Mr. Fitler examined the spot carefully. There were no other suspicious indications.
“It is deuced queer,” he said, reflectively, “for that piece of letter to be down here. I’ve been of the notion that burglars got into the upper part of your store and worked their way down to the basement. But what did they want down here? This adds a new mystery to a queer case.”
“Under the supposition of a confederate in the store, might he not have dropped it by accident when down here on his regular business?” asked Mr. Leonard.
“Yes,” said the officer, abstractedly.
He took the paper again, and attentively read it.
“What does it mean? It is all Greek to me,” said Mr. Leonard.
“It means that an appointment for a meeting of the gentlemen who have been visiting you has been made. The Monday night has passed, or it might be next Monday. The meeting is fixed for Black-eyed Joe’s, wherever that is. ‘The swag is safe.’ That is your silk, which they are trying to dispose of by samples. ‘Fighting shy’ simply means that you are keeping the affair quiet, and it is their plan to sell the goods to some innocent buyer, before the robbery is made public. If I but knew who J. P. was, and where to find Black-eyed Joe, I would sleep easier.”
Will, who happened to overhear this remark, smiled intelligently to himself.
“Bet what you dare that I find him first,” he muttered. “Got a notion in my top-knot that I’ll ’tend that meetin’ next Monday.”