Hardy Boys -2: Secret of the Old Mill

Defused

Joe started to move forward, but Laura grabbed him by the arm.

"No, wait," she said.

"But Dad!"

"The experts are in there with him," she said, "let them handle it." Joe wanted to argue, but he could see the worry etched on her face. She was just as anxious about Fenton as they were, but was letting the experts handle it. Joe sighed and hugged his mother. Frank hugged her as well, hoping and praying their father would be alright.

The minutes slowly ticked by. Several of the squad cars left with the prisoners. Soon, only Chief Robinson, Officer Reilly, Ken, Tony, and Chet had stayed with the Hardys.

Frank, in an attempt to take their minds off of their concerns and to keep his own mind from going crazy with worry, asked his mother what she had found out about Ken's uncle. He then revealed what Docker had told them.

Laura smiled proudly at her son, understanding quite well what he was trying to do. "Well, I will admit it was rather odd that the orphanage couldn't find any traces of Ken's uncle and had no information on him either," began Laura. She turned to Ken. "What do you know about your uncle?"

Ken shrugged. "Only that I did have one. My parents didn't give me any specifics. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was to prevent me from finding out if he was a crinimal of some kind."

"Well, based on the search I did on both of your parents, it seems that your father had a brother and your mother had one as well."

Ken's eyes bulged. "Wait, they both had brothers?"

"Ken, before I tell you anymore, is there any reason that you can think of for why your parents never introduced you to their families?" asked Laura softly.

Ken blinked and shook his head slowly. "Not, not that I can think of. I mean, they never mentioned anything to me." He gulped. "Are my uncles still alive? What about my grandparents?"

"Your gandparents have long since passed," said Laura. "I only asked if they might have mentioned anything." She let out a breath. "Maybe it was because your father wanted to forget his brother. He's in jail right now for a murder."

Ken gasped. "What?"

Laura nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry Ken."

"What about my other uncle? My mother's brother?"

"He was really young when your mother got married and I guess the two of them weren't very close." She smiled and patted Ken's shoulder. "You were very lucky to have come here."

"Wait, he's here, in Bayport?"

"Wowee, Mom, that was some swell detective work!" exclaimed Joe.

"Oh my goodness, hush, I'm not finished." She turned back to Ken. "He's actually an officer."

At that, Robinson, Reilly, and Ken all exclaimed at once, "What?"

"Wow, lucky indeed!" said Chet. He turned to the lab. "I just hope he isn't one of the guys in there with Mr. Hardy."

"Chet, none of the guys who went in there are young enough to be Ken's uncle. Ken's parents were about the same age as Trudy."

"Mrs. Hardy," began Reilly, but was interrupted by Joe.

"But younger than you and Dad?"

"Yes, Ken's mother was ten years older than her brother."

"Man, that's a large gap without any siblings in between," remarked Tony.

Mrs. Hardy, was Ken's father by any chance Lester Blake?" The others blinked before glancing at Ken and Laura for the answer.

"Yes," she said while Ken bobbed hid head.