Sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his stereo, Frank quietly worked on putting his CD’s back in order by the light of the muted television.  A small blue animated creature that resembled something from a horror novel flitted across the screen, followed by a little dark haired girl who seemed to be the blue creature’s friend.  What did Laurie say that thing was? Lilo? Stitch?  He couldn’t remember.  All he knew for sure was that thanks to that little blue critter, Laurie had finally went to sleep.  Glancing first at the clock, then at the form of his sleeping daughter sprawled out on the carpet in front of the television, he sighed.  Nancy was going to kill him - his first night out and he’d already blown the bedtime thing. 

“Oh, well,” he said quietly to himself.  “She can’t very well kill me for something she doesn’t know about, now can she?”  He turned back to his CD’s.  Laurie had done a nice job of putting them back on the shelf when he’d scolded her; but unfortunately, being a four year old, she obviously couldn’t put them back in order.

“Talking to yourself?” Joe’s voice drifted across the living room.  Frank turned to see Joe standing in the doorway.

“It’s 11:30, Joe,” Frank said quietly, turning back to the task at hand.  “Where on earth have you been?  And keep your voice down.  She finally fell asleep and I don’t want you waking her up.”

Joe’s eyes drifted toward his niece, sound asleep on the floor near Frank.  “Don’t we have any beds around here you could put her in?  Take it from me, Frank.  The floor’s not that comfortable.”

Frank shoved a CD back in it’s slot and stood up.  “Yeah, we have beds. But every time I put her in one of them, she pops up five minutes later.  Wanting a drink of water; to read another story; hearing strange noises.  Finally I gave up and put one of the movies she brought into the VCR.   That put her out, finally.”  He shook his head.  “Remember that night in LA when I read Sleeping Beauty to her on the porch?  And she fell asleep before I was done?”

Joe nodded his head.  “Yeah.  Nancy said that you were a natural.”

Frank frowned.  “Nope.  I was a one hit wonder.  I’ve read half that fairy tale book to her tonight and nothing.  But Walt Disney gets her to sleep in half an hour.”  He sighed, picked up the remote, and turned the TV and VCR off.  Flopping down on the couch, he looked up at Joe.  “I have no idea what I’m doing wrong,” he finished.

Joe sat down next to his brother.  “I seriously doubt that you’re doing anything wrong, Frank.  This is Laurie’s first night alone with you.  She was probably so excited that she couldn’t wind down enough to sleep.  Either that, or she fought sleep because she wanted to keep being with you instead.”

Frank looked at Joe.  “You think that’s it?” he asked.

“Sure,” Joe said.  “Why do you think I’m just now getting home?  You think I wanted to help Dad clean out the basement?  She needs time alone with you.  For the two of you to get to know each other.  To bond.  You know, all that mushy stuff.”

Frank looked thoughtful.  “That sounds like something I told Nancy earlier.  Thanks, Joe.  You’re right.  I did need this time.”  He smiled.  “And I think I enjoyed it.”

Joe grinned.  “You’re welcome.  Hey, you know, you should say that more often.”

Frank raised an eyebrow.  “What?  That I enjoyed something?”

“No, the part about me being right!”

Frank grabbed up a pillow from the couch and smacked Joe with it.  “Brat.”

Joe dodged the pillow and laughed.   “I don’t suppose you had time to look over those newspaper articles I brought back from the library, did you?”

“Are you kidding?” Frank said.  “I’ve played Candy Land; I’ve dressed Barbies; I’ve colored; I’ve cooked a dinner that my daughter barely touched; and I’ve read stories all evening.  I’ve even watched a very ugly little blue thing make a home in Hawaii while trying to put my CD’s back in order.  I haven’t had time to think about the case.  Sorry, Joe.”

Joe grinned.  “You played Barbie?  Man, I wish I had a picture of that!”  He looked over at the stereo.  “Do I even want to ask about the CD’s?”

Frank glared at his brother.  “No, you don’t.”  Standing up, he stretched.  “Tell you what,” he said.  “I’m going to try to get her into bed without waking her up.  You fix us some coffee.  When I return, we’ll see if you found anything useful.”

Joe watched Frank carefully lift Laurie up from the floor and disappear down the hall with her.  He felt a strange sense of pride watching his brother figure out how to fit into this new role of being a father.  He knew how hard this had to be on Frank.  Frank was use to being just about perfect at everything he did.  He wasn’t conceited about it or anything; he just wasn’t used to making a lot of mistakes.  Parenthood was new territory.  Territory that came with plenty of mistakes, no matter how hard you tried. 

Reaching for the remote, Joe turned the TV and VCR back on.  He smiled.  Frank and Laurie had been watching Lilo and Stitch.  Good choice.  He liked that one.  Hitting play, he settled back against the couch and waited.

The sound of laughter echoed in Callie’s living room as the four young women within tried to regain their composure during a rather amusing part in Nancy’s story.  They had taken a “chat” break between movies.  To catch up with each other, as Callie had put it.  Nancy found that she was rather enjoying herself.  Vanessa, Callie, and even Maggie seemed genuinely interested in what Nancy’s life had been like in California.  They didn’t seem to be judging her at all over the way she’d left Bayport.  It was as if one last weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  She truly felt like herself again.

“So this guy Kevin,” Callie said, still trying to contain her laughter.  “was a friend of Joe’s?”

“Yeah,” Nancy said, grinning.  “All that time they’d been working together at various photo shoots.”

“Did Joe know Kevin was gay?” Vanessa asked, trying to picture Joe hanging out with anyone that might threaten his macho, God’s gift to women, image.

“I think so,” Nancy said, taking a sip of soda.  “I mean, it would have been kind of hard to miss.  Kevin was quite open about it.  And friendly to everyone.”

Callie was still laughing.  “I would have loved to have been there to see his face when Frank sent him in to comfort Kevin when he was moping after Greg.  I bet that was priceless!”

Vanessa giggled.  “Oh, I wish I hadn‘t missed that.  Any chance of Kevin coming out here to visit you guys?  I can’t wait to see the two of them together again!”

Maggie shook her head.  “You three are awful.  I’m already feeling sort of sorry for Joe and I don’t even know him.”

“Don’t feel sorry for him,”  Callie said.  “He’s teased us about enough stuff to last a lifetime.  We look forward to the occasional chance to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“That’s true,” Vanessa said.  “But that’s one of the things I love about him.  He’s got such a great sense of humor.  And he can take kidding around just as well as he can give it out.”

“That’s true.  He can,” Nancy agreed.

Maggie smiled.  “Sounds like he’s pretty special.  You’re lucky, Vanessa.  I wish I could find someone like that.  I’m beginning to think I’m going to spend my life alone.”

Nancy looked confused.  “You’re not married?  I thought you were.”

Maggie shook her head.  “No, I’ve never been married.  What gave you that idea?”

“Well, earlier today at the store, when you had your little boy with you, you said something about getting him home before his dad got worried.”

Maggie smiled.  “You mean Shaun?  He’s not my son.  I wish he was.  I love him as much as I would my own child, if I had any.  He’s my godson.”

“Oh,” Nancy said, feeling slightly embarrassed.  “My mistake.  I’m sorry.  I just thought...”

Waving her hand, Maggie dismissed the apology.  “Don’t be sorry.  I’m flattered any time someone thinks Shaun belongs to me.  He’s had such a tragic life, poor little thing.  I try to spend as much time with him as I can to give him some stability.”

“What happened to him?” Nancy asked.  “If you don’t mind my asking.”

Maggie shifted in her seat.  “Well, it’s sort of a long story...” she looked over at Callie.  Callie smiled, encouraging Maggie to share.

“You see, Shaun’s mother and I were friends since junior high school.  We did everything together.  After graduating high school, we even became college roommates.”  She smiled, and looked at Callie.  “Remember that time we broke into the RA’s room and stole all her clothes?”

Callie giggled.  “How could I forget!  We left a trail of her underwear all the way over to Randall Hall, where her boyfriend lived.  She never did prove who was behind that!”

Nancy gaped at Callie.  “And I thought I had secrets!  You were quite the little delinquent in college, Cal!  I never knew you had it in you!”

“Oh, I knew it,” Vanessa said.  “She just kept it quiet around here.”  Vanessa winked at her friend.

“It was Sara’s idea,” Callie said.  “We just helped her pull it off.  Karissa, the RA, had really ticked Sara off over how late Sara had been staying out at night.  She was dating this guy, Steven Taylor, at the time and had been slipping in really late at night.  Karissa decided it was her job to make sure everyone was in by curfew every night.”

“Curfew?” Vanessa asked.

“Yeah,” Callie said.  “Our dorm set curfews for the residents.”  She grinned.  “Not that the students paid any attention to it.”

“Anyway,” Maggie continued.  “She knew Sara did it.  And that we helped.  She just couldn't prove it.”

“So,” Nancy said.  “I take it Sara is Shaun’s mother.”

Maggie’s face grew sad.  “Yeah,” she said.  “Sara fell head over heels for Steven and married him during our last year of college.  You couldn’t blame her, really.  The guy is absolutely gorgeous.  He’s also incredibly smart, very sweet, honest, a perfect gentleman.”

Vanessa laughed.  “Sounds like Sara isn’t the only one who fell for Steven.”

Maggie blushed.  “Everyone on campus had a crush on Steven Taylor.  Even Callie did.”  Callie opened her mouth to protest, then grinned. 

“That was before I came home on a spring break and suddenly saw Biff Hooper in a different light,” she said.

Nancy laughed.  “That’s who you married?” she asked.  “I’d heard you married one of Frank and Joe’s friends a year or so ago, but never knew which one.  Wow, I wouldn’t have ever imagined the two of you together.  Of course, I don’t really know him that well, so...”

Callie laughed.  “Well, you know what they say - opposites attract.  Except in your case, of course.  You and Frank are like the same person.  I envied that for the longest time.”

“Yeah, well,” Nancy said.  “We see how that worked out.”

“Um, hmm,” Callie said.  “I hear the jury’s still out on you two.”

Now it was Nancy’s turn to blush.  Ignoring her friends’ laughter, she turned back to Maggie. “Getting back to you,” Nancy said, “So Steven and Sara got married, right?”

“Right,” she said.  “And they stayed here in Bayport where they both took jobs teaching over at the high school.  I had planned on leaving after college, but then my parents died in a plane crash.  I was left to raise my little sister, Melissa.  We’d just lost our parents.  I couldn’t force her to lose all of her friends too.  So I stayed.  Took a job here and tried to fill our Mom’s shoes for Melissa.  I’m glad I did, too, because when Shaun was born, I was able to be his godmother.”

She fiddled with the straw in her soda for a moment.  “And then when Sara killed herself two years later, I was able to help take care of Shaun.  Poor little thing was barely three.”  She looked over at the other girls, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.  “Sara was depressed.  She and Steven had been fighting a lot.  I never thought she’d take her own life, though.  There should have been something I could have done to stop it.”

Callie patted her arm sympathetically.  “We’ve covered this before, Maggie.  There wasn’t.  You did the best you could for her by taking care of Shaun after her death.”

“I know,” she sighed.  “Still...”   For a few minutes there was silence.

“Still,” Nancy said.  “Shaun’s what - five? That was a few years ago.  It sounded today like something had happened recently.”

Callie nodded.  “It did.  Steven started dating again about a year ago.  Another teacher from over at the high school.  Real pretty girl.  I didn’t know her, but everyone says she was really nice.”

Maggie nodded.  “She was.  I liked.  So did Shaun.”

Callie continued.  “Anyway, this girl and Steven got engaged a few months ago.  And last week, she took her own life, too.  Word around town is that Steven walked in and found her dead in his bed, pill bottle still in his hand.”

Nancy and Vanessa exchanged glances.  They knew they were both thinking the same thing.  This was the case Frank and Joe were on.  Callie looked questioningly at them, realizing something was up.

Maggie sighed.  “It’s so sad.  The police questioned Steven for hours.  They think he had something to do with it.  But Steven wouldn’t hurt a fly.  And he really loved Emma.  As much as he’d loved Sara.”

“Poor Shaun,” Vanessa said.  “He’s lost two mothers in two years.”

“Well,” Maggie said.  “A mother and a potential stepmother, but yeah, he has, hasn’t he?  He was too young to really remember Sarah, but he misses Emma.  He keeps asking when Emma’s coming back.  He just doesn’t understand that she’s gone.”

Nancy shifted in her chair, suddenly realizing why Maggie Westbrook’s name had seemed so familiar to Frank.  She regarded Maggie carefully.  How did she fit into this? she wondered.

Callie glanced at Nancy, recognizing the look on her face.  She’d seen that look on Frank Hardy’s face too many times during an investigation.  Nancy was dying to find out more about Maggie’s relationship with either Steven or Emma.  Maybe even with Sara.  Well, she knew that Maggie would have never had anything to do with either woman’s death, but maybe something she knew would help Steven. 

“Go ahead, Nan,” Callie said.  “Ask her.”

“Ask me what?” Maggie questioned. 

“My dad always said that sometime I was too nosy for my own good,” Nancy said, smiling.  “Tell me more about Emma and Sara.”

Maggie shrugged her shoulders.  “Ok, sure.  What would you like to know?”

Frank flipped through the folder of clippings that Joe had brought home earlier that day.  Hearing laughter, he glanced up.  Joe was as engrossed in the movie as Laurie had been earlier.  He shook his head.  “No big surprise there,” he said to himself.

“You say something?” Joe asked, looking over at his brother. 

“Just commenting to myself on how alike you and Laurie are.  Personality-wise, she’s like a little miniature of you all over again.  You even like the same movies.”

“Why thank you,” Joe said.  “I plan to do my best to help you mold her into a fine adult - and wait a minute.  Did you just call me a four year old?”

Frank smiled, his eyes still glued to the news reports.  “I never said that.  Did you hear me say that?” he asked innocently.

Joe narrowed his eyes.  “No, but I know you too well.  You were calling me a little kid.”  He looked back at the TV.  “Don’t worry, Frank.  I’ll get even with you for that, later.  When you least expect it.”

Frank rolled his eyes.  “Oh, dear, now I’m scared.  My little baby brother is going to get even....”  his voice trailed off as he came to the article concerning the memorial held for Sara Taylor at Bayport High School.

“What is it?” Joe said, sitting up and turning off the TV.  “Did you find something?”

“Melissa Westbrook led the packed auditorium in a moment of silent remembrance,” Frank read aloud.  “The first speaker on behalf of Mrs. Taylor was her best friend and college roommate, Miss Maggie Westbrook.  Miss Westbrook shared fond memories of both her childhood friend and her husband, teacher Steven Taylor, with the students and staff.  That’s it!”  Tossing down the page, he headed into his bedroom.

“What’s it?” Joe asked, following Frank.  “What’s so important about that?”

Frank unlocked his desk and pulled out another file. “I asked the Chief for this today.  This,” he said, “is Sara Taylor’s file.  One of the people questioned about Sara’s state of mind before her suicide was her best friend, Maggie Westbrook.  Maggie told the police that she couldn’t possibly imagine Sara committing suicide.”

“So?” Joe said.  “You think Maggie was right?  That somebody killed Sara.  That would make this more complicated, wouldn’t it?  Two murders, rather than two suicides.”

“Maybe,” Frank said.  “Maybe it simplifies it, though. Remember what Steven said today.  He’d been fighting with Sara because she thought that he had been having an affair with her best friend.”

Joe’s eyes widened.  “And Maggie Westbrook was Sara’s best friend.  If there really was something going on between them, Maggie might have been in love with Steven.  She could have easily pushed Sara off the bluffs that day.”  He thought about it for a moment.  “One little problem with that,” he said.

“And that would be what?” Frank asked. 

“There was a witness, remember.  Steven said a kid had passed by just moments before she jumped and said she didn’t see anyone there with Sara.”

Frank handed Joe the file.  “He failed to tell us who the witness was, didn’t he.”

Joe shrugged.   “Just some kid.  I don’t see what that....” his voice fell silent as he read the report.  “Well, how about that,” he said.  “Can it really be that easy?” “I don’t know.”  Frank said.  “We’re going to need proof, of course.  Maybe I should call Callie’s, tell Nancy what we found.  Maggie is there right now.  Apparently she’s a friend of Callie’s."

Joe shook his head.  “No, it’s nearly midnight.  If you call this late, you’ll give Nancy a heart attack.  She’ll think something’s wrong with Laurie.   You can talk to her tomorrow.  Besides, we don’t know that Maggie did anything to either Sara or Emma.”

“No,” Frank said.  “But I do know that she’s close to Steven Taylor.  Close enough to be taking care of his son.  Nancy said she had a little boy named Shaun with her at the store today.  That has to be Steven’s son.  It's too big a coincidence not to be the same child.” 

“You don’t believe in coincidence,” Joe said, handing Frank the report.

“No, I don’t,” Frank said.  “So I seriously doubt that it’s coincidence that the only witness to Sara’s apparent suicide was her best friend’s fifteen year old sister.”