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Private Notes
Joe introduces the the boys latest mystery, in this cleverly done overview.
A year has passed since the boys solved their first big case and Joe is once again bored with life. Frank has become interested in girls, much to Joe's disgust, and refuses to play at detective games.
Things change when Joe is sent on an errand to the countryside, for he discovers a "haunted" farm.
Although the place is deserted, someone is taking care of the animals that still live there. Joe convinces Frank that something unusual is going on and the two sleuths search the house, where they meet the ghost.
In reality, the ""ghost"" is an elderly man who claims he is looking after the animals as a favor to the deceased owner, a farmer named Lacey.
Frank and Joe learn that the farm is to be sold to pay back taxes, and the animals will be sold to a slaughterhouse.
The old man surprisingly produces a will signed by Lacey that arranges for the care of the animals, and the boys happily return home.
The man named Fred is trying to sell all the animals on the farm to a butcher. He is supposedly legally entitled.
Joe discovers the will is a fake, and the boys rush back to the farm to confront the old man.
The Old Man confesses that he is really the missing Lacey and had faked his death so he could use his insurance money to care for the animals.
Frank and Joe narrowly save the animals from being killed.
The boys are brought in after the police discover they removed the animals to avoid them being slaughtered.
Lacey confesses everything to get Frank and Joe out of trouble.
Iola discovers Lacey ahs had somthing all along to save his farm.
The animals get loose on the men who came to collect them, just in time to - as the boys and Iola arrive with the proof Lacey can afford his taxes to save them.
Lacey has a fortune in old books and manuscripts. Ample money to take care of him and his animals for the rest of their lives.
