Suppose the gang of counterfeiters were caught, what then? The boys had started out to solve the mystery of the white card—who was responsible for leading Betty away to the end of the town? Who was responsible for the fires? Who was responsible for the robbery at Professor Link’s? And these three things were linked together by virtue of the white card. The boys felt so convinced of the white card as a clue, that if it were found to be not so, they would be badly disappointed.
Jack muttered skeptically, “I hope we don’t get thrown out before we get a chance to see Chief Bates.”
Ken assured his friend, “Oh, you’ll see him all right. The important thing is, can you convince him?”
Paul laughed and joked, “Whether we convince him or not, wouldn’t it be a fine predicament if to crown all our effort and glory, Chief Bates throws us into jail.”
“What for?” demanded Ken.
“For any number of reasons,” answered Paul. “He might put us away to cool us off. Or he might jail us for doing detective work without a license.”
“You don’t need a license to be an amateur detective,” argued Ken.
“Amateur is a perfect word for it,” ironically commented Jack. “He will think we are a bunch of amateurs running wild.”
“Well, let’s not anticipate his reception of us. The chief might give us a bunch of onions for a prize and that would be something,” remarked Paul.