"Seems to me he didn't look like a man that ought to be carrying fifty-dollar bills around so recklessly."
"He's a cooper, runs that little shop over there, and hasn't done a stroke of work for a month."
The cooper-shop pointed out by Sam was a small frame building, having the sign, "Oscar Cook—Barrels and Kegs," painted over the door. It was a tumbled-down, rickety affair, evidently having seen its best days.
Chip surveyed it intently, then turned to Sam, inquired:
"That express tag had on it something about a man named Cook, didn't it?"
"Yes, the words, 'it to Cook.'"
"Supposing that Dan Moriarity, whom we now know had some connection with the robbery, had taken the valise, which was sent from St. Louis to Leavenworth, had obeyed the order, for it was evidently an order which was written on the tag, and given 'it to Cook,' it would be fair to infer that the Cook mentioned had some hand in the pudding, too, and ought to be pretty flush about this time."
"You mean—"
"No, I don't mean that the Cook over in the saloon playing poker and the Cook mentioned on the tag are the same person, but we found no Dan Moriarity or Cook in Leavenworth but what was above suspicion, and I think that the men who were smart enough to plan and carry out a robbery such as this was would be shrewd enough to take every possible precaution against discovery. I mean that neither Moriarity or Cook are Leavenworth people, and for all we know to the contrary, may live here in Kansas City."
As Chip finished speaking, a man appeared in front of the cooper shop, and unlocking the door, entered.