Chief Collig and Smuff returned to the police station with all the dignity they could muster under the circumstances. The crowd howled and whooped with laughter.
The Hardy boys went home smiling. The seven o'clock train had left half an hour before. Their father was making the trip to the city without the interference of the chief and his assistant, Smuff.
Fenton Hardy returned home late that night, and at the breakfast table next morning he was in high spirits.
"Solved another mystery?" asked Mrs. Hardy gaily, as she poured the coffee. She seldom asked questions about her husband's work, being of a gentle nature that instinctively shrank from any discussion of crime. It frequently distressed her that Mr. Hardy's occupation should be one that meant terms of imprisonment for those whom his cunning and cleverness had brought to justice. But her husband's attitude this morning was so unmistakably jubilant that she was glad for his sake if he had scored another success.
"Practically solved, my dear. If you'd care to hear all about it—"
"Not me. You know I don't care to hear about these terrible things."
"Well, the boys shall hear of it then. They are interested. If they'll come into my den after breakfast I'll tell them all about it."
"That means you succeeded," Frank said.
"Eat your bacon and eggs and don't be impatient."
After breakfast the boys went with their father into the den off the library, eagerly awaiting news of his mission of the previous evening. They had not told him how Chief Collig and Detective Smuff had missed the train, but they were shrewdly certain that their efforts in this respect had been of considerable assistance to Mr. Hardy.