to get a look inside the house if possible.
'Well, we're livin' here now,' said the redhaired man, 'and we don't like snoopers.'
'We're not snooping,' Frank declared. 'We are looking for a man who has disappeared from Bayport.'
'Humph!' grunted the woman.
'Why do you think he's around here?' the thin | man put in.
'He was last seen in this neighborhood.'
'What does he look like?'
'Tall and dark. He was wearing a brown suit and sports jacket and cap.'
'There hasn't been anybody around here since we rented this place and moved in,' the red-haired man
said gruffly.
There seemed to be no prospect of gaining information from the unpleasant trio, so the boys started to
leave. But Frank had reached the kitchen door. As he glanced in he gave a start. Hanging on a peg was a
brown sports cap!
It looked exactly like the one his father owned, and which he had worn the morning that he had
disappeared.
CHAPTER IX
Plan of Attack
'I'M very thirsty,' Frank said quickly to the occupants of the Pollitt house. 'May I have a drink?'
The red-haired man and the woman looked at each other. They obviously wished to get rid of their
visitors as soon as possible. But they could not refuse such a reasonable request.
'Come into the kitchen,' said the man grudgingly.
Frank followed him through the door. As he passed the cap he took a good look at it. It was his father's,
and there were stains on it which looked like blood I
The redheaded man pointed to a sink on the other side of the room. On it stood a plastic cup. 'Help
yourself,' he said gruffly.
Frank went across the room and ran some water from the faucet. As he raised the cup to his lips, his
mind was racing. On his way out he glanced again at the peg.
The cap was gone!
Frank gave no sign that he had noticed anything amiss. He walked out into the yard and joined the other
five boys.
'I guess we may as well be going,' he said nonchalantly.
'You might as well,' snapped the woman. 'There's no stranger around here, I tell you.'
The boys started off down the lane. When they were out of sight of the house, Frank stopped and turned
to his companions.
'Do you know what I saw in that kitchen?' he asked tensely.
'What?'
'Dad's cap hanging on a peg!'
'Then he has been there!' cried Joe. 'They were lying!'
'Yes,' Frank continued, 'and-and there were bloodstains on the cap!'
'Bloodstains!' Joe exclaimed. 'That means he must be in trouble. Frank, we've got to go back!'
'We sure do!' his brother agreed. 'But I wanted to tell you all about it first.'
'What do you think we should do?' Chet asked.
'I'll ask those people in the house about the cap and force a showdown,' Frank declared tersely. 'We've
got to find out where Dad is!'
Resolutely the boys started back to the Pollitt house. When they reached the yard they found the two
men and the woman standing by the shed talking earnestly. The woman caught sight of them and spoke
warningly to the red-haired man.
'What do you want now?' he demanded, advancing toward the boys.
'We want to know about that sports cap in the kitchen,' said Frank firmly.
'What cap? There's no cap in there.'
'There isn't now-but there was. It was hanging on a peg when I went in for a drink.'
'I don't know anythin' about no cap,' persisted the man.
'Perhaps we'd better ask the police to look around,' Joe suggested.
The redhead glanced meaningly at the woman. The other man stepped forward. 'I know the cap this boy
means,' he said. 'It's mine. What about it?'
'It isn't yours and you know it,' Frank declared. 'That cap belongs to the man we're looking for.'
'I tell you it is my cap!' snapped the swarthy man, showing his yellowed teeth in a snarl. 'Don't tell me
I'm lyin'.'
The red-haired man intervened. 'You're mistaken, Klein,' he said. 'I know the cap they mean now. It's
the one I found on the road a few days ago.'
'Guess you're right, Red,' Klein conceded hastily.
'You found it?' asked Frank incredulously.
'Sure, I found it. A brown cap with bloodstains on it.'
'That's the one. But why did you hide it when I went into the kitchen?'
'Well, to tell the truth, them bloodstains made me nervous. I didn't know but what there might be some
trouble come of it, so I thought I'd better keep that cap out of sight.'
'Where did you find it?' Joe asked.
'About a mile from here.'
'On the shore road?'
'Yes. It was lyin' right in the middle of the road.'
'When was this?'
'A couple of days ago-just after we moved in here.'
'Let's see the cap,' Chet Morton suggested. 'We want to make sure of this.'
As Red moved reluctantly toward the kitchen, the woman sniffed. 'I don't see why you're makin' all this
fuss about an old cap,' she said. 'Comin' around here disturbin' honest folks.'
'We're sorry if we're bothering you,' said Joe, 'but this is a very serious matter.'
Red came out of the house holding the cap. He tossed it to Frank.
The boy turned back the inside flap and there he found what he was looking for-the initials F. H. printed
in gold on the leather band.
'It's Dad's cap all right.'
'I don't like the look of those bloodstains,' said Joe in a low voice. 'He must have been badly hurt.'
'Are you sure you found this on the road?' Frank asked, still suspicious.
'You don't think I'd lie about it, do you?' Red answered belligerently.
'I can't contradict you, but I'm going to turn this over to the police,' Frank told him. 'If you know
anything more about it, you'd better speak up now.'
'He doesn't know anything about it,' shrilled the woman angrily. 'Go away and don't bother us. Didn't he
tell you he found the cap on the road? I told him to burn up the dirty thing. But he wanted to have it
cleaned and wear it.'
The boys turned away, Frank still holding the cap. 'Come on, fellows,' he said. 'Let's get out of here.'
As the boys started down the lane they cast a last glance back at the yard. The woman and the two men
were standing just where the' young sleuths had left them. The woman was motionless, her hands on her
hips. Red was standing with his arms folded, and Klein, the swarthy man, was leaning against a tree.
