Do I Want To Know?

Chapter 3- A New Mystery

   Frank Hardy stood with his arms crossed in a long line of people, waiting to get to the reception desk at their Hollywood hotel. Next to him was his brother Joe, who was tapping his foot impatiently as the line moved slower than the traffic they had just sat through. Frank was of similar impatience, although the sound of his brother's shoe connecting with the tile was driving him up a wall.

   "This bites." He muttered, shoving one hand into the pocket of his slacks, after fixing the collar of his shirt. It was mostly green, neatly decorated with some white vertical stripes on either side of the buttons.

   There was a stark contrast between the two brothers. Frank was more sleek, and sophisticated, while Joe was more rugged and sloppy, all the more evident once the younger Hardy brother responded, and Frank glanced in his direction,

   "I'll say. What's the hold up? Conference? Convention?" He asked, eyes darting around the lobby a mile a minute. His white t-shirt was mostly covered by his beige jacket, but it was easy to see it lazily tucked into his belt. A hand ran through his messy blonde hair, and Frank felt compelled to fix his own, a few dark brown strands coming loose from the perfect hold he had it in. He couldn't help but feel like it was from stress.

   "Beats me." Frank responded, elbowing Joe in the ribs shortly after,

   "Quit looking around, God, you're like a hummingbird." Joe gave him an annoyed glare, but quit fidgeting,

   "I'll take that as a compliment. Besides, don't you want to know why we've been standing in line for a half hour?" This time Frank looked around before murmuring back to Joe,

   "I want to know, but I also don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Have you forgotten what we're here for?" His tone was somewhat harsh, despite its hushed nature. Joe scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment,

   "Right... I remembered! Of course. Another Hollywood mystery." Frank's eyes widened in Joe's direction, screaming 'be quiet!', and Joe clapped a hand over his mouth. Despite his inattention to all the people around him, he was right.

   It was just a few days ago that Fenton Hardy, the boys' father, had brought another case to them. Frank and Joe were no novices toward mysteries, and when Fenton had asked them to take on the assignment in his absence, they knew they had to.

   The case seemed simple enough, though the Hardys knew any mystery that seemed simple in the beginning, was actually full of twists, turns, and utter confusion.

   It surrounded an old colleague of their dad's, Guy Owens. Their desks were next to each other when Fenton was working for the police, and although they weren't best friends, Fenton described Guy as "a hardworking man who gets the job done... when his childish and distracted nature doesn't get the better of him".

   Frank and Joe quickly found out that Guy had quit the police force just before Fenton did. He disappeared off the map for a while, until Fenton saw his name credited on a poster for a movie that became extremely popular, fast.

   Apparently, he directed it.

   From then on, he saw Guy popping up all over the place: interviews, news articles, and of course, many more movies that made him a well-known director all over. Especially Hollywood.

   It seemed odd to Frank and Joe, who had never heard of Guy Owens and much less seen a movie of his, that he would have gained popularity so quickly. He barely had any experience in the movie industry, and Fenton described him as somewhat of an anomaly, and a prodigy.

   Still, it was weird.

   Finally, after some prying from Frank and Joe, and dramatic pauses from Fenton, he revealed what really piqued the brothers' interest.