Hardy Boys -2: Secret of the Old Mill

Another Report

Collig, Frank, and Joe followed Chet and Tony back to Prito's Supply Yard. Neither Chet nor Tony got a good luck at the duo in the green truck, so they had to talk to the guy who did see them. Hopefully he noticed which direction they took, or know what the order was for. They just needed one clue to get them started rolling.

As soon as they got to the lumber yard, Tony sought out the guy and introduced them to Mike Thornton. Collig took the lead in the questioning.

"Can you give us a detailed description of the truck, the man, and/or the boy? Anything you remember could help," said Collig as he pulled out a notebook. Frank had pulled out one at the same time and both boys listened intently to Mike's answers.

"Well, Chief, the truck was just your regular pickup truck. It did have a dent on the front left fender, but other than that it was unmarked." He paused and thought for a moment. "As for the guy, well, he was in a rush, that's for sure. He had on a cap, had it down low. But I could tell he had brown hair and green eyes. Those green eyes of his were hard to miss, almost matched the truck. That was my first thought. He was a tough-looking fellow. When I think back on it, I realize that he was acting slightly suspicious. I didn't think anything of it at the time, we were so busy at the moment and, like I said, he was in a hurry. Yet for a guy who was in a hurry, he didn't get out to help me load the truck. The boy did, he seemed alright to me. Pretty nice and jovial, whistling a tune while we worked. I do think he believed this was just a part of his job."

"Did you happen to find out where they were taking the supplies?" asked Frank.

"Oh yeah, we all knew, this was supplies for the Elekton company, they've been remodeling that old mill and they're building on the surrounding land. I think that was their last trip."

Joe's eyes just about bulged. Oh please don't let the cases be connected! But he was having a sinking feeling that they were. And here he was hoping that he and Frank could solve their very own mystery.

Frank noticed the look of surprise on his brother's face and nudged him. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

Joe shot him a sheepish grin. "I think we had better get back home soon and take a look at Dad's instructions." Frank tilted his head, a quizzical look on his face. What was Joe talking about? His mind whirled with possibilities, then his mouth slowly dropped. Was Dad working for Elekton? Joe placed a finger to his lips, and the two turned back to Collig and Mike, who were watching them quizzically.

"Anything you boys want to share with us?" asked Collig.

Frank shook his head. "Oh no, it's just Dad gave us some instructions concerning his case. We figured we'd hurry up here and find out what they were, to see if they might give us a hand in our case."

Collig nodded slowly. "OK." He glanced between the two. "You know, I very highly doubt these two cases are connected."

"Wait, you know what Dad's case is?" asked Joe incredulously.

Collig turned back to Mike. "Was there anything else you recall?"

"Um, not really. I merely told the boy, I did find out his name is Ken, about Tony since he looked to be about his age. He said when he had a chance that he would like to come back and meet him."

"I hope he does," piped up Tony. "I think I would like to meet him myself and find out why he's working for criminals."

"If he and the criminals are working for the same company," ventured Collig, "he isn't working for them but working alongside them and probably has no idea that they're criminals. Innocent until proven guilty. Heck, this guy might have even be someone who met the distributor on the way over and that's how you ended up with two counterfeits." Collig closed his notebook. "Well, I think we have all we can get right now. Thank you Mike."