“They’re snowed over now!”
“But if he made them, couldn’t we find them underneath?”
Drew’s eyes narrowed. He leaned in his chair with a searching glance at Delaney. “How long did you sleep?” he asked sharply.
“About thirty minutes, Chief. Mary and the kids woke me up and I couldn’t get settled again. I did some thinking.”
“You must ’ave! That idea about the footprints is a mighty good one. There was first a thaw, then a freeze, then a snow fall which preserved everything. If we wait till spring there might be a set of prints underneath the other sets. Two of our operatives were there. The trouble-man was there. He scraped the connections. If we find a fourth set of prints, that’s our man!”
“The tall lad?”
“Yes, Delaney. We can build a box about the fence and start a thaw of our own. I’ll think it over!”
“I’ll go up and do it, Chief. I can make plaster-casts of all the prints. There’s a French system I heard of once. I can find out from Farot over at Headquarters.”
“Keep it under cover for a while,” decided Drew, sitting down and drawing a sheath of papers to the edge of the desk. “Keep it quiet,” he added. “I’ll think it over.”
Delaney rubbed his chin. He watched Drew rapidly thumb over the data. “Say, Chief,” he yawned. “I see another light.”