“Jeepers!” Dan whispered. “It must be the money we found in the church!”
“That hunk of baloney saw us through the window, and probably found out that the box was taken to Mr. Hatfield’s house,” Brad reasoned. “But how did he get it from there?”
“Remember Mrs. Jones’ black dress!” Dan reminded him.
“Sure, I get it. He must have stolen it from her place and wore the garment when he slipped into the house.”
“That’s why the milkman reported seeing a woman leave the place,” Dan nodded, peering again through the window. “The dope still is sleeping hard.”
“After stealing the money, it’s odd he didn’t try to get away from here,” Mr. Hatfield thought aloud. “Well, let’s get back and report to the Cubs. It’s risky standing here in the open.”
After taking one more peek through the dirty pane of glass, the boys followed the Cub leader to the shelter of trees. There they were bombarded with a multitude of questions.
“Let’s march into that shack in a body and make that tramp give up the money!” Chips proposed boldly. “Then we’ll have him arrested!”
“Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse?” Mr. Hatfield suggested. “It’s far wiser to have him arrested first and let the police demand the money.”
“That’s so,” agreed Brad. “We aren’t arresting officers.”