- Tom thinks over the hidden money for the next week when he has free time to let his mind wander. Given how thoroughly the house and surrounding ground have been searched, Tom figures it must be in the barn somewhere.
- But where?
- He forgets about it when he and Birdy start a difficult part of the job: taking down the frame. It's painstaking work, so they only do it on Sundays so they can see properly. On weekdays, they take down the old Dolan barn to make room for the new barn.
- When taking down the last part of the Breen barn, the front, Tom notices something weird about the entrance's hook, which keeps the door closed.
- He asks Birdy if he notices anything off. Birdy can't say that he does, though he recalls Bert did have it made specially. Birdy asks Tom what's on his mind, Tom starts to tell him but then changes his mind.
- The text doesn't explain what Tom is thinking (but we can guess…).
- Polly Ann and Mr. Hook drive up unexpectedly to have a picnic lunch with Tom and Birdy.
- Polly Ann does most of the talking, telling stories about her family, about getting lost in the swamp near the Breen place when looking for raspberries, and about how she and her sister had once gotten whipped for looking into the Breen barn one night to see what Mr. Breen was doing in there.
- Polly Ann laughs remembering the barn story, and Birdy and Mr. Hook just chalk it up to the Breens' strange habits. But Tom begins to think that what Mr. Breen was doing in the barn at night could have something to do with his idea about that unusual hook.
- Intrigued yet?