'The Queen had a long, thin dent in the right rear fender,' he said. 'And
that seat cushion by the door had a little split in it. I don't think the thief
would have bothered to fix them up.'
Chet showed his keen disappointment, but he was glad that the Hardys had
come along to help him prove the truth. But Smuff was not giving up the
money so easily.
'You haven't proved a thing,' he said. 'The man who runs this place
admitted that maybe this is a stolen car. The fellow who sold it to him said he
lived on a farm outside Bayport.'
The Hardys and Chet were taken aback for a moment by this information.
But in a moment Frank said, 'Let's go talk to the owner. We'll find out more
about the person who brought this car in.'
The man who ran the used-car lot was very cooperative. He readily answered
all questions the Hardys put to him. The bill of sale revealed that the former
owner of the red jalopy was Melvin Schuster of Bayport.
'Why, we know him!' Frank spoke up. 'He goes to Bayport High-at least,
he did. He and his family moved far away. That's probably why he sold his
car.'
'But Mr. Smuff said you suspected the car was stolen,' Joe put in.
The used-car lot owner smiled. 'I'm afraid maybe Mr. Smuff put that idea in
my head. I did say that the person seemed in an awful hurry to get rid of the
car and sold it very cheap. Sometimes when that happens, we dealers are a
little afraid to take the responsibility of buying a car, in case it is stolen
property. But at the time Mr. Schuster came in, I thought everything was on
the level and bought his jalopy.'
Frank said that he was sure everything was all right, and after the dealer
described Melvin Schuster, there was no question but that he was the owner.
Smuff was completely crestfallen. Without a word he started for his own car
and the boys followed. The detective did not talk on the way back to the
Morton farm, and the boys, feeling rather sorry for him, spoke of matters
other than the car incident.
As the Hardys and Chet walked into the Morton home, the two girls rushed
forward. 'Did you find it?' Iola asked eagerly.
Chet sighed. 'Another one of Smuff's bluffs,' he said disgustedly. He handed
back the money which his friends had given to help pay the detective.
Frank and Joe said good-by, went for their motorcycles, and took Callie
home. Then they returned to their own house, showered, and went to bed.
As soon as school was over the next day, they took the gray wig and visited
Schwartz's shop. The owner assured them that the hair piece had not come
from his store.
'It's a very cheap one,' the man said rather disdainfully.
Frank and Joe visited Flint's and Ruben Brothers' shops as well. Neither
place had sold the gray wig. Furthermore, neither of them had had a
customer in many weeks who had wanted a red wig, or who was in the habit
of using wigs or toupees of various colors.
'Today's sleuthing was a complete washout,' Joe reported that night to his
father.
The famous detective smiled. 'Don't be discouraged,' he said. 'I can tell you
that one bit of success makes up for a hundred false trails.'
As the boys were undressing for bed later, Frank reminded his brother that
the following day was a school holiday. 'That'll give us hours and hours to
work on the case,' he said enthusiastically.
'What do you suggest we do?' Joe asked.
Frank shrugged. Several ideas were brought up by the brothers, but one
which Joe proposed was given preference. They would get hold of a large
group of their friends. On the theory that the thief could not have driven a
long distance away because of the police alarm, the boys would make an
extensive search in the surrounding area for Chet's jalopy.
'We'll hunt in every possible hiding place,' he stated.
Early the next morning Frank hurried to the telephone and put in one call
after another to 'the gang.' These included, besides Chet Morton, Alien
Hooper, nicknamed Biff because of his fondness for a distant relative who
was a boxer named Biff; Jerry Gilroy, Phil Cohen, and Tony Prito. All were
students at Bayport High and prominent in various sports.
The five boys were eager to co-operate. They agreed to assemble at the
Hardy home at nine o'clock. In the meantime, Frank and Joe would lay out a
plan of action.
As soon as breakfast was over the Hardys told their father what they had in
mind and asked if he had any suggestions on how they might go about their
search.
'Take a map,' he said, 'with our house as a radius and cut pie-shaped
sections. I suggest that two boys work together.'
By nine o'clock his sons had mapped out the search in detail. The first recruit
to arrive was Tony Prito, a lively boy with a good sense of humor. He was
followed in a moment by Phil Cohen, a quiet, intelligent boy.
'Put us to work,' said Tony. 'I brought one of my father's trucks that he
isn't going to use today.' Tony's father was in the contracting business. 'I
can cover a lot of miles in it.'
Frank suggested that Tony and Phil work together. He showed them the
map, with Bayport as the center of a great circle, cut into four equal
sections.
'Suppose you take from nine o'clock to twelve on this dial we've marked.
Mother has agreed to stay at home all day and act as clearing house for our
reports. Call in every hour.'
'Will do,' Tony promised. 'Come on, Phil. Let's get going!'
The two boys were just starting off when Biff and Jerry arrived at the Hardy
home on motorcycles. Biff, blond and long-legged, had an ambling gait, with
which he could cover a tremendous amount of territory in a short time. Jerry,
an excellent fielder on Bayport High's baseball team, was of medium height,
wiry, and strong.
Biff and Jerry were assigned to the section on the map designated six to nine
o'clock. They were given further instructions on sleuthing, then started off on
their quest.
'Where's Chet?' Mr. Hardy asked his sons. 'Wasn't he going to help in the
search?'
'He probably overslept. Chet's been known to do that,' Frank said with a
grin.
'He also might have taken time for a double breakfast,' Joe suggested.
Mrs. Hardy, who had stepped to the front porch, called, 'Here he comes
