In some cases, merchants were handed counterfeit bills by respectable citizens of Bayport, people who were above reproach, and when the fact was pointed out, the would-be customers explained that they had received the money in good faith from equally reputable citizens. Often the original source of the bad money could not be traced, the counterfeit bills had passed through so many different hands without being discovered.
The boys talked the matter over several times with their father, and one day Fenton Hardy took them into his confidence.
"Don't tell anybody," he said, "but the Federal agents have come across some evidence which makes them think the counterfeiting plant is located somewhere near Barmet village."
"Have they got any definite idea, dad?" asked Joe eagerly.
"They think it is up in the woods—maybe at some farmhouse. You know the country over on the other side of the bay is pretty wild. There would be plenty of hiding places there for counterfeiters."
Mr. Hardy spoke of several places that were being watched, but he admitted that so far the Federal agents had unearthed little of practical value.
"They know that most of the bad money is circulated in this vicinity and in and around Boston," he concluded. "It's just possible the plant may be in the Hub." There the talk came to an end and the boys walked away as they knew their father was getting ready for a hurried trip to the city.
"It's a good chance for us to do some real detective work," said Frank to his brother one afternoon after school, as they were in the gymnasium in the barn back of the Hardy home. "The whole city is worked up over this counterfeit money business."
"Smarter detectives than we are are working on the case," Joe pointed out, "but they haven't found much yet."
"Paul Blum won't talk. If we could get something out of him we might have a clue to go on."