"How do you suppose he got in?" Murray managed to ask, in a trembling voice. There was no sham about his agitation, but it was not occasioned by the robbery of the safe. The ordeal he so much dreaded, was close at hand; and in spite of the confidence he had thus far felt in the success of his schemes, he feared failure and exposure.
"There is but one way he could have got in," answered the second clerk. "He slipped his fingers in through the blinds and raised the hasp, smashed that pane of glass, and put in his hand and opened the door. Then he found the key under your pillow, stumbled upon the combination, as I was afraid he would, and made off with that big envelope which you put in the drawer with three thousand dollars in it. Say, Murray, your plan didn't work worth a cent, did it? We can just consider ourselves discharged."
"Go out and ask the old man to come in here," said the chief clerk. "This thing has got to be looked into. We'll have to tell him about catching Ackerman here, and explain why we didn't report the matter at once. You must do the talking, for my wits have all left me."
The second clerk was gone scarcely more than a minute, for he found the captain on the boiler-deck. When the latter was conducted into the office he uttered an ejaculation indicative of the profoundest amazement, and seated himself on the bunk by Murray's side. The condition of the room, and the expression on the faces of the two clerks, told him what had happened there.
"When was this done?" he asked, as soon as he found his tongue.
"Sometime between nine and three o'clock," replied Walker, who then went on to tell how the thief had forced an entrance into the office.
"Why, it must be somebody who is acquainted with your way of doing business," said the captain, in deep perplexity. "Now, where shall we look for him? I have seen no one loitering about here except George Ackerman."
"And everything seems to point toward him as the guilty party," exclaimed Murray. "I wish you would have his room searched at once."
"Bless my soul!" cried the captain. "You surely don't suspect him? Well, well!" he added, more in sorrow than anger, when he received an affirmative nod from each of the clerks. "That beats me. I would almost as soon suspect my own son of being a thief."
"I know it is hard to believe," answered Walker, "but, captain, listen to this, and tell us what you think of it."