“Hello, Pete. Hello, McCaffrey,” he greeted them. “I guess you’d better come right along to headquarters. The Chief would like to have a talk with you.”
With a snarl the men leaped to their feet and sought to get past the officer. He was too quick for one of them, whom he grabbed by the collar and reduced to submission by two cracks with his club. The other eluded him, however, and promised to make good his escape. But quick as a flash Bob thrust out his foot and tripped him, at the same time falling upon him. 217
The fall knocked the breath out of the fugitive, and Bob had no trouble in holding him until Joe and the other boys came up, together with another policeman, who had been attracted by the fracas. A patrol wagon was summoned and the prisoners were conveyed to the nearest police station, where they and the bags they had carried were searched in the presence of the boys, who had missed their train in order to be present and give what information they could about the motor boat affair.
The bags were found to contain, among jewelry and other things that were apparently the proceeds of robberies, a number of pawntickets calling for stickpins, watches and other articles which the police lieutenant at the desk announced would be looked up by some of his men. The prisoners were locked up to await a court examination, and the boys, after having given their names and addresses in case they were wanted later on as witnesses, left for home in a state of high excitement over the stirring events of the night.
Bob kept in touch with the case, and a few days later came rushing up to his friends in high glee.
“What do you think, fellows?” he announced. “After the extra performance I gave to-day at the broadcasting station, I dropped in at the police station and had a look at some of the loot the police had gathered up on the strength of the 218 pawntickets. And among them what do you think I saw?”
“The Crown Jewels of England,” guessed Herb.
Bob withered him with a look.
“The stickpins and watches of Buck Looker and Carl Lutz!” announced Bob impressively. “Their initials were on the watches.”
“Glory be!” cried Larry, who was present. “That clears me in that matter. I know none of you fellows believed Buck’s dirty fling, but all the same I’ve felt uncomfortable ever since.”