“Aw, keep your mouth shut,” cried the detective, and the next moment he was himself enjoying the humor of it.
The car sped through the town and soon pulled up in front of 321 Applebury Street. It was a boarding house. Walters rang the bell and a middle aged woman answered the door. “Does a man by the name of Jerome Walsh live here?” asked the detective.
“Why, yes,” answered the woman hesitantly. “He isn’t in just now, though.”
Walters showed his badge and told her who he was. “That’s all right,” he said. “Take us up to his room.”
“Did he do anything wrong?” asked the woman.
“We just want to search his room,” said Walters.
“And he is such a harmless man,” mused the woman.
They followed the woman to the second floor and she showed them into a small, neatly kept room. The detective and the boys entered. On a little table were several books. Paul examined them. “Look,” he cried, “Professor Link’s book.”
Ken grabbed the volume and looked at it. Inside was the professor’s name. “So,” he mumbled, “the mystery at last is solved.”