Mr. Hardy and his wife beamed as their sons walked up and down, praising every detail of the
graceful new craft. It could seat six people comfortably. The polished fore and aft decks carried gleaming anchor fittings, and the rubbing strakes were painted white. The Sleuth seemed to be
waiting to be taken for a run!
'May we try her out now, Dad?' Joe asked.
'Of course. She's fueled up.'
Aunt Gertrude shook her head. 'The Sleuth's an attractive boat, all right. But don't you two start doing any crazy stunts in it,' she cautioned her nephews. 'And be back for supper.'
When the adults had left, Frank and Joe climbed aboard and soon had the Sleuth gliding into
the bay.
The boys had no difficulty operating the motorboat. They had gained experience running their
friend Tony Prito's boat, the Napoli, which had similar controls.
Taking turns at the wheel, the brothers ran the boat up and down the bay. 'Terrific!' Joe shouted.
Frank grinned. 'Am I glad we stuck to our agreement with Dad, and saved up to help buy this!'
For some time the boys had been putting money toward a boat of their own into a special bank
account.
Mr. Hardy had promised that when the account reached a certain sum, he would make up the
necessary balance.
Now, as the Sleuth knifed through the water, Frank and Joe admired the way the stern sat
down in the water when the boat gathered speed. Joe was impressed with the turning circle
and the fact that no matter how sharp the twist, none of the spume sprayed into the cockpit.
'Wait until Tony and Chet see this!' Joe exclaimed, when they were pulling back toward the boathouse.
'Speaking of Tony-there he is,' Frank said. Their dark-haired classmate was standing on the dock, shouting and waving to them.
Joe, who was at the wheel, brought the Sleuth neatly alongside. He turned off the engine as
Tony rushed up.
'Don't tell me this dreamboat is yours?' he demanded in amazement.
'Nothing but,' Joe said proudly.
Tony and the brothers inspected the boat carefully, comparing her various features with the
Napoli, They lifted the battens from the Sleuth's cowling and admired the powerful motor
underneath.
'She's neat all right,' said Tony. 'But I'll still promise you a stiff race in the Napoli!'
'We'll take you up on it after the Sleuth's broken in,' Joe returned, laughing.
Tony became serious. 'Say, fellows, something happened today in connection with my dad's
business that I want to tell you about. Your mother said you were down here,' he explained.
'What's up?' Frank asked.
Tony's father was a building contractor and also had a construction supply yard where Tony
worked during the summer. 'Today I went to the bank, just before it closed, to deposit the cash and checks we took in this week,' he said. 'The teller discovered that one of the bills was a counterfeit!'
'A twenty-dollar bill?' Frank guessed.
'Yes. How'd you know?'
The Hardys related Chet's experience. Tony's dark brows drew together. 'I'd like to get my hands on the guy making the stuff!' he said angrily.
'So would we!' Joe stated.
The Hardys learned that the head teller had told Tony he would make a report to the Bayport
police and turn the bill over to the Secret Service, 'Did he explain how he could tell that the bill was a fake?' Frank asked.
'Yes,' replied Tony, and from his description, the Hardys were sure that the bill had come from the same batch as the one passed to Chet.
'Think back, Tony,' Frank urged. 'Have you any idea who gave it to you-or your father?'
Tony looked doubtful. 'Three days' trade-pretty hard to remember. Of course, we know most of the customers. I did ask Mike, our yardman, who helps with sales. He mentioned one
purchaser he didn't know.'
Frank, eager for any possible lead, carefully questioned Tony. The Hardys learned that three
days before, just at closing time, a faded green panel truck had driven into the Prito supply
yard. 'Mike remembers there were no markings on the truck-as if the name might have been
painted out.'
'Who was in it?' Joe prompted.
'A young boy-about fourteen-was with the driver, Mike says they bought about fifty dollars'
worth of old bricks and lumber. The boy paid him in assorted bills. One was a twenty. Our other cash customers had given smaller bills.'
'What did the driver look like?' Frank probed.
'Mike said he didn't notice-the fellow stayed behind the wheel. There was a last-minute rush at the yard, so the boy and Mike piled the stuff into the back of the truck. Then the driver gave the boy money to pay the bill.'
Frank and Joe wondered the same thing: Had the man driving the truck passed the bogus bill
deliberately? If so, was he the one who had fooled Chet? 'It seems funny he'd go to so much trouble to dump one phony twenty-dollar bill,' Joe said.
Frank agreed and added, 'Besides, what would a person in league with counterfeiters want
with a pile of old bricks and lumber?'
He turned to Tony. 'Did Mike notice anything in particular about the boy?'
'He was tall and thin. Mike thinks he was wearing a striped shirt.'
Frank and Joe exchanged glances. 'Could be Ken Blake!' Joe declared. Briefly, the Hardys explained their first encounter with the boy.
'He might have been helping pick up the load for Elekton,' Frank reasoned. 'But why would a modern plant want secondhand building material? And why wouldn't they have the purchase
billed to them?'
'What's more,' his brother put in, 'why didn't the driver get out and help with the loading?
Unless, perhaps, he wanted to stay out of sight as much as possible.'
'Too bad Mike didn't notice the truck's license number,' Tony said. 'Naturally he had no reason to at the time.'
'Was there anything unusual about the truck besides the fact it wasn't marked?' Frank asked his chum.
Tony thought for a moment. 'Mike did say there was a bike in the back. He had to move it out of the way.'
'Ken rides one,' Joe remarked.
'Well, Dad will be glad if you two pick up any clues to these counterfeiters,' Tony said. 'He's hopping mad at being cheated, and Mike feels sore about it.'
'We'll keep our eyes open for that green truck,' Frank assured him. 'The whole business sounds suspicious- though the bill could have been passed accidentally.'
'Let's question Ken Blake,' Joe proposed.
He and his brother housed the Sleuth, and the three boys started homeward. On the way they
continued to speculate on the counterfeiting racket.
'Let me know if I can help you detectives,' Tony said as he turned into his street.
'Will do.'
That evening, when it grew dark, Frank and Joe told their mother and aunt that they were going out to do some investigating. Before they left, the boys had a chance to speak to their father in private about Tony's report of the counterfeit bill and green truck and their own hunches.
