"Come here, boys," she said, as they came into the room. "I want you to look at this and tell me what you think of it."
She handed the note over to Frank.
"What is it?" he asked, quickly. "Word from dad?"
"It's supposed to be."
The Hardy boys read the note. It was written in pencil on a torn sheet of paper and the handwriting seemed to be that of Fenton Hardy. The note read:
"I won't be home for several days. Don't worry."
It was signed by the detective. That was all. There was nothing to indicate where he was, nothing to show when the note had been written.
"When did you get this?" asked Frank.
"It came in the afternoon mail. It was addressed to me, and the envelope had a Bayport postmark."
"What is there to worry about?" Joe asked. "It's better than not hearing from him at all."
"But I'm not sure that it's from him."
"Why?"
"Your father has an arrangement with me that he would always put a secret sign beneath his signature any time he had occasion to write
