The Short-Wave Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

about,” Jimmy mumbled.
    â€œOh, yes. The detective’s sons, aren’t you? Pleased to meet you.” Shaking hands, she gave the Hardys a rather suspicious stare. “Real big-hearted of you, taking Jimmy home to dinner last night. Saved me cooking for him.”
    â€œWe enjoyed having him,” Frank said.
    Mrs. Gordon’s lips formed a grudging smile. “Hope he behaved himself.” Her smile faded as she added, “Can’t stay out of mischief, most of the time, and he won’t pay attention at school, either. Needs a father’s hand—that’s the whole trouble.”
    â€œHe’ll shape up. Won’t you, Jimmy?” Joe said, rumpling the youngster’s hair.
    There was a moment’s awkward silence.
    â€œJimmy says Elias Batter was his uncle,” Frank ventured cautiously.
    â€œOh, he does, does he?” Mrs. Gordon frowned and Jimmy moved off sullenly, pretending to toy with a colored glass paperweight on a table.
    â€œDid you ever hear Mr. Batter speak of a man named Soapy Moran?” Joe asked.
    â€œNo, I didn’t!” Mrs. Gordon snapped, her face hardening. “I got better things to do than poke my nose into Eli’s affairs! And what’s more, they’re none of your business, either!”
    The Hardys reddened at the unexpected outburst. Joe tried to explain the reason for his query, but Mrs. Gordon brusquely cut him off.
    â€œI—er—guess we’d better be going,” Frank said. “Nice to have met you, Mrs. Batter.”
    As they retreated down the hall, Joe gulped. “Whew! I sure pulled a boner that time.”
    â€œGuess we both did,” Frank said. “I probably shouldn’t have brought up Batter’s name. Remember, Jimmy told us his mother wouldn’t have anything to do with his uncle Elly.”
    That evening Mr. Hardy was called away for an urgent meeting with a client on an insurance investigation. After studying for a couple of hours, Frank and Joe worked the ham bands for a while in their attic shack. Then they turned their attention once more to the uncracked code message.
    â€œIt’s a cinch this can’t be a simple substitution or transposition cipher,” Joe mused.
    â€œNot with this mixture of words and numbers,” Frank agreed. “What puzzles me is the—”
    He broke off as Aunt Gertrude called up, “There’s a visitor here to see you two!”
    Frank and Joe hurried downstairs. Jimmy Gordon was waiting in the living room. The freckle-faced youngster looked embarrassed as they greeted him.
    â€œHow about some cocoa and cookies?” Frank suggested. Jimmy seemed to relax as they enjoyed their snack in the kitchen. But not until they went up to the radio shack and let him listen in on a call from a ham in Texas did he speak of the reason for his visit.
    â€œSorry Ma got so sore at you fellows this afternoon,” Jimmy mumbled awkwardly. “I figured I ought to sneak over and explain.”
    â€œSneak over?” Joe said. “Won’t she worry?”
    â€œAw, she’s out gabbing with one of the neighbors. Besides, she was picking on me all through supper, so she’ll know why I didn’t stick around.” Jimmy paused and then went on, “You see, Ma always gets worked up when anyone mentions Uncle Elly. She says he was a crook and made trouble for the whole family.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Jimmy,” Frank apologized. “We didn’t realize that.”
    â€œAw, it’s not your fault.”
    â€œWhy did she consider your uncle a crook?” Joe asked, after exchanging glances with Frank. “Had he ever been convicted of breaking the law?”
    â€œNo, not that I know of,” Jimmy replied. “But he was Ma’s oldest brother, and she says he was always getting into some kind of scrapes. Once he almost got sent up for robbing the Crescent Jewelry Store.”
    â€œWhen was