Hardy Boys Mystery Series by 9

Author:9 [9]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2010-08-22T23:31:20.126000+00:00

CHAPTER XIII

f

circumstantial evidence

the Hardy boys were absolutely dumbfounded. The charge of theft seemed so absurd

that they were at first tempted to laugh. But they saw that Chief Collig was in deadly earnest.

His face was serious and his eyes regarded them sternly.

"The postal people have evidence against you lads," he said. "A mail sack with about

twenty thousand dollars' worth of mail was stolen. They took out a warrant against you this

morning."

"Why, this is the craziest thing I ever heard of!" declared Frank hotly. "Us? Mixed up in

that mail robbery? Why, we weren't even near Bayport when it happened."

"How do you know so much about when it happened?" asked the chief quickly.

"We were away down the bay all last night and we heard it over the telephone this

morning."

"Pretty good alibi," said the chief. "And

106

Circumstantial Evidence 107

what time do you think the robbery occurred?"

"Last night."

"Well, it didn't happen last night. It happened yesterday afternoon, early. And you boys

didn't leave here in your motorboat until late in the afternoon. The robbery wasn't discovered

until last night. Where were you yesterday afternoon?"

"Why, we went in our roadster down to-" began Joe, but a warning kick from Frank

silenced him. It would not do to tell Chief Collig that they had been in Beach Grove, seeking

clues against Ducroy and his friends in the deserted cabin.

"Where did you go in your roadster?" asked Chief Collig.

"We went for a drive," admitted Joe lamely.

"Where to?"

"Well," said Joe, "we went down the Shore Eoad."

"To the airport?"

"No."

The chief pursed his lips. "You parked your car in Beach Grove," he said. "I have a

witness to prove it. And from there you walked through the bush to the airport."

"We didn't!" snapped Frank.

"Where did you go, then?"

"We just took a walk through the grove."

"Can you prove it?" asked the chief.

"You'll have to take our word for it, that's all I can say.''

The chief shook his head. "I can't take your word for it," he returned. "The evidence

against you is too strong."

"Are you going to lock us up?" Frank asked.

"You're under arrest. That's my duty."

"Won't you let us go home first? We'd like to talk this over with our father."

"He knows about it," said Collig.

"But we want to see him, anyway. You come with us, Chief. We won't try to run away."

The chief considered this for a moment. "I guess there ain't any harm in that," he

decided finally. He got up, put on his uniform cap, and led the way out of the office.

A department automobile was waiting at the curb and Chief Collig ordered the chauffeur

to drive to the Hardy home on High Street.

"What makes you think we're mixed up in this business?" Joe inquired. "Is it just

because we were out on the Shore Road yesterday?"

The chief shook his head. "We didn't know that until later," he said. "After we began

checking up on you two lads we found that you had been on the Shore Road."

Frank was surprised.

"What made you check up on us? Why

should you suspect us! We have never been in trouble before."

''I know that,'' returned Chief Collig.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.