# The Secret of the Old Mill — Character guide

> Key figures in The Secret of the Old Mill by Franklin W. Dixon.

- [Frank Hardy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/frank_hardy.md): Frank is the methodical half of Bayport's teenage detective duo, the son of famous private investigator Fenton Hardy and already a veteran of two solved cases. He is the one who notices the odd fumble when Uncle Dock off
- [Joe Hardy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/joe_hardy.md): Joe shares his father's deductive gift but not his caution, and he feels the sting of being fooled by a stranger far more keenly than Frank does. He is the one who dives into the river to save Lester and who bristles whe
- [Chet Morton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/chet_morton.md): Chet tags along on the hike to the old mill and, with the cheerful persistence of a farmer's son, asks about grain and milling rates the strangers clearly never expected. His innocent questions draw out prices so absurdl
- [Mr. Markel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/markel.md): Markel is one of Uncle Dock's silent associates at the mill, a man whose manner is so secretive that even a routine errand looks like a crime. The Hardy boys watch him pass a paper-wrapped parcel to a tall man with a bla
- [Uncle Dock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/uncle_dock.md): Uncle Dock poses as a breakfast-food manufacturer but rules the mill with threats, striking Lester and warning the Hardy boys to stay off the riverbank. His offer of reward money is meant to be gracious, yet the way Kurt
- [Fenton Hardy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/fenton_hardy.md): Fenton Hardy has been retained by Federal authorities to break up a counterfeiting ring that has flooded the region with ten thousand dollars in bad bills. He asks his sons to keep their eyes open for clues, unaware how 
- [Jerry Gilroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/jerry_gilroy.md): Jerry runs with the Hardy circle — Phil, Tony, Chet, Biff — and tags along when curiosity pulls the group toward the shuttered Turner mill and its strange new owners. He's the level-headed one who punctures Frank's sleut
- [Lester](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/lester.md): A henchman of the counterfeiters who is knocked unconscious during a chase.
- [Tony Prito](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/tony_prito.md): Tony knows the bay and his father's fast boat better than anyone, and he taught Frank and Joe to handle a motor before they ever owned one. When the Sleuth challenges him to a race, his cocky certainty that he'll 'show t
- [Con Riley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/con_riley.md): Officer Riley patrols Main Street with a full stomach and a fuller sense of his own importance, viewing the Hardy pack as meddling nuisances who never respect the dignity of his badge. Yet he's vain enough to be flattere
- [Mrs. Hardy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/mrs_hardy.md): The mother of Frank and Joe, supportive and caring at home.
- [Mr. Moss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/moss.md): A farmer who encounters the Hardy boys and provides clues about the mill.
- [Callie Shaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/callie_shaw.md): A friend of the Hardy boys, often accompanying them on social outings.
- [Sleuth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/sleuth.md): The Hardy boys' motorboat, used in their water-based investigations.
- [Chief Collig](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/chief_collig.md): The chief of police in Bayport, assisting in the counterfeit case.
- [Phil Cohen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters/phil_cohen.md): A friend of the Hardy boys who helps with their investigations.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_the_old_mill_se/characters