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just sort of realized, ‘Hey, we never spend any time together, just the two of us.’ So we went to the park to talk.”
    â€œWhat did you talk about?” Chet asked.
    â€œOh, it’s probably private,” Mrs. Morton interjected. “Okay, everyone, it’s late. Off to bed.”
    Joe gave Iola a hug. “I hope everything is okay. Call me if you want to talk.”
    â€œI’m fine, Joe.” Iola briefly put her arms around Joe’s back and gave him a squeeze.
    Frank and Joe said good night to the Mortons, went out to the van, and headed for home.
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    The next morning Frank and Joe met with Chet in front of Bayport High School a half-hour before classes were to start. It gave the brothers a chance to fill in Chet on whatever case they might currently be working. Chet often proved a valuable asset to an investigation, acting as a sounding board for ideas and sometimes providing a little extra muscle if it was needed.
    â€œWhere’s Iola?” Joe asked after he said good morning to Chet.
    â€œShe’s with Callie,” Chet responded. “Calliepicked up Iola real early, but I haven’t seen them yet.”
    â€œStrange,” Frank said. “Callie and Iola have always been friendly. They’ve been out with us on enough double dates to spend a lot of time together. But I wouldn’t call them close. Not until the last sixteen or so hours.”
    Just as Frank finished his observation, Tony Prito arrived on his bicycle.
    â€œHey, gang,” he said. He gave Joe a friendly pat on the shoulder. “How’d things wrap up last night?”
    â€œOh, man,” Joe said sheepishly, “I was supposed to call you with an update. I’m so sorry. I hope you didn’t sit around worried.”
    â€œWell, I was a little worried, but I managed to sleep.” Everybody laughed. “So what happened? When did the girls show up?”
    â€œIt was around eleven,” Chet said. “Iola and Callie just hung out with each other all evening.”
    â€œThat’s it?” Tony asked. “That’s the great mystery?”
    Before anybody could add anything to the conversation, Frank’s attention was drawn to the school parking lot.
    â€œHey, there are Callie and Iola now,” he said, pointing to Callie’s car as it pulled into a parking space. The four boys began to walk over to the car. Tony waved to the girls and then veered off toward the bike rack to lock up his ten-speed.
    â€œGood morning, you two,” Frank said. The group of friends stood in the parking lot in silence for a moment.
    â€œSo, are you two completely avoiding us since yesterday?” Joe asked.
    Iola leaned against Joe. “Oh, don’t be silly, Joe. What could possibly be wrong?”
    â€œWell, you have been a little mysterious since the television taping yesterday,” Frank said. He gave a worried glance to Callie. “Are you guys mad at us?”
    Callie reached out and took Frank’s hand. “Nothing is the matter,” she said. “Iola and I just realized after our starring performance yesterday, that we really know each other only through you and Joe.”
    â€œAnd me,” Chet interjected. His face was animated, trying to break a little of the tension with humor.
    â€œAnd Chet,” Callie added. “Anyway, we took the opportunity to spend some time alone to see if there was more of a connection between us than just the Brothers Hardy.”
    â€œAnd?” Joe asked.
    â€œAnd we found out—” Iola began to say. But a loud blaring of car horns and the call of a booming voice crackling through a bullhorn drowned out her words.
    â€œBayport’s ballplayers are bums!” shouted the disembodied voice. Joe craned his neck, scanningthe parking lot to see where the ruckus was coming from. He spotted a large red classic convertible car slowly wending its way through the rows of