“However,” the detective objected, “that doesn’t explain about the frayed cable, or the other things done to airplanes to damage the reputation of the corporation; that is my theory about the motive.”
“No,” Barney admitted. “If you’ve got a theory about the motive for damage to crates, maybe you’ve got one about the whole affair.”
“I have.”
“What is it, Father?” Bob was eager to hear.
“There are three crimes to investigate,” Mr. Wright said slowly. “The accidents, the thefts, and the——”
“Do you still think Mr. Tredway’s disappearance was due to a crime?”
“Yes, Lang, I do.”
“What sort of crime? Nothing is wrong with the ship he used, Barney says,” objected Bob.
“A very strange one,” his father replied. “Remember—there was a brown airplane hidden in a field. It was gone—before the accident. My theory is that either some one he feared, or some one who hated him, took off in that brown airplane, overtook or waited for Mr. Tredway—and——”
“Rode him down!” gasped Barney. “I’d thought of that!”