At 10.00am the next morning, Fenton Hardy ushered Winston Carter into his office. He had been initially taken aback by the elderly man’s frail appearance. He had sounded a little younger and stronger on the telephone. Winston’s hair was grey-white. Thick glasses were perched on the end of his thin, bony nose. He relied heavily on his cane to manage the step from the porch into the Hardy’s hallway.

‘Thank you. Thank you so much, Sir,’ were Winston’s first words to the detective. ‘Thank you so much for agreeing to help me.’

After Winston was comfortably seated, Fenton called upstairs for Frank and Joe to join them. Both boys shook Winston’s hand as they entered the room before settling themselves on the small couch. Frank, too, was immediately struck by the man’s frail appearance and wondered how much the disappearance of his niece had affected his health.

‘Now, before you give us a more detailed account of your story, Mr. Carter,’ began Fenton, ‘I want to remind you that it will mainly be my sons who will be taking a fresh look at Angelica’s disappearance. As I explained on the telephone, I totally sympathise with you, but I have ongoing cases which require my attention.’

‘I understand completely,’ said the elderly man. ‘I’m sure your sons will try their very best. And please, call me Winston.’

‘Please tell us your story,’ invited Fenton. Frank took out a notepad and pen and readied himself to make a few pertinent notes. Joe, relying on his brother to do the note-taking, kept a steady, unwavering gaze in Winston’s direction.

‘Two and a half years ago,’ began Winston, ‘my youngest sister’s daughter, Angelica, went out with a young man named Paul. I believe he had been courting her for a little while. They told my sister they were going to take a drive through the forest and have a picnic. Paul had recently obtained his driving license and was keen to drive his father’s car on the ‘open road’ as they say. My daughter, Ann, apparently gave Angelica quite a lecture about letting Paul concentrate on the road before they left. It is with great distress that Ann associates that lecture with the last time she saw Angelica alive.’

Winston paused to remove his glasses and dab at his eyes with his handkerchief. The Hardys waited patiently and respectfully for Winston to continue.

‘At about 6.00pm, two hours after the time Angelica promised she would be home by, Ann rang Paul’s house. He says he was shocked to hear from Ann, because he claims he dropped Angelica off at her front gate at about 4.30pm. Ann rang the police while my brother-in-law drove around the streets looking for any sign of her. Her friends were all contacted. No-one had seen any trace of her at all.’

Winston again removed his glasses, wiped his eyes and blew his nose. Frank paused in his note-taking but continued looking down at the page. Joe shifted uncomfortably. This much be torture for the old guy he thought to himself.

‘I’m sorry,’ apologized Winston, returning his handkerchief to his pocket and his glasses to his nose. ‘Angelica’s disappearance was distressing enough, but the whole thing has proven to be catastrophic for our family. My sister can’t forgive herself for speaking harshly to Angelica on the day she disappeared. The police suspected Paul of foul play and my brother-in-law ended up verbally attacking Paul’s parents publicly. When the police stopped investigating, Ann and her husband separated. He’s moved to another state. She’s now living with a childhood friend in Europe.’

Frank wondered if his own family would fall apart if either he or Joe disappeared without a trace. It didn’t bear thinking about.

‘Mr. Hardy, when I read about the awful thing that happened to your boys in Black’s forest, and the discovery of the remains of those poor, young people, I just had to contact you,’ Winston was saying. ‘Paul said he had taken Angelica to Black’s forest that day. I know the police say that no other remains have been discovered, but I just can’t bear not knowing what happened to Angelica. If you can possibly find any clues as to what happened to her, it would make such a difference to my poor devastated family.’

‘We’ll do everything we can to help you, sir,’ said Frank sincerely. ‘If you could give us a few names and details to start with, we’ll do some investigating and see what we come up with.’

Winston again expressed his gratitude and asked Frank what they needed to know. By the time Winston had got into the taxi that Fenton had rung for, he had told the young detectives the full name and address of Angelica’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, the name of the school she attended, her old address, and the precise date she was last seen alive. He had also given them a picture of Angelica, apologizing that it was only one of the ‘Missing’ posters the police had issued after she had disappeared.

‘As you can understand,’ he told them, ‘her mother was reluctant to part with any of her photographs. They’re all she has left.’

After lunch, Fenton returned to his den to try and make some progress on his own cases, leaving Frank and Joe to ponder what their first moves would be.

‘We’ll start with the library and the police?’ suggested Frank, looking down at the notes he had made. ‘No sense in re-tracing her last known movements until we get a better picture about what happened.’

‘Fine with me,’ agreed Joe. He was looking at the picture of Angelica. She was quite pretty but a little severe looking. Joe decided it must be the way her hair was pulled tightly into the two pony tails. He couldn’t imagine Vanessa or Callie wearing their hair that way. Frank looked over at the picture.

‘Anything strike you?’ he asked Joe.

‘Doesn’t look particularly happy,’ commented Joe. ‘And her hair’s all wrong. She’d look prettier if she wore it down.’

‘So now you’re an expert in girls’ grooming!’ said Frank, rolling his eyes.

‘I’m serious,’ protested Joe. ‘You asked me if anything struck me about the picture, and I told you! I don’t know what to make of it yet, and it might mean nothing, but that’s my opinion!’

‘Okay, okay. Keep your shirt on!’ teased Frank. He took the picture from his brother and examined it more closely.

‘I vaguely remember something about Angelica on the news,’ he said quietly. He and Joe had been 15 and 14 respectively. It had spooked Frank that someone only a little older than him could just disappear without a trace.

‘I don’t,’ admitted Joe.

‘No, I’m not surprised,’ said Frank. ‘You were probably churning up the back yard with that new bike you got that year.’

Smiling at the memory, both boys began to clear the table.

‘What if AJ and I handle the library while you visit Con Riley or Chief Collig,’ suggested Joe. ‘I always manage to say the wrong thing when I’m in the police station.’

Frank clapped a hand to his head and pretended to almost collapse.

‘Oh my God! Self-awareness at last!’ he cried.

‘Let’s call the girls and go see a movie tonight,’ said Joe, ignoring Frank’s antics. ‘But if Callie wants to see some soppy love story again, Ness and I will meet you later!’

‘I can’t say any of us were overly thrilled by your last movie selection,’ Frank retorted, following Joe upstairs.

‘What!? What wasn’t to like about ‘Morons From Outer Space’?’ demanded Joe indignantly.

The two young couples ended up having a great evening. With no schoolwork to do or drama relating to a case threatening to unfold, Vanessa, Callie, Frank and Joe were all relaxed and basked in the knowledge that they were on holidays for two whole weeks. After seeing an action-comedy film that Frank chose, the group ended up at Pritos’.

‘This has been SO much fun!’ enthused Vanessa as she and Callie walked to the restroom while their boyfriends ordered.’

‘I agree,’ replied Callie. ‘I haven’t seen Frank this relaxed in a long time. He says they’re on a case, but it’s just something local. I can’t believe they’re not about to be flown out of Bayport on some deadly mission!’

‘I know what you mean!’ laughed Vanessa. ‘I must admit it is kind of thrilling to be dating Bayport’s hottest young detectives, but I think I could easily get used to them being like this. I like it! I like it a lot!’