Joe grinned. “Bright boy.” He carried the hat to a spot where the sunlight filtered down through the trees and looked intently at the inside, even turning down the band. “Yowee! Success!” he yelled.
Frank gazed at two short strands of red hair. They looked exactly like those in the wig which the boys had found.
Joe sighed. “I guess we’ll have to tell Dad about this. He has the wig.”
“Right.”
Frank and Joe hurried home, clutching their precious clues firmly. Mr. Hardy was still in his study when his sons returned. The detective looked up, frankly surprised to see them home so soon. There was the suspicion of a twinkle in his eyes.
“What! More clues!” he exclaimed. “You’re really on the job.”
“You bet we have more clues!” cried Frank eagerly. He told the boys’ story and laid the hat and jacket on a table. “We’re turning these over to you.”
“But I thought you two were working on this case as my rivals.”
“To tell the truth,” said Frank, “we don’t know what to do with the due we’ve found. It leads to New York City.”
Mr. Hardy leaned forward in his desk chair as Frank pointed out the labels and the two strands of red hair.