Dixon, Franklin W. Hardy Boys/Authors of Hardy Boys novels by Franklin W. Dixon, David L. Robbins, was unaware of the modifications. A Toronto reporter informed Hardy Boys ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane about the revisions more than three decades after he penned the majority of the novels. McFarlane then contacted Dixon who denied writing many of the scenes that appeared in later editions. He explained that his friend and business partner Franklin W. Dixon had a heart attack in 1963 and died before he could read the latest edition of their bestselling series. The publisher asked him to review the new material to make sure it wasn't too controversial or embarrassing. He told them not to worry about that because everything would be okay as long as they kept selling books like the old one. That's all the information McFarlane was able to get from Dixon. They decided to use this excuse on why some parts were removed from the novel. However, others were changed quite significantly. For example, the original book has Frank and Joe going to a baseball game with several other kids. While there, they see an armed robbery being committed and help the police arrest the criminals. This scene was apparently too controversial for some people so it was removed from future editions. However, this didn't stop certain websites from claiming that Ernest H. Shepard wrote these parts of the story under the name Franklin W. Dixon.