“I’ll make inquiries about the brown ‘plane, from around The Windsock,” added Curt.
“Then I can keep tabs at this end,” argued Bob.
“Fine!” agreed Barney. “Fine! Yes, sir! Boys—we’ve got the case ‘sewed up’ or circumstantial evidence never pointed true.”
“Did you see Dad, again?” asked Bob as they rose.
“Yes, but he’s awfully busy on that other case. He must trust you fellows pretty well.”
“Well,” Al swelled with pride, “maybe we’ve disobeyed orders, but if this comes out as good as we think it will, we’ll have no trouble making Father see that he was wrong and we were right to disobey.”
“Right you are!” agreed Barney.
Griff seemed to be getting ready to work himself into danger for their special benefit, it seemed to Bob in the engine assembling rooms. The youth was angry, upset, uneasy, fidgety; he hurried out when he heard his father’s voice approaching down the hall and the older man betrayed as much uneasiness and concern as did his son.
But that night, when they thought they had the last stitches taken to “sew up” the case, as Barney said, Fate ripped out the whole thing—and they were left without a thread of a clue!—until the unexpected thing happened that gave Bob his “hunch!”