Frank sighed heavily and ignored the sharp glance Joe sent his way. He’d tried changing the bandage himself but it hurt too much. Joe even had to help him undress! His cheeks burned. Never before had he ever felt so useless; temporarily losing the use of both his hands had definitely got to be the most frustrating he’d ever had to go through. And it has not been a day yet! He fumed.

"Why did she do it?" Joe froze in the middle of dabbing a clump of cotton on the back of Frank’s blistered hand. He had told him all about the mysterious note and Joe had never seen Frank so furious before. Guilt washed over him as he stared at his brother’s glum face. If I hadn’t gone to Tessa in the first place, none of this would have happened.

"Frank, what do you want me to say?" Joe asked quietly.

Frank shook his head. "I just want to know why she’s playing games with us."

"So do I, Frank. So do I." Joe taped the last of the bandage and gave Frank’s hand a gentle pat. "There. Good as new."

"Thanks, Joe."

"Don’t mention it." Joe rose. "Oh right, I forgot to tell you something. Dad called this morning and he wants us to go by the station today."

Frank nodded, curling and uncurling his fingers gingerly. He knew they would take some time to heal. I’ll be damned if I let something let this stop me from finding you. Whoever you are, I’ll find you.

Joe felt a deep sadness come over him as he studied the picture in front of him. The forensics unit had found a match by looking through the dental records with the help from the Swedish registration department and now, he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away. Her face, her eyes, her smile…The real Tessa McCaffrey looked nothing like her. The thought of someone cruelly taking her life away, stealing her place, stealing her identity really made him sick.

"The cause of death?" Frank asked.

"Death by strangulation.," Dr Ridgewick answered. Joe swallowed hard. He had never seen the girl before but she was undoubtedly pretty, with long red hair and delicate features. He could just imagine hands wrapped around her dainty throat, squeezing the life out of her. What could the killer be thinking when she gasped and wheezed, begging for mercy as she was slowly being throttled to death?

"We are also sure that there had been a struggle and we managed to find scrapes of skin under her nails-" Joe’s ears perked up.

"Skin? You mean, the killer’s?"

"Yes, she must have scratched his face somewhat when he-"

"His?" Frank’s head turned sharply.

Fenton Hardy laid a hand on his son’s shoulder. He could sense how upset his son was and he was equally upset over what happened the night before. "Let the doctor finish, son."

"According to procedure, we’ve sent the sample for DNA-testing and thanks to the advanced technology of forensics investigation, we were able to get the results." With a racing heart, Frank watched as Dr Ridgewick clicked the mouse on another button. And instantly another face flickered in close-up on the screen.

"Gentlemen, I believe this is the person we’re looking for."

Frank’s face went slack and he involuntarily curled his fingers into a fist, momentarily forgotten about his injury. This is wrong. There must have been some kind of mistake.

Joe’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly a police officer burst through the door and hurried to Fenton Hardy’s side. Fenton listened to what the officer said and his face grew grim.

"The hotel concierge has reported seeing someone matching Tessa’s description at Summerset Hotel."

"I’m coming with you, Dad," Frank said grimly. Fenton nodded and walked out of the room. Frank started to follow him but stopped when he saw his brother standing still behind him. "Aren’t you coming, Joe?"

"No, I-" Joe said hesitantly. He was still in shock and now he was genuinely confused. "I need to, uh, I need to think. You go, Frank. I’ll…catch up with you later."

Frank stared at his brother for a moment. Then without a single word he left.

"Hey, I know who this is!" Vanessa said excitedly when Joe showed her the picture of the murdered girl. Joe looked at her in surprise. After learning the identity of Tessa McCaffrey’s killer he doubted that anything could surprise him anymore. Apparently Vanessa proved him wrong.

"You do?" Joe slowed down a little, trying to keep both his eyes on the road and his girlfriend. He was curious. How did Vanessa know this girl?

"Yeah!" Then Vanessa frowned. "Well, not personally. But I think I’ve seen her before." She leaned against her seat, a thoughtful look on her face. "I’m sure of it. She’s the girl in the picture I saw in Tessa’s room."

"Picture?" Joe asked, frowning.

"Yep. There was this one photo on her dresser and Craig had his arm around this girl. Mrs Reid said that she was his girlfriend back in Sweden."

"Do you know her name?"

Vanessa gave him a weird look. "Tessa?"

"No, no, of course her name was Tessa. What did Mrs Reid say her name was? At the time, I mean."

"She didn’t say. But…there was an inscription on the back but I couldn’t read it. It was in Swedish."

"You don’t remember anything? Anything at all?"

"Wait," Vanessa said, raising her hand. "I read the names on the back of the frame…Craig, Tessa and…oh dang, what’s the name again?"

Joe tapped his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel as Vanessa tried hard to remember.

"Something that starts with A…Annie? Anna? Something like that."

"Hmm. That could mean something," Joe said excitedly. "It could even be her name! The Tessa we’re looking for!" He groped inside his jeans pocket for his cell phone. He must call Frank. Then he frowned. Frank had gone with their father to check out the hotel but still he heard no news from them. Had something gone wrong? Did they find her? The reason why he didn’t want to follow his brother and father was simple. He was afraid of what he might see. The Tessa he knew wasn’t like that and the thought of seeing otherwise filled him with dread.

Joe flipped open his cell and stabbed the speed-dialler. Vanessa fumbled with the radio.

"That’s strange," Vanessa muttered, twisting the knob around some more.

"What is?" Joe asked, his voice tense. He couldn’t seem to get through to Frank. The line was busy. He tried his dad’s number, but it was busy too.

"Do you hear that? The music," Vanessa said in a hushed voice. Joe strained hard to listen.

"Change the station," Joe said tensely. He tried calling Frank again, trying not to feel disturbed by the music. Oldies were definitely not on his list of favourite choice of listening right now. Busy again. What’s wrong with this phone?

"That’s the thing. I can’t change it." Vanessa stabbed on numerous buttons at once, but instead of changing stations, or even switching off, the radio seemed to get louder.

"What?" Joe asked, stabbing randomly on the speed-dialler. I’ll try calling Phil. He didn’t get an answer, not even a dialling tone. He tried another number. Still the same busy tone. Good thing the road to Vanessa’s farmhouse was deserted or else he would have had a hard time fumbling with both the stupid phone and the wheel.

"Every station’s playing the same song," Vanessa said, baffled.

"That’s not possible," Joe snapped. He was starting to feel uneasy. What’s going on here? He let his foot on the accelerator go and pressed on the brake. He’d better pull over.

Joe tried turning down the volume but still the music blared loudly through the speakers.

"Joe, why aren’t you slowing down?" Vanessa asked slowly.

"What?" He stepped on the brakes but instead of slowing down, the van shot forward faster, the trees by the roadside passing by a blur. Damn, he thought. Cold sweat started forming on his forehead.

"Vanessa, the brakes are not working," Joe said, trying to keep his voice calm, his heart pounding crazily. But it was hard to, with the stupid song blaring in his head… Suddenly the music seemed haunting, eerie even.

"Joe, slow down!!!!" Vanessa gasped, bracing her hand on the dashboard. "You’re going too fast!!!"

"I can’t!!!" Joe cried frantically, stomping on the brakes once more. No effect at all.

"The emergency brakes?"

Joe shook his head wildly. "Not working either."

Vanessa’s heart stopped when she saw the truck a few hundred feet away. Joe saw it too. And there was nothing they could do as it loomed bigger and bigger, nothing they could do as the van sped on its own, heading for a head-on collision, nothing they could do but die.

Vanessa grabbed Joe’s hand.

Joe closed his eyes and started to scream.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The scream was cut short when there was suddenly a very loud screech, followed by an explosive BANG! The sound of breaking glass. More screeching. Then everything was silent.