“Don’t do anything rash,” Rex advised. “Better let the police deal with those men. You know how your father is too, Enid. He’d never give in an inch.”
“No, I realize Father would never allow himself to be ransomed if he could help it. That’s what may make it so hard. He’ll defy those men and refuse to communicate with me. They may do terrible things to him.”
“Don’t think about it,” Rex admonished, taking her arm and steering her toward the roadside. “I’ll go with you to the police.”
He helped the girls into a taxicab and during the ride to the police headquarters, did his best to cheer Enid. She leaned her head back against the cushion and scarcely spoke.
“You really believe the police can find him?” she murmured once.
“Why, of course,” Rex assured her heartily, but over her head he shot Madge a glance which told her that he considered the situation more serious than his words indicated.
At the police station, the girls were asked a great many questions but Rex made everything easy for them. He knew several policemen and it was largely due to his efforts that one of the best detectives on the force, a man by the name of Randall, was assigned the case.
They all drove to the beach in a police car and Rex made two trips to the yacht in his amphibian. Randall and another detective who accompanied him, were conducted to Mr. Burnett’s stateroom which the girls had left undisturbed. The two men looked about but at the end of their investigation admitted they had found no new clues.
“It may have been an inside job,” Randall said to Enid. “How many men does your father employ?”
“Three sailors and a cook. He does his own piloting.”