I immediately guessed young Gennor, explaining to our returned leader about the Chicago kid’s sudden disappearance.
Scoop waggled with understanding.
“I know all about that,” he said. “For last night I followed Gennor to the old Windmere Hotel. He was there until an hour ago.”
“In the hotel?” I inquired, staring in unbelief.
“Watching it,” Scoop said, “from the outside. And I, in turn, have been watching him. When he came to town, I followed.”
“But why should he go to the old hotel? It’s been closed for years.”
“Because,” returned Scoop in a steady voice, “he suspects that the talking frog is there. I want to tell you that kid is no dummy! Hearing us tell about the ghost put him hep to things that we never dreamed of. And he came here last night to learn who the ghost was. For it was his hunch—and he had the right dope—that the ghost was the frog thief.”
“And didn’t he know that the ghost was one of his father’s spies?”
“He knew,” Scoop said steadily, “that the [[199]]ghost wasn’t a spy. That’s where he had the advantage over us.”
“And it was the ghost who dug up the talking frog and not the spy?”