“Did you notice the color of the man’s hair?” Frank asked Mr. Harrity.
Smuff interrupted. “What’s that got to do with it?”
“It may have a great deal to do with it,” Frank replied. “What was the color of his hair, Mr. Harrity?”
“Dark brown and short cropped.”
Frank and Joe looked at each other, perplexed. “You’re sure it wasn’t red?” Joe asked.
Chief Collig sat forward in his chair. “What are you driving at, boys? Have you some information about this man?”
“We were told,” said Joe, “that the guy who stole Chet’s car had red hair. A friend of ours saw him.”
“Then he must have turned the jalopy over to someone else,” Chief Collig concluded.
At this moment a short, nervous little man was ushered into the room. He was the passenger who had gone into the ferryboat office at the time of the attempted holdup. Chief Collig had sent for him.
The newcomer introduced himself as Henry J. Brown of New York. He told of entering the office and seeing a man run away from the ticket window with a revolver in his hand.