"You've got the bulge on us this time," one of them remarked presently. "Why didn't you tell the yarn before?"
"Because it was told to me in confidence—I knew Conlon years ago in the South. But now this other thing's happened it makes all the difference, doesn't it?"
"But how about the money, Davy?" Gale asked. "That had gone, you know; I saw the place where it had been dug up."
"Did you? You saw a hole in the ground; but how do you know the money was ever in it? And how could two chaps carry away a lot of loose bags of money on horseback?"
"That's so," one of the group cried. "I reckon Davy's on the right track this time."
"Anyway, so far as the money is concerned, only those who can afford to lose have been robbed. It won't break the Bank and old Dudgeon can stand it," Gale observed.
"But there's murder in the case now. That counts more than money. It means hanging for someone," Davy replied.
"Or ought to—if the police can catch him," Gale said, as he left the group and went on to Soden's bar, where he found Allnut and Johnson carrying on an animated discussion with the hotelkeeper on the one topic.
"Have you heard the latest?" he inquired as he joined them.
"What's that? A clue? Have the police got a clue?" Soden exclaimed.