Dick said so in as many words, and laughed a little at Denton’s ruffled feelings. “What did he say about us?” asked Dick.
“Well, young feller, you think I’m put out at the way Simmons talked to me, here’s a little for yourself. He told me not to have anything to do with that parcel o’ dime novel reading boys that had come to town to tell the postoffice how to run its business. So there’s one for you!”
This time it was Dick’s turn to be ruffled, and in fact so were his chums.
“It’s plain to be seen that there can be little cooperation between us and the inspector,” said Garry after everyone had cooled down a trifle. “I think we had better proceed in our own way, being ready of course to do anything that Simmons asks us to do. Now, if you feel that you can give us any private information, Mr. Denton, we’d be glad to have it. We have one clue now that may be worth following. Can you tell us when most of the letters that contain the checks are delivered and how?”
“Surely can,” answered Denton. “They’re registered, and generally come in on the noon train that goes across the border. That has most of the mail from the big cities. Most of the mail that comes on the local trains is only from Bangor and smaller towns along the way. That means that it’s delivered on Ferguson’s one-horse train. We call it the creeper around here, it’s so wheezy and slow. It comes in mornings dragging a load of pulp which is generally left in the storehouse that Ferguson has here until he gets a sizable amount, then a freight train takes it from here to the paper mills down the line. Late afternoon it makes a return trip.”
“I always aim to put the registered mail and most of the Ferguson mail on that train, for the carrier doesn’t start until later than the train.”
Garry looked significantly at his pals, and warned them with a look to let him do all the talking.
“What makes you ask about that?” asked Denton.
“Why, we only have a hunch that it would be a good thing to check the deliveries along the route and see if there is any way of ascertaining where the letters might be opened,” answered Garry, who decided that they had better keep their ideas to themselves for a while, until they found there was basis for suspicion, or else found they were on a wild goose chase. If the latter were the case, they did not want everyone to laugh at them for their foolish hunch.
The answer seemed to satisfy Denton, and he said: