Frank sat on the edge of the straight backed chair opposite Chief Ezra Collig's desk, doing his best to concentrate on what the Chief was saying. Five years had not changed Ezra Collig very much. A bit heavier, perhaps, with a few white hairs creeping into the gray that Frank remembered so well. As Collig explained the details of the case he wanted their help with, Frank could see that the man still spoke with the same firmness and self assurance that let the listener know exactly who was in charge. He looked around. Even the office hadn’t changed.

Each time Chief Collig glanced toward Joe, Frank would surreptitiously attempt to glance at his watch, while wondering just how long this meeting was going to last. As the Chief turned back to Frank, he quickly turned his hand over in his lap.

Chief Collig frowned at Frank’s action. He placed the file folder he’d been reading case notes from down on his desk and folded his hands on top of it. "Is there somewhere more important that you have to be, Frank?" he asked. "Because I have the feeling that I don’t have your full attention. For the first time that I can think of, your brother is actually listening to something I have to say better than you are." He nodded his head toward Joe, who barely managed to suppress a chuckle over the Chief’s comment.

Frank groaned inwardly. "Sorry, sir," he said. "I’m all ears. Really, I am."

Collig shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "No, Frank, you’re not. You’ve glanced at that watch at least 6 times in the last half hour. I’d appreciate you telling me what’s so important that you can’t give me your undivided attention. A man’s life is at stake here, Frank. I don’t have to tell you that I have my reservations about calling the two of you in on this. After all, I know the kind of trouble you two can get into."

Joe gave the Chief his best wide eyed, innocent look. "We were much younger then. You know how teenagers are. I guarantee we’re a lot more mature now. Much more level headed, too."

"Um hmm," Collig replied. "I know how you were, Joe Hardy. And after spending two years modeling despite a degree in criminal justice, I have to wonder just how much maturing you’ve done." He turned back to Frank. "But you’re a different story. I’ve heard nothing but good things from your Captain in New York. Considering how interested you seem to be in this case, I have to wonder if he wasn‘t pulling my leg." Frank held the Chief’s gaze, unsure of how to respond.

"If I wasn’t so shorthanded, I would never call in civilians for help. With Jeffries on his honeymoon and Roberts on sick leave, I don’t really have much choice. This is important, gentlemen."

"We understand completely, sir," Frank said. "I apologize for giving the appearance of not listening. We can handle this. You have my word on it."

"Yeah, no problem," Joe said. "Frank’s just worried about whether or not Nancy and Laurie arrived at the airport safely. Vanessa Bender went to pick her up in Frank’s place so that we could meet with you today."

Chief Collig locked gazes with Frank. "Would this be Nancy Drew?"

"Yes," Frank said, shifting on the edge of his chair.

"The young lady who pulled the disappearing act by sending her car over the bluff?"

"Well, actually, she didn‘t really pull a disappearing act. I mean, not intentionally..."

"You’re father’s filled me in on this particular story, Frank. She didn’t bother to come back when she realized everyone thought she was dead, now did she?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then intentional or not, she pulled a disappearing act." He eyed Frank carefully. "And what reason is she coming back to Bayport for, again?"

Frank glanced at Joe. Joe shrugged, unsure of what to do or say to help Frank. This line of questioning could be leading just about anywhere.

"She’s coming to live her, sir. So that our daughter can get to know the rest of her family."

Chief Collig picked up a pen from his desk and studied it. "A daughter. I’d heard that. I’m still finding it a little hard to believe." He tapped the pen on his desk. "Is this going to be a distraction, Frank? I need to know upfront if it is, so that I call in help from elsewhere."

"No, sir," Frank replied evenly. "It will not be a problem."

"Good," Collig replied. He continued tapping the pen. "She was a bit like you two, wasn’t she? Constantly sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, getting into scrapes, things like that?"

"If you mean, was she an amateur detective, yes, she was," Frank said. "And during the time she lived in Los Angeles, she worked for an organization that assisted parents and police in locating missing children."

"Um hmm," Collig said again. "Do me a favor, Frank. Keep her out of this case." He glanced at Joe. "Same for your girlfriend, Joe. I remember how easily you managed to get your friends involved in whatever you were poking around in. The Superintendent of Schools has asked me to keep this as low profile as possible. The more people nosing around in this, the harder it will be to keep this quiet."

"You have a dead high school teacher on your hands, sir," Joe said. "That’s going to be hard to keep quiet anyway. Especially if she was popular with the students. And your only suspect is also a high school teacher."

"Exactly," Collig said. "You see my problem then." He handed the file folder over to Frank. "Take this, study it tonight, and bring it back to me tomorrow. I’m going to want to hear your ideas on the case." Frank nodded.

"We have that thing tonight," Joe interrupted. Collig glanced at Joe.

"What thing?"

Joe opened his mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. "Not important," he said. Standing up, he followed Frank to the door.

"Oh, and Frank?" Frank turned to look at the Chief.

"Yes?"

"Feel free to drop by sometime with that daughter of yours."

Momentarily taken aback, Frank just stared at Chief Collig. "Of course," he finally managed to get out. "I’ll try to bring her by sometime in the next week or two." He turned and disappeared out the door, with Joe in tow.

Vanessa twisted the key Frank had given her in the lock on the front door of Nancy’s new home. As the door swung open, Laurie darted past, nearly knocking both Nancy and Vanessa down. Vanessa laughed at the little girl’s enthusiasm. Turning, she dropped the house key into Nancy’s hand.

"Well, this is it, Nancy. Home sweet home. I hope you like it."

Nancy entered the house and glanced around. "Wow," she said. "It looks so little from the outside, yet there’s lots of space." She walked over to the fireplace and ran her hand across the mantle. "Oh, I like this. A fireplace. How charming."

"That’s what Frank said about it," Vanessa told her. "I think it was the selling point for picking the house."

"Selling point?" Nancy swiveled her head toward Vanessa. "I thought I was renting it. I’m not looking to purchase anything. Living in Bayport may not work out for us."

"No, no," Vanessa grinned. "I just meant that’s why Frank chose this one. Trust me, you’re renting it. Although, I heard that there is an option to buy, if you like it well enough. I don’t know how true that is, but..."

Nancy sat down on the sofa and listened to the sound of her daughter’s footsteps as she explored her new home. "Well, it’s perfect." She ran her fingers over the upholstery. "Did it come furnished? Because I only own our bedroom furniture. So I know this living room set isn’t mine."

Vanessa grinned. "Sure it is! Your dad bought it for you."

Nancy looked startled. "He what? Why he didn’t he say anything about it?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise. He made the arrangements with Frank on the phone. I helped Frank pick it out. We made Joe come with us. It was quite a bit of fun, actually. I made them go to every furniture store in town, just for the pure pleasure of watching them squirm through all those sales pitches. Am I evil, or what?"

Nancy laughed. "Oh, I would have loved to have seen that. Joe Hardy, furniture shopping!"

Vanessa laughed with her. "It was quite the sight. If you don’t like it though, we can exchange it for something else."

"Oh, no, I like it." Nancy looked around the room. "You have great taste."

"Thanks!" Vanessa replied. "Ready to see the rest of the house?"

"Sure," Nancy answered, getting to her feet. She followed Vanessa through the house, noting that the boxes she’d packed in Los Angeles had definitely arrived, and had even been put in the rooms they were marked for. As they exited the kitchen, Nancy gasped.

"Where did that come from?" she asked, gesturing toward the dining room table.

Vanessa turned toward her. "It came with the movers," she said. "Isn’t it yours?"

"No," Nancy said. She pulled one of the chairs away from the table, stared at it, then pushed it back in. "It’s Kevin’s. His grandmother’s table, actually."

Now it was Vanessa’s turn to be surprised. "Kevin? Isn’t that the guy you were roommates with? The one that worked with Joe?"

"Yeah," Nancy said. "That’s Kevin. I can’t believe he sent us his grandmother’s table." She continued to stare at the table.

"Sounds like he’s a great friend," Vanessa said.

"Yeah, he is," Nancy replied. "I hadn’t realized how much I missed having him around until just now." She slid her hand across the back of the chair and sighed. Looking up at Vanessa, she managed a smile. "So, what’s left? Bedrooms? Bathroom?"

"That about sums it up," Vanessa said. "Although I should probably warn you, Joe picked out the paint for Laurie’s room, so it’s a little over the top."

"Just like Laurie," Nancy said wryly, following Vanessa down the hall. She glanced into two of the bedrooms, noticing that someone had put her stuff in the bigger of the two rooms. The door to the third bedroom was open, and the girls found Laurie bouncing on her bed, which was already made with a new ivory lace trimmed comforter and matching bed skirt.

"Laurie Hardy!" Nancy admonished. "Stop that, right now. "You’re going to end up getting hurt. Get down from there."

"Look, Mommy!" Laurie cried. "This one’s my room! See, it’s all pink, just like my other room! And my bed’s here! And my desk! And my toys!" She bounced off the bed and flew into Nancy’s arms. "And look, Mommy!" she cried, tugging at Nancy’s hand. "There’s a funny looking table with a curtain on it, and it has a chair, and a mirror, and...."

Nancy and Vanessa laughed. "That’s called a vanity table, sweetie," Nancy said. She touched the skirt. "This is called a skirt, not a curtain. Curtains go on the window. I think Vanessa got that for you."

Vanessa nodded. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I do!" Laurie said. "I like it a lot!" She turned and ran to the window. "Look at the curtains, Aunt Vanessa! They‘re so pretty!" Laurie wrapped herself in the drapery, and peeked out at her mother and Vanessa. "I like the curtains, too!"

"Aunt Vanessa?" Vanessa said, laughing. "That was fast."

"Well, get used to it," Nancy said. "Once she’s laid claim to someone she doesn’t turn them lose!"

"Sounds like someone else I know," a familiar voice said in Vanessa’s ear. Vanessa shrieked in surprise as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Joe Hardy!" Vanessa cried, "What do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on a person like that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Hmmm," he said. "If it meant dying with you in my arms, well, I couldn’t pick a better way to go."

Nancy groaned. "Oh, that was bad. You’ve got to come up with better lines than that, Joe." She grinned at Joe, who still hadn’t turned loose of Vanessa. Glancing to her right, she saw Frank leaning against the doorway, watching the scene in front of him quietly. "Hi, Frank," she said.

"Hi," he said. "How was your flight?" He started across the room towards Nancy, but was interrupted by a small streak in mid-stride.

"Daddy!" Laurie cried out, flinging herself into Frank’s arms. "You’re here!"

"Yeah," he said, lifting her up and ruffling her dark hair. "So are you! I’ve been counting the days until you and your mommy arrived."

"Really?"

"Really," Frank confirmed.

"How many days was it?"

"Huh?" Frank asked.

"How many days?" Laurie leaned back in Frank’s arms and looked him in the eyes. "You were counting them."

Laughter erupted in the room. "It was a lot," Frank told her. "A really long time."

Laurie nodded. "Yeah, it was. But we’re here now. You can quit counting."

"Hey, kiddo!" Joe said, as the laughter died down. "I don’t suppose you have a hug for your Uncle Joe, do you?" He grinned as Laurie wiggled down from Frank’s arms and darted into his.

"I sure do!" she said, putting her arms around Joe’s neck. "Did you see my room? It’s all pink, just like my old one!" she announced proudly.

"I did see it," Joe said. "In fact, I picked out the paint and even painted it for you."

"Who painted it?" Frank asked, grinning.

"Well, I helped your daddy paint it," Joe amended. "Tell you what I else did, too."

"What?"

"I put your swing set together for you. Your Uncle Kevin took it apart and sent it here on the truck that brought your stuff. Your Dad and I managed to get it put back together for you."

"Where is it?" Laurie demanded.

"In the backyard. Want to go with Vanessa and me to see it?"

"Yeah," Laurie wriggled free from Joe’s grasp and looked up at her mother. "Can I, Mommy?"

"Sure," Nancy said. "But only for a few minutes. I want you to take a nap before we meet your grandparents this evening. You got up really early this morning and you’re going to be tired and grumpy tonight if you don’t have a nap.

Laurie frowned. "But I’m not sleepy."

Joe winked at Vanessa. "Mommy’s probably the one that needs a nap, Laurie. If you take one, then she can take one."

"No," Nancy said with a smile. "Mommy wants to get some stuff unpacked and put away. She can take a nap later."

"Ever the workaholic. No wonder you and Frank get along so well - you’re both just alike." He started out the door, then turned. "Oh, thought I’d tell you. I offered to put some of your things away for you, but Frank wouldn’t let me. When I opened the box that had your nightgowns and underwear and, you know, stuff like that, he ran me out of your bedroom. Can’t imagine why!" Joe grinned as Vanessa smacked him on the shoulder.

"Joe," Frank groaned. "Can’t you ever be serious?"

"Sure I can. I can seriously take my niece out back to play while you two catch up." He took Laurie’s hand. "C’mon kiddo. Let’s take Vanessa and go outside."

Frank watched Nancy for a moment as she walked over to the window to observe Joe and Vanessa emerge from the house with Laurie. Laurie seemed to be giving Vanessa directions in the fine art of swing pushing.

"They seemed to have picked up right where they left off," she observed.

"Yeah, I think they have," Frank said, moving next to Nancy at the window. "They seem quite comfortable together. I’m glad. Joe needs Vanessa, whether he realizes it or not." He turned to Nancy. "I guess I should try greeting you again, since Laurie interrupted my first one." Pulling her into a hug, he asked, "So, how was your flight?"

Nancy closed her eyes for a moment, returning the hug. "It was fine," she said. Pulling away, she looked around the room. "A little tiring, but not too bad."

"Yeah," Frank said. "I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to pick you guys up."

"It’s alright," Nancy replied. "Vanessa said you had a meeting with Chief Collig. New case?"

"Yeah," he said. "One we’re suppose to try to keep quiet. It has scandal potential, apparently. I’m not really supposed to talk about it." He tilted his head and looked at Nancy.

"Of course, once I get the facts straight in my head, I’m probably still going to want to bounce ideas off you anyway," he said with a smile.

Nancy smiled back. "Sure," she said. "Whatever you like. You can bounce ideas off while I unpack stuff. Tomorrow." She left Laurie’s room and walked into hers. Opening the flap to one of the boxes, she said. "Joe was more right than I let on. If I’m going to make it to your parents’ house for a barbeque, this is going to have to wait until tomorrow." She glanced down at the contents of the box, and frowned. Looking up, she saw the grin on Frank’s face.

"Joe was kidding about the underwear thing, right?" Frank didn’t answer. He just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Right?"

Nancy stood still for a moment, her face turning a bright shade of red. Turning back to the box, it’s contents in an obvious state of disarray, she muttered, "I’m going to kill him. He’s such a dead man." Frank watched her head back into Laurie’s room and open one of the windows. "JOE HARDY!" she shouted. "Get up here now!"

Frank laughed softly to himself. Amazing how quickly things could get back to normal.