“The money, of course!” John explained.
“Well,” continued Vaughn, more sheepishly than ever, “we hit upon the plan of entering the garage where the scout car was stored, and watching our opportunity to take it. We had no difficulty in accomplishing this.”
“But the garage was locked!” objected Marjorie; “and the bolt was found unbroken!”
Crowell smiled grimly; even now he considered it a clever trick.
“Milt drove into the garage in our car,” he explained, “with me hidden in the space in the back where we carry tools and baggage. He parked the car there for an hour, and went away; meanwhile, I watched my chance, slipped out of our car, and stored myself away in yours. When Milt came back and drove off, the garage-man suspected nothing. I managed my get-away while the garage was locked, and the man at supper.”
“But how did you bolt the door—from the outside?” inquired Lily.
“Easy! I left the office dead-latch off, went back after the car was out, and let myself out through the office. Nobody was around, so I got away without suspicion.”
“And we never discovered our loss until the next morning!” murmured Marjorie, regretfully.
“No, because I left no clues. The garage-man found the garage as he left it; why should he suspect anything?”
“And how were you caught?” flashed Marjorie.