Frank parked the van a block away from the gym. Naturally cautious by nature he had taken some measures to minimise the impact of their night sleuthing. They had left a note on the kitchen table telling their mother that they had driven Biff home via getting supper from a pizza place. Frank had also left a cryptic message on Fenton’s message bank. Before they got out of the van, Frank made a few points clear to Biff and Joe.

‘Okay, we’re breaking in, and looking for a concealed door. There’s no way Joe could have been taken anywhere with Biff waiting outside and then the police crawling through the place. We take pictures of whatever we find and then we leave. No risks,’ he finished, looking pointedly at his brother.

‘No argument from me,’ Joe assured him. ‘I’m not keen on losing another three days of my life!’

Each armed with a torch, and Frank with the camera; they ran stealthily to the gym and around to the side entrance. A white 4WD drive was parked there.

‘Look at the plates!’ hissed Biff. ‘GW! Greta Williams!’

‘So it wasn’t a partial plate ID’, whispered Joe. ‘It must have been Greta who dropped me off near our house, or someone driving her car!’

Frank snapped a photo of the vehicle’s rear and set to picking the lock. With Biff directing the torch beam at the lock, the brothers managed to gain entry.

As they moved inside, Frank hissed into Joe’s ear, ‘Stay close to me!’

‘Alright, alright mother!’ replied Joe, pretending to be mortified but secretly grateful he had a brother who cared so much about his welfare.

There were no lights on inside the gym, which led the boys to conclude that Greta had left her car there overnight and had been driven home by Jake. The weights area had an eerie feel. As they walked through it, they caught sight of their own reflections in the various mirrors.

Once in the staff area, Joe felt the hairs stand up at the back of his neck and his heart began to race. He stood in front of the lockers.

‘I was here when I passed out,’ he said softly. ‘Someone grabbed me from behind.’

Frank nodded. ‘I found your phone here, and your wallet still in the locker.’

Biff ran his hands along the floor in front of the locker. There were very slight grooves indicating that something had been dragged across it in an arc.

‘Guys! I think maybe this whole set of lockers moves out from the wall!’

‘Let’s move it Frank!’ whispered Joe. ‘Frank?’

‘In here!’ hissed his brother from Greta’s office. ‘Look at this!’

As Biff and Joe joined Frank in Greta’s plush office, they found the older Hardy flicking through a glossy magazine he had taken from an envelope placed on the pile on the corner of Greta’s desk.

‘Frank, this is hardly the time to look for fashion tips!’ exclaimed Biff in exasperation.

‘I’m just admiring little brother’s modelling debut,’ whispered Frank, holding up the page Vanessa had seen for Biff and Joe to look at.

Joe’s mouth dropped open. The picture was of him alright! No wonder Vanessa had flipped out! His brother tucked the magazine under his arm and led Joe by the elbow back into the staffroom.

‘Let’s move these lockers,’ Frank directed.

Moving the lockers aside was an easy task, especially with Biff there to help. A large trap door was revealed. Biff lifted the door and the three boys shone their torches down the stairs.

‘One of us should stand guard up here,’ said Frank quietly.

‘I will,’ volunteered Biff. ‘You guys should stay together and I’m pretty confident I could deal with anyone who might turn up.’

Nodding their thanks, the Hardy boys carefully descended the stairs, Frank in the lead.

At the bottom of the stairs the brothers shone their torches in opposite directions. The room they illuminated was huge. In one corner was a set of bunk beds and a single mattress. In another was an area clearly set up for photography. Sand currently covered the floor of this area. Frank caught sight of the ghostly face of his brother. It was clearly dawning on Joe that he had been kept down here for three days while someone took photographs of him and sold them. The thought of someone drugging him and taking advantage of him in this way, made Joe sick to his stomach. Frank had to keep Joe’s mind on the task at hand. There would be plenty of time later to deal with what had happened.

‘What do you suppose is in there?’ he asked Joe, indicating a closed, smaller room. Joe shrugged. ‘If they were into taking photo’s, I guess they’d need a darkroom to develop them in,’ he mumbled. Frank clapped his brother on the back.

‘You’re not just a pretty face after all, brother!’ he said, and then immediately apologised for the lack of sensitivity in this remark!