Frank and Joe could not wait until school was over. The two would find themselves often glancing at the clock, impatiently waiting for the clock to reach three. They’d get a few texts from their friends, which didn’t help with the waiting, and quickly replied before glancing at the clock again. They were surprised when, on their way out of the school, they ran into the Masons, but neither Adam nor Greg antagonized them. Greg even offered a cordial nod before the two walked towards their family vehicle and left the school. The Hardys’ friends surrounded them.
“Did you see that?” asked Chet excitedly. “The Masons seem to like you!”
“Well it makes sense,” said Tony, “Frank and Joe did stand up for them at the police station.”
“Just proves what we’ve known all along,” said Phil proudly, “you’re a couple of the greatest guys in the world!”
Frank and Joe grinned. “Thanks Phil.”
“It also proves that the Masons aren’t that bad either,” said Frank.
“Maybe they’ll be friends with all of us?” asked Jack.
Biff shrugged. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Apparently that rivalry between Mr. Mason and Mr. Hardy goes pretty deep on Mr. Mason’s side.”
Joe nodded. “Oh, definitely.”
At that moment, the last two members of their group, Slim and Pete, joined them.
“Hey guys, what did we miss?” asked Pete. The others quickly filled them in on the lack of confrontation between the Hardys and the Masons. Their mouths dropped in shock. “Well, I know Mr. Stevenson will be quite happy with that news.”
“I’m happy with that news,” said Slim. “You guys have been at each other’s throats since they got here, practically!”
“Ain’t that the truth,” said Pete. He turned to Frank and Joe. “Looks like getting on the Masons’ good side and finding Chet’s car have worked for you. What’s our next move?”
“Wait, didn’t Frank text you about the costume stores?” said Jerry.
“He did,” replied Pete, “but we still need to know which costume stores each group is taking, and what exactly we’re supposed to say.”
“Let’s head over to Chet’s car and we’ll explain,” said Frank. While they walked, he and Joe laid out the plan. There were in fact seven stores they had to check out, they sheepishly admitted that they forgot about the boutiques, but they got that figured out. Each duo would take one shop, the two shops left were situated between the other five. Three groups would converge on one while the other two groups would converge on the second before everyone would head to the Hardy residence.
“Chet’s definitely going to be taking care of one of these two stores,” said Joe. He had pulled out his phone and was showing them the coordinates on the GPS. “He’s going to be the ride.”
“Meanwhile, Tony’s got the Prito van and will be taking care of himself and the other five guys for these,” said Frank, pointing out the rest of the locations.
“We also decided that I’ll go with Chet and Frank goes with Tony. Chief Collig wants to be in contact with us in case they find anything, and he wants us to contact him as soon as we’ve found something,” explained Joe. The others nodded.
“That being said, who’s going with Joe and Chet, and who’s coming with Tony and me?”
“You and Tony!” blurted Pete and Slim at the same time.
“Joe and Chet!” said Biff a second later. Jack and Jerry also decided on going with Frank and Tony, leaving Phil to go with Chet, Joe, and Biff.
Frank glanced at his watch. “Alright, this shouldn’t take too long. I’m hoping that we’ll be at our house by four-thirty at the latest.”
“Good, I have to keep up with this homework,” said Slim.
“So do I.”
“I know,” said Frank. “Everybody still have the pictures of the wigs?” Everyone pulled out their phones and showed him the text he sent with the pictures of the wigs. “Good, let’s get going.” They separated and went to their assigned vehicles. While they were travelling to their first destination, Frank and Joe gave them a rundown of what they needed to say and what to look for. They were to be contacted immediately if they were given any information or if they found something. Tony dropped off Jack and Jerry and Frank and Pete at their destinations before he and Slim went on to their destination. Meanwhile Chet dropped off Joe and Biff before heading on to his and Phil’s destination.
“Ah, hello Joe, Biff! How are you two doing today?” said the man at the register.
Joe shot him a smile. “We’re doing alright, thanks Mr. French.”
“So, what can I do for you? You don’t come by to see me without some reason behind it.”
Joe chuckled. “You’re right about that, Mr. French. Frank and I are on a case right now, and we could really use your help.”
Mr. French glanced around the store. “Frank eh? Where is he?”
“Oh, we called in the fellows to help. We’re checking all the stores that sell wigs.”
“Ah, I see. Now I’m intrigued. Wigs?”
Joe grinned as he pulled out his phone and pulled up the photos to show Mr. French. “Have you sold wigs like this to anyone in the past week?”
Mr. French took the phone and zoomed in on the photos. “Huh, no, I have not sold any wigs like this. As a matter of fact, I don’t sell any wigs like this, and I highly doubt anyone in town would. These are rather high-quality wigs.” He handed the phone to Joe. “Where did you find them?”
Joe and Biff took turns telling the story of Queen’s theft and how they got her back for Chet.
Mr. French thought for a moment. “Are you boys sure he didn’t come to Bayport from the Big Apple?”
“We’re not sure, actually, he just showed up and stole Chet’s car. He has no idea which direction he came from,” replied Joe.
Mr. French tapped on the phone. “Well, based on what I’m seeing in these photos, they look like they should be from New York City. There are a few high-quality wig makers there, but they usually only do commissions.”
“Well, that does make sense,” said Biff, “this guy did steal from the Applegates, and you guys have said he’s a professional thief, only makes sense that he would have stolen from someone in the Big Apple.”
“Wait, you think the guy who wore these wigs is the thief of the Tower Mansion?”
“Oh he is,” said Joe, “Mr. Applegate recognized the grey wig as being worn by the perp the day he stole from them.”
Mr. French nodded. “I see.”
“But, are you sure no one in town would carry these?” said Joe.
“I’m positive,” said Mr. French firmly.
Joe huffed. “Great, well there goes this clue.”
“Haven’t you looked for the tags?”
“Oh we did, just the care instructions.”
Mr. French chuckled. “Oh no, the name of the manufacturer wouldn’t be on the tags. These are commissioned, which means that they would have hidden the name somewhere inside the lining.”
Joe’s and Biff’s mouths dropped. “Really?” asked Joe excitedly.
Mr. French nodded. “Oh yes, most don’t do it anymore nowadays, but if it is a rather particular designer who doesn’t want his work stolen, he’d hide his name in the lining. Sometimes it’s just the manufacturer who doesn’t want cheap copies made, but usually it’s independent wig makers.”
“Wowee, thanks a lot Mr. French!! You’ve been really helpful!”
“Any time boys, good luck catching that thief!”
“Thanks!” Biff and Joe waved to him before dashing out of the store.
“Biff, text Chet and tell him to get his behind over here. I’ll text Frank and tell what Mr. French just told us!”
“You got it!” Biff quickly typed out the text and sent it off. When he glanced back at Joe, there was a concerned look on his face. “Hey, what’s up Joe? We just got some great info!”
Joe glanced at him. “Yeah, but, the Big Apple is Dad’s territory. Will he even let us look into it?”
Biff smirked. “You forget who’s your brother. He can talk either one of you into doing something. All of us, for that matter.”
Joe grinned. “That’s true, Frank can find the right thing to say to convince him.”
“Then you’d better send him that text,” said Biff, nodding at the unsent message, “so he can figure out what to say.”
“Right.” Joe quickly finished typing out what Mr. French had told them and sent it off.
About twenty minutes later, all the boys were situated in Frank and Joe’s room. Frank had walked into the lab and closed the door to talk to Chief Collig.
“Good thing you sent that text when you did, Joe,” said Pete, “we were just being told that Mr. French was the guy to see about those kinds of wigs.”
Jerry was looking at the pictures on his phone. “So were we, but, how can they tell?”
Jack shrugged. “Well, it’s their job. They must have been taught to look for certain things to tell them the quality of a wig.”
Slim nodded. “That’s the most likely scenario.”
“Well, not only that, but there are wigs that look like real hair and wigs that, well, don’t,” said Biff. The others chuckled.
“True that,” said Phil.
“That’s also because some wigs are made from real hair, genius,” said Tony as he threw a pillow at Biff.
“And what makes you an expert on the subject?” asked Jerry teasingly.
Tony grinned. “Because my sisters donate some of their hair to be made into wigs.”
“Oh,” the others chorused.
The door to the lab opened and Frank came back into the room. “Thanks Chief, we’ll let you know what we find.” Frank ended the call and glanced at the group. “Still nothing from the pawn shops. And the Chief says it’s OK to look in the lining, so long as we use gloves and don’t tear it up too much.”
Joe nodded as he rose from the floor. “Sounds fine by me.”
“But that would need only the two of you . . .” said Jerry slowly.
“Then the rest of us can work on our homework,” said Pete.
They groaned.
“No, come on fellows,” said Slim, rising from the floor, “if we can get our homework done quickly enough, we can help the Hardys take care of anything else.”
“Like their homework?” said Biff, looking specifically at Joe.
“Hey!”
Pete snickered. “More like, take over looking at the wigs so they can get it done.”
“Oh no, we’ll have that done in no time,” said Joe matter-of-factly.
“Then we’ll take care of our own homework,” said Frank.
Joe rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we will.” The two disappeared into the lab while the others got to work on homework. It was only a few minutes later that a couple of whoops got the group racing into the lab.
“What did you find?” exclaimed Chet.
“The maker’s name and address!” blurted Joe with a jump.
“Both wigs were made by the same guy,” said Frank.
Joe then got glum. “But, he’s in New York City, as Mr. French suspected,” said Joe.
“And, obviously we can’t go.”
“Can’t you get your parents’ permission?” asked Slim.
“Right before finals week, are you kidding?” said Frank.
“Besides, we don’t know how long it would take us, Dad would know the streets of the Big Apple better than we do.”
Frank glanced at his watch and sighed. “Which is why we have to wait for him to get home.”
“Too bad Chief Collig couldn’t send one of his men,” said Slim with a sigh.
Frank thought for a moment. “Well, he could, he just wouldn’t have the jurisdiction to arrest anybody. Besides, Dad still would know the streets better than any of Collig’s men. Speaking of, I’d better take a picture of these and send it to him.” Frank took a few photos and sent them to Collig. “Alright, guess we’ll just have to wait.”
Joe groaned. “Homework then?”
“Homework.” The boys got back to their homework and were finishing up when they heard a car pulling into the driveway.
Joe peeked out the window. “It’s Dad!”
“You guys wait here, we’ll talk to him,” said Frank before he and Joe bounded out of the room. They reached the bottom of the stairs as Fenton came in.
“Dad!”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this warm welcome?” asked Fenton, though his eyes were twinkling.
“The wigs are from New York City!”
Fenton blinked then indicated up the stairs. “Let’s go to my office.” The boys followed up. As soon as the door was closed, Fenton nodded. “Alright, tell me what you’ve got.”
The boys told him everything, even including that Collig and his men hadn’t found anything at the pawn shops.
“So, New York City, huh?”
The boys nodded.
“You know we can’t let you go this close to finals, right?”
They sighed. “We know Dad,” said Frank, “which is why we were wondering if you could go, if that’s not too much trouble, or if one of Collig’s men could go.”
Fenton shook his head. “It would be best if I went. I have a lead in my case that takes me to New York anyway, so I can check out your clue while I’m there.”
“Really? Thanks Dad!”
“What about the Pollitt place?” asked Frank cautiously.
Fenton glanced between them before answering, “Use the telescope to watch the house when you can. Do not, I repeat, do not ever step foot on the property unless you have my explicit permission. Willow Grove is the only place you can go back to that’s close to the Pollitt place, since it is in connection to your case. Are we clear?”
“Yes sir,” chorused the boys.
“Good. Your mother and your aunt are picking up some pizza for tonight, your friends are more than welcome to join us. And tell Phil they are getting a pork-free pizza if he wants to join us.”
“OK,” said Joe.
“One last thing, I may be looking up this clue for you, but that doesn’t mean you should stop looking for clues. You never know when you might find something else that might be extremely important in helping us find this thief.”
“Right,” they said.
“Good, be sure to have the address of the maker on my desk by tomorrow morning, I leave here at eight.”
“I’ll get that for you right now,” said Frank. The two dashed off to their room. Joe told them about the news while Frank copied down the address and raced back to his father’s study to give it to him. When he got back to his own room, the others were asking Joe for future plans. They came to decide that another visit to Willow Grove was in store, and that a few people needed to keep an eye on the Pollitt place from the Hardy’s residence. They had something of a plan figured out when the women returned with dinner. Their friends stayed until eight, finalizing their plans, before they had to head home. Frank and Joe finished their homework and went to bed, excited that they were getting somewhere, and hoped to find more clues at Willow Grove.