Morning sunlight filtered through the bedroom curtains, accompanied by the sound of a wren who had made a home in a tree near Nancy's window. Rolling over, Nancy glanced at her bedside alarm clock. Nine a.m. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept that late. Normally, if the alarm clock didn't wake her up, Laurie would. She could only hope that Laurie's need to be a morning person would last until she graduated from school. Stretching slightly, she turned back toward the window, taking a moment to enjoy the bird's sunny singing and the silence in the house.

After a few minutes, Nancy threw back the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. As nice as the break from routine was, she had promised to rescue Frank by 10 this morning. If she was going to get there on time, she needed to get moving. Plus, she felt sure that he was going to be interested in what she'd discovered about Maggie's connection to Steven Taylor. Hopefully, it was something he and Joe could use.

Splashing water on her face, Nancy made a mental list of the things she needed to do today. There was the play date Maggie had arranged for Laurie and Shaun at the park this afternoon. She also needed to get the rest of the unpacking finished. Between yesterday's grocery shopping and Callie's movie night, she hadn't gotten nearly as much done as she had originally planned. She also needed to drop by the Hardys', in order to properly thank them for everything they'd done to help her and Laurie with their move to Bayport.

After getting dressed, she paused for a moment to watch the small family of wrens in the tree outside her window. She'd have to remember to point them out to Laurie, later. She'd definitely enjoy watching them.

Going downstairs, she headed for the telephone. As she dialed Vanessa's number, she mentally kicked herself for not asking Frank to drop Laurie off this morning. Despite the fact that Vanessa had offered to take her to get Laurie, Nancy couldn't help but feel that she was taking advantage of Vanessa's good nature, by getting yet another ride from her. Even if Vanessa said it gave her an excuse to drop in on Joe.

Shaking her head, she decided that she really shouldn't have listened to Frank when he'd convinced her to sell her car rather than drive it cross country. Sure, it had quite a few miles on it, but it would have made it. Now she was stuck without one. Oh well, one more thing to add to her to-do list. Find another car. Soon.

Frank had awakened early to the sound of the television. Wandering into the living room, he found Laurie glued to an early morning cartoon. He was surprised that she was already up, considering how late it had been when she fell asleep.

"Good morning," he said.

Laurie turned around. "Hi, Daddy!" she said brightly.

He walked over to her and ran a hand over her hair. Glancing up, she grinned and then returned her attention to the TV.

"What are we watching?" he asked, allowing his eyes to follow the odd looking dog romping on the screen.

"Blue's Clues," she said.

"Oh," Frank said, feeling lost. "I guess I've never seen that one."

"It's a baby show," she said. "But I still like it. A little."

"I see," Frank said. "I guess I'm going to have to get caught up on all the cartoons again, aren't I? Last night I didn't know who Lilo or Stitch were; and now I don't recognize Blue. Wonder who I might find to teach me about all these new shows?"

Laurie eyed him critically. "I can try, Daddy. But you're a little old for Blue." She pursed her lips, deep in thought. "I know. We'll try Sesame Street. You might like Big Bird. Or maybe Cookie Monster."

Frank laughed. "Now you're talking my language," he told his little girl. "I've actually heard of that one." Planting a kiss on top of her head, he started toward the kitchen to fix them both some breakfast.

Laurie trailed after him. Frank opened the refrigerator, debating for a moment; then removed a carton of eggs. Turning, he yelped as he nearly tripped over Laurie. Acting fast, he barely managed to keep the egg carton from landing on the floor.

"I thought you were watching TV," he said, recovering from his near disaster.

Laurie tilted her head toward him. "Are you fixing breakfast?" she asked.

"Yup," he said, placing the eggs on the counter as he reached for a frying pan.

"Can I have cereal?"

Frank turned to his daughter. "Well, I was going to make scrambled eggs and toast."

She shook her head. "Just cereal. I like cereal."

"You don't like eggs?"

She thought about his question for a moment, then shook her head. "I like eggs. I just want cereal."

Frank shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," he said, putting the eggs back in the refrigerator and taking out a carton of milk. After checking the expiration date, he told her, "Cereal it is, then." He reached into the cabinet and pulled out a box of Cheerios.

"Not that cereal," she informed him.

Frank looked at the box in front of him. "Why not?" he asked.

"I don't want that one." she replied.

"I don't understand."

"I want Fruit Loops."

"We don't have any Fruit Loops," Frank said, trying to keep exasperation from creeping into his voice.

She pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and arranged it next to Frank. Climbing onto the chair, she opened the cabinet and peered inside as Frank watched her in amazement.

"What else have we got?" she asked him.

"That's it," Frank said. "It's Cheerios or eggs." He lifted her off the chair just as she managed to get the first knee on the countertop. "And we don't climb on the counters around here. I don't want you getting hurt."

Laurie grinned. "I won't get hurt. I'll be careful."

"Right," he drawled out. "I've heard that before. From both your uncle and your mother. Usually right before I've had to rescue them from a bad guy."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Never mind," Frank said. Pilfering through the cabinet, he came upon another box of cereal. Smiling, he pulled it out. "Hey, look what I found," he said, holding the box out to Laurie.

Laurie's eyes lit up. "The Flintstones!" she said.

"Yup," Frank told her. "This is Fruity Pebbles. I think it's your Uncle Joe's, but he won't mind sharing. Would you like this instead? It tastes kind of like Fruit Loops."

Laurie nodded eagerly. Sighing in relief, Frank fixed her the bowl of cereal. Reaching up to put the cereal back, he paused. Shrugging, he poured a second bowl and joined his daughter at the table.

By the time Nancy arrived with Vanessa at Frank and Joe's apartment, she could barely contain her excitement. After her conversation with Maggie last night, she was sure she had enough background information to take some of the focus off of Stephen Taylor and to place it on Maggie instead. As far as she was concerned, Maggie was a prime suspect in not only Emma's death, but also in Sara's.

As the girls entered the apartment, Laurie jumped up from the video game she'd been playing with Joe and ran to her mother. "Hi, Mommy!" she cried out. "I'm having fun. Can you come back later?"

Laughing, Nancy shook her head. "Well, that's a fine greeting. Come back later? Sounds like everything went ok then." She looked at Frank, who was still standing near the door.

He smiled. "Yeah, it did. We hit a few snags, but all in all it went pretty smoothly."

Nancy raised her eyebrows. "Snags? Anything you want to share?"

Frank shook his head. "Nothing important. We both had fun. We'll have to do it again sometime soon." He glanced over at Laurie, who had already wandered back over to sit on the floor next to Joe. Joe handed the PlayStation's controllers to her and was now getting up to greet the girls.

"Hey, babe," he said, giving Vanessa a quick hug and kiss. Looking over at Nancy, he grinned. "Since Frank isn't offering, I'll ask. Would you like a good morning kiss too?"

Frank merely shook his head at Joe. Nancy held up one hand in Joe's direction and said dryly. "Thanks but, no thanks. I'm good." She smiled. "You can give mine to Vanessa."

"Sounds good to me," he said, giving Vanessa another quick kiss and drawing her over to a chair with him, pulling her into his lap as he sat down. Nancy followed Frank to the couch and sat down.

"So," Joe began. "What kind of trouble did the two of you get into over at Callie's last night? Anything juicy that I might want to hear about? Some good gossip? Maybe a few pictures of Vanessa in a cute pair of baby doll pj's."

Vanessa swatted Joe on the shoulder. "It wasn't a slumber party. It was a movie night. And when are you going to grow up?" she asked playfully.

He batted his eyelashes at her. "I tried growing up, hon. It wasn't much fun. So now I'm back to being me."

"Oh brother," Frank said. He sighed and put the papers he'd been reading back into their folder. "Listen, Nancy, after we spoke yesterday, I found something. I know why I recognized Maggie Westbrook's name."

"You found something?" Joe asked.

Frank shot Joe a look. "Ok, Joe found something. He showed it to me and it sparked my memory." He held up the file folder. "This is part of the police report on Sara Taylor's death. Her best friend was..."

"Maggie Westbrook," Nancy finished. "Yeah, Vanessa and I know all about that."

"You do?" Frank said. "Who told you?"

"Maggie did," Vanessa said. "Nancy had her talking at great length about her friendship with both Steven and Sara last night."

"Why am I not surprised?" Frank asked, grinning. "So tell us. What did you find out about Maggie?"

Nancy sat back and watched Laurie playing the video game. Frowning at what she saw on the screen, she turned to Frank. He shrugged and pointed at Joe. Joe merely grinned.

"Don't ask what game she's trying to play, Nan. You really don't want to know. Back to the question. C'mon, spill. What did you find out?"

"Well, as you've already found out, Maggie was Sara Taylor's best friend. They'd been best friends since they were kids. Went to the same schools; had many of the same classes; and roomed together when they went to college." She paused a moment. "And, they even dated the same guys. Or, should I say, guy."

"Steven?" Frank asked.

"Steven," Vanessa confirmed.

"Steven was apparently one of the most wanted guys on campus. Even Callie described him as being 'incredibly hot'. Most of the girls in their dorm had crushes on Steven."

"Callie included?" Frank asked.

"Does that matter?" Joe questioned.

Frank turned pink. "Well, no, I guess not. I was just curious. I mean, if she had a crush on this guy, I'd hope it was after we'd broken up, rather than before."

"Sorry," Nancy said. "It didn't occur to me to ask." She waited a moment. "Anyway, Maggie snagged Steven for a couple of dates. After one of those dates, he walked her to her dorm room, where he met Sara. And that was pretty much it for Maggie and Steven. He fell immediately for Sara and not long after that, they were a couple."

"But Maggie and Sara stayed friends?" Joe asked. "Amazing."

Vanessa clucked her tongue. "Joe, Joe, Joe. This may come as a surprise to you, but not every guy a woman dates becomes the center of her life. Sometimes it is possible to break up and still continue living your life."

"That just means she wasn't with the right guy to begin with," Joe responded.

"But what if she thought he was the right guy?" Frank asked. Joe watched his brother. He could almost see the wheels turning. Frank was quickly developing a theory. "What if Maggie had fallen in love with Steven? Remember, Steven said that Sara was depressed because she thought he'd been having an affair with her best friend."

Vanessa sat up and looked at Nancy. "She conveniently left that part out, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did," Nancy said. "She did mention what a great friendship she and Steven have developed over the years. And how she's the godmother of Steven and Sara's son Shaun."

"Plus," Vanessa interjected. "Ever since Sara's death, she's been Shaun's second mother. Until Emma came along. Over the past few months, Emma had taken over much of "mothering" that Maggie had been taking care of."

"So now we have a suspect," Joe said. "A suspect other than Steven. Nice job, girls."

"But we need evidence," Frank said. "Right now all we have are hunches." He stared off into space for a moment. "To start with, we need to tie Maggie to Emma's death. According to the police report, she was in New York at the time."

"Can that be verified?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah." Frank said. "Maggie's older sister had brought her son for a visit. They'd driven to New York in order to take Shaun and the other little boy to the zoo. They were gone all day."

Nancy frowned. "She has a good alibi, then. Still, there might be some way to connect them. We just need to find it."

Frank nodded. "I agree. Joe and I were going to talk to some of Steven's coworkers today. Maybe we'll swing by Maggie's and talk to her too. Did you happen to get her address?"

"I did," she said. "But don't worry about her. I'll take of that end for you."

Frank's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"Laurie has a play date this afternoon with Shaun." She smiled. "While the kids play, we can sit and talk. Women sometimes do that, you know."

"I don't know, Nan. We don't know much about this woman. What if she did kill Emma? Or Sara? Kind of putting yourself and Laurie both at risk, aren't you?"

Nancy shook her head. "No, I'm not. If I thought there was even the slightest bit of risk involved, Laurie wouldn't be anywhere near this. I just plan to get to know her a little better. Make her feel comfortable around me. Then later, I'll see what I can get out of her concerning Emma's death when Laurie's not around."

"Works for me," Joe said. "We'll see if any of Steven's friends and coworkers noticed anything odd about Maggie's relationship with Steven while you work on getting something incriminating on her."

"I don't know," Frank said. "I still don't like it."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Quit being Mr. Overprotective. My detective skills aren't as rusty as you might think. Besides, I'll be careful. Promise."

"Yeah," Frank said, looking over at Laurie. "As I told someone earlier today, I've heard that one before.