your oars, as the saying is. Keep your eyes and your ears open for more clues. The case isn’t over yet by any means.”
Mr. Hardy picked up some papers on his desk, as a hint that the interview was over, and the boys left the library. They were in a state of high excitement, for they were confident now that they had made valuable progress in the case and they were sure that if the wig and the garments could be of any use at all toward locating the crook, Mr. Hardy would be the man to use them.
When they went to bed that night they could hardly sleep, so elated were they over their discovery near the abandoned roadway.
“He must have been a pretty smart crook,” murmured Joe, after they had talked long into the night. “That idea about the wig was clever. I’ll bet he was an experienced guy!”
“The smarter they are, the harder they fall,” replied Frank. “It’s the experienced crook that the police always look for. If this fellow has any kind of a record at all it won’t take long for Dad to run him down. I’ve heard Dad say that there is no such thing as a clever crook. If he was really clever he wouldn’t be a crook at all.”
“Yes, I guess there’s something in that, too. But it shows that we’re not up against any ordinary amateur. This fellow must be a slippery customer.”
“He’ll have to be mighty slippery from now on. Once Dad has a few clues to work on he never lets up till he gets his man.”
“Well, let’s hope he gets this one. He’ll think a lot more of us as detectives if he does.” And with that, the boys fell asleep.
When they went down to breakfast the following morning they found that Fenton Hardy had left for New York on an early morning train.