‘Frank, you’ll wear out the floor,’ Biff quipped lamely, trying to lighten the mood.

Frank took a few more paces then sat down heavily on the bench seat next to his friend.

‘How can he leave me out of this?’ Frank asked through clenched teeth, struggling to keep his voice even. ‘He trusts me to do all the detective work at the gym while he’s on the phone to who knows who, and then shuts me out when there’s a crucial development like this!’

Biff scratched his head thoughtfully, trying to think of the right things to say.

‘Frank, your Dad’s just as worried as you are. And he is older and more experienced. Maybe he’s trying to protect you.’

Frank surprised Biff by snorting in disgust. He turned his face towards Biff and looked his friend in the eye. Biff had never seen Frank’s jaw set so hard or his eyes so angry. Biff shivered inwardly.

‘Do you know what happened after the car bomb explosion?’ asked Frank. ‘Dad stuck around long enough to take a look at the scene, decided we were okay, and then went undercover for weeks.’

‘Frank, he was trying to get who did it,’ said Biff earnestly, not quite believing Frank’s tone.

‘Yeah?’ spat Frank. ‘Well maybe he was, but he took off leaving mum scared out of her wits and paranoid that they’d strike again. My nerves were shot to pieces, and Joe….’ Frank lowered his voice. ‘Well I can’t even begin to describe what Joe was going through. He could barely string a sentence together but he still had to sit through all those police interviews! I didn’t feel like my Dad was protecting any of us then.’

Frank rested his elbow on his knee and massaged his temples with his hand, his eyes closed. He appeared to have exerted a great deal of pent up, emotional energy.

‘Dad does love Joe,’ he continued in a softer tone, ‘but I know my brother better than Dad does and spend much more time with him. I should be in on those interviews.’

Biff sat stunned, unable to respond verbally any further. Instead he tentatively placed his arm across the back of Frank’s chair, and resigned himself to waiting in silence until the interviews were finished.

……

At noon the next day Frank sat opposite his father in his den. Neither of them had had more than a couple of hour’s sleep. The interviews with Cousins and Riley had been relatively fruitless but Fenton wanted to go over their statements again with his elder son. Frank was skilled and thorough at examining every detail of a case and Fenton valued his judgement.

Laura had spent some time with their neighbour while they had been at the police station the night before and was now keeping herself busy upstairs.

‘Now then,’ Fenton began, ‘Both Riley and Cousins said they stayed behind to lock up the gym, lost consciousness when a chlorophorm-soaked rag was put over their faces, but can’t remember anything about what happened between the time they disappeared to when they found themselves sitting on a bench near the police station.’

Fenton looked up at Frank who was regarding him with what could only be described as mild hostility. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fenton was barely coping with Laura alternating between tears and detached politeness. A frosty attitude from Frank was almost the last straw!

‘Son, I didn’t want you interviewing those men last night. Neither Ezra or I thought it was wise. Joshua and Stephen aren’t suspects. They’re innocent victims like Joe. I was concerned that you were exhausted and too emotionally involved. I can see that you’re not happy about my decision, but this attitude isn’t helping to find Joe.’

Frank managed to swallow the resentment he was feeling and sat forward in his chair.

‘What did the hospital say when they were examined?’ he asked.

Fenton passed a copy of the medical report to Frank and summarised it for his son.

‘Both had been kept hydrated and nourished. Neither showed any signs of mistreatment other than the presence of a drug in their systems, which appears to have kept them unconscious and affected their short-term memory over the period of their captivity. The drug is similar to that used by anaesthetists when the surgeon doesn’t want the patient completely knocked out during a procedure. Both of them are a little weak but the doctor is sure they’ll recover completely.’

‘There was something I found surprising,’ added Fenton. ‘Both Joshua and Steve were clean shaven and had obviously bathed, but neither could remember doing either in the time they were missing.’

Frank finished reading the medical report then tossed it back onto the desk, shaking his head.

‘But what was the point of kidnapping them? What’s been achieved?’ he asked aloud.