IX
THE DOMINANT STRAIN
“SAMPSON,” said Lanagan, “there’s something queer about that Robbins case. Professional second story men aren’t returning to the scene of a $10,000 burglary and sending by messenger a written proposition to return the property for a cash settlement. They know how and where to negotiate the stuff and they take no chances; particularly not with one of their number under arrest—assuming the Ward boy is one of them. And that is another queer angle: seasoned crooks don’t operate with sixteen-year-old boys.”
“How do you account for the ring found on him?”
“I don’t—yet.”
“What’s your theory?”
“Haven’t any. But ten ‘second-story’ cases in three months in one district winding up with a $10,000 job is against all form.”
“Dig into it then. Here, see who this is as you go out. May be about the suspect. Same name.”