"Yes! Yes!" Frank and his friends were on their feet shouting and cheering for Danny Melman, the man who had just sank a basket, breaking the tie, and leading the Bayport Raiders to victory.

"That was an awesome game!" Chet enthused as people started leaving the gymnasium.

"You're not kidding," Callie agreed, her hand going to her forehead.  "Scoring almost every other shot like that.  I was getting dizzy trying to keep up with the score."

"Close ones are the best ones," Phil agreed, standing up now that most of the people had already exited.

"I guess Callie and I will wait outside while you guys talk to Greg," Iola said to Frank.

"We'll all wait outside for Frank," Phil said.  Biff, Chet, and Tony looked mutinous, but Phil quickly explained.  "Frank wants information and he's not going to get any if we all burst into the locker rooms and scare Greg half to death."

Frank grinned gratefully at Phil before leaving his friends and heading toward the area where the locker rooms were located.  Slipping inside, he saw Greg sitting on a bench, lacing up his sneakers.  "Hi," Frank said, going over to stand by him.

Greg looked up at Frank.  "You're not allowed in here," he said in a deep baritone which took Frank by surprise.

"I know, I'm sorry," Frank told the six foot five inch, blond-headed, blue-eyed, lean young man.  "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

"Are you a reporter?" Greg demanded, his eyes narrowing at Frank suspiciously.

"Actually, I'm a detective," Frank admitted.

"What do you want with me?" Greg asked, still eyeing Frank warily.

"A friend of my brother's has been arrested for killing Devon Miller," Frank informed Greg.  "We don't think he's guilty."

"I didn't do it!" Greg shouted at Frank angrily, standing up.  "The cops questioned me when it happened.  I was in Mexico with my parents."

"Easy," Frank soothed.  "No one is accusing you.  I just wanted to know where you held your tutorial sessions with Devon and if you ever heard anyone argue with him?  Maybe, you even saw someone hanging around him who you thought didn't belong in the area?"

Greg sat back down, a thoughtful look on his face.  Frank took a seat beside him and waited for Greg to speak.

Greg sat quietly until the last two members of the team, besides himself, had left, then he turned to look at Frank.  "Devon tutored me in the park," he told Frank.  "So there were lots of people hanging around.  I never heard him argue with anyone, but..."

"But?" Frank inquired as Greg's voice trailed off.

"He never got along with his step-father or his mom," Greg continued.  "We would take breaks every now and then and talk or just hit the swings.  He never said much about his stepfather, but every time I would mention his dad he would practically snap my head off.  'Stepfather!' he always shouted."

Greg paused, frowning.  "His step-father would come and pick him up.  Devon would never speak to him no matter how much Mr. Lenin tried to talk to him."

"Do you have any idea why Devon hated his step-father?" Frank asked.  Greg started to answer, hesitated, then shrugged.  "It's okay," Frank told Greg.  "I'm just asking for your opinion.  No one need ever know you even thought about it," he coaxed.

"Well, I think Mr. Lenin may have hurt Devon," Greg replied slowly.

"Why do you think that?" Frank inquired, his brown eyes searching.

"Devon always wore long sleeve shirts even though it was really hot at times.  He never wore short sleeves," Greg explained.

"You think he was hiding bruises?" Frank asked.  Greg nodded.

"Did Devon ever mention any problems he was having?" Frank asked.

Greg shook his head.  "Not that I can remember," he answered.

"How about a boy named Jim Barley?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Greg said, recognizing the name. "Devon talked a lot about Jim."

"What did he say about him?" Frank inquired.

"He said meeting Jim had changed his whole life.  He hadn't decided what to study once he got to college, but his mom and everyone else wanted him to be a scientist," Greg told Frank.  "But, Devon said after having met Jim, he wanted to teach kids like Jim."

"Ever hear of a Jeffery Thompson?" Frank asked.

"He was one of the guys at school who tried to hang around Devon," Greg answered, frowning at the memory.

"Tried?" Frank asked, picking up on Greg's tone.

"Devon thought Jeff just wanted to hang around him so he would give him the answers on his homework and let him cheat off him on tests," Greg explained.  "Devon wouldn't hear of it," he continued.  "Eventually, Jeff accepted Devon couldn't be used and he apologized.  Jeff kept trying to be friends with Devon, but they never really got close."

"I appreciate your time," Frank said, standing up and pulling a card and pen out of his pocket.  He wrote his home phone number and the van's phone number down.  "Give me a call if you can think of anything else?"  Greg agreed and Frank went outside to where his friends were waiting.

Outside, Frank told his friends about what Greg had said, omitting the part about Greg's suspicions of Devon's abuse.  Biff, Phil, and Tony got into Biff's van and headed back to Bayport.  Chet and Iola climbed in back of Callie's Nova, while Callie got behind the wheel and Frank took the passenger seat.

"I hope Joe had more luck," Iola said as Callie dropped her and Chet off at their farm on the outskirts of Bayport.

Callie then drove to her house and she and Frank headed inside for a cup of cocoa.  Before they had reached the front door, it opened and Mrs. Shaw stood on the threshold. 

"Frank," Mrs. Shaw said anxiously, her brown eyes worried.  "Your mother is on the phone.  She sounds frantic!"

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