” He stopped speaking and looked at Joe who was trying to hide his free hand behind his back.

He heaved the drinks at the wall beside Joe and dropped the bag of burgers on the floor. “You think you can get away do you?” he snarled as he advanced on Joe.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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 original characters without express permission of the authors.