Chet excitedly explained that he had found it in a ditch not far from his house. He had already called Chief Collig about it, and he said that the Hardys could have the first look at it after school. Joe whooped at the news and told Frank. Their eyes were shining with eager anticipation.
“Is there anything else you can tell us about it right now?” asked Joe.
“Well, from what I can see without getting my own fingerprints on it, it looks like he ran out of gas and . . . oh!! There are more wigs in here!”
“What? Really?” said Joe, his excitement rising. He quickly relayed the news to Frank.
Frank leaned on the desk. “Ask him if he can open one of the doors. We need to be sure it’s unlocked.”
Joe blinked and opened his mouth to refute the idea, but then realized what his brother was getting at. Red Jackley hadn’t left any fingerprints on anything! Joe quickly told Chet.
“But, I would get my fingerprints on it!”
“We know, but Red Jackley has never left his fingerprints on something he’s stolen so far, highly doubt there would be any on that car too.” Joe glanced at Frank. He nodded. “Besides, it sounds like Red likes to travel light, so he was already wearing his gloves, grabbed a couple of wigs, and went off in search of another vehicle to use, and he found yours.”
Chet let out a breath. “Alright, I’m trying the driver’s side.” Joe and Frank waited before a loud whoop made Joe wince and pull the phone back from his ear. He shot a grin at Frank as Chet’s voice came through the phone. “The driver’s side is open!”
“Awesome! Thanks Chet! Now close it, we don’t need other outside elements getting in and ruining our evidence.”
“Got it, it’s closed now.”
“Thanks Chet, we’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Alright, see you!”
Joe hung up the phone before jumping up and letting out a soft whoop. He and Frank high-fived.
“Well, now we definitely know he was making his way here after stealing some things from the Big Apple,” said Frank. He sat down in a chair and began to think. “But, why was he coming here specifically? Robbing the Applegates was not the primary objective, that’s for sure.”
Joe nodded as he too sat down. “They would have already been sold or offered back to the Applegates at a high price. Instead, it seems like he’s hidden them.”
Frank nodded. “Then we’re back at the question, what was his main motive for coming here, to Bayport, of all places?”
“A town just about everyone knows that the famous Fenton Hardy lives in?” A smile began to grow on Joe’s face. “Unless the cases really are connected, and that Red Jackley is the main thief.”
Frank’s eyes widened as he gasped and snapped his fingers. “And he’s apparently good at acting too! He uses the wigs to get into the places he’s going to rob!”
Joe grabbed the armrests of his chair and leaned forward. “That’s how they’re going to steal the medicine! Red could act as the person who’s supposed to get the medicine, and run off with it before anyone’s the wiser!” Both boys gritted their teeth, it really was truly cruel to steal medicine from people who needed it, especially since, as they figured, it was not going to people who needed it overseas either. “I can’t wait until Dad gets home tomorrow.”
Frank nodded. “Me neither, he needs to know this, if he hasn’t already come to the same conclusion as us.”
Joe shrugged. “I don’t think he has, quite yet, he could still be thinking the two cases are separate.”
Frank rose and walked over to the desk. “All the more reason to let him know as soon as possible.” Frank quickly wrote down their suspicions on a piece of paper while Joe watched over his shoulder. “I think that’s everything.”
Joe nodded. “That looks like it.” He glanced at Frank. “Think he’ll agree?”
Frank shrugged. “I don’t know, but he will have to admit this is a big possibility.” There was a knock at the door, and the boys turned to find their mother looking in.
“Frank, Joe, your aunt and I have already locked up the house and are heading to bed. You should do the same.”
The boys glanced at the clock and gasped.
“It’s already ten?” blurted Joe.
Frank turned to their mother and smiled. “Thanks Mom! We’ll finish up here and head to bed.”
Laura smiled. “Good, good night.”
“Night Mom!’ chorused the boys. She closed the door and the boys went to work tidying up the office. They quickly finished up their homework before tossing it into their backpacks and dashed off to their rooms. They got together their kits to look for clues in the sedan. A few minutes later, the house was dark and quiet.
The next morning, they were woken by the phone ringing. They heard their mother answer it. A few minutes later, she came into their room.
“Boys? Are you up?”
“Who was that?” asked Joe groggily as he stretched in his bed.
“Your father.”
Both boys sat up in their beds and looked at their mother. She chuckled.
“Wh-what did he say?’ asked Frank.
“He’s sent Collig word to have information on this Red Jackley for you after school is out.”
“Why can’t he give it to us himself?” asked Joe.
Laura sighed. “He might have found an important clue, so he’s had to delay his return until dinner. He would like it if you and your friends watched the house again today.”
Frank nodded. “I’m sure Biff, Slim, and Pete wouldn’t mind helping out again.”
“And the rest will go with you to see the car?” The boys nodded. “Good, well then, time to get up and get ready.” She smiled and closed the door behind her.
Joe groaned and sank his head back into his pillow while Frank got up, yawned and stretched. A moment later Joe was up too. After all, they had to wonder, what did their father find?
At lunch, the boys had their meeting. Biff, Slim, and Pete were going to be lookouts again, with the addition of Tony and Phil, while Jack and Jerry would go with the Hardys and Chet to look at the sedan. As soon as school was out, the boys raced to the Hardys.
“Oh good grief, again? Is this going to be a daily occurrence?” blurted Aunt Trudy when they came tromping into the house. She was sitting on the sofa reading a book and looked very annoyed.
“Only until Mr. Hardy, Frank and Joe have solved their mysteries,” said Biff with a flash of his pearly whites.
Aunt Trudy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Oh alright.” She went back to reading while the lookout team went up the stairs followed by Frank and Joe. They made sure everything was set up before dashing into their room, grabbed their detective kit, dashed back down the stairs, and leapt into the Queen.
“Alright, Chet, let’s go,” said Frank as soon as he finished buckling. Chet took off towards his farm. He went a few feet past it.
Jerry let out a low whistle as Chet slowed down. There was the blue sedan, the front looked pretty bad. The hood itself reminded the boys of an accordian. “Man, that guy really does not care what he does to other people’s things.”
“Yeah, I got really lucky with Queen,” said Chet as he got out of the car. He kissed the jalopy before joining the boys as they went into the ditch. Joe handed out gloves, and each boy went over a different part of the car. Frank climbed into the driver’s seat and unlocked everything. Joe dusted the entire car for fingerprints, just in case, while Jack and Jerry rummaged around in the back seat, Frank searched the front, and Chet looked through the trunk.
Frank opened the glove compartment and found the real owner’s insurance. He pulled it out to give it to Collig so they could contact the guy and let him know they found his car. Frank went back to searching the compartment when he gasped. He pulled out an envelope addressed to Red Jackley! He quickly opened the envelope and pulled out a map of New York City, Bayport, and the surrounding areas. Several spots were circled on the map, one spot was marked as Pollitt place, a part of Willow Grove was in the circle. A large red circle with a red X inside it was marked as Fenton Hardy’s house. Frank gulped. They knew where they lived! He was glad the others were at the house right now. He quickly folded the map up and got out of the car. “Guys, I found something!” Everyone came running to him as he began walking out of the ditch to the Queen.
“What is it?” asked Joe.
“A map, just wait until you see it.” Frank got to Chet’s car and unfolded the map, laying it out flat on the Queen’s hood. The others gasped.
“Wait, they know where we live?” exclaimed Joe, pointing at the big red circle. He glanced at Frank worriedly. “Why haven’t they attacked us?”
Frank thought for a moment. “I don’t think attacking people is their thing, otherwise, it would have happened long before now.” Frank glanced over the map. “No, I’m betting they think they’re safe for now. Dad still hasn’t gotten enough evidence to put them behind bars, much less catch them even though he is on their trail.”
“Hey, why is Cherryville circled?” asked Jerry, pointing at possibly the largest circle on the map.
Frank glanced at it, wondering the same thing. “I have no clue. Maybe Collig might be able to tell us. Dad said he asked Collig to have that information for us.” He glanced at the others as he refolded the map. “Did you look over everything?”
“Yeah, no fingerprints, except for Chet’s,” said Joe with a sigh.
Jack and Jerry shook their heads. “We didn’t find anything in the back seat.”
“There was nothing in the trunk that seemed to be of importance,” said Chet, “just the owner’s set of emergency supplies.”
Frank glanced at Joe. “What about the wigs?”
Joe shrugged. “They looked like just a bunch of regular wigs, I can see that now after looking at the wigs he left with the Queen.”
Frank stuck the envelope in his pocket. “Well, I guess we’ve found all that we could. I’m going to go get the owner’s insurance papers, and we should head out to the police station.”
“Right,” chorused the other four. Frank dashed back to the sedan, grabbed the insurance papers, and raced back to the Queen. Everyone was ready to go when he arrived, and Chet took off the instant he got buckled.
When they arrived at the police station, Frank and Joe almost didn’t wait for Chet to fully park before they were racing into the station. They burst into Collig’s office with a shout of, “You’ll never believe what we found!” They had startled him, but he was pleased to see them.
“Well, five more minutes and I would have had to send my men after you,” said Collig, glancing at his computer. He glanced at the boys with a twinkle in his eyes. “So, what did you find?”
Frank showed him the envelope, laid out the map, and pointed out the circled spots. Collig jumped out of his chair when Frank showed him that their house was circled. Chet, Jerry, and Jack joined them at this moment, and Jerry asked about Cherryville. Collig pulled out a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to the Hardys.
“I think that can be answered easily, Jackley used to work for the railroad in Cherryville and Bayport, mostly Cherryville though, so it makes sense that he would know a lot about this area. But, I’m concerned about this.” Collig pointed to the big red circle. “I think I should send a couple of men to keep an eye on your house tonight, especially if what your father finds is crucial to breaking open this case and catching those men.”
“So, you do think that the theft at Tower Mansion and Dad’s smugglers are connected?” asked Joe slowly.
Collig picked up the envelope and pointed to the top right corner. The name Snattman was barely visible, but definitely clear enough to read. “I think Jackley messed up once, and once was all we needed. If you boys needed any proof to back your suspicions that the cases were connected, you just found it.”
The boys glanced at each other, eyes and mouths wide open, before glancing pointedly at Frank. Joe understood though, he wouldn’t have thought much about the envelope once he saw their house circled in red ink either.
He pursed his lips. “I hope Dad hasn’t gotten himself into too much trouble.”
Collig laid the envelope on his desk. “Guess you’ll have to find out at dinner tonight, huh?” They nodded. “Well, we’re going to need this evidence and maybe, hopefully, pull together a plan to catch those crooks. In the meantime, you guys go home and get some rest, you’ve been doing a lot lately. Oh, and here, you can take the intel on Red Jackley too.” Collig handed the piece of paper to Frank.
Frank took it and nodded. “Thanks Chief. Oh!” He pulled out the insurance papers and handed them to Collig. “These belong to the owner of the sedan.”
Collig took the papers and nodded. “Thank you, I’ll send a tow company to pick up the car and we’ll get in contact with the owner. Thanks a lot boys.”
“You’re welcome! Bye chief!”
“Bye boys!” They waved to each other before the boys left the police station. The way back to the Hardys house was quiet, though Jack and Jerry did their best to cheer up Frank and Joe. But they all understood, seeing one’s house marked like that was rather daunting.
When they got into the Hardys house, they gave all the details of what they found and what Collig said. Laura and Trudy were pleased to hear that they would get police watching the house that night. The boys’ friends left, since there had been no plans made for them to stay for dinner. But when dinner came and went with no sign of Fenton, the family was starting to get a little worried.
Trudy glanced at the clock while they were all reading in the living room, or at least, trying to read. They couldn’t quite focus on the books. “My goodness, how long does one clue take? The boys are already back after school and finding two clues!”
Laura glanced at her sister-in-law over the top of her book. “Trudy, really, you should know how this goes. Sometimes one clue can lead to another, and another, and before you know it, a whole day has passed.”
“Admit it Laura, you know something’s happened to him.”
The boys glanced at their mother. “If he’s not back by tomorrow morning, I will call Collig.” A knock came at the front door. Laura rose to answer it, and Frank got up to stand behind her, just in case. “Hello?”
There were two officers at the front door. One of them tipped his cap at Laura. “Hello ma’am, Chief Collig sent us to watch the house. We were told to report to Fenton Hardy.”
“I’m afraid he’s not back yet,” said Laura.
The officer raised an eyebrow. “The Chief said he was to be back by now.”
Laura nodded. “I know, but there have been times where he’s stayed out later than planned because of a clue.”
“And if he doesn’t come back tonight at all?”
Laura pursed her lips. “Then call it in please.”
The officer nodded. “Will do, ma’am. You have a good night.”
“Thank you officer.” Laura closed the door, and Frank trailed her back to the living room. She placed her hands on the sofa, and Frank gave her a reassuring pat. She smiled at him.
“Well, that certainly wasn’t Fenton,” said Trudy.
Laura shook her head. “It was the two officers Collig promised to send over to watch for the night. I told them that if Fenton hadn’t shown up by morning, to call it in.”
Trudy nodded. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get up early for the librarians meeting in the morning. Good night.”
“Good night Trudy.”
“Good night Auntie!”
“Night Aunt Trudy.”
Laura sighed as she watched Trudy walk up the stairs. “I think we should all go to bed. No use worrying tonight.”
“Right,” chorused the boys. They helped their mother make sure the doors were locked and the lights were turned off before they all went to bed.
Frank and Joe were woken up early the next morning by a loud banging on their door. They heard their mother leaving her room and dashing down the stairs. They bounded out of bed and dashed to the top of the stairs as their mother opened the door.
“Yes?”
“Hello ma’am, I’m sorry to report that Fenton Hardy did not return last night, but we did find this in your mailbox.”
“Oh, oh my.” The boys dashed down the stairs. Laura motioned them to follow her into the living room. She sat down and opened the envelope. She gasped as she read the message with the boys peering over her shoulder. “I won’t be home for several days,” it read. “Don’t worry. Fenton.”
“Officer! Call the Chief! Fenton’s in trouble!”
“How do you know?” asked the officer. He had come into the living room.
Laura glanced at him pointedly. “My husband and I have a secret code. He didn’t write this!”
The officer tipped his hat. “I’m on it ma’am.” He dashed out of the house. Frank and Joe went around to sit on either side of their mother. She wrapped an arm around each one and held them close. They didn’t know what kind of danger Fenton was in, just that he was, and they needed to find him quickly.