Asking the boys to accompany him, the agreeable stranger piloted them to an office in a large brick building where he introduced them to a gentleman who seemed hardly more than a boy in appearance, though his age was probably twenty-five. His name was Freeland Cape. ("A regular Cape of Good Hope to us," Phil said afterward.) "Sit down," said Mr. Cape to the young strangers, as their escort left them. Thanking him, Phil and Dave accepted the proffered chairs. Without ado Mr. Cape was informed of the loss of the Six and the search thus far so unsuccessful. "Queerest affair I ever heard of," was the young man's comment. "But tell me more of this Torpedo car. There was a Torpedo stolen in Harkville--(Phil and Dave exchanged glances)--an extraordinary case. And of course it is evident that the parties who, for some reason, abandoned the machine you found, grabbed your car directly afterward." "It would seem so, but it is hardly the case," put in Phil quickly. "We have had that notion pretty well pounded out of us by different people, especially by Mr. Fobes, the policeman at Griffin. 'Two separate transactions,' were his words and he made it pretty plain. And of course we were, and are, more anxious to locate our own car than anything else. So all along, 'two separate transactions' we have had right in mind." Young Mr. Cape scratched the crown of his head with one forefinger while he thought for a few seconds. "There never is a theory so exclusively inclusive but some other theory can be suggested," said he. "I may be wrong. Without knowing anything about the Torpedo you found, I'd say the two separate facts constitute a plausible supposition. But I _do_ know and _you_ know now, that the machine you found was probably the one stolen from Harkville. Who stole it? We do not know, but it is pretty plain that no one other than the original thieves had the car on that South Fork road, wherever they may have been with it since first it disappeared. Now that lands in the very vicinity of your car, at the time of your loss, the fellows who stole one automobile. And, having stolen one, no doubt they would just as lief take another and better one. The man who was seen with your basket may have been only a tramp. If your suitcases were left behind, the basket was thrown out, as well, at the same place or near by." "Any way you put it, though," suggested MacLester, his brow puckered in thought, "we are left right in the middle of it all, again. Go one way, and we might find who owned the Torpedo. Go the other way--and we stand a better chance, I should think, of finding our own Six and the thieves. Whether they stole both cars, or simply ours, isn't a question in the case at all just yet." "Yes," assented Mr. Cape, "but you must go back along the road, or wherever you may have to go, for the things you need to aid your search. You can't unsnarl a fish line, or anything else, without you have one free end with which to make a start."