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little time. Once the ambulance arrived, the police would take over and the Hardys would be forbidden to question Mock.
    "You've come back to Bayport to kill Fenton Hardy," Frank stated.
    The man attempted a laugh but only coughed. "No," he finally gasped.
    "Then why?" Joe asked, anger replacing his impatience.
    "I - came - to die," Mock announced.
    "What?" Joe blasted back.
    Mock swallowed and the grimace on his face and shudder of his body told Frank that the man's pain ran deep and hard.
    "Cancer," Mock forced out.
    "That's why they commuted your sentence," Frank said.
    Mock turned to Frank and smiled. "You're the smart one, aren't you? The governor couldn't keep a dying man in prison. It's inhuman." Mock's head jerked back as he bellowed a laugh; the laugh was replaced by a deep, bone-jarring gasp that Frank thought would be the man's last breath.
    "If you didn't plan on killing our father, why did you come back here? Why did you attack Frank?" Joe demanded.
    "You startled me. I thought you were looters."
    "How do you know who we are?" Joe continued.
    "I know all about Fenton Hardy and his famous detective sons. Like father, like sons, huh?" Mock smacked his dry lips. "I subscribed to the local hometown paper. Couldn't miss an exciting issue."
    "Do you know Martin Mangieri?" Frank asked.
    "No." Mock's voice was suddenly weak and soft.
    "He's a two-bit crook who says he's got street news that you plan to kill our father."
    "Had planned," Mock replied, his eyes widening. Then more softly he repeated, "Had planned. Your old man sent me to prison for life. I wanted him dead. Then I got cancer."
    Mock closed his eyes and swallowed. Again his body shook, and he clenched his teeth against the pain.
    Thunder rumbled low and deep in the distance. The faint shrill of the ambulance's siren could be heard several blocks away.
    Frank knew they had little time left. "You mean that you don't blame our father for cracking the case against you?"
    "Want to hear a little joke?" Mock replied. "The closer you get to death, the more you think about life. Real funny, huh? Well, I've made peace with my hate and anger."
    "Good," Joe said with a sigh. He suddenly felt sorry for the man. "Can we help you? Can we do anything for you?"
    Mock let out a screeching laugh that stunned the Hardys.
    "You fools," Mock groaned. "I've only said that I've made my peace with myself, not with your father. I may not kill him, but I still want him dead!"
    Joe reached out to grab the man, but Frank knocked his younger brother's hand away.
    "You want to hit me, don't you, Joe Hardy? You want to do something to hurt me. Now multiply that hatred by a lifetime sentence, and you'll have a little taste of the hatred that has eaten at me."
    "Why?" Frank fired back. "Why do you want our father dead?" The ambulance was getting closer.
    Mock's light blue eyes widened. "I rotted in that prison for years. Can you understand that? Fenton Hardy was free. Free to see his two sons grow up." Mock closed his eyes and swallowed. "To see his sons grow up. My son - my own son - "
    Mock gasped and then choked, trying to suck in air.
    The ambulance screamed to a stop. The thunder clapped closer and louder.
    Mock inhaled. He opened his eyes and stared at the Hardys, a vision of death in his milky blue eyes. An evil smile spread across his yellow-white face.
    "My own son," he began, softly, slowly, "will finish what his father could not. What goes around comes around."
    The ambulance attendants jumped from the vehicle. Mock sank back. Frank was afraid the dying man had lost consciousness. He grabbed Mock by his shirt lapels and pulled him up.
    "What about your son?" Frank asked desperately.
    "Everything comes full circle. Fenton Hardy put me in prison. Killed me! Now my son will kill Fenton Hardy!"

Chapter 4
    "You two were supposed to stay off this case, remember?" an angry Con Riley was saying through clenched teeth as the ambulance pulled away.
    "We just wanted to look around, see if we