He project for which she had enlisted his aid was formidable even for a crusading young teacher of Social Studies on the ninth grade Junior High level. For two months merchants of the neighborhood had been reporting stores broken into by a teenage gang. Beyond establishing that the crimes were the work of the same boys, who were probably students at Henry Hudson High School, the police had got nowhere. —"Object Lesson,"
Ellery Queen

What is the best prediction from the line “the police had got nowhere”?

Ellery will decide that the police should be fired for not doing their jobs.
Ellery will lecture the police about crime-solving.
Ellery will be able to figure out the case better than the police could.
Ellery will be unable to solve the case, just as the police were.