“I know the hold-up came off successfully,” said Josiah Crabtree. “And I know that Ken Greene got away from the offices without being exposed. I also know that Slugger Brown and his father met some of the bandits at the time one of their autos broke down and they had to transfer to another. But when I went after Mr. Brown and Mr. Martell to get what was coming to me, they declared that they had been double-crossed by Ditini and Ronombo and some of the others and that they hadn’t got a cent of the loot and consequently couldn’t give me what I had been promised. I thought they were fooling at first, but they insisted upon it that every cent of what had been stolen had vanished and they said they were going to skip out themselves before the officers of the law pinched them. I tried to get ten or twenty dollars from them just to tide me over, but they wouldn’t give me a penny.”
“Where did the Browns and the Martells go?” questioned Sam.
“I believe they went to Buffalo. But they said something about Galveston Texas, and I shouldn’t be surprised but what they went there. You see, these fellows, Ditini and Ronombo, were Mexicans, and I think they had an idea that the rascals would go to Galveston to a place where they used to visit and that they might have a chance of locating them.”
This was as much as Josiah Crabtree could tell, and after he had been questioned for several hours Sam and the detectives came to the conclusion that the former teacher was telling the truth so far as he knew it. He did not know what had become of Ken Greene and they did not enlighten him.
That evening the wires to Galveston were kept hot by the detectives who notified other detectives in the Texan city to be on the lookout for all those connected with the hold-up. But day after day went by, and no news of importance was received. Josiah Crabtree was given twenty dollars by Sam with which to tide himself over, but soon after he left the residence on Riverside Drive he was arrested on a technical charge of vagrancy and held by the police, thus making sure that he would be on hand when wanted.
CHAPTER XXVI
HIDDEN EVIDENCE
The boys were greatly interested in the brief telegram received from Fred’s father and they were sorry that they were not in New York City to learn the particulars of what was taking place.
“Gee, I hope they do clear up that affair in Wall Street!” sighed Randy.