He heard a local insurance agent say that the fire had done damage to the extent of a hundred thousand dollars. The factory represented the bulk of the loss.
"And no insurance, did you say?" someone asked the agent.
"Not on the building. The insurance expired there only last week."
Ralph finally found the person he was in search of--Slavin. He had made up his mind that something must be done promptly in regard to the documents stolen from Mrs. Davis' tin box.
Ike Slump and Mort Bemis tallied precisely to the old woman's description of her "insurance inspectors" visitors.
Their call at the old house had evidently been made on the afternoon of the day when Slump and Bemis had decoyed Ralph to the Stiggs cottage.
Ralph reasoned that if they had got the documents in question, they had them now, for their arrest had followed within a few hours of their rifling of the trunk.
"I want you to do something for me, Slavin, if you will," said Ralph, leading his companion out of hearing of the crowd.
"All right," was the prompt response.
"Something urgent and important."