"Unless your business is _very_ private, I'd just as soon have the boys stay," suggested Mr. Hardy pleasantly. He did not trust Chief Collig and Detective Smuff, who came to him only in emergencies and who usually took all the credit for themselves whenever he helped them out of their difficulties. He preferred to have the boys present as witnesses. "How about it, chief?" asked Smuff heavily. "Can they stay?" "I guess so," grunted Chief Collig, undoing the collar of his uniform. "Can't do no good and they can't do no harm." "Well, gentlemen, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" asked Mr. Hardy. "We've been hearin' things about this Tower Mansion case," observed Chief Collig gravely. "You've been workin' on it, eh?" "Perhaps." "You've been out of town for quite a few days. You _must_ have been workin' on it." "That's what we dedooce, anyway," put in Detective Smuff. "Perhaps it's my own business." "Police business is everybody's business," declared Collig judicially. "What we want to know is--did you find any clues?" Detective Smuff fished out the inevitable notebook and pencil. "I'll note 'em down, chief," he remarked. "You may as well put back the notebook, Smuff," snapped Fenton Hardy, with annoyance. "If I went away, it is my own business, and if I am still working on the Tower robbery, that's my business too. I'll thank you to keep to your own affairs." Chief Collig opened his mouth, then closed it again. He took out his handkerchief and mopped his brow, all the while staring at Fenton Hardy. Then he turned and gazed at Smuff. "Detective Smuff," he said, in a solemn voice, "did you hear that?" "I did." "What do you think of it, Detective Smuff?" "I think--I think--" Detective Smuff groped for an expression that would encompass the magnitude of the offence, "I think Mr. Hardy is guilty of obstructin' the cause of justice," he said grandly. "Obstructing fiddlesticks!" said Mr. Hardy. "I'm minding my own business. Which is more than some police officers seem capable of doing." Chief Collig sighed. "The trouble with you, Mr. Hardy," he said, "is that you won't co-operate. If you co-operated a little more, we would all be farther ahead. There ain't any co-operation at all. Here is me and Smuff, doin' our best to drive crime out of Bayport, and you won't co-operate." "Perhaps the fact that there is a thousand dollars reward in the case isn't making you anxious for some co-operation?" suggested Fenton Hardy dryly. "It ain't got nothin' to do with it," replied Chief Collig virtuously. "We're just anxious to see this affair cleared up, that's all. Now, Mr. Hardy, we hear you were with the officers that chased this here notorious criminal Red Jackley." Mr. Hardy gave a perceptible start. He had no idea that news of the capture of Jackley had reached Bayport, much less that news of his own participation in the chase had reached the city. "What of it?" "Did Jackley have anything to do with this here Tower case?"