"What was he doing?" asked Detective Smuff suspiciously.
"Watching us," Jack returned. "Seems as if half the people in the county have their eye on us since those cars were stolen. I think that chap is cured."
"He should be," said Smuff, gazing respectfully at Towser. "If any one bothers you after this, let me know. Us regular detectives can't have any one buttin' into our work like that."
He glanced severely at the Hardy boys as he spoke.
"We certainly can't," said Joe innocently. Then, as Detective Smuff glared, he turned to his companions. "Come on, fellows. Let's take a look through the woods on the other side of the road. We might find some trace of the cars there."
CHAPTER VII
Gus Montrose
Detective Smuff walked back as far as the road with the boys, and then clambered into his car, where another detective on the Bayport force was waiting for him.
"You're just wastin' your time hunting through the woods," he told the boys heavily. "A car couldn't get down there, anyway, and we've hunted through there pretty thoroughly in the second place."