“H'm! Tell me about the case which you have principally in mind.”
“Are you acquainted with Jasper Gregory?”
“I know who he is.”
“He owns the schooner yacht Twilight. She is a beauty. She cost Mr. Gregory over a hundred thousand dollars all told.
“About a week ago the river pirates got at her.
“They took away everything of value that they could find; in fact, about fifteen thousand dollars will be required to replace what was stolen.”
So much?”
“Yes. Gregory does not mind the loss of all that so much as he does the disappearance of a small steel casket, which was in one of the cabin lockers.”
“A small steel casket?”
“Yes, and of chilled steel at that. Gregory says the robbers cannot break it open with anything short of dynamite. As soon as he discovered the loss he advertised in the Herald, offering five thousand dollars for the return of the casket and no questions asked.”