The Tower Treasure Read Free

was just countin’ up the mornin’s receipts,” he was saying in a high-pitched, excited voice, “when in comes this fellow and sticks a revolver in front of my nose.”
    â€œJust a minute,” interrupted Chief Collig, turning to the newcomers. “What can I do for you boys?”
    â€œI came to report a theft,” Chet spoke up. “My hot rod has been stolen.”
    â€œWhy, it was one of those crazy hot rods this fellow drove!” Ike Harrity cried out. “A yellow one!”
    â€œHa!” exclaimed Oscar Smuff. “A clue!” He immediately pulled a pencil and notebook from his pocket.
    â€œMy Queen!” shouted Chet.
    Chief Collig rapped on his desk for quiet and asked, “What’s a queen got to do with all this?”
    Chet explained, then the chief related Harrity’s story for him.
    â€œA man drove up to the ferryboat office and tried to hold up Mr. Harrity. But a passenger came into the office and the fellow ran away.”
    As the officer paused, Frank gave Chief Collig a brief account of the wrecked blue sedan near the Morton farm.
    â€œI’ll send some men out there right now.” The chief pressed a buzzer and quickly relayed his orders.
    â€œIt certainly looks,” Joe commented, “as if the man who stole Chet’s car and the fellow who tried to hold up the ferryboat office are the same person!”
    â€œDid you notice the color of the man’s hair?” Frank asked Mr. Harrity.
    Smuff interrupted. “What’s that got to do with it?”
    â€œIt may have a great deal to do with it,” Frank replied. “What was the color of his hair, Mr. Harrity?”
    â€œDark brown and short cropped.”
    Frank and Joe looked at each other, perplexed. “You’re sure it wasn’t red?” Joe asked.
    Chief Collig sat forward in his chair. “What are you driving at, boys? Have you some information about this man?”
    â€œWe were told,” said Joe, “that the guy who stole Chet’s car had red hair. A friend of ours saw him.”
    â€œThen he must have turned the jalopy over to someone else,” Chief Collig concluded.
    At this moment a short, nervous little man was ushered into the room. He was the passenger who had gone into the ferryboat office at the time of the attempted holdup. Chief Collig had sent for him.
    The newcomer introduced himself as Henry J. Brown of New York. He told of entering the office and seeing a man run away from the ticket window with a revolver in his hand.
    â€œWhat color was his hair?” Frank asked eagerly. “Did you notice?”
    â€œI can’t say I did,” the man replied. “My eyes were focused on that gun. Say, wait a minutel He had red hair. You couldn’t miss it! I noticed it after he jumped into the car.”
    Oscar Smuff looked bewildered. “You say he had red hair.” The detective turned to Mr. Harrity. “And you say he had dark hair. Somethin’ wrong somewhere!” He shook his head in puzzlement.
    The others were puzzled too. Frank asked Mr. Brown to tell once more just when he had noticed the red hair.
    â€œAfter the fellow leaned down in the car and popped his head up again,” the New Yorker replied.
    Frank and Joe exchanged glances. Was it possible the red hair was a wig and the thief had put it on just before Mr. Brown had noticed him? The boys kept still—they didn’t want any interference from Smuff in tracking down this clue.
    Harrity and Brown began to argue over the color of the thief’s hair. Finally Chief Collig had to rap once more for order. “I’ll send out an alarm for both this holdup man and for Chet’s car. I guess that’s all that can be done now.”
    Undaunted by their failure to catch the thief, the Hardy boys left police headquarters with Chet Morton. They were determined to pursue the case.
    â€œWe’ll talk with Dad tonight, Chet,”