As dinner wound down, Nancy pushed back her chair and began to gather the dishes. Frank picked up Laurie's plate, along with his and followed her into the kitchen. Joe glanced around the dining room, debating on whether or not he should offer to help clean up. Laurie watched him silently for a minute, then spoke.

"Wanna go swing with me?" she asked.

Joe smiled. "I think I'm a little too big to play on your swings."

Laurie giggled. "No, silly. You can push me."

"Ah," Joe said, "I see. I can push you on the swing. Hmmm..." he pretended to be deep in thought. "Let's see, if I push this back to Monday and that back to Thursday, maybe I can make time to..."

"Uncle Joe!" Laurie said, erupting into more giggling. "Are you going to swing with me or not?"

He sighed. "I'd really love to, Laurie. But I need to talk to your mom and dad first." At the sight of her crestfallen face, he backpedaled. "But if you can wait a little while, I'll take you over to your grandparent's house and we can play basketball. There's a basketball goal in the backyard that your dad and I used to use all the time."

Laurie's face brightened. "Ok. I can do that." Hopping off her chair, she headed for the kitchen.

"Are you leaving me so soon?" Joe asked.

She turned around. "I want to go play. You can come play when you get done talking to Mommy and Daddy." She turned back around and skipped into the kitchen.

Joe chuckled as he followed her through the door. Laurie quickly convinced Nancy to let her go outside to play in the backyard. Following her to the door, he saw her head straight for the swing set. She carefully arranged herself on one of the little red swing seats, and then began to pump her legs, moving the swing slowly back and forth.

Joe was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of Nancy's voice. "What was that?" he asked, turning to see Nancy and Frank watching him. Nancy held a dish towel in her hand.

She appeared slightly amused. "I asked, if you were planning to wash, or dry?" She extended the dish towel in his direction.

Joe's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Yes, you," she said, the look of amusement on her face becoming more pronounced. "After all, we cooked. And you definitely enjoyed it, considering that you not only had seconds, but I never heard one wisecrack about my cooking. So, did you want to help out by washing or drying?"

Taking the towel from her, he shrugged. "I'll wash," he said. "Frank can dry, and you can put them away. That way the job will get done much faster and then we can discuss how our day went." He watched Frank's face take on a look of astonishment. "What? Did you think I'd try to get out of helping clean up?"

"I...I...uh, yeah, I guess I did." Frank looked at Nancy. "You should see the kitchen at our apartment. If it weren't for me, he'd let the dirty dishes sit in the sink for days. Joe almost never does the dishes."

"I would not," Joe retorted, testing the temperature of the dishwater before plunging his hand into it. "It's just that I have no need of doing them. You can't stand the sight of a sink full of dirty dishes, so you keep them washed up." He flashed a grin at Frank. "Therefore, I never have to do them."

Nancy laughed as she opened a cabinet to put away the glass that Frank handed to her. "Careful, Joe. Now that you've told him how it works, he's not going to fall for it again. You may be doing dishes every night for the next few months to make up for it."

Joe stared at Nancy for a moment. "Oh, man," he groaned. "Don't give him ideas, Nan."

She laughed. "Ok, I'm shutting up then." She put the next glass away quietly, then turned to Joe. "How did your interviews go today?"

"Yeah," Frank chimed in. "I'm curious about that too. Did you come up with anything interesting? Any potential suspects that might want have wanted to hurt Emma?"

"Now that you mentioned it," Joe said, wiping off a plate and handing it to Frank, "I do have some stuff to share." He wiped his hands on a dry towel, leaned against the sink, and folded his arms across his chest. Pretending to glare at Frank, he said. "Do you realize that you sent me to talk to my biggest nightmare from high school. Sitting through Mrs. Templeton's science classes senior year was bad enough. Today I got the chance to relive it."

The corner of Frank's mouth twitched as he watched Joe's face. "C'mon Joe. I had her for Advanced Chemistry. She wasn't so bad. A little on the dry side, maybe, but still a good teacher."

Joe snorted as he returned his attention to the sink. "I'm not surprised that you think that. She liked you. She seems to still think that the sun rises and sets on you. I'm another story. She never liked me. I can't imagine why, either." He looked past Frank at Nancy. "I'm a likeable guy, aren't I?"

Nancy shrugged. "Sure, Joe. But I didn't go to school with you guys. So I can't say if you were a likeable student."

Frank laughed. "That was Joe's problem. He was too likeable in high school. Between our cases and his need to socialize, I bet a good third of his assignments were turned in late."

Joe glared at Frank. "I didn't turn in that many late assignments. And at least I turned them in. It's not like I didn't do my work at all."

Frank laughed. "But that's why you were never the teachers' favorite student, Joe. They saw all that potential in you and probably figured you weren't living up to it." He waited for his brother's response. When none came, he sighed. "I'm sure she doesn't dislike you Joe. And I'll admit it. You're right. She was boring. Nice enough, but really boring. The kind of boring that causes you to nearly fall asleep in class. That's kind of why I gave her to you. I didn't want to have to spend part of the afternoon with her either."

"Uh huh," Joe said, handing Frank the last of the silverware and moving on to the pots and pans. "I thought so."

"Ok, I'll make it up to you. I'll do your laundry for the next two weeks."

Nancy snickered. "Just two weeks? C'mon, Frank. You can do better than that!"

"Yeah, Frank," Joe said, a smile slowly creeping across his face. "Make it a month and we'll call it even."

Frank looked from Joe to Nancy and threw his hands in the air. "Fine," he said. "A month. Now, tell us, what did she have to say."

"About possible suspects or about her favorite student, who coincidentally happens to be you?"

"Suspects, of course!"

Joe grinned as he scoured the final pan and handed it to Frank. Draining the soapy water out of the sink, he quickly ran a bit of hot water into the sink and wiped down the sides. Drying his hands on the dish towel, he turned to Nancy.

"I need something to drink. Do you have any more soda?"

Nancy took the baking pan from Frank and slid it on a cabinet shelf under the kitchen countertop. "Sure," she said. "There's some in the refrigerator."

"Thanks," Joe said, crossing the kitchen and opening the door. Grabbing a soda, he looked back at Frank's impatient expression.

"What?" Joe asked innocently.

"Suspects, remember?"

Joe grinned. "Right, suspects." Arranging himself carefully on a kitchen stool, he took a sip of soda. "According to Mrs. Templeton, and several other of Emma and Steven's coworkers, everyone loved both of them. They didn't have any real enemies. No known vices such as drugs, liquor, gambling. The only thing anyone could come up with is a student that Steven angered this past school year."

Nancy glanced out the window to check on Laurie, then turned her attention back to Joe. "What happened?"

Joe took another sip of soda. "Nothing out of the ordinary, really. According to Mrs. Templeton, this boy who was already a big troublemaker, got into a fight with a girl outside of Steven's classroom. Apparently Steven had to wrestle the kid to the floor to keep him off the girl. The boy was expelled from school because of it."

"So Steven got this kid kicked out?" Frank asked.

"Well," Joe said. "The kid got himself kicked out. Steven just wrote the final discipline report that triggered the expulsion. Imagine getting kicked out of school during the last few months of your senior year."

"Hmm," Nancy said. "So he could have been angry enough to want to get even." She looked thoughtful. "You'd have to pretty disturbed to kill someone's fiancé just to get revenge, though."

"True," Joe said. "But, then again, this kid supposedly has a history of violence. Who knows what he might have been capable of."

Frank shook his head. "Maybe. When did this expulsion take place?"

"Last school year."

Frank considered this piece of information. "I don't know. What about the death of the first wife? That was over two years ago."

Nancy checked on Laurie once more and then turned to Frank. "Well, technically, you're investigating Emma's death, not Sara's. You said it yourself, Frank. One of the reasons that the police found Emma's death suspicious is that Steven's first wife also died of a suicide. We've been making the same assumption they're making, that the two deaths are related. What if they're not? What if Sara really did kill herself? Can you think of a better way to get revenge on someone you hate? Stage the death to look like a suicide, just like the first wife. By casting suspicion over the manner of death, this kid could've easily set Steven up to take the blame."

Frank sat silently, contemplating what Nancy had said. It did make sense. He looked up at her. "What about Maggie, though. You have to admit, she has more of a motive than this high school kid does. And a much better opportunity."

"Did you find something more out about Maggie?" Joe asked. Finishing off the soda, he crumpled the can and tossed it into the nearest trash.

Nancy sighed and fished the can out of the trash. Giving Joe a pained expression, she held the can out to him. "Haven’t you ever heard of recycling?"

"Huh?" he asked.

"Recycling." She opened a bottom cabinet door and pointed to a set of divided bins that pulled out on a sliding track. "You know, reusing things to help the environment? See, one for paper; one for glass; and," she dropped the can into the front bin, "one for aluminum."

Joe grinned. "Oh, that. I see you spent time with George while you were in River Heights, didn’t you? Sorry, didn’t know they were there. Now that I know where the bins are, I promise to be good and use them."

"Can you two get back on the subject at hand?" Frank asked. "You were asking about Maggie."

"Right," Joe said. "I take it one of you found out some dirt on Maggie if she’s now a main suspect."

Frank nodded. "She dated Steven in college a few times. Lost him to her best friend, Sara. After Sara died, she immediately stepped in and took over for Sara as the caretaker of Sara and Steven’s little boy, Shaun."

"So," Joe said. "Lots of people lose boyfriends or girlfriends to someone they know. Look at Nancy and Callie, Frank. They'd met each other before Callie and you split up; and yet they somehow still managed to get along with each other after Nancy started dating you."

Frank blushed a deep red. "It’s not the same thing, Joe. Callie and I didn’t break up over Nancy. Nancy came along later." He looked at Nancy for verification.

Nancy agreed. "That’s right. I would have never tried to take Frank from Callie. Believe me, Joe, there were opportunities to attempt it. But that’s not who I am."

Joe grinned. "Yeah, I was there for some of those opportunities, remember?"

Frank ignored Joe’s last comment. "According to some of Steven’s friends, Maggie never seemed to get over him. The general opinion is that Maggie was in love with Steven then; and has stayed in love with him ever since."

"So what, we think she killed her best friend to get Steven back? And then when that didn’t work; when he fell for another woman, she decides to get rid of the new competition too?"

"It is a possiblity," Nancy replied. "Plus there’s the fact that she’s been Shaun’s stand in mother for the past two years. Emma was encroaching on that territory, too."

"Plus," Frank interrupted. "Let’s not forget that she works in a pharmacy. She would have a working knowledge of how various medications would interact with alcohol. She would also probably know just how many Xanax pills it would take, combined with the alcohol, to kill Emma; rather than just make her really sick." He drummed his fingers on the countertop. "We have plenty of possiblities here, with lots of theories, but what we need is some actual proof of wrongdoing. The question is, how do we go about getting it?"

Nancy shrugged, "Well for starters, there’s dinner at Maggie’s tomorrow night." She turned to Joe. "Which you and Vanessa are invited to, by the way. I forgot to mention it earlier." She turned back to Frank. "Perhaps one of us could do some snooping around her house while the rest of us keep Maggie occupied in conversation."

Joe waved his hand. "I volunteer to do the snooping. I’m good at being sneaky."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "I could make a comment on that, but I won’t. Ok, little brother. You’ve been volunteered to search Maggie’s things for some kind of evidence tomorrow night while Nan, Vanessa, and I keep her occupied."

"Sounds good," Joe said. "What about my guy?"

"You mean the kid?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah," Joe said. "I really think we should look into this kid."

"Do you know anything more about him?" Frank asked. "Like what his name is or where we can find?"

Joe smiled. "His name is Jeff Masters. If Mrs. Templeton knows what she’s talking about, we can find him at the pizza parlor downtown."

"Ernie‘s? The one Chet bought?" Frank asked.

Joe nodded. "Do you know of another pizza place downtown?"

"That should make investigating Jeff easier. If he does work there, Chet will be happy give us the scoop on him. If there‘s a scoop to get." Frank mused. "I suppose someone should go check him out. I’d do it, but I have an appointment with the Chief tomorrow afternoon." He looked at Nancy. "What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?"

"I was planning to visit car lots tomorrow." She leaned against the refrigerator. "I really need to get a car."

Frank frowned, biting down on his bottom lip. "What’s your hurry? You’ve only been here a few days. I thought we agree when we discussed selling that old car you were driving in California that Joe and I would make sure you and Laurie could get anywhere you needed to go in Bayport."

Nancy gave him an odd look. "Uh, yeah, we did. But that was only until I could get another car. I agreed that my old car had too many miles on it to make it worth my while driving it across the country. But now that I’m here, I’m going to need my own car. I can’t depend on you guys for everything."

"Still," Frank said shrugging. "It’s not like you’re working, yet. I thought that once we got the agency underway, and had some money coming in, you could get a car then."

Nancy shook her head. "Can’t wait that long, Frank. I’m going to go crazy if I have to depend on you guys to take me everywhere I need to go."

"Well," Frank said. "You don’t just have to depend on us. Mom or Dad would gladly drive you guys when you needed it. And so will Vanessa."

"Umm, Frank, you’re missing the point. I sort of need that independence that comes with having your own car. I’m not the kind of person who likes depending on other people."

"Hey, guys," Joe interrupted, "I have an idea."

"Yeah," Frank said, ignoring Joe. "But, we agreed. And there’s the whole money issue."

Nancy shook her head. "I’ve told you before. Laurie and I are ok when it comes to money. At least for awhile. I managed to put a pretty good chunk of my paychecks away thanks to splitting our monthly living expenses three ways. That’s over four years of savings, Frank. I think I can managed to afford a decent used car."

"I’d rather you wait until we can get you guys a new one," Frank argued. "It would be a lot safer..."

"Do I look stupid?" Nancy said. "I know how to shop for cars. Any used car I look at will get inspected somewhere else before I actually buy it."

"Guys," Joe began again.

"But," Frank started.

"Do you have a problem with me driving?" Nancy asked.

"Well, now that you mention it,"

"Okay," Joe said, raising his voice slightly. "Both of you get over yourselves for a minute and let me speak."

Frank and Nancy turned to Joe.

"I have an idea." He looked at Frank. "Nancy’s right. She needs a car. If something happens to Laurie, she needs immediate transportation in case an ambulance would take too long. Plus, you wouldn’t want to rely on others to take you all over town anymore than she does.." He paused for breath. "We all know that you harbor this secret fear that Nancy's going to skip town and leave again without saying a word to anyone, but I'm telling you it's not going to happen. So chill out."

Frank opened his mouth to protest, but found himself suddenly at a loss for words. How did Joe managed to know exactly what he was thinking so often?

"Now," Joe continued. "I'll go with Nancy to talk to Chet about Jeff tomorrow. We can take Laurie out for lunch; let her meet Chet. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of her. Maybe we'll even get lucky and Jeff will be working. Then we can talk to him in person. Afterwards, Nancy and I will go look at cars. If you get finished early with your meeting, you can join us."

"How am I supposed to find you?" Frank asked.

Joe grinned. "You're a detective. You'll figure it out. After all, there's only two reputable used car dealerships in Bayport. It's a 50-50 shot."

Nancy smiled. "That sounds fine with me. What time are you going to pick us up?"

"Does 11:00 sound ok? I know it's a little early for lunch, but that'll give us some time to talk to Chet before the lunch crowd really gets going." Joe smiled in satisfaction. He kind of liked being in charge.

Nancy nodded her agreement. Frank sighed and nodded too. He looked at Nancy, realizing that maybe he had been out of line about the car. Just as he opened his mouth to offer an apology, he heard a loud wail coming from the backyard.

All three heads swiveled simaltaneously toward the back door. Nancy flew out of the house, with both Frank and Joe right behind her. Stopping short, she say Laurie sitting on the ground, holding her right knee, and crying as hard as she possible could.

Frank rushed past Nancy and dropped to his knees next to his daughter. "What's wrong, Laurie? Are you hurt? Let me see!"

"I fell!" she exclaimed between sobs. "My knee hurts! It hurts bad!"

Nancy and Joe leaned over to look as Frank pulled Laurie's hands away from her knee. Nancy breathed a sigh of relief to see it was only a small scrape; one that was barely bleeding.

"You're going to be all right," she told Laurie. "You've scraped your knees up worse than that before. We'll go inside and wash you off. I'll find you a Band-aid and you'll be fixed up in no time."

Laurie wiped her now runny nose with the back of her hand. She looked from Nancy to Frank. "I want Daddy to do it."

Nancy looked surprised. "Daddy?"

Laurie nodded, still sniffling. "Uh huh."

Shrugging her shoulders, she looked down at Frank, who was still on his knees next to Laurie. "Ok, you heard her. She wants you. First aid stuff's in the medicine cabinet. I think there are some Sponge Bob bandages in there. If not, she can settle for a regular one."

Frank lifted Laurie off the ground. By now, the crying had stopped. "Sponge Bob?" he asked.

"Cartoon character," Nancy said. "Joe can explain it to you later."

As Frank took Laurie inside, Joe stuffed his hands in his pockets. Tilting his head to look at Nancy, he grinned.

"Well, that didn't take long," he said.

"What didn't?" she asked.

"For Laurie to turn into a daddy's girl."