Con Riley hunted around the fruit stand until he found a pail, and then he went up the street until he located a tap. Finally, with the pail full of water, he went back to the fruit stand, dumped the water over the package, and stood awaiting further orders. "Soak it again!" roared the chief, who was taking no chances. Con Riley sighed, but did as he was told. For five minutes he was kept busy dumping innumerable pails of water over the package, and only then did Chief Collig and Detective Smuff venture forth. Then, with fear and trembling, Chief Collig handed the package to Smuff and bade him open it. Smuff's hands were shaking so that he could scarcely tear apart the coverings from the water-soaked parcel. The chief withdrew to a safe distance. Con Riley, who had just been told by a friend that he had been pouring water over a live bomb, was trying to achieve a sickly smile as the crowd congratulated him on his bravery. Detective Smuff opened the package. The coverings fell away. The cardboard box, dripping with water, tumbled apart. A bright object fell to the pavement with a clatter. Everybody jumped. But there was no cause for fear. The bright object was nothing more harmful than an old alarm clock. The Hardy boys and their chums, mingling with the crowd, roared with laughter, and when the crowd saw how Chief Collig and his assistants had been duped they joined in the merriment. "An alarm clock!" roared some one. "They thought an alarm clock was a bomb. Pouring water over an alarm clock!" Chief Collig and Smuff returned to the police station with all the dignity they could muster under the circumstances. The crowd howled and whooped with laughter. The Hardy boys went home smiling. The seven o'clock train had left half an hour before. Their father was making the trip to the city without the interference of the chief and his assistant, Smuff. Fenton Hardy returned home late that night, and at the breakfast table next morning he was in high spirits. "Solved another mystery?" asked Mrs. Hardy gaily, as she poured the coffee. She seldom asked questions about her husband's work, being of a gentle nature that instinctively shrank from any discussion of crime. It frequently distressed her that Mr. Hardy's occupation should be one that meant terms of imprisonment for those whom his cunning and cleverness had brought to justice. But her husband's attitude this morning was so unmistakably jubilant that she was glad for his sake if he had scored another success. "Practically solved, my dear. If you'd care to hear all about it--" "Not me. You know I don't care to hear about these terrible things." "Well, the boys shall hear of it then. They are interested. If they'll come into my den after breakfast I'll tell them all about it." "That means you succeeded," Frank said. "Eat your bacon and eggs and don't be impatient."