"There you are," a female voice said getting his attention.

Looking up, Joe saw his girlfriend, Vanessa Bender, making her way toward him. He sat up and she sat down beside him.

"Yes, this is where I disappeared to. It’s just too nice of a day to be stuck inside."

"I know," Vanessa sighed. "There won’t be many more and soon winter will be here."

"I know, but first we need to get through Halloween," Joe said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Joe, I know that look. What do you have planned?"

"Nothing."

"Joe?"

"All right." Joe slid closer to her. "Well, I was thinking our costumes should be a theme since we are going together."

"And what should the theme be?" Vanessa asked.

"I really haven’t given it any thought, except that I will not be wearing tights. That’s where I draw the line."

"But you would wear anything else?"

"Within reason."

"Do you want to go looking for something after school?"

"We could," Joe said. "But I’ll need to find Frank and let him know."

At that moment, the bell rang ending the period. They got to their feet and made their way back inside. As they stepped through the doors, Joe said, "I’ll meet you at the van after class."

"All right," Vanessa said and headed off to class.

Heading into the classroom and settling in his seat, he knew they would have the best costumes for the party. He really enjoyed Halloween. It was his favorite holiday of the year, along with his birthday and Christmas.

When classes ended for the day, Joe headed out to the van. Turning back to face the building, he waited for Frank to get there. A few minutes later he saw his brown-haired 18-year-old brother coming toward him, but he wasn’t alone. Frank’s girlfriend, Callie Shaw, was with him.

"Hey," Joe said as the two of them reached the van.

"How was your day?" Frank asked.

"Fine." Joe decided not to beat around the bush. "Do you need the van at all this afternoon?"

"No, but why do you need it? Are you trying to solve a case without me?"

"Of course," Joe replied. "It’s the case of what to wear to the Halloween party. Actually, Van and I want to check out costumes."

"I forgot the party was coming up."

"How could you forget?" Joe asked. "The Halloween party is one of the best all year. And should be even better this year since it’s being held at the old Harris place."

"How did the organizers get to hold it there?" Callie asked. "Hasn’t the place been abandoned for years?"

"It has been abandoned and that’s what makes it the perfect place for this party." Joe arched his arms in front of him wiggling his fingers. "People say the house is haunted."

"There’s no such thing as haunted houses," Frank stated.

"I know that," Joe said. "But we can still have fun. It’s just the illusion that the place is haunted."

"You know," Callie began putting a hand on Frank’s arm. "We should go along. We still need to get costumes too."

"All right," Frank said. "Do we need to wait for Vanessa?"

"She said she would meet us here," Joe said looking back toward the building. "And here she comes now."

"So, are we going?" Vanessa asked coming up to the van.

Joe nodded his head. "Frank and Callie are coming too. So, we should get going."

"Definitely," Vanessa said. "We need to go before the best costumes are gone."

"I’ll drive," Joe said.

As they climbed in the van and headed for the costume shop in the mall, Joe noticed that Frank was very withdrawn from them. Frank was sitting in the back with Callie, just staring out the window. He wondered what was bothering his older brother. Joe knew he had to talk to Frank about it.