“And this is...” Lyman broke off as Dr. Turner’s door opened and a quiet and obviously disturbed young man exited.  “Hello, Joe,” Lyman said, breaking off his former sentence to greet the boy.  “Joe Hardy is our newest patient,” Lyman informed the government inspector who had arrived almost as soon as the new orderly had left.

Joe glanced at the inspector, his thoughts elsewhere, then back to Lyman.  “Joe, this is Aaron Poe,” Lyman made the introduction.  “Mr. Poe is an inspector from the state health board and may be stopping in to talk with you a little later.”

Joe gave a nod of acknowledgement as Rimes came over and took his arm.  Lyman introduced Rimes and then he and Aaron Poe, aka Fenton Hardy, continued on their tour of the foundation.

***

“Do I have to go back to my room now?” asked Joe, looking at Rimes.  “It’s so boring.  Couldn’t I watch TV or something?”

“That will be okay,” Rimes agreed with a smile.  As long as Joe was in the common room he would be under surveillance by Nurse Redman and Mike Miller, another orderly who were serving their tour of duty at the dullest job in the complex.  “But you have to stay until I return for you,” Rimes added.  “Two and a half hours?” he asked, giving Joe plenty of time to find a movie to watch if he wanted.

Joe nodded and continued past his room to the common room with Rimes right behind him.  Yesterday, Joe had been too introspective to remember why he was there in the first place but he wasn’t going to let that happen again.  Pushing his session with Turner to the back of his mind, Joe started concentrating on the case at hand.  Namely, who had murdered Crystal Lane and why.

Joe entered the common room and went to sit down on one end of the sofa in front of the television.  A girl in her late teens sat at the other end, her eyes glued to the television screen as if it could provide some form of escape.  “Hi,” Joe  said after a few minutes of silence.  “I’m Joe.”

The girl turned to look at him, her green eyes sad in her sallow face.  “Brenda,” she said looking at him with veiled curiosity.  “I haven’t seen a boy in here before.”

Joe shrugged.  “I just got in Saturday,” he said, looking around briefly before turning his full attention back to her.  “I thought there would be more people here.”

“Not until after lunch,” Brenda said.  “That’s why I like to come in the mornings.”

“Nicer,” agreed Joe.  Brenda nodded then turned back to the television.

“How long have you been here?” asked Joe, wondering if she had known Crystal.

“Two months and four days,” Brenda answered with a grim set to her lips.

“They are really strict,” Joe commented with a slight twitch of his nose after she had fallen silent again.

“They ease up,” Brenda returned.

“All of them?” Joe pushed.  Although he knew Brenda wouldn’t have known Crystal, maybe she had noticed something about one or more of the people who worked there.

“As long as you do what you are told,” she confirmed.  “But watch out for Holden,” she added.  “He’s a bit...weird.”

“Weird, how?”

“I was talking to Bethany a couple of weeks ago and he went positively ballistic.  There was no reason for it either,” Brenda continued, frowning.  “I’m considered a low risk patient,” she explained.  “That means I don’t have to have constant supervision and can go pretty much anywhere except for areas designated for employees only as long as my weight doesn’t decline and I eat my meals like a good little girl,” she added sarcastically.  “Bethany is a moderate.  That means she can roam around some but still isn’t allowed to go to the bathroom or to meals without June or Stacey.”

“June and Stacey?” asked Joe, his left eye narrowing without his being aware.

“Two of the orderlies,” Brenda informed him.

“That’s funny,” Joe said.  “I’ve only seen male orderlies.”

“There are  a few of those,” acknowledged Brenda.  “But most of them are women.  They probably stuck you with the guys because you are one.”

“Makes sense,” Joe admitted.  “But Holden got mad because you were talking to Bethany?” he asked, steering the conversation back to where he wanted it.  Brenda bobbed her curly blond head.  “What were you talking about?”

“A friend of hers that died earlier this year,” she answered.  “Some girl named Crystal.”

“How did she die?” asked Joe.

“She puked her guts out,” Brenda answered.  Joe snorted.  “No, really.  Bethany said Crystal was doing great.  She was even going to get to go home but then the morning before she was to be released she started throwing up.  Bethany said Crystal was already throwing up blood before they took her to Bridgeport Memorial Hospital.”

“Crystal died at the hospital?” asked Joe.  “Not here?”

Brenda shrugged.  “Bethany said she could see her retching and shaking as the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.  She could have died before they got off the grounds.  I don’t know.”

“Bethany’s room has a window?” Joe asked, wondering if Bethany had been lying to Brenda.

“No,” Brenda answered.  “But you can see the entrance through the window near the nurse’s station.  She was watching from there.”

Joe frowned.  Something was definitely fishy because Charity had said the official report was that Crystal had killed herself.  And if Crystal was so close to being well then how did she manage to make herself so sick?  Just shoving your finger down your throat wouldn’t make you that sick unless you were too sick to leave in the first place, he thought.  She had to have been given something.   But what and by whom?  Holden?  He could easily have changed her medication, that is, if she were still on medication and her going home so soon.

Why had he been so upset about Bethany and Brenda talking about Crystal?  Surely, telling someone that someone else puked their guts out would be a good thing.  If someone died throwing up that would be a deterrent to someone else doing the same thing if they knew.  Wouldn’t it?  Brenda was right.  Holden was weird.  Or evil.  He would require watching. 

 

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.