"Joe, could the man Davis have let into the building been the one who knocked on your door?" Fenton asked, dropping his eyes to look at Joe. "Does the timing fit?"

"Yes." Joe replied without hesitation.

"Hm." Fenton reached forward and picked up the phone. Consulting a list of phone numbers, he punched one in, then sat back and waited.

"Mr. Doyle? Fenton Hardy." "Yes, they’re doing as well as can be expected, thank you for asking."

"Like he cares." Joe muttered, referring to his landlord, whom he’d always liked up until now. "He thinks I’m the one who attacked Vanessa."

"But he’s wrong." Frank said in a low voice so as not to disturb Fenton’s conversation. Frank was bound and determined to tell Joe that he did not stab Vanessa, every chance he got, hoping eventually Joe might start to believe it too.

"Yes." Fenton replied to a question, obviously attempting to end the conversation. "Okay. Thank you. I will. Goodbye." Hanging up the phone, he immediately began to dial again, at the same time relating what Doyle had said to Frank and Joe.

"Doyle said Collig already confiscated the security tapes. At least he’s considering the possibility there was someone else in the apartment." He smiled at Joe encouragingly. "Hopefully, he’ll let us take a look at the tapes, too."

The conversation with Chief Collig was brief and to the point. He readily agreed to let the Hardy’s come down to the police station and look at the tapes the following day. The images weren’t clear, showing an average looking man dressed in black. Even with computer enhancement, it was impossible to get good look at his face, prompting Collig to say he hoped Joe might recognize the man Davis Rennig had let into the building as he was leaving.

"Well, at least it’s something." Frank said optimistically, seeing the dejected look on his brother’s face. "More than we had before."

Standing, Joe picked up the duffel bag he’d dropped on the floor next to the chair. "Thanks for all your help today, Frank." He said giving Frank a half-hearted smile. "See you tomorrow." With that, Joe left the office and went into the house, his footsteps echoing on the stairs as he retreated to his childhood bedroom.

Joe walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Looking around, he smiled in spite of himself. The room looked exactly as it had the day he left – Laura hadn’t changed a thing. Walking over to the desk, Joe unzipped the duffel bag and removed the picture of he and Vanessa. He stared at the picture, marveling at how happy they both looked, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

‘God, I miss you so much.’ Swallowing the lump in his throat, Joe placed the picture on the nightstand next to the bed, then returned to the desk before his emotions could take complete control.

Pulling out the mail, he began to leaf through it tossing the junk mail in a trash can beside the desk, and separating the rest into two stacks – one for himself and one for Vanessa. Joe tossed the last envelope onto Vanessa’s pile and started to turn away when the return address caught his eye.

Ripping open the envelope, Joe skimmed the one page letter, his eyes widening in surprise. Flying out of the room and down the stairs, he almost crashed into Frank who had just walked out of the living room after bidding his parents goodnight, en route to the front door.

"You can’t leave yet!" Joe exclaimed, snagging the sleeve of Frank’s jacket and dragging him back into the living room where Laura and Fenton were seated on the couch watching television. "Dad, look at this!" Joe cried out, thrusting the paper at him.

Frank slipped behind his younger brother and perched on the arm of the couch, reading over his father’s shoulder as Laura did the same thing from the other side.

"Joe, did you know about this?" Fenton asked in surprise.

"No! I had no idea! She never even mentioned a great-uncle." Joe replied, agitated. "This has something to do with last night, doesn’t it?"

Frank took the letter from his father’s hands, reading it once more. The letter was informing Vanessa she had been named in the will of a recently deceased great-uncle and was one of two beneficiaries to whom he had left $75,000. The will stipulated that if either beneficiary died prior to dispensation, the remaining beneficiary would also inherit that share provided the deceased had no will of their own.

"It says if one of them dies before the money is awarded, the remaining beneficiary would receive the entire amount so long as the deceased didn’t have a will." Frank paraphrased the details of the letter.

"Because if they had a will, their share of the money would go to their primary beneficiary." Fenton said, thinking out loud. "Joe, do you know if Vanessa has a will?" He asked. Given their chosen careers, he and Laura had insisted Frank and Joe both have wills drawn up, but he knew they were the exception. Most people at their age thought they didn’t need one.

"Yeah, she does." Joe replied. "Andrea wanted her to get one."

"Who’s Vanessa’s primary beneficiary? Andrea?" Frank guessed.